Archive of articles - February 2007, page 2

Only 23 percent of Slovak households connected to internet

Ministry plans to cut over 6,000 beds

Culture shorts

Quote of the Week:

New book introduces Slovak national bard to the English-speaking world

NOT MANY foreigners outside of academic circles have heard of Milan Rúfus, Slovakia's national bard, whose unshakeable faith helped keep the national spirit afloat during the dark decades of communism.

Mercury scare in Slovak Paradise

PREŠOV - Police from Spišská Nová Ves are combing the Veľká Biela Voda (Great White Water) creek and the surrounding area in the Slovenský Raj (Slovak Paradise) National Park for traces of mercury.

Communists in all but name

MY BEST friend at university in Toronto was Jan Cienski, a Polish emigrant who returned home in 1988/1989 for a year-long academic exchange. When he got back to Canada, and found me studying labour history (and extolling communism, and affecting a goatee), his disdain knew no bounds.

Fico blocks cuts in regional train service

Conservative Institute critical of euro-zone

Penta: Too many companies playing government's game

WITH THE accession of the left-wing Robert Fico government, Slovakia's home-grown private equity group, Penta Investments, immediately found its business plans curtailed.

Case study - health insurance

Illegal dumpers fined

Environmental inspectors found 151 cases of seriously contaminated water in samples taken from the country's rivers and lakes last year, which is 32 more than in 2005.

Supreme Court verdict a cold shower for anti-corruption forces

THE SUPREME Court's recent verdict on a lawyer who helped police uncover a corrupt colleague and was subsequently expelled from the Slovak Bar Association (SAK) will hurt the state's fight against graft, according to corruption watchdogs.

Let the courts decide

The owners of some firms who are members of the Klub 500 group of rich industrial companies have in their hands a decision by the Constitutional Court saying that the energy market regulator broke the law in 2002 in publishing energy prices for 2003 without beforehand publishing a generally binding guideline on price creation.

Vista worth the wait?

THE SLOVAK versions of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office 2007 will go on sale on March 15.For the first time ever, Microsoft will be offering a fully localized Slovak version of the Windows operating system for the Slovak market, Tomáš Koška, product manager at Microsoft Slovakia, told The Slovak Spectator.

Central bank urgently needs vice-governor

AS THE COUNTRY prepares to join the euro-zone in 2009, the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) is still without a vice-governor responsible for monetary policy. At its session on February 21 the cabinet again failed to discuss potential candidates for the post, which has now been vacant for almost a year.

Skiing conditions worsening at low altitudes

SLOVAK schoolchildren's spring vacation is usually the time of year the snow cover reaches its biggest depths in the mountains, but this year the snow's been melting in all ski resorts at altitudes below 1,300 metres. Nonetheless, ski centres are continuing to report good skiing conditions.

Gold medal winners to get pensions?

Translating Rúfus, the "grand old man" of Slovak poetry

WHEN THE BOLCHAZY-CARDUCCI publishing house in Wauconda, Illinois, USA needed expert translations for Milan Rúfus: And That's the Truth, the first bilingual edition of the great Slovak poet's work, it's no surprise it turned to James Sutherland-Smith and his wife, Viera.