Mailbox
Today's topics: Czech standpoint on Iraq. Olga Szantova. Care for the disabled. Electricity generation. Czech exports. Sports. Today's quotes from: Garth Tramas, Michael Stevenson, Hemant Sahay, Muhammad Shamim.
Well, a lot has happened in the past few days, there is a war in the Middle East and I think I'm right in saying that it is the number one topic discussed around the world.
But to our surprise, we have not received much mail referring to this development. In fact, there has only been one question. It's from Garth Tramas who listens to us in Hungary. He asks:
"To be quite honest, I still have not understood your country's view on the war on Iraq. Whose side are you on? Are you siding with the United States or with your neighbor, Germany?"
Well, Mr Tramas. I guess it depends on whether you ask the people or the government. A recent public opinion poll suggested that the majority of Czechs, 71 percent, are against the war with Iraq. Then you have political commentators who are divided over the issue but all stress that both the media and the government had not done enough to present both sides of the argument. Most Czechs believe it's all about oil but do not know anything about the developments of relations with Iraq since the Gulf War in 1991 to get a clear picture and make a sound judgement - that's what commentators claim.
On the political level, opinions again are divided. Parliament passed a resolution which allowed for United States troop movement on the territory of the Czech Republic and for the deployment and reinforcement of Czech anti-chemical troops currently based in Kuwait, but only if either the United Nations Security Council approved such an intervention or Iraq uses weapons of mass destruction.
Well, the UN Security Council did not approve military attack and so the Czech government was forced to sit down and think what side it was going to be on. It chose to support the United States and its allies but stressing that Czech soldiers will not be a part of military operation. In other words, the anti-chemical unit in Kuwait would only become involved if humanitarian aid was needed or Iraq used chemical or biological weapons.
But now, for the rest of the programme, let's focus on other topics.
And many of you have been writing us asking about Olga Szantova. I said that I will be hosting the programme with Dita until Olga returns. Well, it's been a few months and many of you have been worried about Olga's state of health. For example, Mr Michael Stevenson writes us from Port Macquarie, in NSW, Australia. He asks:
"What has happened to Olga Szantova, I have not heard her voice on Radio Prague for a long time and the last I read about her was on your web site many months ago and there was a mention that she was ill."
First of all, thank you for your concern. Olga has been very ill and is currently undergoing treatment that has been exhausting and tiring. But I spoke to her yesterday to tell her about your letters and she sends her regards and says she misses the Mailbox programme and is looking forward to coming back to it.
Unfortunately, we can't say for sure when that will be but so far Olga does plan to come back.
In fact, she comes in once in a while to look through your mail and answer a few questions.
Hemant Sahay, from Bihar in India is the secretary of the club named THE COSMOS CLUB which has more than 50 active members. Mr Sahay has been writing in with great interest in the Czech culture and living standards, comparing them to conditions in India. He writes:
"There are huge populations in the whole world who are handicapped. In India, about 1.9 percent of the entire population are disabled - they cannot see, hear, speak or walk properly. The number of disabled people living in rural areas is higher than those in the urban areas. The Indian government has taken steps for the welfare of handicapped persons, such as programs for employment and vocational training, programs for rehabilitation and more. I would like to know how many people are affected in your country and what measures your government has taken in this connection?"
According to the Czech Association for the Disabled, which has been formed to help any Czech citizen suffering from a disability, some 1.2 million Czechs are affected. This sounds like a very high number for a country that has a population of over ten million but the number includes those who's disabilities do not necessarily affect them in a drastic way.
A lot has changed as far as their care is concerned. Since the fall of Communism, during which the handicapped were almost isolated, the government has been launching campaigns and projects to make the lives of the disabled more comfortable and integrate them into society. With preparations for EU membership, the number of such projects has also risen significantly. Services that are common to the western world, such as access to public places for the disabled - one simple example is public transportation - was rare ten years ago but have improved dramatically in last few years, making it easier for the handicapped to live more independently.
We have three questions from another listener in India. Mr Muhammad Shamim from Kerala State wants to know:
"How does the Czech Republic generate its electricity, what are the country's major exports and what are the most popular sports in the Czech Republic?"
Naturally, after the fall of Communism in 1989, the country's economy experienced great transformation with sector privatisation, market liberalisation and technology growth. This attracted foreign companies. Although the government postponed the privatisation process a few times, foreign strategic investors continued to show high interest in energy distribution utilities, as well as in the acquisition of heat and electricity generation plants.
But to answer your first question, most of the capacity of the generation of electricity is owned by the power utility CEZ, which actually was the country's monopoly electricity producer. Today, the rest is owned by independent producers, mainly large industrial companies and heat producers. Most electricity, over 70%, is generated from fossil fuel and the rest from hydro plants and nuclear plants.
The country's industry mainly includes metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, and glass. It's biggest exports therefore are machinery and transport equipment, followed by intermediate manufactures, and then chemicals, raw materials and fuel.
As far as the most popular sports question is concerned, we kind of answered this question in last week's Mailbox when we talked about the popularity of hockey and football. But since we are talking about hockey, I have to add that the playoffs are currently taking place in the Czech Republic. There are four teams left and two of them are both from Prague, they are Sparta and Slavia. I personally can't wait to see one of these games.
Another interesting sport which is quite popular in the Czech Republic is 'nohejbal', which in English is called football-tennis. It is a sport which is played on court with a raised tennis net, higher than in tennis but lower than in volleyball. The sport is played with a football and players use their legs to hit the ball. Sounds a little strange but it's quite popular in the Czech Republic. As far as I know it is also played in Slovakia, Austria, Norway, and Hungary.
Well, that's where we end today's programme. Please keep the letters coming and don't hesitate to send in your comments about our programmes.
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Happy listening!
