WILDLIFE
Miaoli reiterates dog ban
The Miaoli County Government on Friday reiterated that hunting dogs are banned from areas known to be the habitat of Taiwan’s only surviving wild feline — the leopard cat. The Miaoli Agriculture Department said that signs have been put up since the ban was first imposed on March 25 in areas south of County Highway No. 140. It is likely that people have been training dogs in the area, as some that have been seen in the area wore tracking collars, the department said. Patrols in the area have been increased to help protect the indigenous species, the department said. People caught breaching the ban face fines of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 in accordance with provisions of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), it said. Other efforts to protect the leopard cats include speed warning signs, fences and speed cameras along the county highway after seven leopard cats were reported killed on the road last year, the department added.
EDUCATION
Universities’ impacts ranked
Twenty-four Taiwanese universities are in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which measures the social and economic influence among institutions. Tainan-based National Cheng Kung University ranked highest in Taiwan at No. 38, followed by National Changhua University of Education (No. 66), in the “2020 impact rankings” released on Wednesday by the London-based magazine. The rankings are based on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals. National Taiwan University and Taichung-based Tunghai University were in the 101-200 bracket. Fu Jen Catholic University, Asia University, China Medical University, Kaohsiung Medical University, National Dong Hwa University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tzu Chi University and Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, ranked 201-300. Another eight Taiwanese universities ranked 301-400, three were in the 401-600 bracket and one was at 601-plus in the rankings, which have 766 universities from 85 countries.
ASTRONOMY
Sunsets, streets to align
Sunsets will align with two streets in Taipei this month and early next month, the Central Weather Bureau said, but added that weather forecasts indicate cloudy to sunny skies for the first alignment. The alignment will be from Wednesday to May 1 on Zhongxiao E and W roads west of the Xinsheng Expressway from 5:58pm to 6:18pm on the first day, with each subsequent day’s sunset to be three minutes earlier. From May 2 to 4 the sunset will align with Emei Street west of Xining S Road from 5:59pm to 6:19pm on the first day, with subsequent days three and six minutes earlier.
FISHERIES
First tuna sets record
A bluefin tuna was auctioned in Yilan County yesterday for NT$2 million (US$66,489), a record for the first fish of the season. The Suao Township (蘇澳)-registered No. 168 Chuan Chang Lung on Thursday brought the 200kg tuna into Nanfangao Port (南方澳港), the Suao Fishermen’s Association said. To qualify as the first bluefin catch of the season, it must weigh at least 180kg and the boat that caught it must be legally registered in Taiwan and be the first to return to port. The tuna was auctioned at the Nanfangao Seafood Market, with the winner identified as businessman Cheng Chin-chih (鄭金池). Bidding started at NT$7,000 per kilogram before closing at NT$10,000, association head Tsai Yuan-lung (蔡源龍) said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
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