HEALTHCARE
Dependent’s average to fall
The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday announced it would lower the National Health Insurance’s (NHI) figures on the average number of dependents from 0.62 people to 0.61 people from January next year. This would allow about 700,000 employers to save an estimated NT$1.4 billion (US$43.1 million) per year. NHI Financial Division head Tsai Pei-ling (蔡佩玲) said that of the estimated savings, about NT$0.8 billion would be by owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, while NT$0.5 billion would benefit the government’s budget. Tsai said that because of the low fertility rate in recent years, the average number of dependents gradually decreased from 1.36 in 1995 to 0.62 last year.
CULTURE
Film ratings relaxed
A revision to regulations governing how films are rated is aimed at giving teenagers the chance to watch more movies, a Ministry of Culture official said yesterday. Films are now classified into five categories, instead of four, as was the case in the past. The new rules took effect on Friday last week. Before the revision, films were rated “restricted,” viewing not permitted for those under 18; “parental guidance,” viewing not permitted for children under 12; “protected,” viewing not permitted for children under six; children between six and 11 must be accompanied by an adult; and “general audience,” viewing permitted for audiences of all ages. Under the new rules, the parental guidance category is divided into two categories: one that bars children under 12 from seeing a movie and the other that bars those under 15 from seeing a movie. The Department of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development said the next step is to help theaters and distributors implement the new system.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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