■ TRANSPORTATION
KRTC holds photo contest
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) launched a “Dome of Light” photography competition at the mass-rapid transit (MRT) system’s Formosa Boulevard Station yesterday, offering a top prize of NT$50,000 in cash. Photography enthusiasts and members of photo clubs poured into the station on the first day of the two-day competition to try to get the best shot of the “Dome of Light,” the largest single glass artistic production in the world, which was designed by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata. The KRTC is holding the competition as part of efforts to promote the upcoming launch of the Kaohsiung MRT’s Orange Line scheduled for late next month. The Formosa Boulevard Station will connect the Red Line with the new line. The first day of the competition also included a screening of a film explaining Quagliata’s glass art creation. Contestants can send their photograph entries along with a 200-word essay about their photo to the Dimension Endowment of Art between Monday and Aug. 1, the KRTC said.
■ CONTEST
Seeking outstanding youth
The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office yesterday invited all Republic of China (ROC) passport holders between the ages 20 and 40 to compete in the 46th Annual Top Ten Outstanding Youth of the Year competition. All ROC passport holders, regardless of place of residence, who were born between Aug. 1, 1968, and Dec. 31, 1987, are eligible for nomination. Applicants must have their letters of reference postmarked by Aug. 15 sent to Junior Chamber International Taiwan. The letter must be accompanied by six 5cm pictures of the candidate taken within the past six months, a copy of his or her ROC national identity card or passport, and 16 copies of the recommendation letter. More information is available at www.taiwanjc.org.tw.
■ SOCIETY
Birth rate slightly down
A total of 95,789 births were recorded in Taiwan during the first half of this year, 1.1 percent fewer than during the same period last year, the Ministry of the Interior said in a report released on Friday. The number translates into a birth rate of 4.17 childbirths per 1,000 people during the first six months or 8.38 childbirths per 1,000 people annually, the report said. The annual crude birth rate marked a drop of 0.54 points compared with last year, when there were 8.92 births per 1,000 people, indicating a slow decline in the birth rate, the report said. Of the babies born during the first half of this year, 50,243 were boys and 45,546 were girls, representing a sex ratio of 110.31 boys for every 100 girls. About 90 percent of the babies were born to Taiwanese mothers, 5 percent to mothers from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and 4.8 percent to mothers of other nationalities.
■ DIPLOMACY
Gonsalves arrives on visit
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is expected to arrive in Taiwan today. He will be accompanied by his wife and an eight-member delegation, which is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Gonsalves will also tour various cultural and economic sites to gain a better understanding of the nation’s development. This will mark Gonsalves’ sixth visit to Taiwan as prime minister. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in August 1981. It has supported Taiwan’s bid to join various international organizations.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
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