Archive of articles - June 2013, page 5
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Viva Musica! festival brings classical music and jazz to the streets
THE VIVA Musica! festival has become a summer fixture on Bratislava’s cultural calendar. This year’s festival, the ninth, brings – as did the previous ones – classical, jazz and world music and their crossovers to various sites in Bratislava, including open-air venues and free concerts.
Paying via mobile
MOBILE phones are complex devices that should make our lives easier, at least according to their makers and boosters. And this vision is in some ways coming to fruition, partly with the involvement of Slovak firms. In late May an application designed by a local technology company that enables payments via mobile phones, was launched in Slovakia.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Minorities cook traditional meals in Šamorín
FOOD is one of the best ways to help people learn about other cultures and traditions, and the Pre Šamorín / For Šamorín civic association, which organised its first year of the Festival of Culinary Traditions of Ethnic Minorities in Šamorín, seeks to do just that.
New foreigners’ police office opens in Bratislava
WAITING times and queues at Bratislava’s foreigners’ police department, which have become notorious among foreigners living in the capital and its surroundings, could be cut after the office opened a new office in early June.
Hurbanovo shooting one year on
HURBANOVO made headlines in the Slovak media once again in mid-June, as the small town in the south of Slovakia, along with the entire country, marked a tragic anniversary. One year ago on June 16, a police officer killed three people and injured two others in what has since become known as the Hurbanovo shooting spree.
Kaliňák’s public administration reform takes its next step
THE GOVERNMENT is promoting its plans for public administration reform under the name Effective, Reliable and Open State Administration (ESO), arguing that the public will end up dealing with a slimmer, cheaper and more effective system as a result. As of October this year 72 district state offices will emerge, taking on the responsibilities of 50 regional offices and 248 local state administration bodies that are now slated for closure following parliament’s June 19 approval of the law on local state administration arrangements, the SITA newswire reported.
Nitra Cathedral’s 350-year-old stone altar has been moved
A UNIQUE medieval fresco in Nitra’s Saint Emeram’s Cathedral, depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, was discovered in 2012 behind an early Baroque altar. An international expert committee subsequently agreed to keep the fresco in place, and to relocate the Altar of the Descent from the Cross, which dates back to 1662, to another section of the church.
Lighter penalty for medical workers
PUNISHMENTS for medical workers who refuse to come to work during a state of emergency will not be as high as originally proposed. The parliamentary constitutional committee accepted President Ivan Gašparovič’s proposal to decrease the time during which they would lose their registration with their respective professional chambers from 10 years to two.
Law on minimum wage for nurses ruled unconstitutional
A LAW authorising an increase in the minimum salaries of nurses and midwives is at odds with the Slovak constitution, according to the ruling passed by the Constitutional Court in a non-public proceeding held on June 19.
Zvolen Technical University grows forest in virtual cave
A UNIQUE research hall built on the premises of the Technical University in Zvolen, containing experiment stations, a prototyping laboratory and the so-called virtual cave, was ceremonially opened on June 7.
Grandwood withdraws its investment plans
THE €42-MILLION Grandwood project to construct a wood processing plant in eastern Slovakia was seen as a life preserver to help the region combat its high unemployment. The project, however, ended before it even got off the ground, leaving behind a cloud of suspicions of attempted fraud.
Crisis has united member states, says Van Rompuy
COUNTRIES usually have their own tempo and follow their own political pace, but in the case of some very important events which might affect them all they are able to stick together. This has been the case in the economic crisis which has shaken the European Union wide awake and forced it to rebound, according to Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, speaking during a recent visit to Bratislava.
OSCE warns of judicial pressure on media
THE JUDICIARY putting pressure on the media is the biggest threat to freedom of the press in Slovakia, a major international organisation has recently noted.
PANORAMA CITY breaks records
Since the sale of flats in the tallest residential towers in Slovakia started last March, 338 buyers have chosen to live in Panorama City. More than half of the 606 flats were sold in less than three months.
Adopting a duck can help Roma children
THE DIVÉ Maky / Wild Poppies civic association trains and educates talented, young Roma and helps them to find a place on the labour market. Each year, it organises a summer academy, an intensive training and rehearsal, which culminates in the Gypsy Bashavelin, a traditional festival during which the young Roma present what they have learned.
Rules for reporting residence remain the same
THE LATEST amendment to the Act on Reporting Citizens’ Residencies, requiring people travelling abroad for more than three months to report their stays to the government under the threat of punishment, launched a wave of criticism among citizens. They immediately began updating their statuses about their whereabouts on social networks to ridicule the change, and flooded the Interior Ministry, the author of the changes, with emails. More than 2,200 people also signed a petition, initiated by a group of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MPs and members of the non-parliamentary Civic Conservative Party (OKS), in which they called on the president not to sign the bill into law.
Court sends Slovakia’s first eco-terrorist behind bars for 25 years
THE FIRST Slovak to be convicted of terrorism is 33-year-old Ladislav K. from Košice.
Questioning the usage of personal information
THE DEBATE over internet privacy has become ever more heated in the wake of recently published stories about alleged cooperation between the US intelligence service and private companies. The story was broken by British daily The Guardian, which received a leaked document prepared by the US National Security Agency (NSA) that describes the secret PRISM programme, which grants the agency direct access to the internet giants’ servers.
Puppet festival offers entertainment for adults too
THE BRATISLAVA Puppet Theatre’s (BBD) biennial international festival took a new approach this year: it targeted some of its performances at adult audiences.
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The compass points to Kúty, and people are starting to follow
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
