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 CZECH REPUBLIC Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 165, Friday, June 23, 1995. EVENTS FOR THE WEEK JUNE 14-21, 1995 Railroad Strike Called Off at Last Minute After negotiations with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Minister of Transport Jan Strasky Tuesday evening, Czech railroad unions called off a strike that had been scheduled to begin just after midnight. According to the media, Klaus agreeed in writing to change the members of the Czech Railroads (CD) board of directors and to raise monthly wages an average of 840 Kc starting in September (preceded by a 680 Kc raise as of July 1). On Wednesday, the government dismissed the CD board of directors and appointed Transport Minister Strasky to head the new body. Jaromir Dusek, chairman of the Railroad Workers Union, said that Klaus "forced Strasky to negotiate things he didn't want to - the board of directors, ... and a higher pay increase than the general director had originally proposed." Salaries in State-Funded Sector to Increase 10 Percent Starting in August, basic pay scales in organizations that receive funding from the state will increase by 10 percent. By the end of July, the ministers are scheduled to submit an analysis of salary trends in their departments and make proposals. The state-funded sector is made up of organizations that receive only partial funding from the state, such as schools, museums, and the Czech News Agency (CTK), as well as fully funded institutions, for instance, ministries and public administration. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said the government's main priority was to maintain the social peace and to prevent the inflationary impulses that would result from excessive salary increases. Jaroslav Rossler, head of the Bohemian-Moravian School Workers' Union, said the 10 percent pay raise would not be enough to satisfy schoolteachers, and that the unions were planning a demonstration in Brno for June 29, and a strike for September 4, the first day of the 1995-96 school year. The Union of Health Care and Social Workers, too, is demanding a 20 percent increase in wages. Taiwanese Premier on Private Visit to Czech Republic Taiwan's Prime Minister Lien Chan, on a private visit to the Czech Republic, met with Premier Vaclav Klaus on Monday, gave a lecture titled "Democratic Reform and the Development of Universities - the Taiwanese Experience" at Charles University on Tuesday, and met with President Vaclav Havel at Prague Castle on Wednesday. In protest against the visit, the Chinese Embassy refused to sign an agreement on student exchanges with the Czech Republic. "We are trying to promote our foreign policy interests with every attractive area, and the island of Taiwan is, among other things, a great trade partner. However, the Czech government's position has been, is and will continue to be that there is only one China, that we have diplomatic relations with the government of the People's Republic of China, and that we don't want anything about that to change," said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavel Bratinka. ODA Would Not Win Seats in Parliament If Elections Were Today If elections were held right now, the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA), a member of the current goverment coalition, would not win enough votes to earn any seats in Parliament, a June survey by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM) showed. For the first time since the Czech Republic became an independent state, on Jan. 1, 1993, ODA's popularity dropped below 5 percent, the level needed for a party to get seats in Parliament. While Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy, a member of ODA, remains the most popular politician in the country, ODA itself has seen its popularity slip to 8 percent in April and 6.5 percent in May after holding steady at the 10 percent mark for most of last year. Political pundits say this change is probably connected with the party's internal conflicts and its difficulties in dealing with an alleged 52 million crown debt (see Carolina no. 164). Meanwhile, Premier Vaclav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party is still rising in popularity, showing a rating of 27 percent in June, the same as in April, but a 2 percent increase over May. And the opposition Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) registered a record rating of 22 percent, 2.5 percent more than in May and 5 percent more than in April. If elections were held now, also entering Parliament along with the ODS and the CSSD would be the opposition Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) and the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) of Agriculture Minister Josef Lux. Wax Havel in Madame Tussaud's The latest addition to the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London is a wax figure of Czech President Vaclav Havel. One of the first Czech visitors was quoted as saying, "The wax Havel is too skinny and it looks at least 20 years younger than he really is." A spokesperson for the museum said the work was based on a large collection of photographs, because the president himself was too busy to sit for a modeling session. News in Brief * Czech Parliament voted to pull out of the payment agreement with Slovakia. Six deputies of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia voted against the move, with 12 deputies abstaining. * At the end of a two-day visit to Sumava and Plzen in western Bohemia, President Vaclav Havel spoke in favor of developing the Sumava region, known for its natural beauty. * Minister of Defense Vilem Holan received three Czech soldiers from the U.N. peacekeeping forces (Zlatko Kuzusnik, Karel Kratky, Oldrich Zidlik) who were held as hostages and used as "living shields" by Bosnian Serbs earlier this month. * The number of victims in the Hotel Olympik fire climbed to eight, as a second American woman died of lung damage last week at the Na Homolce hospital in Prague. * German supermodel Claudia Schiffer flew into Prague Monday with her boyfriend, magician David Copperfield, to shoot an exercise video for women. BUSINESS/ECONOMICS Exchange Rates of the Czech National bank (valid from June 23) Checks Cash country buy sell middle buy sell Great Britain 1 GPB 41,463 41,879 41,671 40,25 43,09 France 1 FRF 5,319 5,373 5,346 5,15 5,55 Italy 1000 ITL 15,826 15,986 15,906 15,14 16,68 Japan 100 JPY 30,656 30,964 30,810 29,51 32,11 Canada 1 CAD 18,682 18,870 18,776 17,89 19,67 Austria 1 ATS 2,650 2,676 2,663 2,60 2,72 Germany 1 DEM 18,625 18,813 18,719 18,26 19,18 Switzerland 1 CHF 22,517 22,743 22,630 22,13 23,13 USA 1 USD 25,781 26,041 25,911 25,21 26,61 Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34,566 -- -- SPORTS Czech Women Disappointed at European Basketball Championships After losing to Italy 63-54, the Czech women's basketball team also failed in the quarterfinals, falling to Slovakia 85-75, and then lost the match for fifth place, 78-76, to a weaker Moldavian side, before securing a seventh-place finish by defeating Croatia. The women of Ukraine became the European champions, followed by Italy and Russia, while Slovakia's hoopsters placed fourth. Historic Success for Hradec Kralove in Czech Soccer Cup SK Hradec Kralove triumphed over Viktoria Zizkov on penalty kicks in the finals of the Bohemian-Moravian Football Union Cup last Wednesday after 90 minutes of scoreless and uninspired play in regulation time. Viktoria had more chances to score in the overtime period, as their players clearly wanted to decide the match without going to penalty kicks. With its 3-1 victory on penalties, Hradec assured themselves a spot in the Cup Winners' Cup later this year. Martina Navratilova Returns to Prague for Exhibition Martina Navratilova received a hero's welcome home Saturday, as a packed center court at Prague's Stvanice, including President Vaclav Havel, gave the former world no. 1 a standing ovation. Following a singles match between Czech Jana Novotna and Magdalena Maleevova of Bulgaria, which Maleevova won, the long-awaited Navratilova took the court along with Mary Pierce of France, the latest star on the women's circuit. Though Navratilova doesn't devote as much time to singles play as before, she still won handily in two sets. Sports in Brief * On Sunday, Vera Caslavska, seven-time gold medal winner in Olympic gymnastics and currently chair of the Czech Olympic Committee, became a member of the International Olympic Committee. * In Duisburg, Czech pole vaulter Daniela Bartova bettered her own world record by two centimeters, clearing the bar at 4.12 meters. * Czech skiffer Vaclav Chalupa won the rowing competition in the Racica regatta with a very mediocre time of 6:51.18. * Jan Zelezny won the javelin throw at a meet in Warsaw with a toss of 81.12 meters. * In Norimberg, Jan Pesava won the 5,000 meter race with a new personal record of 13:34.08, just five seconds shy of qualifying him for the World Championships. WEATHER The first days of summer brought summer temperatures, climbing as high as 30 degrees Celsius. But unfortunately the weather forecasters' predictions of a wet summer are coming true - not a day has gone by without rain. Today's Carolina was written by Katerina Rus and Lida Truneckova (news) and Jakub Linka (sports), translated by Andrea Snyder (news) and Vera Vitkova (news and sports), and edited by Alex Zucker. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them please to the address: CAROLINA@cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@earn.cvut.cz The text of message for subscription of the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send the following message to the address LISTSERV@earn.cvut.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. 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