Radio România Internațional

Tag: gaudeamus book fair

  • November 18, 2017

    November 18, 2017

    CENSURE MOTION – The leadership of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, the main party making up the left of centre Government in Bucharest, has today adopted a resolution reiterating its support for the PSD-ALDE coalition government and its governing program and claims it has complied with the commitments it has made to the electorate. According to PSD, the Gross Domestic Product exceeds the estimates, the budget deficit is 3% lower than expected, over 250,000 jobs have been created and pay-rises have been granted in healthcare, education and culture. PM Mihai Tudose has announced the draft state budget for 2018 will be presented in Parliament within 10 days. He defended the newly adopted Fiscal Code, which provides, among others, for the complete transfer of social contributions from employers to employees and a cut in the income tax from 16 to 10%. The National Liberal Party, in opposition, says the coalition government has destabilised the Romanian economy and has filed a censure motion in Parliament, also backed by the Save Romania Union, the Peoples Movement Party and some independent MPs. According to the signatories, the benefits of a substantial economic growth have been cancelled by the Governments measures which they deem “populist and chaotic. The opposition says a governing program promising pay-rises has actually led to salary decreases, or in the best of cases, to small increases, adding that public investments have plummeted to a historic low. This is the first censure motion filed against the Tudose government, the second cabinet made up of the PSD-ALDE majority following the legislative elections held last year



    DEFENCE – The US Department of State has greenlighted the sale of Patriot missile systems to Poland, the transaction being estimated at 10.5 billion USD, the Pentagon announced on Friday evening. According to Reuters, Poland, which is a NATO member state, has boosted its efforts to consolidate its defence in the wake of Russias annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, in 2014, and in response to Moscows enhanced military capacity in the region. The transaction should still however be endorsed by Congress, because it entails the purchase of advanced military technology for which special permits are needed. Romania, too, wants to purchase surface to air Patriot missiles, under a contract worth some 3.9 billion USD, without VAT. The first such system, worth 764 million USD, is to be contracted by the end of the year and become operational in 2019. The draft law on purchasing Patriot missiles from the USA was submitted to the Romanian Parliament for debate on Monday.



    ANTIBIOTICS – Romania is among the fifth largest consumers of antibiotics in the EU and is the country with the highest consumption of antibiotics taken without a medical prescription, a report issued by the Romanian Health Observer, an NGO whose declared mission is to contribute to improving health services in Romania and Eastern Europe shows. According to the report, more often than not patients exert pressure on the medical staff for the release of antibiotics, even when their use is not grounded. Antibiotics do not have healing effects in the case of colds and respiratory infections and the World Health Organisation recommends that antibiotics be taken only based on medical prescription. November 18 is the European Day of rational use of antibiotics.


    GAUDEAMUS BOOK FAIR – The 24th edition of the Gaudeamus-Book of Learning International Fair, organised by Radio Romania, opens its doors next week. No less than 800 editorial and professional events will be organised during the fair, which will be attended by 300 exhibitors: Romanian publishing houses boasting a long tradition in the field, education institutions, book sellers and publications, professional associations and other organisations active in the field of culture and education. The honorary president of the fair will be the well-known playwright and journalist Matei Vişniec and the honorary guest of this years edition of the fair will be the European Commission. Thus, the event will mark 60 years since the Treaties of Rome were signed, 30 years since the launch of the Erasmus program and 10 years since Romania joined the EU, says Angela Cristea, head of the EC Representation in Romania.



    RUGBY– Romanias national rugby team is today facing the team of Samoa, in Bucharest, in the last but one test match of the year. The last test match of 2017, against Tonga, is scheduled for November 25, in Bucharest. If it wins both test matches, Romania stands chances to go up on the 13th place in the world classification, being better ranked than Italy and other strong national teams. This is the Romanians second match against the team of Samoa. The first match between the two nationals was played in 1989, when Romania defeated Samoa 32-24. Romania has qualified for the World Cup, due in Japan, in 2019.

  • Gaudeamus Book Fair 100, Radio Holydays 50

    Gaudeamus Book Fair 100, Radio Holydays 50

    The Gaudeamus Book Fair has reached its 100th edition, while Radio Holydays, a public radio summer broadcast for the sea coast, has celebrated its 50-year anniversary. The public radio has marked these two special moments in its history with exhibitions, concerts given by the radio orchestras and encounters with its fans on the Black Sea coast.



    As all book lovers agree, the Gaudeamus Book Fair is one of Radio Romanias best cultural products, alongside the concerts given by its orchestras. The international edition of this fair, a genuine barometer of the Romanian publishing scene, is its most visible and prestigious event. It is held every year at the beginning of November in Bucharest and, for five days, becomes the epicentre of cultural life in the capital and beyond.



    The data say it all. In its more than 20 years of existence, the Gaudeamus Book Fair has attracted more than 1.6 million visitors and 5,800 exhibitors, featuring more than 8,500 different events. These figures justify the comment made by the interim director general of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation Georgica Severin, who said the Gaudeamus fair is a genuine industry, with an already well-defined role as far as educating the public is concerned. This is not only because of its international editions, but also thanks to its regular presence in the main cultural centres around the county. “There are dedicated people who work for a whole year on preparing these culminating moments when we go back to the fundamental source, namely books”, Severin also said.



    Another important celebration for the public radio is the anniversary of 50 years since Radio Holydays, one of the best-liked broadcasts in the country, started being aired on the Black Sea coast. Today, this broadcast is provided by Radio Constanta.



    From its first programme until 1994, however, Radio Holydays was the work of some excellent journalists from Radio Romania International, who were responsible for its news casts, its programmes and its interviews in Romanian and four different foreign languages, namely English, French, German and Russian. It is there that the likes of Paul Grigoriu, who is no longer with us, and of Doina Caramzulescu became famous. Sheltered, during the communist era, from the ideological constraints that kept Romania in check, Radio Holidays was a summer-time alternative to the rigid and deeply politicised rules that governed the public radio station at that time.

  • Radio Romania Cultural Projects

    Radio Romania Cultural Projects


    In 2011, Radio Romania and the Accendo cultural association started putting into practice, together with pianist Horia Mihail, the idea of traveling around the country with a concert piano provided by Radio Romania. After each tour, the piano used in every performance would be donated to a venue that did not have such an instrument. In the absence of a piano, the audience in those towns and cities would not have had the pleasure of enjoying a symphonic concert. Thanks to these tours, towns and cities across the country now have a piano.



    For years now, thanks to the traveling piano project, the audiences in all regions of Romania have enjoyed pieces by famous composers such as Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Chopin. The program is usually diverse, also including miniatures by Schubert, Dvorak, Ravel or Debussy. This year, the “Traveling Piano” left on April 5th from Chisinau, the capital of the neighboring Republic of Moldova, and will play in 15 towns in Romania.



    After a two-hour concert in Chisinau, pianist Horia Mihail said:


    “As usual, I was warmly welcomed by people here. Its not for the first time that Chisinau has been the starting place for Romanian national tours. And I think this is natural, especially if a tour starts in the Moldovan capital and ends in Romanias capital. Its a natural connection. I will never get bored, because there are so many things to explore in music, so the 16 concerts that I have are actually too few.”



    This year, at the end of the tour on May 4th, the piano will remain in Caracal, a town in the south of the country, whose theatre hall has hosted many performances staged by Radio Romania. The Traveling Piano is not the only cultural event organized by the public radio. Another important project has been Lectura (reading), aimed at promoting and supporting written culture in Romania.



    The main component of the programme are the Gaudeamus International Book Fair, the longest and most important such event in Romania, as well as the Gaudeamus Caravan. With the Gaudeamus Caravan, ever since 2000 Radio Romania has organized book and media products selling events and exhibitions in Romanias main cultural and university centers. The Gaudeamus Caravan has just ended its stay in Cluj Napoca, Transylvania, and the event, just like always, has been a success. In figures, there were some 24,000 visitors, on a record surface of 620 sq. m. of stands, with more 70 participants and 90 editorial events.




  • 18 November, 2016

    18 November, 2016

    Award. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
    will today receive the Martin Buber Award in The Netherlands presented by the
    Euriade Foundation, a Dutch non-governmental organisation promoting youth
    education in the spirit of European values. The award is granted each year to a
    personality who, through his or her public and private actions, has contributed
    to the development of harmonious communities based on humanist values through
    authentic dialogue, openness, responsibility and respect for one’s peers.
    Before the award ceremony in Kerkrade, president Iohannis will meet over 1,000
    young people from different countries taking part in the International Festival
    of Dialogue under way in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, on the border between
    Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands. The award has been granted every year since
    2002. Queen Silvia of Sweden, Mikhail Gorbachev, Garry Karsparov and Helmut
    Schmidt are some of the recipients of the Martin Buber Award.




    Investigations. The former Romanian state secretary Adrian
    Sanda and five other persons have been taken into temporary custody for 29 days
    as part of an inquiry into the case of fake certificates for revolutionaries
    with a decisive role in the victory of the anti-communist revolution of
    December 1989. The suspects are accused of abuse of office with aggravating consequences
    and peddling in influence. Prosecutors say the latter accepted bribes in
    exchange for using their influence to grant these certificates, which secure
    their holders a monthly allowance of around 450 euros and other benefits.
    According to the Prosecutor’s Office, many of the 3,500 revolutionaries
    enjoying this status do not meet the legal requirements. 1,100 people were
    killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the anti-communist revolution of December
    1989 in Romania according to an official report.




    Car
    insurance.     Premiums for the mandatory car insurance have been capped for the
    next 6 months starting today. The reduction is considerable in the case of
    trucks and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as for motorists who have not caused
    any accidents in recent years. The premiums and their ceilings have been
    established by the Financial Supervisory Authority following consultations with
    carriers associations and insurance companies. The measure comes after road
    carriers took to the streets to protest against the exaggerated insurance
    premiums, which have even gone up several times in recent years. The National
    Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Societies in Romania has complained about
    the capping of mandatory car insurance premiums to the European Commission saying
    it violates the principle of the free market. The European Commission has
    accepted the complaint and the government has 10 weeks to respond.




    Barack Obama tour.
    Today in Berlin, US president Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel
    meet French president Francois Hollande and the prime ministers of the UK,
    Spain and Italy, Theresa May, Mariano Rajoy and Matteo Renzi, respectively.
    Yesterday, Obama and Merkel had talks about EU-US trade agreements and about
    Russia. The two leaders agreed to maintain sanctions on Russia and expressed
    hope that talks on the transatlantic trade agreement would resume. Germany is
    the second country after Greece to receive the visit of US president Barack
    Obama as part of his last European tour as president amid fears that his
    successor, the right-wing populist Donald Trump, may pose a threat to
    democracy. After Germany, Obama travels to Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific
    Economic Cooperation Summit. President elect Donald Trump will take office on
    the 20th of January.




    Book fair. The Gaudeamus International Book Fair
    organised by Radio Romania and under way in Bucharest features book launches,
    cultural events, debates, recitals, workshops and meetings with authors. The
    list of books being launched today at the fair include the volume The Colour of
    Paradise by the contemporary Chinese poet Jidi Majia and the book The Wedding
    by the Romanian writer and journalist of Polish descent Gabriel Klimowicz.
    Radio Romania’s stand today has a programme dedicated to children. The fair,
    which comes to an end on Sunday, brings together hundreds are publishers and
    more than 850 different events. This year’s guest of honour is China. Gaudeamus
    is organised by Radio Romania, the only public radio station in the world to
    initiate and develop a programme of such magnitude to support print culture.





  • Gaudeamus – the only book fair organized by a public radio

    Gaudeamus – the only book fair organized by a public radio

    300 exhibitors, over 700 related events, first-time participants and many surprises are in store for the visitors of the 22nd edition of the Gaudeamus International Book Fair hosted by Bucharest from Wednesday to Sunday. This is one of the most important book fairs in Romania and aboard. Gaudeamus is the only book fair in the world organized by a public radio — Radio Romania. Its main target is to support the Romanian culture through exhibitions devoted to books and education. The 2015 edition takes place under the motto “The most read book fair at the most listened to radio”.



    This year, the guest of honor is the Group of French-Speaking Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Romania (GADIF), the host of the event being Victor Ieronim Stoichita, a researcher and art history professor who currently lives in Switzerland. For 5 days visitors will have the opportunity to attend book launches, creation workshops, round tables and exhibitions. Of the traditional projects of the Fair one could mention “Books return home”, “Best Olympiad winners”, “The GAUDEMAUS Raffle”, Books and multimedia, the Education Stock Exchange, the “Ion Creanga” Children’s Book Fair, the Gaudeamus Creation Workshop, the mini-exhibition entitled “Lost and found publishers”, the “The School of Yore” exhibition, etc.



    On Sunday, the last day of the fair, the GAUDEAMUS awards will be granted, as every year, to three of the exhibitors. One of the awards will be granted for the “Most wanted book of the fair” and will be offered based on the visitors’ vote. Other awards to be granted on Sunday are the Excellence Award, the Antoaneta Ralian Translation Award, the Education Award and the Miss Reading Award. The “Mircea Santimbreanu” Press Trophy for the radio, TV, news agencies and online sections will be granted to the accredited journalists who will report on the fair.



    (translated by L. Simion)