Archive of articles - July 2009, page 10

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Two more cases of H1N1 flue confirmed in Slovakia

Tests have confirmed two more cases of the novel flu infection in Slovakia, bringing the total number of people who have been infected with the H1N1 virus to over twenty, the SITA newswire reported on July 6.

7. jul 2009

Slovakia ranks below average in transport infrastructure

Slovakia ranked an overall 46th among 121 countries in the Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on July 7, as reported by the TASR newswire.

7. jul 2009

Slovak student wins top design competition

A Slovak undergraduate student from the Woodworking Faculty of the Technical University in Zvolen has won an International Design Award in a prestigious student competition launched by global furniture and accessories manufacturer Hettich. Victorious over 1,600 other ideas from around the world, Lukáš Priečka’s Transfoarmchair, an interactive armchair, was chosen in the category of intelligent furniture, the TASR newswire wrote. The chair, which currently only exists as a design concept, is projected to reach the product market no earlier than 2030. The chair would be able to change shape, transforming itself through the agency of a magnetic field, controlled by voice.

7. jul 2009

Salary expectations dip during the economic downturn

Salary expectations of job-seekers have dropped over the past three months by 1 percent, as the average expected pay went down from €760 in the first quarter of this year to €756 in the second quarter, Lucia Burianová of Profesia, which runs the job portal Profesia.sk, told the TASR newswire on Monday, July 6.

7. jul 2009

Christian Democrats’ chair tells PM Fico to dump SNS or apologise to Slota

If Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico didn't mean his statement that Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman Ján Slota has illegally enriched himself while his party is in the governing coalition, he should apologise; if he did mean it, he should kick SNS out of the coalition, said Christian Democrats (KDH) party leader Pavol Hrušovský on Monday, July 6, as reported by the TASR newswire.

7. jul 2009

Slovak President Gašparovič signs bill on Specialised Criminal Court

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič signed the bill to establish a Specialised Criminal Court (STS) which will be based in Pezinok, north of Bratislava. The Specialised Criminal Court will commence on the day that the Slovak Constitutional Court's ruling abolishing Slovakia’s previous Special Court is published in the Legal Code, the TASR newswire wrote.

7. jul 2009

NGO says quality of democracy in Slovakia got worse

A Slovak NGO, the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), said that the quality of democracy in Slovakia received a grade of 3.3 from it on the scale from one to five in the second quarter of 2009. The grade is based on an IVO project called Barometer and the second quarter was worse than the first quarter of this year when the overall grade was 3.1. In previous quarters it was 2.9, 2.8 and 2.6, the organisation said at a press conference on July 6, the SITA newswire wrote.

6. jul 2009

Slovaks celebrate Saints Cyril and Methodius on July 5

Christians from all over Slovakia came to Nitra on July 5, the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius and a national holiday in Slovakia, to pray at sites visited by the two saints more than 1,100 years ago, the TASR newswire reported.

6. jul 2009

HZDS chairman Mečiar rates his party’s vice-chairs

Vice-chairs of the junior governing coalition party HZDS – Jozef Habánik, Peter Sika and Barbora Straková – have entered the Slovak political scene with the aim of assuming power in Slovakia in the future, the head of HZDS, Vladimír Mečiar, told the TASR newswire on Sunday, July 5, reacting to claims that the new generation of party vice-chairs is too bland.

6. jul 2009

Slovaks dominate second round of the water slalom World Championship

The second round of the World Championship in wild-water slalom being held in Čunovo, nearby Bratislava, was capped with many victories by members of the Slovak team on their home turf. Of the five finals categories, Slovaks won four, and the finals in the single canoe was an absolute Slovak sweep, the TASR newswire wrote.

6. jul 2009

Lunik IX, mainly Roma borough of Košice.

Life in Luník IX brings us together

JANETTA Slepčíková, a cultural employee of the city office in Košice, leads a small Roma group called Hviezdička (Little Star). With her husband and children she lives in a flat at Luník IX, a neighbourhood with the highest concentration of Roma inhabitants in all of Slovakia. Just before her graduation from secondary school for arts her parents decided to leave the country along with the whole family; they returned 13 years later. Janetta, now trying to catch up on what she missed in her education, tells her life story.

6. jul 2009

German-owned companies or companies with German investors in Slovakia

Allianz - Slovenská Poisťovňa, www.allianzsp.skBayer, www.bayer.skContinental Matador Rubber, www.matador.skHenkel Slovensko, www.henkel.skLanxess, www.lanxess.skOsram, www.osram.skPrvá Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.pss.skRajo, www.rajo.skRödl & Partner, www.roedl.skSAP Slovensko, www.sap.skSiemens, www.siemens.skSlovak Telekom, www.slovaktelekom.skSPP, www.spp.skT-Systems Slovakia, www.t-systems.skVolkswagen Slovakia, www.volkswagen.skVýchodoslovenská Energetika, www.vse.skZápadoslovenská Energetika, www.zse.sk

Compiled by Spectator staff 6. jul 2009

Germany this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Iron Curtain's fall.

Cultural links with Germany are strong

THANKS to the geographical closeness of Slovakia to German-speaking countries, Germany as well as Austria, many Slovaks speak German and the exchange of cultures is vibrant and intense. In Slovakia, the biggest promoter of the German language and German culture in the broadest sense of the word is the Goethe Institute.

Jana Liptáková 6. jul 2009

Membership of the eurozone has brought benefits to Slovakia.

Automotive and energy industries remain at the centre

GERMANY is traditionally Slovakia’s biggest trade partner and is one of its largest investors. The economic crisis has slowed down trade and reduced the German appetite to make investments right now, but despite this Slovakia remains a popular destination for German investments thanks to its tax system and educated labour force as well as good business opportunities in the automotive industry and the energy sector. Adoption of the euro in 2009 has added another shining point to draw investors and entrepreneurs into Slovakia.

Jana Liptáková 6. jul 2009

Pilier

PILLARS are usually built to hold, underpin or sustain, but rarely are they meant to be closed and opened. Doors have been invented for this purpose.

Lukáš Fila 6. jul 2009

Positive attitude to euro grows

THE GOVERNMENT’S plenipotentiary for euro adoption, Igor Barát, believes that by joining the eurozone at the beginning of 2009 Slovakia managed two achievements not reached by other countries which had adopted the euro.

Compiled by Spectator staff 6. jul 2009

The main altar of the Church of St. Jacob, the highest gothic altar in the world, is made of linden wood without any nails and it's 18.52 metres high.

Levoča – the newest UNESCO jewel

GOOD news came from the Spanish city of Seville to the little Slovak town of Levoča on June 28 when a selection committee decided that the town and the stunning works of its famous carver and sculptor, Master Pavol, would be included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Michaela Terenzani 6. jul 2009

Man with life sentence released

JAROSLAV P., sentenced to life in prison as part of an alleged criminal group from eastern Slovakia lead by Róbert Ó. was freed on June 24, the SITA newswire wrote. The Slovak Supreme Court could have left him behind bars but it missed the deadline to prolong his custody.

Compiled by Spectator staff 6. jul 2009