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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Weather
Damage estimate made
Typhoon Haima caused NT$92 million (US$2.71 million) in agricultural damage as it dumped heavy rain on the country and triggered mudslides last weekend, officials said yesterday. Thousands of homes in the north were flooded on Saturday by torrential rain. A landslide buried four people in Hsinchu County on Sunday, and two people were missing in flooding outside Taipei. The damage included NT$43.63 million to agricultural produce, especially watermelons and other fruit, the Council of Agriculture said. The damage amounted to over 244 hectares of crops being destroyed, the council said. Livestock farmers suffered NT$710,000 in damages, with 170 pigs dead in severely hit Taoyuan County, the council said.

■ Business
Design nominees chosen
The Taiwan Design Center announced its nominations in Taipei for the 2004 Taiwan International Design Competition, center officials said yesterday. Of 519 inventive designs from 36 countries submitted, 22 were nominated -- including pieces from Israel, the US, Australia, Holland, Italy, New Zealand and Indonesia -- plus 12 from Taiwan. The center will announce the winners on Nov. 20. The gold medal winner will get NT$500,000, the silver medalist NT$200,000 and the bronze medalist NT$100,000, said Chang Kuang-ming (張光民), the center's chief executive officer.

■ Tourism
Guide exams to be held
The first national examinations for tour guides and tour captains will be held on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, Minister of Examination Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠) said yesterday. Lin said the exams, aimed at upgrading the quality of the tourism industry, will be open to all interested people with at least a senior high school diploma. Candidates will be tested on both their empirical and theoretical knowledge as well as their language skills, and the Ministry of Examination will accept applications through Sept. 20, Lin said. Previously such exams were held by the Tourism Bureau but the exams have now been upgraded to become national-level technical exams.

■ Science
NASA program eyed
Taiwan has a chance to join a program organized by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to embark on research into global rainfall, a National Central University professor said yesterday. Liu Cheng-jung (劉振榮) said that NASA will work with Japan and Britain in 2012 to push for the "Global Precipitation Measurement" project that will send eight satellites into orbit to monitor and study global rainfall. Liu said that as Taiwan has performed well in related research, NASA will send officials to visit Taiwan next month to discuss cooperation in the project. Local academics said said the project offered hope for preventing disasters caused by torrential rain.

■ Society
NGO may get award
Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), chief executive officer of the Garden of Hope Foundation, is in Manila for the 2004 Asia-Pacific NGO Awards to be presented there tomorrow. The Garden of Hope Foundation is one of the eight finalist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) selected from 76 such groups. The 2004 Asia-Pacific NGO Awards, the first of its kind, is being sponsored by the Citibank Group and organized by the British NGO group Resource Alliance.

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