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Technical universities in the Czech Republic have been witnessing a gradual drop in the number of students over the past years, as is the case pretty much everywhere else in Europe. While science and technology play key roles in our everyday life, young people are turning away from science subjects.

This morning, Czech police launched yet another nationwide crackdown against the country's notoriously dangerous drivers. The crackdown is reminiscent of last month's operation called Krystof, which paradoxically coincided with thirty road accident deaths. Although not as grand in scale as the last operation, the latest move is another signal to Czech drivers that they are not above the law.

Two Czech ministries have locked horns over the issue of energy production. The Trade and Industry Ministry and the Environment Ministry have both drawn up strategic energy plans but their two visions of the future could hardly be further apart. As Zuzana Vesela reports, the Government faces a tough decision.

The Czech government is often criticised by the EU and other international organisations for its failure to ensure that the Roma people living here can become a fully integrated part of Czech life. However, one of the problems the government faces in trying to improve the marginalized position of Roma in Czech society is that it lacks precise data on this particular ethnic group. As a result, it is very difficult for the government to earmark funds aimed at improving their situation. It is hoped that a proposed new survey should help alleviate

In the Roman Catholic calendar, the second of November is known as the Day of Remembrance of All Deceased Believers. In popular language Czechs call the day Dusicky, All Souls Day. Throughout last week people were visiting cemeteries across the country, lighting candles and laying flowers on the graves of their deceased. On Sunday afternoon, an unusual ceremony remembering all those who lost their lives in rivers across the country took place on the Vltava River in Prague.

There are people who still recall a time when a roll cost 30 hellers, a newspaper 50 hellers and a tram ticket 60 hellers. Eight ten heller coins would get you an ice-cream. When you dropped a ten heller coin you bent to pick it up -you didn't leave it on the ground like people do today. However those days are long gone. Today hellers have lost their value - they have become impractical both in the eyes of the public and the Central Bank. Their production cost surmounts their value which is why the Central Bank has decided to stop minting them

This week the 71-year-old Czech composer, Marek Kopelent, was given a Czech State Award for his lifelong contribution to Czech music. The award renews a tradition going back to the 1920s, that was interrupted after the fall of communism when it had been associated more with political loyalties than real artistic ability.

The Slavkov battlefield in south Moravia - better known by its German name, Austerlitz - was the scene of the Battle of Three Emperors in 1805, in which Napoleon Bonaparte won his most famous victory by destroying the armies of Russia and Austria, despite having fewer soldiers. Now, almost 200 years later, the Czech Defence Ministry wants to build a NATO radar station on the historic site. Not surprisingly, perhaps, people in the area are up in arms. I discussed local objections with Miroslav Jandora from the organisation Austerlitz 2005.

The Czech jobless rate is getting close to an all time high and experts predict the rise will continue in the future. Several large Czech companies have announced massive layoffs for January next year.

It is now 80 years since Czechoslovak national airlines launched its regular service, becoming one of the world's first air carriers. The first flight, from Prague to the Slovak capital Bratislava, took off on October 29, 1923. It was only 20 years after the Wright Brothers assembled the first engine-powered plane ever - finally enabling mankind to fly.