CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA School of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 C.S.F.R. e-mail address: CAROLINA@CSEARN.BITNET *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 55, Friday, December 23, 1992. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We are apologizing for late distribution of this Carolina be cause of technical reason - the main computer node CSEARN was for last three days disabeled. editors ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FROM LAST WEEK'S EVENTS (December 16-23) The Last Meeting of the Federal Government The government sees no reason to resign. The Czech and Slovak Federative Republic ceases to exist on December 31, 1992, and so do all federal bodies. This was stated on Saturday, after the last regular meeting of the Federal Government before the end of the common state, by Deputy Prime Minister Milan Cic. The Czech Republic's Budget The 1992 budget, the first budget of the independent Czech Republic, was approved by the Czech National Council on Saturday. The budget is balanced, both revenues and expenditures should reach 342.2 billion crowns (in USA and Canada billion = thousand millions). The inflation in the next year is projected at 15 and 17 per cent, and unemployment rate between four and five per cent. The largest sources of revenues should be the value-added tax (88.4 billion crowns), income tax (87.2 billion), and sales tax (38 billion). Social insurance premiums should make 97.1 billion. Social security, including state-administered employment policies, are expected to require 118 billion crowns in expenditures. New Salaries of the Functionaries Along with the budget, the Czech National Council approved an act regulating the salaries of public functionaries. The basic monthly salary of a Member of Parliament is raised from 7 to 13 thousand crowns, the allowance for work-related expenditures is 7,000 crowns. The basic salary of the Speaker of Parliament and of the Prime Minister is 31,000 crowns, that of a Minister, 25,000, and of the President, 85,000 crowns. President's work-related allowance is 90,000 crowns. The Ceremonial Inauguration of the Czech State On January 1, 1993, on the first day of the new Czech state, ecumenical services will be held in St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle at 16:00 hours. Representatives of main Christian churches will meet there. At 13:00 hours, Premier V. Klaus and the Chairman of the Czech National Council M. Uhde will make appearances at a ceremonial meeting of the Czech Republic Parliament in the Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle. In the evening of the same day, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Smetana's symphony My Country (Ma vlast) in the Rudolfinum Concert Hall. Silence means consent states the proclamation of the actor association in the reaction of actors and some other artists to the publication of the so-called List of Jews and Half-breeds in the weekly Politika. The closing down of the newspaper by its own editor-in-chief cannot be considered a permanent solution according to the signatories of the proclamation. That is why they are requesting that the parliament and its chairman, the Prime Minister, all ministers, and Attorney General all state unequivocally their position to the appalling affair. Hundreds of citizens are signing the proclamation that is going to be read at the beginning of theatre shows. If need be, protest marches are planned. The letters in support of the proclamation can be sent at the following address: Herecka asociace, Gorkeho nam. 13, 112 82 Praha 1, Czechoslovakia (? Czech Republic). Weather As we have gotten used to in the cities, Christmas will be again without snow. During the night the temperature dips below freezing, while during the day it climbs above zero and so it is only raining. In the mountains, though, people can cool their heads after New Year Eve celebration in about half a meter of snow. Czech Christmas There are many customs and traditions associated with Christmas. Some of them have been long forgotten and some are surviving only in the rural parts of the country. Although in the cities Christmas is mostly associated with TV and an abundance of good food, a majority of homes brandishes a trimmed Christmas tree under which the presents can be found on Christmas Eve on December 24. The poor carp will move from the soothing bath tub to the not-so-soothing frying pan to complement the potato salad at the Christmas Eve dinner. After the dinner impatient children can at long last unwrap their presents. Christian church-goers then celebrate Christ's birthday at the midnight mass. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear subscribers, year 1992 is approaching its end. You may have noticed that we fulfilled some of your requests - we have included a sport column and a currency exchange table. We are planning some other improvements for the next year. We shall strive to keep reporting on important events in Slovakia and for that end we have established contacts with the University of Bratislava. We would like to thank the readers who have followed the events in Czechoslovakia with us for their support, especially those who either contributed some columns or helped with English translations. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 1993! + * *** ***** ******* I --- translation: Franya Franek (franya@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca) and Slavek Kovarik (KOVARIK@MCMASTER.BITNET) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. To subscribe to CAROLINA you have to send the e-mail message on the address LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET. The text of the message is: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name for the english version or SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name for the czech version. Tu delete your subscription from the list you should send the message to LISTSERV: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS