RECOLLECTING YEAR 2015: A THANKS NOTE

Dear IAF Members and Supporters,

Greetings to you all! 

One more year loaded with sweet memories and cheerful times has passed and we are sure it will continue to be more vibrant in forthcoming years too. 

Year 2015 is coming to an end today and it's been quite eventful year for IAF. We've tried our best to manifest Indo-Armenian Relationship to newer heights. However, it would not have been possible without your unconditional love & support! Let us recollect a few important events of the year here. 

We started 2015 by organizing Armenian Christmas at different locations in india through our members in that particular city or region. We organized it in New Delhi. IAF's South India coordinator Mrs. Ashkhen Khachatryan coordinated and organized the same in Chennai for whole South India. They visited the historical Armenian Church in Chennai and had Christmas Dinner. Armenian Community from Bangalore, Chennai and Puducherry joined altogether in Chennai. 

On 26th January, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO in association with Embassy of India, Yerevan, Armenia launched an 84 Page Publication titled "INDIA: NEW VISION, NEW VIGOUR" to commemorate 65th Anniversary of Republic Day Of India.

From 26 to 28 of March, our Armenian friends had the chance to enjoy one more time the magic world of Bollywood on big screen of Moscow cinema. 

We had the pleasure to invite everybody to enjoy Indian films in the framework of “Bollywood back in Armenia” project. The screening was organized in collaboration with the Embassy of India to Armenia and Mr. Davit Bejitashvili from Georgia, and took place at Moscow cinema.

Considering "Chess" as the most loved common sports between Armenia and India, 1st Indo-Armenian Friendship Chess Tournament was organized by Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO on March 29 at Yerevan State Medical University after M.Heratsi, supported by the Embassy of India to Armenia, Medical University and University’s students council of Indian and Armenian students. 

As decided by IAF this tournament will become an annual event of IAF Sports Club.

On May 26th, Medal Felicitation Ceremony to the winners of 1st Indo-Armenian Friendship Chess Tournament (29.03.2015) was organized at Yerevan State Medical University after M.Heratsi.

The awarding ceremony was attended by H.E Ambassador of India to Armenia Dr Suresh Babu, the rector of YSMU Mr. Mikayel Narimanyan, Vice-Rector for External Affairs and International Partnerships Mr. Yervand Sahakyan and the president of Chess Academy of Armenia Mr. Smbat Lputyan.

One of the biggest achievements of the year that everyone cherished. From 31st of August till 6^th of September Indo-Armenian Friendship in collaboration with ICIRLD Armenia and Havana Restaurant Complex with the support of the Embassy of India in Armenia organized  a 7 days long Cultural Festival “Days of India in Armenia”. 

 It became a festival of colors and joy, tastes and beauties, a festival of a real friendship and global understanding, a festival of new discoveries and new perceptions of real India which is beyond Bollywood. The grand opening was attended by more than 20 ambassadors of different countries in Armenia, by many representatives of very different Ministries and just by Indian culture lovers.

In November IAF in association with Yerevan Mall, organized a Bollywood Dance FLASH-MOB in Yerevan and people enjoyed it a lot. In November itself IAF joined the YSMU team and Pharaon Entertainment Complex in support with Embassy of India to celebrate the festival of lights Diwali in the name "Indian Cultural Night". It was one of the most glittering events of the year.

In December, IAF in collaboration with Embassy Of India and Media Focus Organization, organized a huge successful event: "India In Yerevan Metro" exhibition and Indian Movie Dance Flash-Mob in Yerevan Metro. It became a viral event and many people passing through Yeritasardakan Metro in Yerevan enjoyed that. 

Apart from all this, we organized many more small and medium events and programs throughout the year which is not mentioned here. 

On this note, let us take this opportunity to thank our all members for their great support. Special thanks to Embassy of India in Armenia for their continuous support to us to help us realize our all activities. Thanks to our all partner organizations, for making the huge task easier for us with their complete supprt and last but not the least..A heartfelt thanks to our IAF team which is ably and comprehensively coordinated by our Secretary General Ms. Lusine Toroyan in close-coordination with our team members Armine Sargsyan, Anna Hovsepyan, Roza Navoyan and Ani Yeremyan. Without their dedicated hard work, this all would not have been possible. 

On behalf of all IAF team members, we wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year 2016! 

Rananjay Anand & Ruzanna Ashughyan

Co-founders

Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO

IAF co-founders meet Hon. Ambassador Designate of Armenia to India Mr. Armen Martirosyan

IAF Press Release

 IAF Co-founders Mr. Rananjay Anand and Mrs. Ruzanna Ashughyan Anand 

with Hon. Ambassador designate of Republic of Armenia to India Mr. Armen Martirosyan

Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) co-founders Mr. Rananjay Anand and Mrs. Ruzanna Ashughyan Anand met Hon. Ambassador designate Mr. Armen Martirosyan at the Embassy of Armenia in New Delhi on 21^st May. Both of them  congratulated Amb. Martirosyan for his new responsibility as Hon. Ambassador of Armenia to India and exchanged warm greetings. 

It was an introductory "Focus Meeting" about IAF's cooperation with Embassy of Armenia in India. During their meeting, which lasted approx. one hour, IAF co-founders introduced IAF and its activities so far in Armenia and in India to Mr. Ambassador designate and shared their future plans in respective countries. They emphasized the need of being more active in India in close cooperation with Embassy of Armenia through different activities which are considered to be a long due. Amb. Armen Martirosyan welcomed the initiatives taken by IAF and assured team IAF to work together with full cooperation from Embassy of Armenia. Lots of relevant issues were touched upon from People-to-People (P2P) connection to Business-to-Business (B2B) connection in order to prioritize the list of activities in near future. 

Both parties agreed to work in close cooperation in future by involving the existing Indo-Armenian community and other relevant stakeholders in India. IAF is sincerely hopeful to see lots of activities about Armenia in India in near future.

IAF would like to extend heartiest congratulations to Mr. Armen Martirosyan on being appointed as Hon. Ambassador of Republic of Armenia to India and also wishes him a very fruitful and defining tenure in India!

PICNIC IN TSAGHKADZOR

The Travellers Club of IAF organized a whole day picnic with IAF members and Embassy of India staffs on 9th August 2014 in the resort town Tsakhkadzor!

Tsaghkadzor literally means valley of flowers in Armenian. The name of Tsaghkadzor is associated with the name of the nearby Tsaghkunyats Mountains, located to the west of the town. Tsaghkadzor is located 50 kilometers north of the capital Yerevan and 3 kilometers east of the provincial centre Hrazdan. Surrounded with alpine meadows, the town is situated on the southeastern slope of the Teghenis Mountains, at a height of 1841 meters above sea level.

The participants first took a local sight-seeing and the first was to visit Kecharis Monastery. It is one of the most important religious complexes of Eastern Armenia and one of the well-preserved medieval architectural samples of the Armenian Highland. It was founded at the beginning of the 11th century, consisted of 4 separate adjacent churches. The main church of the complex is the Saint Gregory Church built in 1033. The church of Surp Nshan built in 1051, is located to the south of Saint Gregory Church. The Katoghike Church built at the beginning of the 13th century, stands to the south of Surp Nshan Church. The fourth church of the complex is the Church of Surp Harutyun of 1220.

 The most sought-after tourist attention in Tsakhkadzor is Ropeway. The Tsaghkadzor ski resort is located just above the town, on a height of 1750 meters above sea level. During the recent years the ski resort was fully modernized. Those participants, who wanted to take a ride of famous rope-way, enjoyed it fully.

Few participants stayed at the picnic camp for preparing Khorovats (Barbeque).

The purpose of the picnic was to encourage the communication between India and local Armenian populace. The group had a great food and fun together in the cool and fresh environment of this resort town. People interacted with each other for a better mutual understanding of respective nations, their people and cultures.

INDIAN CULTURAL DAYS in Tavush

Continuing the tradition of taking the group photo exhibition “India through the Armenian Lens” to the different cities of Armenia «Indo-Armenian Friendship» NGO in association with the Embassy of India organized the exhibition in Ijevan, Tavush marz (region).  

The exhibition is a part of “Indian cultural days in Tavush” program dedicated to the 66^th anniversary of Indian Independence. The opening ceremony started on 9^th of August at “Vernatun” galleri, Ijevan. This time the exhibition was not only including the photo collection of previous exhibitions but also paintings of two Armenian artists Vardan Avetyan and Vladimir Soghomonyan under a different group exhibition titled "Mystic reflections of India".

The distinguished guests of the opening ceremony were Ambassador of India in Armenia, Dr. Suresh Babu, Vice-Governor of Tavush region Mr. Levon Sargsyan, Mayor of Ijevan Mr. Vardan Ghalumyan and chief of department of Culture at the municipality of Ijevan Mrs Lilit Ghalumyan. 

The opening speech was given by Lusine Toroyan genral secretary of «Indo-Armenian Friendship» NGO. She presented the purpose of organizing the exhibition and welcomed all guests on behalf of the president and vice-president of the NGO Mr Rananjay Anand and Mrs Ruzanna Ashughyan.  

Thanking the organizers for initiating the project “Indian cultural days in Tavush” the distinguished guests mentioned especially the necessity of organizing more and frequent events dedicated to the friendship of the two respective countries. 

Afterwards the audiences were invited to the Cultural House of Ijevan where in the framework of the project Indian films of various genres will be screened with Russian dubbing.

The events will continue till the 15th of August – India’s 67^th Independence Day.

The program is supported by the Embassy of India in Armenia, Municipality of Ijevan and Ijevan wine-brandy factory.

Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO hosts Ambassador designate of India to Armenia and Georgia in New Delhi, India

IAF Press Release
December 16,2012
New Delhi



The Speakers of the event



On 15^thDecember 2012, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) organised an interactive session between the newly appointed Ambassador of India to Armenia and Georgia Dr. T. Suresh Babu and members of IAF in India’s premier Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Dignitaries present in the occasion included Ambassador Achal Kumar Malhotra, outgoing Ambassador of India to Armenia and Georgia, Mrs. Lusik Tovmasyan, Consul of Armenian Embassy in India, and Prof. Purushottam Agrawal, Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

People who attended the event included Armenian students studying in India, Indian students who had graduated from YSMU, businessmen and people from different walks of life interested to know about Indo-Armenian ties. Most of them were members of Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO.



IAF Co-founder & President
Mr. Rananjay Anand

Mr. Rananjay Anand, Co-Founder and President of Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO welcomed everyone and thanked them for taking some time out of their busy schedules to attend the event. At the onset, he underlined the importance of such initiatives and need of such organizations like IAF to execute them. He updated the audience with IAF's past activities and future plannings!




Ambassador Achal K Malhotra


Ambassador Achal K Malhotra, who ended his tenure as the Ambassador of India to Armenia and Georgia in April this year congratulated IAF on organising the interactive session. He said, “IAF has done a great job so far, and I am sure that it will continue to do many more activities that will once again revive the old tradition of Indo-Armenian cultural and friendly interaction”.  Ambassador Malhotra also wished his successor, Dr. T.S. Babu a very fruitful and productive tenure in Yerevan.


 



Prof. Purushottam Agrawal


Prof. Purushottam Agrawal, who recently launched his new Book titled “Hindi Sarai: Astrakhan via Yerevan” spoke about his experiences in Yerevan which was his penultimate destination before his journey to Astrakhan in Russia. His journey inspired him to author this book, which he mentions not only as “Travelogue” but a well researched “Thoughtlogue”. He especially mentioned the great contribution of Armenian patriotic poet Yeghishe Charents in the cultural historicity of Armenia. “Armenian people are quite efficient, quite energetic and very helpful”, said the professor, recalling his days in Armenia. “I was aware of the importance of Armenia in world history, and also of the long standing cultural relations between Armenia and India”, continued the author, and went ahead to speak about the immense contribution the Armenians had on Indian culture and society.




Ambassador Designate of India to Armenia & Georgia
Dr. T. Suresh Babu


Ambassador Designate Dr. T. Suresh Babu works in the Eurasian division of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and is in charge of CIS countries, among which Armenia is one as well. While speaking of his next assignment as Ambassador of Armenia & Georgia, he recalled how he got to know about Armenia for the first time when his father took him to Armenian Bazar in Chennai. He underlined the great mutual goodwill existing between both countries and was happy to state that there is already a great existing foundation to take his work further very easily. He thanked IAF for organizing the event, which is his first official interaction with relevant group of people after being appointed as the Ambassador of India to Armenia & Georgia. “I will try my best to carry ahead the good work which Ambassador Malhotra had put up during his tenure in Armenia”, assured the newly appointed Ambassador, adding, “I will not let you down Amb Malhotra”, referring to his new responsibility in Armenia. 





Consul of Embassy of Armenia to India
Ms. Lusik Tovmasyan



Mrs. Lusik Tovmasyan, Consul of Armenian Embassy in India addressed the audience and spoke about the centuries old Indo-Armenian ties. She especially underlined the striking similarities between people of both countries. “As most Armenians in India will agree, it is very difficult for one to part away from India after staying in this country for some time”, she said, speaking about the love Armenians have for India. She also spoke about the long-standing Indo-Armenians ties, making a special mention about Mariam Zamani Begum, the Christian Armenian wife of Mughal Emperor Akbar. The Armenian Consul further wished the new Ambassador to Armenia immense success in his new task in Yerevan.

 



Warli Folk Art Painter
Ms. Babita Biswas





Renowned Warli Folk artist Mrs. Babita Biswas who was also present at the event was sharing her own memories about Armenia which she experienced during her visit to this beautiful country for her Painting Exhibition jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture of Armenia and ICCR.

Audience were invited to ask questions regarding Indo-Armenian relationship or any relevant topics. Questions were asked to both the Ambassadors, which they were more than happy to answer, making it a completely interactive event.




Mane Mkrtchyan, who is studying Hindi in India
 had some questions for the speakers

The session ended with High Tea, where the event participants got a chance to meet each other and make new friends, further tightening the Indo-Armenian Connection.

Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO wished Dr. T.Suresh Babu immense success during his tenure as Ambassador of India in Armenia.


Picture Perfect



 

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