Holck case has affected trade with India
Tensions surrounding the case of Niels Holck's weapons smuggling have hurt trade between Denmark and India. Danish exports to India fell from 3.2 billion kroner annually in 2011 to 2.6 billion kroner in 2012. New figures from Statistics Denmark show that the trend has continued into 2013. – Berlingske
Opposition wants summer school for bad students
Opposition parties Venstre, Konservative and Dansk Folkeparti have proposed that students who don’t perform well in their Danish and math exams must use their summer vacations taking additional studies and re-taking the tests. The plan suggests that students should get a grade of at least a ‘2’ on their written and oral ninth and tenth grade graduation exams. – Politiken
New simple treatment could cure diabetes
In a surprising turn of events, a Danish researcher has revealed that a simple boost of the immune system could cure type 1 diabetes. By mathematically analysing the illness, math PhD student Kenneth Mandrup Nielsen discovered that a person’s immune system can overcome the illness by getting a boost of macrophages, the type of cells that consume dead cells. – Videnskab.dk
Education benefits having questionable affect
The long-term unemployed were supposed to gain competencies by taking part in a 26-week education programme as part of the emergency job package (akutpakke), but many people are instead being offered short and sporadic courses. The trade union 3F has contacted 54 members who had started the education process in February and found that 40 percent of them received an offer of less than five weeks. – Jyllands-Posten
Churches use millions on replacing functional organs
Organ expert and the head of Mariager Church's congregation committee head, Preben Andersen, has argued that the replacement of organ pipes is rarely due to wear and tear and that churches need to cut down on their spending in general. Mariager Church in Jutland built a new organ in 2010 at the cost of 12.5 million kroner, despite the old one working just fine. –Kristeligt-Dagblad
State looking to offload Vestjysk Bank
Despite the fact that embattled Vestjysk Bank had a surplus of 35 million kroner for the first quarter of 2013, the state is still looking at selling its part of the bank. The finance minister, Bjarne Corydon (Socialdemokraterne), said that in the long-term it was not the state’s responsibility to run a bank. – Børsen
Banks turning away poor people
Every citizen, rich or poor, has the right to a bank account so that they can receive their wages, but Danish banks don’t seem to care too much. Going undercover as people on unemployment benefits (kontanthjælp), metroXpress newspaper visited ten bank branches. In eight out of the ten banks, the undercover reported was either denied an account or told they would have to wait for weeks to get one. – metroXpress
