News

An exoplanet is now called after a word made famous by Czech author Karel Čapek – Makropulos – the Czech Academy of Sciences reports. The word was chosen through a public competition initiated by the International Astronomical Union where any Czech citizen could send a proposition that was then reviewed by a scientific commission. Although there are already some 450 objects in space named by the Czechs who discovered them, it is the first time that the general public has had a chance to do so.

Located within the Lynx constellation, Makropulos circles a star called XO-5. The planet itself is a so-called “hot-Jupiter”, a gas giant which orbits its parent star very closely.

Some 4,500 sent name proposals, but only one out of seven was in line with the rules set out by the expert commission. The Czech Republic was not the only country to take part in the competition, 110 states altogether were each allocated an exoplanet to name.

The Czech Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Jaromír Balda to change his conviction qualification from “terrorist attack" to “public threat", Czech Television reported on Wednesday. The 71–year–old man was convicted of terrorism after seeking to derail a train by cutting two trees onto the tracks. His aim was to create the impression in Czech society that Muslim immigrants were behind the attack, but the attempt failed. Mr Balda originally faced the prospect of five to 15 years in jail, but was only given a four year sentence, due to diminished sanity.

The largest Czech online supermarket Rohlik.cz has opened up a new online food store in Hungary. Called Kifli.hu, the website offers foodstuff deliveries in Budapest and the surrounding area. The founder of Rohlik.cz, entrepreneur Tomáš Čupr, says it is one of the most important events in the company’s history and hopes the new website will become the number one online food delivery store in Budapest within a year.

Mr Čupr founded Rohlik.cz in 2014. The company is currently active in seven Czech cities and has served over 1 million customers.

Events commemorating the eighth anniversary since the death of dissident, playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel are took place across many cities across the Czech Republic this Wednesday.

In Prague, people were able to light a candle and listen to readings from Havel’s works on Jungmanovo Square. Later, a special mass in honour of the former president was heard in the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. In the evening several other events remembering Havel took place across the city, including a march to Prague Castle and speeches from Václav Havel’s friends and colleagues. Events were also taking place in regional cities such as České Budějovice and Ustí nad Labem.

Václav Havel died on December 18, 2011, at his country house in the village of Hrádeček located in the north east of Bohemia. He is seen as the icon of the Velvet Revolution which ended communism 30 years ago and served as president for three consecutive terms.