■ECONOMY
Last day for vouchers
Today is the last day to spend consumer vouchers. However, statistics show that as of Monday, there were still NT$2 billion (US$60 million) in consumer vouchers that have not been spent or exchanged by shops. The vouchers, distributed starting on Jan. 18, were intended to stimulate the economy. The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday said a total of NT$83.751 billion in consumer vouchers should have been distributed, and so far, 99.42 percent (NT$83.265 billion) have been distributed. There are still 135,000 people who have not claimed their vouchers, totaling NT$486 million. CEPD statistics showed that as of Monday, NT$81.25 billion in vouchers had been spent by consumers and turned in by shops, which accounts for 97.5 percent of all vouchers distributed. About 30 percent were spent within the first month after distribution, which coincided with the Lunar New Year. Nov. 2 is the deadline for shops to turn in their vouchers for cash. No processing fee will be charged.
■CRIME
Men get life for drugs
The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced two people to life in prison for dealing and stashing large amounts of prohibited drugs. The two men, surnamed Lai (賴) and Chen (陳), were found with 11kg of amphetamine and 26kg of ketamine. The ruling stated that in February, the two men acquired large amounts of the prohibited drugs from dealers and rented an apartment to store their stash. The court said the two men did not show remorse for their crimes and did not cooperate with investigators in revealing who had sold them the drugs. The two were sentenced to life in prison and stripped of their civil rights. The rulings can be appealed.
■CRIME
Teen severs dad’s hands
Police said yesterday a 17-year-old boy had been arrested for allegedly chopping off his father’s hands to avenge years of physical abuse. They said the boy cut through his father’s wrists with a knife while he was asleep at their home in Miaoli County on Monday. The 37-year-old father, a divorced ironsmith, was in stable condition after doctors reattached his severed hands. Police said the boy admitted to cutting his father’s hands off and showed no remorse. They said the boy told police that his father had beaten him after he refused to get a job while attending school. The boy has been handed over to a juvenile court that will decide whether to file charges.
■SCIENCE
France to honor ex-minister
The French Institute in Taipei said yesterday it would award former minister of the Department of Health Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) an insignia of the Officer of the Order of the Academic Palms in recognition of his research in the field of genomics and molecular epidemiology. French Representative to Taiwan Patrick Bonneville will present the award to Chen, a member of Academia Sinica, at an award ceremony tomorrow, a press release by the institute said. The French Ministry of Education decreed on Feb. 26 that Chen would receive the top honor for academics because of his academic achievements and his contributions to strengthening scientific and technological exchanges between France and Taiwan, especially when Chen headed Taiwan’s National Science Council, the statement said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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