Archive of articles - March 2004, page 10

Construction ministry to distribute EU funds

Gap between east and west deepens

No quotas for women in parliament

A QUOTA for the participation of women in politics as a temporary tool to increase their representation in parliament was rejected by MPs in a March 9 vote on the new election law.Liberal MP Jozef Heriban from the New Citizen's Alliance (ANO) party proposed the quotas, arguing that women must be helped to enter top politics, which is still a male domain.Although quotas had been discussed prior to Heriban's proposal, the idea had never won enough support under the general argument that Slovak women's chances of becoming MPs are equal to those of men, and that quotas are discriminatory.

Automotive industry exceeds expectations

Roma groups protest to Slovak embassy

Slovakia solves food-safety problems

Nuclear storage by 2030

Reader feedback: Tough times make enemies

FNM sells stake in steam-gas firm

French culture presents in Košice

US Steel offers jobs to 10 Roma

Cipár displays in Budapest

HZDS moves to sack finance minister

Bill sheds the past

SLOVAKS will see richer political parties, elections shrink to one day, and the 48-hour campaign ban erased after the parliament's amendment to the country's election act on March 9.The modernised act condenses the polling period from two days to one, a Saturday, and stretches the campaign period to 21 days.

The harvest of game hunting

REGIONAL game commissions meet each year at the beginning of March to evaluate the seasonal hunting results. Deer antlers and boar tusks are measured and weighed, and the breeding results compared with those of previous years. This all happens behind doors closed to public, but when the doors open, the public sees the results at exhibitions held around the country.One such exhibition mapping the results of the 2003 hunting season opened on March 10 at the Museum of Hungarian Culture and the Danube Area in the southern Slovak town of Komárno

Poll: referendum turnout 62.2 percent

Gašparovič: I can guarantee unity

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Ivan Gašparovič, a veteran of the Slovak political scene, started his career as a teacher at Bratislava's law school.After serving as Czechoslovakia's attorney general after the fall of the Communist regime, Gašparovič became head of the Slovak legislature in 1992. The vice-chairman of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) remained in that position until October 1998, when the first government of current PM Mikuláš Dzurinda replaced the HZDS-led coalition.

Lighten up

Chiki liki tu-aChoďte sa hrať pred vlastný vchodPublished by: Millenium RecordsPrice: Sk299Available at: www.drhorak.comIN THE world of rock and pop music, far too often bands take themselves too seriously. Make no mistake: Pop music is an art form and should be treated as such, but too often musicians buy into their own hype, focusing more on the image they feel they must uphold, or trying so hard to make "important music" or "serious artistic statements" that they forget about the sheer joy and spontaneity that inspired them to make music in the first place.

New VAT will impact the price of leasing

IT WAS mainly acts on income tax and value added tax this year that altered the conditions for individuals and businessmen financing their investments through leasing. Leasing companies hope that amendments adopted in 2003 will not have a negative impact on their market.Unifying the previous 14 and 20 percent rates of value added tax (VAT) at 19 percent should have a major influence on leasing prices.While a 1 percent drop in VAT on the lease of machinery, technologies, trucks, and commercial vehicles should be reflected in price cuts, the hike in the VAT on the leasing of cars from 14 at 19 percent should bring a price increase.