Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-19
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Almost all of Taiwan’s 55 entries won medals at the 2015 International Exhibition of Inventions

The interactive device invented by Kou Chia-han allows plants to detect the approach of humans. (Photo/Taiwan Invention Association)

in Geneva, Switzerland, a testament to the quality of Taiwan’s inventions, the head of Taiwan’s delegation said Friday.

In an award ceremony that day, Taiwanese inventors won 53 medals, including 26 gold, 16 silver and 11 bronze, as well as seven special awards, which was the highest percentage of wins Taiwan has ever attained at the fair, said Chen Tsung-tai, chief of the Taiwan Invention Association.

Among the gold medal winners was a transparent, semi sphere-shaped box with three holes that allows users to insert their hands into the box and polish their nails in a confined and safe space.     [FULL  STORY]

FACTS AND LOGIC:A Presidential Office source said Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je had ignored that Farglory’s bid for the Dome contract was revoked by then-mayor Ma

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 20, 2015
By: Kuo An-chia  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The Presidential Office yesterday asked Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to “produce

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, right, takes part in a workout at Tsu Huei Temple in Taipei’s Songshan District before a mass walk yesterday. Photo: CNA

evidence” for comments he made on Saturday that the Taipei Dome project is “ruining the banner of honesty and non-corruption upheld” by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Ko yesterday said evidence would come “soon,” adding that the situation has been handed to the recently formed Taipei Clean Government Committee and would be settled within a month.

During a speech at the Ketagalan Institute on Saturday, Ko said that the Taipei Dome project has ruined Ma’s vow of integrity, with the former Taipei mayor’s municipal administration accused of lining the pockets of Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), the firm responsible for building the facility.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/19
By: Chiang Yuan-chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) The Confucius genealogical line has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest family tree in history, containing the names of more than 2 million descendants, according to the latest edition of the Confucius genealogy book published in 2009.

The 2 million figure is thrice that included in the previous edition of the genealogy book for descendants from Confucius — the famous Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher — who lived 551–479 BC.

The first Confucius Genealogy was published in 1080 and has undergone a major revision every 60 years and a small revision every 30 years. The fourth edition, printed in 1937, contained 600,000 names.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-18
By: CNA

A crested myna in Taichung, central Taiwan, was returned home safe and sound after

The bird and its owner, April 17. (Photo/Liang Yi-ting)

repeatedly bombarding the thief with one question: “Why did you take me away?” local police said Friday.

The species, known for its ability to imitate human voices, was stolen April 14 by a woman who had earlier tried unsuccessfully to buy the bird from its owner.

The thief soon realized the bird was not something to be trifled with. The bird, named “Money More More,” kept pestering the 56-year-old by saying in Taiwanese: “Why did you take me away?”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/18
By: Chen Ching-fang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Another 23 stomach medications produced by 19 pharmaceutical companies in Taiwan have been found to be made of food-grade instead of pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, the country’s food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Saturday.

The companies are required to remove the products from store shelves by midnight April 22 and complete recalling the products within 30 days, the FDA said.

All of the affected medicines contain food-grade magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate as their main ingredients, which could reduce their efficacy.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/17
By: Chen Shu-fen and Scully Hsiao

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) An annual procession to honor Matsu, the Chinese goddess of the

CNA file photo

sea, kicked off Friday at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in the central city of Taichung.

Believers will traverse the neighboring counties of Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi on a 330-kilometer journey that is scheduled to end April 26, when they return to the Taichung temple.

The annual event has been listed by the Discovery Channel as one of the biggest religious festivals in the world, along with the Haj — the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca — and the Catholic pilgrimage to the Vatican.

Each year, millions of worshippers flock to join the procession to celebrate the birthday of Matsu, believed to fall on the 23rd day of the third month on the lunar calendar.     [FULL  STORY]

OVERLY PROTECTIVE?Farglory said an evacuation analysis based on a widespread fire was akin to asking what to do if a person with five kinds of cancer was hit by a car

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 18, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei City Government could require Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) to pay

Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi, right, speaks in Taipei yesterday as fellow Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin looks on after Farglory Land Development Co rejected proposals submitted by a Taipei City Government safety inspection committee Photo: Tu Chu-wen, Taipei Times

for demolishing the Taipei Dome, Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) said yesterday.

“If Farglory is responsible for the contract’s termination, there will not be any question of our purchasing the complex at its market price,” Teng said. “Farglory will be responsible for paying to demolish the structure and returning the site to its original condition.”

Farglory yesterday threatened that the city would be required to purchase the Taipei Dome complex if it continued to press its demand that either the Taipei Dome or a neighboring shopping mall be demolished.

A city safety inspection committee recommended that one of the buildings should be demolished after finding that overbuilding in the area would hinder an evacuation in case of an emergency.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/17
By: Paige Tsai and Jay Chen

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) A Taiwan district court on Friday ordered RCA Corporation’s current owners to pay NT$560 million (US$18 million) in damages to its former workers and their families in what has been described as the worst ever work-related health incident in the country.

More than 200 former workers at an RCA plant in Taoyuan have died of liver and lung cancers since the 1990’s.

The plant in the northern county of Taoyuan (now Taoyuan City) was shut down in 1992, a few years after RCA’s takeover by General Electric, an American multinational conglomerate, and its subsequent sale to the French Thomson Consumer Electronics.     [FULL  STORY]