Indian civil honor given to Hon Hai’s Young LiuBy Gurjit SinghIndia celebrated its 75th Republic Day on Friday, an anniversary that marks India’s transition from a dominion of Britain to a full republic in 1950 after attaining independence on Aug. 15, 1947. It conferred its third-highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan, to Foxconn chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉). Last year in a meeting, Young told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Taiwan would be among India’s most trusted partners. India’s Padma awards started in 1954. It recognizes Liu and his contribution, and shows that India is not hesitant to acknowledge the importance of economic partnership with Taiwanese companies.

Indians queue for Israel jobs as war in Gaza ragesBy Asad Rizvi / AFP, LUCKNOW, IndiaIndians queuing in long lines for jobs in Israel as the war with Hamas grinds on said the risks to their safety are preferable to hunger at home. Recruiters are aiming to fill a labor shortage in Israel exacerbated by nearly four months of fighting against Palestinian militants in Gaza. Indian workers gather to seek employment in Israel during a recruitment drive at the Industrial Training Institute in Lucknow, India, on Thursday. The war erupted on Oct. 7 last year, when Hamas and other militants from Gaza launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,140 deaths. Militants also seized 250 hostages, and Israel said about 132 remain in Gaza.

Researcher describes TPP votersStaff writer, with CNAThe Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) made gains in the Jan. 13 legislative elections, with its success — and its potentially influential position when the next legislative session starts — widely attributed to support from young people without strong party affiliations. However, Huang Kai-ping (黃凱苹), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, delved into the core beliefs of TPP backers. Huang said at a forum that such voters occupy a relatively middle ground on relations with China and lean away from populism. TPP supporters were just as mainstream in their support for the “status quo” on China as DPP and KMT backers, she said. Ko’s supporters “favored a middle-ground approach to cross-strait relations, believing that showing goodwill could lower the temperature and avoid harsher measures like trade restrictions or military escalation,” she said.

A gallery employee poses next to a Hello Kitty installation during a photocall of the exhibition CUTE at Somerset House in London on Wednesday. For the exhibition’s curator, Claire Catterall, the concept of cute is so vast that she struggles to define it. Photo: AFP“The exhibition unpacks what cuteness is, so it’s a very slippery scene,” she said. The CUTE exhibition is sponsored by Japanese company Sanrio Co, which globally markets merchandise of the feline-inspired character Hello Kitty, created about 50 years ago. Visitors meander under an archway adorned with the character’s likeness, walls blanketed in colorful plush toys, before shimmying under the Hello Kitty disco’s glitter ball.

The ministry is setting aside a special budget of NT$4 billion (US$127.8 million) for monetary incentives for those working night shifts, he said. If a nurse works 21 days a month, those willing to work night and graveyard shifts would receive an additional NT$6,400 to NT$21,000 per month, the ministry said. However, it is regrettable that the government has ignored the top four demands of the association and the medical industry — that all medical personnel across all shifts should receive cash awards, to prioritize personnel at medical facilities for cash awards and for hospitals to receive the cash awards and pay them to medical personnel, the association said. It said it was concerned the policy would create more inequality in shift rotations and encourage medical personnel to work for higher-level medical facilities. The ministry separates medical facilities into four categories — medical centers, regional hospitals, local hospitals and clinics.

Ko urges speaker candidates to meet with TPP caucusStaff writer, with CNATaiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday urged nominees for legislative speaker and deputy speaker to brief his party’s eight legislators-at-large-elect on their stance on the legislative reform proposals the TPP made earlier this month. The TPP is hoping that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nominees would visit the TPP’s legislative caucus office and share their views on the proposals, Ko said after meeting with the party caucus at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. TPP lawmakers on Jan. 15 made four proposals that they said were aimed at legislative transparency and oversight, and asked the two major parties’ legislative speaker candidates to endorse them. Ko yesterday acknowledged criticism that the speaker cannot push reforms on their own through the legislature, but he said the speaker candidates should at least make their stances on the issues clear in front of the TPP caucus. CAUTIONKMT Secretary-General Justin Huang (黃健庭) said the KMT caucus would need to assess the situation before it decides whether to answer Ko’s call, having heard that the TPP caucus is mulling different strategies for the speakership election.

TSMC still eyeing 1nm fab venues following reportIN THE MARKET: Although the chipmaker applied for 100 hectares in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, it did not specifiy that Chiayi was the location in question Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday it was still considering venue options for its new advanced wafer fab, contrary to a local media report earlier in the day that the chipmaker was planning to build a 1-nanometer wafer plant in Chiayi County. While the world’s largest contract chipmaker did not directly comment on the matter of Chiayi as a potential location, TSMC said in a statement that the company would need to consider all factors before making a final decision on where to build the 1-nanometer fab. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News cited unnamed sources as saying that TSMC had

Projected by the World Economic Forum to reach a US$10 trillion economy by the end of this decade, India’s journey is characterized by steady growth, technological innovation and resilience. In the landscape of global economic uncertainties, India’s economy stands out as a beacon of resilience and growth. India’s digital payment methods are not just reshaping its financial landscape, but are also setting a global standard. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) recent achievements further underline our commitment to technological innovation. India’s economic growth story, powered by technological advancements, is not only a narrative of domestic growth progress, but also a clarion call for global collaboration.

TPP proposes panel to oversee extended serviceUSEFUL TRAINING: The aim of the new panel would be to help ensure that recruits receive useful, applicable training that could help in wartime, Vivian Huang saidBy Huang Ching-hsuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) is to propose the establishment of a legislative panel to evaluate the effectiveness of the one-year extended military service once the new legislative session convenes on Thursday next week, TPP legislator-at-large-elect Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday. New conscripts began their compulsory service yesterday, making them the first batch to serve after the program was re-extended to one year. New conscripts line up for a physical exam at Chenggong Ling military training camp in Taichung yesterday. The panel would be composed of members from different parties and would report directly to the committee, Huang added. The Ministry of Education proposed the policy to balance education with compulsory military service, asking schools to relax regulations on maximum credits per semester and cross-university elective courses to allow students to finish their bachelor’s degrees and compulsory service in time.

Photo: CNA“This is the world’s first [solid-state lithium battery] mass-production line, mainly targeting electric cars. There are also plans for the Taoyuan plant to produce solid-state batteries for electric aircraft, other vessels, drones, robots and devices used in the aerospace industry, Yang said. The company aims to become the world’s biggest solid-state lithium battery supplier between 2030 and 2032, when its French factory reaches full capacity, he said. By that time, ProLogium would have a 35 to 40 percent share of the world’s solid-state lithium battery market, if the penetration of solid-state lithium batteries makes up 7 percent of the global battery market, he said. ProLogium expects the manufacturing costs of solid-state lithium batteries to drop to match the costs of ternary lithium batteries — about US$100 per kilowatt-hour — in 2032, Yang said.

Female representation significantBy Lee Young-ImThere has been a lot of international news commentary about Taiwan’s presidential election and its implications for cross-strait relations and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. However, less has been discussed about the significance of the legislative election for women’s inclusion and representation in Taiwan. Interestingly, the difference in success rates between female and male candidates was not statistically significant, suggesting that women were just as likely to win as their male counterparts. Male and female candidates from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had a similar success rate of 52 percent. Taiwan’s legislative election marks a continuously significant stride toward women’s representation and inclusion in the legislature.

Perec sought to change views on French West IndiansAFP, PARISFrance’s three-time Olympic champion Marie-Jose Perec said her motivation to succeed on the track was so she could speak up for other French West Indians — but she needed to win “otherwise what you say goes unheard.”The Guadeloupe-born track legend, now 55, said that she would have loved to perform in front of a home audience such as the upcoming Paris Olympics. France’s Marie-Jose Perec, right, crosses the finish line in the women’s 200m final during the Atlanta Olympic Games on Aug. 1, 1996. She was determined to show the mainland French that their perception of West Indians was wrong. I wanted to change how we were perceived.”Perec said that at the time her fellow West Indians preferred to remain silent about their treatment in France. Perec had been inspired at the Atlanta Games by the man whose bouts she had listened to on the radio — a clearly diminished Ali lit the Olympic cauldron.

Gender reassignment surgery battle goes on, Wu saysStaff writer, with CNADespite a crushing election defeat, Abbygail Wu (吳伊婷), Taiwan’s first transgender legislative candidate, has vowed to continue fighting to eliminate the burden of undergoing gender reassignment surgery placed on those wanting to legally change their gender. “I want them to know that they are not alone and that they have rights and are supported.”The 37-year-old transitioned in 2012 after undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. Wu said that if elected, she would continue working toward abolishing Taiwan’s surgery requirement for legally changing one’s gender. To change gender identity on a national identification card, applicants need to submit a diagnosis certificate evaluated by two psychiatrists and a certificate from a qualified medical institution confirming that gender reassignment surgery has been completed. In addition to the financial burden, there is a need for thorough psychological preparation before undergoing such surgery, Wu said.

Strait crisis likely this year, experts say in pollNOT READY: Although China has the capability to set up a blockade around Taiwan, it could not mount an effective invasion, the majority of experts saidBy Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporterA Taiwan Strait crisis is likely to occur this year, US and Taiwan experts say, according to a report published on Monday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. More than half of the experts said they believed a crisis in the Taiwan Strait is “very likely” or “likely” this year, at 67 percent of US experts and 57 percent of Taiwanese experts respectively, the report showed. About half of the Taiwanese experts, 49 percent, considered “highly coercive nonmilitary actions” to be the most likely action Beijing takes in such a situation. The experts said that international partners are more likely to intervene if China launched an invasion, compared with a blockade, in the next five years. Ninety-six percent of the US experts were “moderately” to “completely” confident that the US would intervene in the event of an invasion, while 72 percent of Taiwanese experts agreed.

It is unsavory that Beijing has been trying to poach Taiwan’s diplomatic allies through coercion and inducement, with Nauru being the latest example. Taiwan’s soft power, its governance model and civic culture are endearing the nation to the outside world as never before. Taiwan’s development assistance to other countries who are not even its diplomatic allies and without strings attached speaks to its humanitarian commitment. Trump also signed the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act, passed by the US Congress in 2020. This legislation envisages US support for Taiwan’s diplomatic alliances around the world and Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the WHA.