Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan News Quick Take

■ LAW

Amendment targets abuse

The legislative Judiciary Committee approved an amendment to the Civil Code yesterday that would allow for a divorce should either the husband or wife be the victim of abuse. Under the current law, only the husband can apply for a divorce in an abusive relationship. The amendment would allow judges to grant a divorce to either party in cases of child or spousal abuse, with hospital treatment records or police reports required as proof. The amendment, moved by the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) legislative caucus, targeted Article 1,052 of the Civil Code and will be submitted for final approval. DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said that the rising number of cases of child abuse was the main reason behind the DPP's decision to push for the amendment.



■ MEDICINE

Cardiology congress opens

As many as 2,000 medical professionals and researchers from all over Taiwan and the world are expected to take part in the four-day Asian Pacific Congress of Cardiology that opened yesterday, event organizers said. "It's an affirmation of our level of expertise in this field that the a majority of the congress' members supported Taipei's bid to hold the congress this year," Taiwan Society of Cardiology secretary-general Hou Jia-yin (侯嘉殷) said. The topics to be discussed range from stem cell therapy for cardiovascular disease to recent advances in cardiovascular imaging. The congress will feature a series of live demonstrations of cardiac catheterization operations transmitted by satellite from operating rooms at four major Taiwanese medical centers. This is the first time such technology has been used at the congress, Hou said.



■ TECHNOLOGY

Touch data transfer possible

A new "contact communication system" has been developed by researchers at National Taiwan University that enables data exchange with a simple handshake, university sources said yesterday. Invented by a team led by Lu Shey-shi (呂學士), a professor at the university's Department of Electrical Engineering, the system uses the human body as a data transmission medium. Equipped with signal units, two users can exchange information such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses with a handshake, or a person can submit identification information to operate security systems and ATM machines at the touch of a finger. Lu said that although scientists had known for a long time that the human body is capable of conducting electricity, real applications in data transmission through body parts had never existed before.



■ AID

WVI president visits Taipei

World Vision International (WVI) president and chief executive officer Dean Hirsch is visiting Taipei to promote the Micro Enterprise Development (MED) program aimed at helping children from impoverished families, a World Vision Taiwan executive said yesterday. Hirsch said the MED program has been launched in 58 of the nearly 100 countries where WVI maintains operations. Under the program, WVI has offered US$1 billion in soft loans to help individuals and households launch businesses and earn a sustainable income. Hirsch said the MED has only US$250 million in capital, adding that WVI intends to raise more funds for the program with the aim of helping improve the lives of 8 million children around the globe, creating 4 million jobs and providing loans to 2 million people by 2011.
This story has been viewed 1597 times.