• September 1st means "back to school"
    09/01/2005

    September 1st meant "back to school" for 1.4 million Czech pupils, after their two-month summer holiday. This year some 88,500 entered the first grade, while around 139,000 students began high school. Education Minister Petra Buzkova paid a visit to a primary school in the Central Bohemian town of Melnik, while Czech president Vaclav Klaus visited two schools in the South Bohemian town of Pisek.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Czech Radio launches new station
    09/01/2005

    Czech Radio has launched a new 24-hour station specialising in programmes about science, technology, and nature. Called "Leonardo", the station now broadcasts on the internet and as of October along with other Czech Radio stations it will be available in digital form in the DVB-T system. Leonardo is one of Czech Radio's four digital projects, along with the news station "Radio Cesko", the classical music channel "D dur" and a youth channel due to start broadcasting at the end of 2005.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Czech Cabinet approves much-awaited bankruptcy bill
    08/31/2005

    The Czech government has approved a bankruptcy bill that should facilitate bankruptcies and increase creditors' powers. The Czech Republic has long been criticised for its existing bankruptcy legislation with proceedings dragging on for years and creditors in the end receiving only 17 percent of their claims, the lowest percentage in the EU. Bankruptcies in the Czech Republic by far exceed settlement with creditors. Some 4,000 petitions for bankruptcy are filed every year in the Czech Republic, while the cases of settlement number just several dozen.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Cabinet ministers demand 61 billion crowns over state budget proposal
    08/31/2005

    The Finance Ministry has announced that government ministers are demanding 61 billion crowns (2.5 billion dollars) more than has been approved in the state budget proposal for 2006. In July the cabinet approved a draft budget with a deficit of 76.4 billion crowns. The cabinet is expected to approve the state budget bill for 2006 in September. After that, the bill will go to the lower house of parliament.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Czech Gripen fleet complete
    08/31/2005

    The last two Jas-39 Gripen supersonic fighter jets ordered by the Czech government from Sweden have arrived in the Czech Republic, completing the replacement of the country's ageing fleet of Soviet MiGs. The Gripens will be leased for 10 years for almost 20 billion crowns (850 million dollars), after which the country has an option to buy them or return them to Sweden. The Czech Republic is the first NATO country to employ Gripens in its air-force. Hungary will start using them next year. Poland opted for US F-16s and Slovakia will modernise Russian-made MiG-29s.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Leading American scholar of Czech theatre dies at age 78
    08/31/2005

    The leading American scholar of Czech theatre, Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University at Albany, Jarka Burian, has died at the age of 78 in the United States. Jarka Burian was born in 1927 to a Czech family living in New York. He served at the University of Albany from 1955 to 1993, and also taught at Cornell, Berkeley and a number of other universities. He published many books on Czech theatre. His work "Modern Czech Theatre: Reflector and Conscience of a Nation", published in 2000, was described as the definitive historical and critical study of Czech theatre of the last century."
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Prague's astronomical clock to undergo maintenance work
    08/31/2005

    The famous astronomical clock on Prague's Old Town Square will be out of order for a couple of months. From September to mid-November experts will carry out maintenance work on the clockwork, dial and the decorative wooden statues. The cost of the repair work is estimated at 2.5 million crowns (100,000 dollars). The clock was made in the 15th century by clockmakers Mikulas of Kadan and Hanus of Ruze.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Education Minister Petra Buzkova to quit politics next year
    08/30/2005

    The minister of education, Petra Buzkova, says she is leaving politics and will not stand for the Social Democrats in elections next summer. She made the announcement in an interview in Tuesday's Pravo. Ms Buzkova, who is 39, has been one of the country's most popular politicians in recent years. She was appointed education minister, her first cabinet post, in July 2002.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Republic puts back target date for euro adoption
    08/30/2005

    The Czech Republic is aiming to adopt the euro currency in 2010, the Finance Ministry has announced. Previously it said the target date was between 2009 and 2010. The country looks set to meet conditions for joining the eurozone in 2008, when the public finance deficit should fall below 3 percent of GDP.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Terror attack exercise planned for Prague Metro
    08/30/2005

    An exercise aimed at dealing with the possible consequences of a terrorist bombing on the Prague Metro system is to be held next month, Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. Around 120 people will play distressed and injured passengers in the exercise, which will take place in the early hours of Friday September 23rd.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages