Archive of articles - January 2005, page 2

Csáky requests EC funding to clean up Tatras

Ski Window

SNOW now covers most of Slovakia, and some areas in the North have received almost one metre of fresh snow. Resorts above the treeline such as Chopok Juh (South) and Lomnické sedlo are reporting record amounts: 250 to 300 cms. New snow has also increased the avalanche danger in some mountains to level 4 and there's a level 5 alert in the Veľká Fatra, so be careful if you decide to ski off trail and always enlist the services of a certified Slovak mountain guide.

NBS will attempt to slow crown

Industry emits distress

BIG industry is seriously concerned about national carbon dioxide (CO2) emission quotas. The amount given to Slovakia by the European Commission is 14 percent lower than what Slovakia requested in its National Allocation Plan for 2005-2007.Industrial manufacturers say reduced CO2 emission allowances will put an unbearable burden on Slovak industry, especially those in the metallurgy, concrete and energy production sectors. They say the situation will have a serious impact on employment.The Environment Minister resolutely dismisses their claims.

Reader feedback: Bottling as enjoyment

Finance Ministry blames Mečiar cabinets

Parliament approves Barto as NBS deputy

Get down - with Downtown

THE ESTEEMED Slovak interpreter of blues-rock classics, René Lacko, takes his Downtown band through five Slovak towns in February.The self-taught guitarist/vocalist from Handlová is by now a well-established presence on the Slovak music scene. He launched his career a decade ago playing Jimi Hendrix classics, travelling as far as North Carolina where he took second place at the 1996 Jimi Hendrix Memorial Festival

Judge's office raided

Sledging Slovak style

KRŇAČKY, krnohy, krnohe, krnaky, krne - these are all variations describing the same thing - a traditional wooden sledge used by woodcutters for transporting logs out of remote forests.Nowadays machinery does the job krňačky used to, but for the past 40 years or so, this remarkable means of transport is now used by sporting folk looking for an adrenaline rush.

Reader feedback: Gemer comes closest

Europe remembers

THE WORLD looked back on one of its darkest periods in history this month - the Holocaust. January 27 marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in Poland.The UN General Assembly held a session January 24 to mark the liberation anniversary. The session was the first of its kind in the history of the UN General Assembly.Six million European Jews (out of a population of nine million) were exterminated during the Holocaust. Millions of others - mostly Poles, Roma and Soviet prisoners - were taken to labour camps and perished in Eastern Europe.

Entrepreneurs bet on Šamorín

SEVERAL Italian small- and medium-sized companies are expected to set up shop this year in Šamorín, a small town near Bratislava. Once the industrial park moves in, the 12,500-strong village will be virtually transformed.Today, Šamorín suffers from a shortage of jobs. The unemployment rate stands between 9 and 10 percent - twice as high as in the nearby Slovak capital. The majority of those who do have jobs commute to Bratislava.According to Mayor Károly Domsitz of Šamorín, once the Italians move in, things will start looking up.

Quote of the Week

Break the silence, shatter the quiet

"There were many ways of not burdening one's conscience, of shunning responsibility, looking away, keeping mum. When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust then became known at the end of the war, all too many of us claimed that we had not known anything about it or even suspected anything."- Richard von WeizsaeckerSOME say that nations are destined to repeat their mistakes if they do not find answers to nagging questions or learn from past mistakes. But "mistake" is far too weak, far too general and insufficient, to describe certain historical events.

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

BRATISLAVAWESTERN SLOVAKIACENTRAL SLOVAKIAPrepared by Jana Liptáková

Eating out for tsunami relief

THE INTERNATIONAL Women's Club, in cooperation with the People in Peril Association (Človek v Ohrození), has organized a fundraising event to support the relief effort in South East Asia, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004.On February 10, from 18:00 until closing, participating restaurants will be donating a portion of each diner's bill. The money will benefit the tsunami victims via People in Peril.

Šramko nominated for IMF and EBRD

Strečno

STREČNO is one of Slovakia's most spectacular castles. Since the 13th century it has looked out over the deep gorge through which the river Váh flows.The castle's fate was sealed thanks to its best-known owner, Ferenc (František) Wesselényi, a major anti-Habsburg conspirator. The emperor's soldiers seized and seriously damaged Strečno in 1674.But just like every other Slovak castle, Strečno kept its secret - Zsófiának Bosnyák (Žofia Bošniaková), Wesselényi's departed wife.