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09/22/2010
A two-day training exercise of integrated rescue forces is taking place at the Temelin nuclear power plant is south Bohemia. The exercise is to ascertain the action capability and degree of coordination of rescue operations following a simulated nuclear leak. The action will involve close to a 1,000 people operating within a twenty-kilometre radius of the power plant. It is the biggest training exercise of its kind even undertaking in the Czech Republic.
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09/22/2010
Prague City Hall has unexpectedly expressed interest in renewing talks on a new National Library building according to a controversial design by the late Czech-born, London-based architect Jan Kaplický. Mr Kaplický's avant-garde design, nicknamed the Blob, divided public opinion and plans to build it on Letná Plain were scuppered by city councillors last year. According to the daily Mladá fronta Dnes, city hall officials have now approached Kaplický’s widow with a new proposal, suggesting the Blob could be built on Letná at the site of a former giant statue of Stalin, which was pulled down in the early 1960s. Mrs. Kaplický is reportedly willing to cooperate. The paper attributes Prague City Halls’ u-turn in the matter to the upcoming local elections.
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09/22/2010
The Czech National Bank expects Czech gross domestic product to grow by 1 to 2 percent this year, the bank’s governor Miroslav Singer said in a report to the Senate on Wednesday. Next year, GDP growth should accelerate further. Mr. Singer said the bank did not expect any significant inflationary pressures and if any do appear, he said they were more likely to be caused by tax adjustments than real price growth. The central bank revised its estimate of this year's economic growth up to 1.6 percent in its latest forecast in early August from the previous 1.4 percent. For next year, the central bank left its estimate of GDP growth unchanged at 1.8 percent. In 2012 the economy should expand by 2.9 percent.
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09/22/2010
An officer of the foreigners’ police and ten Ukrainian nationals have been charged with corruption after it emerged that they were involved in a scheme of visas-for-bribes. The police had been gathering evidence against the officer since the spring during which time they documented dozens of cases in which the officer in question accepted money, gifts and alcohol in return for visas.
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09/22/2010
The Czech Statistical Office has said it plans to include homeless people in its next census. The head of the office Stanislav Drapal said there had never been any previous attempt to collect information about the country’s homeless people mainly due to the difficulties it would involve. He said the census of homeless people would be undertaken with the help of street workers and charities who had agreed to cooperate. The next census is due in March of 2011.
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09/21/2010
Czech trades unions held their first major protest against pay cuts being introduced by the centre-right coalition government on Tuesday. Police estimated participation at around 40,000. Organisers said they reckoned it was around 45,000. They had originally counted on around 20,000 union members from around the country would take part in the demonstration which got underway in Prague just before noon. Among those taking part were police officers, fire fighters and health workers.
The unions are opposed to a planned 10-percent overall reduction in the operating costs of ministries and the state sector next year. Wage costs are expected to be cut by 10 percent as part of those savings with a choice between cuts in jobs or cuts in salaries. The state sector would also cut capital investments by 5.0 percent. The recently appointed government of Prime Minister Petr Nečas aims to balance the Czech state budget by 2016. Among its priorities are reform of the country’s pension, health and third level education systems.
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09/21/2010
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Jaromír Drábek, said the demonstration by the unions was a direct result of their refusal to negotiate any changes. He said they stuck to their position that there was no need to change the status quo and also accused them of distorting the government’s saving plans. Mr. Drábek insisted that the 10 percent cut in state wage costs was a fundamental pillar of the government programme. Prime Minister Petr Nečas said the government would not be diverted from that overall target but was prepared to negotiate with the unions on details of the cost cutting.
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09/21/2010
President Václav Klaus also intervened against the demonstration by unions. The president said that the planned cuts by the government were unavoidable and the same measures were taking place across the world. They were, he said, the result of the long running irresponsible policy of politicians in spending more money than they received in revenues. He said the strike would change nothing and added that budget cuts were much more brutal in many European countries than in the Czech Republic.
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09/21/2010
Prime Minister Petr Nečas said on Tuesday that he wanted to put a constitutional change calling for government’s to balance their budgets to be put before parliament next year. A vote in support could allow it to take effect from the start of 2012, he added. The change formed one of he main election goals of the Civic Democrats at May’s elections. Even with the backing of the two other government coalition parties, the constitutional amendment would require support from the left-wing Social Democrats and Communists. The prime minister said he thought backing from ‘responsible’ members of parliament could be found from these parties.
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09/21/2010
The Czech ambassador to the European Union says that there are no reasons for strong hopes that Canada will lift its visa requirement for Czech citizens soon. Milena Vicenová made the comments in an interview with the business daily, E15. She said that the European Commission was preparing a report setting out its stand if Canada did not change its stand. Prague had a simple stance that visas be lifted or the EU take retaliatory steps such as imposing visas on Canadians, she said. Canada reimposed visas on Czechs in July 2009 following a wave of asylum applications, many of them from Roma. It has said it might drop the demand but only after its generous asylum policies are amended and that could take several years.
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