Radio România Internațional

Tag: study

  • April 24, 2024

    April 24, 2024

    Seoul – On the last day of the visit of Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, to South Korea, the official delegation visited, today, the Doosan Enerbility complex in Busan, a world leader in energy production. On Tuesday evening, the Romanian president participated in an exhibition of traditional Romanian art. During his visit to Seoul, Romania and South Korea decided to expand their bilateral cooperation, by signing a joint declaration on strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership and several cooperation agreements in the fields of defense, energy or emergency situations management.

     

    Study – The number of Romanian children whose parents went to work abroad is five times higher than the official figures show, and the local authorities need more information about them, so as to be able to develop programs to help them. These are the main conclusions of a study carried out by the “Save the Children Romania” organization for the south-eastern region of the country, where 57,000 minors are in such a situation. The data also show that almost 14% of children in Romania had, in the last year, at least one parent who went to work abroad, and those left in the care of grandparents, relatives or, sometimes, left to fend for themselves run a higher risk of dropping out of school, are more prone to emotional trauma and more vulnerable to violence and bullying.

     

    Cannes – Two Romanian films are in the official selection of the famous Cannes Film Festival in France: the feature film “Three kilometers to the end of the world”, the story of the complicated relationships between a teenager and his parents, directed by Emanuel Pârvu, and the documentary “Nasty”, about the life and career of the first world number one in men’s tennis, the Romanian Ilie Năstase, made by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu. “Nasty” will be presented in the Special Screenings section. The Cannes festival also invited in the competition an Iranian filmmaker who criticizes the fundamentalist regime in Tehran, Mohammad Rasoulof. A total of 22 films will compete in 2024 to win the Palme d’Or trophy. The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place between May 14-25.

     

    Report – The US State Department published the annual report on human rights observance in Romania. The document shows that in 2023, human rights were affected by “serious government corruption” and the authorities sometimes did not do enough against officials who committed abuses. The report also shows that there is inefficiency and lack of accountability in relation to judicial oversight, and bribery was perceived to be common in the public sector. According to Washington, there are also problems in Romania regarding domestic violence and ethnic discrimination.

     

    Fair – Today, the largest book fair in Transylvania – Gaudeamus, organized by Radio Romania, begins in Cluj-Napoca (north-west). The event reached its 23rd edition. 16 pavilions host 60 stands of 85 publishing houses. The fair offers books, music and educational games. There are several thousand books in Romanian, in international languages and in the languages of the national minorities living in Romania. All in all, more than 40 launches and book presentations are scheduled, as well as meetings between writers and readers. The first launch is that of the volume “Naraton” by the late writer Cornel Udrea, one of the voices of the Cluj public radio, who passed away a few days ago.

     

    Handball – The Romanian men’s handball champions, CS Dinamo Bucharest, defeated the Danish team Skjern Handbold, on Tuesday evening, at home, with the score 28-27, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the EHF European League. More than 2,500 spectators were in the stands, and Dinamo’s coach, the famous Spanish technician Xavi Pascual, said he was delighted with the victory. The second leg takes place on April 30 in Denmark. The winning team advances to the European League Final Four in Hamburg, Germany.

     

    Court – The Constitutional Court of Romania is going to debate, today, the notification submitted by Save Romania Union – USR and the opposition Force of the Right in relation to the law for amending and completing the ordinance on road transport. The opposition MPs criticize the law, on the grounds that it would once again postpone the real liberalization of the road transport of people, in order to defend what they call the interests of the politically protected mafia. Today’s agenda of the Constitutional Court also includes several notifications submitted by President Klaus Iohannis. (LS)

  • July 8, 2020 UPDATE

    July 8, 2020 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The Chamber of Deputies Wednesday passed a bill setting the date of the forthcoming local elections on September 27. The bill had been passed on Tuesday by the Senate as well, with a number of amendments related to the organization of the ballot and approved by the Permanent Electoral Authority. The campaign is scheduled to begin on August 28 and end on the day before the election. President Klaus Iohannis is now to sign the bill into law. Originally scheduled for June, the election was postponed over the COVID 19 epidemic, and the terms in office of local elected officials, including mayors, heads of county councils, and members of local and county councils, were extended by half a year. Parliamentary elections are also due in Romania this autumn.



    POLL After the state of emergency introduced on March 16 and renewed on May 15, Romanians recovered their optimism and believe the coronavirus pandemic will be over by the end of the year, reveals an opinion poll run by Frames. 92% of the interviewees said the pandemic affected them to a great extent, especially in terms of the restrictions imposed by the authorities. Only 6% said they were not affected, and 2% did not answer. Asked about the protection measures they used during this period, most respondents said they used face masks, which 47% believe to be the most efficient measures against the virus. 67% of the interviewees are confident the epidemic will be over by the end of the year, 61% believe the pandemic will be ended by a vaccine, and 12% say safety measures will be decisive. The poll was conducted between June 29 and July 2, on a sample of over 2,500 people.



    Covid-19 Another 18 deaths in people infected with the new coronavirus were registered in Romania, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Wednesday at noon. In total, 1,817 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died. Also on Wednesday, 555 new cases of infection were reported, bringing the total number of cases to 30,175. There are currently 237 patients in intensive care. Of the people confirmed positive, 22,284 have been discharged. 5,095 Romanians abroad have tested positive, and 122 have died. Specialists call for responsibility and say that the current evolution of the epidemic, with many outbreaks through community spread, is due to the fact that prevention measures are not sufficiently observed.



    Pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 540,000 people worldwide since the disease broke out in China in late December, France Presse reports from official sources. About 11,700,000 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 196 countries and territories, of which over 6 million are cured. In the US, more than 60,000 new cases of infection were reported on Tuesday, a record for a period of 24 hours. The toll of the epidemic in the United States, the most affected in the world, has reached almost 3 million cases. Washington has confirmed that it has officially notified the UN of the US’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, which it accuses of reacting late to the pandemic. The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO. Several countries, such as Australia and Spain,are facing local pandemic outbreaks and have reintroduced containment measures. In Serbia, thousands of protesters clashed with police forces in the capital Belgrade after the government announced a weekend quarantine in the city in response to an increase in Covid-19 cases. The crowd stormed the Parliament building.



    Economy. The European Commission’s estimate of Romania’s 6% economic drop in 2020 is too pessimistic, the Romanian Finance Minister Florin Cîţu stated on Wednesday. During a specialized conference, he said that, on Tuesday, the National Institute of Statistics confirmed the growth of the Romanian economy in the first quarter of the year by 2.7%. For next year, the EC estimates a 4% increase in Romania’s GDP, compared to a 4.2% increase forecast in May. On the other hand, the inflation rate would be 2.5% this year and 2.8% next year. As for the EU economy, the EU executive has warned that in 2020 it will face a deep recession due to the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, despite the rapid and comprehensive political response at Union and national level. Also on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met in Brussels with European Parliament President David Sassoli and Council President Charles Michel to discuss the Union’s economic recovery plan following the crisis caused by the Covid – 19 pandemic. Also participating was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU.



    Baccalaureate. In Romania, the special session of the baccalaureate exam continues, organized for the first time, against the background of the coronavirus pandemic. 141 high school graduates are being tested these days, as they could not sit for the baccalaureate exams at the same time as their colleagues due to health problems. The promotion rate registered at the June-July session of the national Baccalaureate exam after appeals is 64.5 %.



    Study. Romania is home to a quarter of the underage mothers in the European Union, ranking first among the members states in this regard. More than 8,600 girls became mothers before coming of age, two years ago, and 725 of them even before turning 15. A study conducted by the organization Save Romania’s children shows that less than 2% of the underage mothers interacted with public social assistance services, half of them did not receive information about sex education, and almost two thirds had dropped out of school before getting pregnant. 10% of the fathers are underage themselves.


    (translated by Ana-Maria Popescu, Mihaela Ignatescu)

  • April 27, 2020 UPDATE

    April 27, 2020 UPDATE

    Covid-19 Romania Romania’s
    president Klaus Iohannis has announced that schools and universities in Romania
    will stay closed this school year, and the average grades will be calculated on
    the basis of the grades that the students have already received. Pupils will
    come back to normal schooling in September. The president has also stated that
    people aged over 65 will have two intervals during which they are allowed to
    get out of their homes. The information has been confirmed by the Interior
    Minister Marcel Vela, who has presented the measures included in the military
    decree no.10, adopted on Monday. Among other things, the new measures include
    an extension of the suspension of commercial flights to and from Spain for
    another 14 days. Also extended are restrictions regarding flights to and from
    Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, the US, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Turkey
    and Iran for another 13 days, as of May 2nd. Starting May third,
    commercial flights to and from Italy are suspended for an additional 14 days. In
    the two months that have passed since the first case of coronavirus infection was
    reported in Romania, some 11.300 people have tested positive, and 631 have
    died. According to the latest data provided by the Strategic Communication
    Group, more than 3000 patients have been cured. Abroad, more than 1,500
    Romanian citizens have been infected with the new coronavirus, mostly in Italy
    and Spain. 75 of them have died.




    Pandemic More
    than 3 million people have been infected with the
    new coronavirus across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. Most
    cases have been reported in the US, which is followed by countries from Europe:
    Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Great Britain. Equally affected by the
    pandemic are Turkey, Iran, China and Russia. The death toll has exceeded
    207 thousand, with 55 thousand dead in the US alone. Despite this situation,
    several countries are getting ready to relax restrictions: in Italy economic
    activity is going to be partly resumed while preserving public protection
    measures. People movement remains restricted, schools will open only in autumn
    and Italian churches will stay closed. France is preparing regional relaxation
    strategies starting May 11. A mobile phone application will warn people about
    the risk of getting in contact with an infected person. The same will happen in
    Germany and such an application is already operational in Australia and Israel.




    Budget In the first quarter of the year, Romania
    registered a budget deficit of 1.67% of the GDP, which is approx. 3.7 million
    Euro, 3 times bigger than in the same period last year, according to data
    published on Monday by the Finance Ministry. The increase is explained mainly
    by the unfavorable evolution of budget collections from companies, in the
    context of the pandemic, and refunds of paid VAT to support liquidities in the
    private sector. Revenues to the general consolidated budget dropped in the
    first three months of the year 2020 by 3.3% as against the similar period last
    year, reflecting mainly a contraction of collections in March following fiscal
    incentives granted to support the economy during the state of emergency.




    Study A study conducted
    by sociologists with the Research Institute for Quality of Life of the Romanian
    Academy shows that Romania is faced with two crises in the context of the
    COVID-19 pandemic: one medical and one economic, and that the living standards
    will be affected mainly after the medical crisis has ended. The report shows that
    it will take five years for people to be able to get to the purchasing power they
    had before the crisis. Researchers recommend authorities to abrogate or
    prorogate the pension law adopted in 2019, to index-link the pension point with
    the inflation rate, to raise salaries only to compensate for the inflation rate
    and to reintroduce a unitary national salary grid for the local administration






    Agriculture All autumn
    crops, especially those in the north and south of Romania, have been affected
    by drought, the agriculture minister Adrian Oros has announced.
    According to data provided by the line ministry, 3 million hectares of the
    crops sown in autumn have already been affected. At present, only 10% of the
    farming land can be irrigated. The agriculture minister Adrian Oros has promised
    that farmers will get compensation for the losses caused by drought. (M.Ignatescu)