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This Saturday marks the centenary of the birth of Alexander Dubček, one of the most charismatic leaders of 20th century Czechoslovakia who led the country during the Prague Spring. A Communist Party loyalist, Dubček is seen today largely as a tragic figure, who caved in to Soviet demands following the 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia.

On the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, 32 leading representatives of Czech business, including top figures within Škoda Auto, Avast and ČEZ, signed a four-page declaration last week that urges a “second economic transformation” for the Czech Republic. To find out more about what such a transformation would entail and whether it has garnered any feedback, I spoke to one of the signatories – the Vice President of the Czech Confederation of Industry Radek Špicar.

President Miloš Zeman is back in hospital. Hours after being discharged on Thursday – following six weeks of treatment for an undisclosed illness – he tested positive for Covid-19. The bitter irony is that his infection has further delayed the swearing in of a new prime minister, whose urgent priority is to bring the pandemic under control.

The west Bohemian town of Pilsen is known around the world for its beer, but it is also the cradle of Czech puppetry. Its rich history, linked to the legendary Czech puppeteers Josef Skupa and Jiří Trnka, is mapped by the local Museum of Puppets It is part of the West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen and can be found on the city’s main square.

The Czech engineering company Škoda Transportation unveiled its new electric bus at a regional trade fair this week. The first of their environmentally friendly Škoda E’City buses – which emit no Co2 or other harmful substances – are due to begin service in Prague in the new year.

As the Covid epidemic in the Czech Republic gathers force the outgoing government is scrambling to  try to curb the soaring numbers and protect the health system from  collapsing under the strain. In addition to the problem of a political change-of-guard in the midst of the fifth wave of the pandemic, the task of keeping the epidemic under control is further complicated by a large number of deniers and antivaxxers.

A new book, paying tribute to victims of the Nazi regime who have a Stolperstein (stumbling stone) in their memory placed somewhere in Prague, is being launched on Wednesday. Titled Prague's Stolpersteine - Stumbling Stones - Defiant in Their Memory, it is the work of Prague-based Briton Trevor Sage, who has been looking after the city’s stumbling stones for more than six years.

Preparations for Christmas are helping to dispel some of the doom and gloom surrounding the worsening coronavirus epidemic in the Czech Republic. Despite tightened Covid restrictions, aimed predominantly against unvaccinated groups of the population, some Christmas markets will take place this year and a 22-metre tall spruce has arrived on Old Town Square to be set up and decorated in time for the first weekend of Advent.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,” the great Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde once quipped. But what about exact copies? Aren’t imitations of great works of art, in and of themselves great works of art? That is the central question behind a new exhibition of phenomenal forgeries at the National Gallery in Prague.

The future of the Czech Army lies in cutting edge technologies and a new way of thinking about the battlefield domain, Chief of the General Staff Aleš Opata said at the Army’s annual meeting of commanders on Tuesday. The chief of staff praised the nascent government’s plans to continue increasing defence spending towards the 2 percent of GDP target and the largescale procurements of equipment made over the past two years. However, he also stressed the need to complete the acquisition of new armoured personnel carriers.