Parliament working on committee to probe govt's handling of Covid-19September 16, 2020 - 18:09 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The National Assembly on Wednesday, September 16 approved that an investigative committee probing the government's handling of the coronavirus epidemic will have 12 members. The move comes after opposition parties Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia requested the creation of such a committee in July. Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan said back in July that the special committee is being established at the request of at least one fourth of the total number of the deputies and is set "to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, to have effective measures carried out by the government and the Commandant’s Office for mitigating or eliminating the consequences of the fight against that virus, as well as to study the efficiency and the lawfulness of the restrictions of the human rights and fundamental freedoms during the period of the state of emergency." The members of the new committee will be identified later. The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Armenia grew by 257 to reach 46,376 on Wednesday․ So far, 42,069 people have recovered, 923 have died from the coronavirus in the country, while 283 others carrying the virus have died from other causes. Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |