AGRICULTURE
Changhua holds rice events
The Changhua County Government is holding a series of rice promotional activities this weekend to “reignite people’s passion for rice,” Changhua Deputy County Commissioner Yang Chung (楊仲) said. Yang said that with changes in local dietary habits and a “more Westernized” lifestyle, consumption of rice has declined in Taiwan. Last year, annual rice consumption stood at 48kg per person, representing a drop of nearly 50 percent from the level of 98kg per person in 1981, he said. To encourage rice consumption and revive the country’s waning rice culture, the county -government-sponsored activities feature various promotional activities, including a “10 best rice award,” a rice product display and cooking classes, Yang said. Changhua is one of Taiwan’s major agricultural counties and has the country’s largest rice output.
SOCIETY
HTC manager rescued
Kang Chi-cheng (康吉成), a manager at smartphone manufacturer HTC Corp who fell into a ravine in central Taiwan and was found safe on Friday, was rushed to a hospital yesterday after being airlifted out of the ravine by an air force helicopter earlier in the day. The preliminary health check conducted at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital showed that Kang was weak, but generally in good health. Kang fell into a deep ravine while hiking on -Nanhushan (南湖大山) in Taroko National Park on Nov. 5. He called the 119 SOS hotline the same day and was finally located in the ravine on Friday. However, strong winds, torrential rain and the rugged terrain in the area where Kang fell have severely hampered rescue attempts.
AGRICULTURE
Heavy rain damages crops
Days of torrential rains in parts of Taiwan have caused agricultural losses of up to NT$67.2 million (US$2.23 million) as of 9am yesterday, according to Council of Agriculture statistics. Under the influence of the northeast monsoon and a cold front, Taiwan has been affected by rainy weather since Nov. 8, with some areas receiving particularly heavy downpours. The council said the rains have damaged up to 32 percent of 3,326 hectares of land nationwide. These figures can be interpreted to mean there will be zero harvest on 1,073 hectares of farmland, it said. The red bean crop recorded the worst loss at NT$51.53 million, with rain damaging 2,005 hectares of land on which the crop was planted.
SOCIETY
Cute koalas attract crowds
Taipei Zoo’s four new koalas, brought over from Australia, were presented to the public yesterday, attracting large crowds of visitors. The four young koalas — three-year-old Empress, one-year-old Coral, one-year-old Tiwi and two-year-old Flynn — from the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland, Australia, arrived in Taipei on Oct. 23, adding to the zoo’s current population of four older koalas. These include three male koalas — eight-year-old Q-bi, six-year-old Q-di and 14-year-old Patrick — and one female, 11-year-old Pearl. Many of yesterday’s visitors commented on the “cuteness” of the creatures, with Tiwi, who was already popular in Australia because of her sweet demeanor, receiving the lion’s share of attention from visitors. Australian caretaker Heidi Patrick said the koalas were relaxed upon arrival and were adjusting “better than they expected.” They were so relaxed, in fact, that two have become sexually active since arriving in Taiwan.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner