ROC government tax revenues for the first six months of 2012 amounted to NT$1.454 trillion (US$ 48.49 billion), marking an increase of 4.8 percent over the figure for the same period a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance announced July 10. However, combined revenues from the securities transaction and land value increment taxes declined by NT$12.8 billion year on year for the period, according to the ministry.
The National Center for High-Performance Computing under the National Applied Research Laboratories has established a “render farm” platform to assist through technology the development of the domestic cultural and creative industries, NARL president Chen Liang-gee said July 10. The platform provides cloud-based animation and special effects rendering services for the local film and animation industries. According to the center, roughly NT$6 million (US$ 200,100) and about one month is needed on average to set up a computer graphics work station for a three-minute short film, whereas linking with the render farm can reduce the amount of time to just one week and improve quality by approximately 50 percent.
Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. has extended its contract with Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. to produce tailbooms for Bell’s UH-1Y and AH-1Z choppers, with the value of the deal estimated at roughly US$21.23 million, the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs said July 10. The original deal to supply Bell with tailbooms and elevators was inked in March 2004 and slated to run through to the end of 2013.
Twenty-seven-year-old Taiwanese artist Shih Ya-wen has been selected for a 2012 rising star award for ceramics design by the Paris-based Ateliers D’art de France. Shih, who currently studies at the ESADS art school in Strasbourg, France, was one of 12 young up-and-coming artists selected by the handicraft association.
ROC President Ma Ying-jeou has orally agreed to Premier Sean C. Chen’s nomination of Executive Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Steven Chen to become the new secretary-general, the Executive Yuan said July 10. The appointment will take effect following official confirmation by the president. (SB)