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12/21/2009
The Czech government on Monday approved a scheme to co-subsidize fruits and vegetables for primary school children within a broader effort to combat problems with obesity. According to the results of a European survey Czech children are the ninth fattest on the continent. Experts blame this on below-standard-nutrition in schools and a lack of physical activity. The free fruit-and-veg scheme for school children is voluntary and will be financed in part from EU funds, in part from a 20 million government subsidy. The government is also subsidizing milk for school children, but only about half of the country’s primary schools have requested it.
Teachers at a loss over some kids view that communism was “fine” A team of specialists from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes which cooperates with schools on projects and lectures relating to the country’s communist history said that many teachers they had worked with were at a loss over how to deal with some kids’ belief that communism was “ok” or “fine”. The head of the team, Jaroslav Pinkas said schoolchildren picked up this view from their parents and admitted that teachers were in a difficult position correcting it. He said the team’s advice was to deliver the facts and call on specialists for help. Some schools are inviting communist prisoners to visit classrooms and talk about their past.
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12/21/2009
An Interior Ministry report says the need to pass a Czech language test has reduced the number of foreigners who apply for permanent residence in the Czech Republic. The report, which was presented to the cabinet on Monday, says that hundreds of applicants who fulfill all the other criteria don’t turn up for the exam because of poor language skills. Since the compulsory language test was introduced a year ago, 3,800 applicants have turned up for it, with an 80 percent success rate. Czech is generally perceived as a very difficult language, especially for people who are not of Slav origin. Examiners say there have been attempts to bribe them and some foreigners even sent a double.
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12/21/2009
Although the Czech Republic is regarded as one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, an opinion survey conducted by the STEM polling agency suggests that 39 percent of Czechs will attend Christmas mass. Thirty-two percent of the population identify themselves as “believers”, with forty percent of those being older than 60.
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12/21/2009
The Czech gas company Česká plynarenská will start building a gas pipeline to Austria in the spring, the business weekly Euro wrote in its latest issue out on Monday. The completion of the pipeline, which should be called Mozart, is scheduled for 2013. Česká plynárenská, which imports Norwegian gas to the Czech Republic, wants to build gas storage tanks with a capacity of 400 to 500 million cubic meters and connect them to Austrian gas pipeline West-Austria-Gasleitung owned by the OMV concern.
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12/20/2009
A bout of freezing cold weather has claimed the lives of seven people in the Czech Republic, five in the last week alone. The authorities have urged people not to underestimate the risk and a boatel for the homeless on the Vltava river said it still had around 50 vacancies a night. However most shelters do not provide accommodation during the day, leaving homeless people to fend for themselves in minus ten degree temperatures. Hospitals report an increase in the number of patients with frostbite, saying not all of them are homeless people.
Meteorologists reported record night time lows of minus 26,5 in the Šumava mountains and have warned drivers not to set out for southern Bohemia without winter tyres, shovels and chains. The weather has caused traffic problems around the country. A thaw is expected mid-week.
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12/20/2009
Four Northern White rhinos from the Dvur Králové Zoo have arrived safely in the Ol Pejeta reserve in central Kenya where they will be set free in a last-ditch attempt to save the rare species from extinction. The four rhinos are half the known population left in the world and have had problems breeding in captivity, with only one birth reported in the last ten years. Zoologists are hoping that their return to the wild will spur mating. The decision to move the rhinos has aroused criticism from some animal rights activists who say the plan puts the animals at risk because they have spent all of their lives in very different conditions than those they will now experience in Africa.
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12/20/2009
Caretaker Prime Minister Jan Fisher has called for greater fiscal discipline, stressing the need to keep next year’s budget deficit under 5.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Speaking on a panel debate on Czech television, the prime minister strongly criticized the efforts of left-wing parties to dismantle the cost-cutting measures proposed by the cabinet. After pushing through proposals for increased spending in the public and agriculture sectors, the Social Democrats are now planning to fight for higher illness subsidies, maternity benefits and a so-called 13th salary, an annual Christmas bonus in the public sector.
Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek has suggested politicians lower the deficit in other ways such as cutting back on unnecessary trips abroad and reviewing the high bonuses paid to the managers of state-owned companies. The right-wing Civic Democrats have urged the cabinet to fight for its austerity measures.
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12/20/2009
The Cabinet will meet on Monday to decide the fate of a number of Czech embassies and consulates around the world which have been slated for closure within cost-cutting measures stemming from the economic crisis. According to a decision made in October the country should close down its embassies in Angola, Zimbabwe, Columbia, Canada and Brazil as well as its consulate in Sydney, Australia. The planned move has evoked a wave of protests, particularly as concerns the closure of the consulate in Sydney. The cabinet also came under fire from the foreign affairs committee in the Chamber of Deputies for failing to consult the decision.
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12/20/2009
Caretaker Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Sunday dismissed speculation that he would remain in politics after the next general elections in May of 2010. The former head of the Czech Statistical Office, who took over after the fall of the centre-right government of Mirek Topolanek in May of this year, enjoys a high rate of public support and there has been speculation that he might be persuaded to take up a political career full-time. Mr. Fischer told Czech public television that he had no intention of joining any party and would return to his former profession when his tenure as caretaker prime minister expires.
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12/20/2009
The police have arrested a foreign national who is believed to have operated a phishing scheme targeting an unnamed US bank. The man is suspected of having siphoned off thousands of dollars from clients’ accounts, and deposited some of it in a Czech bank in view of purchasing gold in the country. The police were alerted to the suspicious transactions by the Finance Ministry.
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