■ Traffic policing
Nearly 500 drivers fined
More than 470 drivers were fined for traffic violations in a single county yesterday on the first day of a police crackdown on dangerous and reckless driving behavior. Figures disclosed by Hualien County police show that as of 4pm yesterday, they had handled 472 serious traffic violations. A spokesman for the Hualien County Police Bureau noted that in 400 cases -- or 85 percent of these violations -- drivers ran red lights, in 60 cases drivers were driving while intoxicated and in 12 other cases motorists were fined for excessive speeding. The spokesman said that Hualien County police would follow the instructions of the National Police Agency and act furtively to weed out irresponsible drivers, and that all drivers should abide by traffic regulations to help reduce road fatalities.
■ Administration
COA official recovering
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Agricultural Affairs Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) was listed in stable condition yesterday after an operation to remove blood clots from his brain at a Taichung hospital. According to Lin's family, Lin felt dizzy and nauseous early on Sunday and was rushed to the Yunlin branch of National Taiwan University Hospital, where he fell into a coma. Doctors said Lin had a hemorrhagic stroke and recommended that he be transferred to Taichung Veterans General Hospital. After detecting that the 71-year-old council deputy chairman had blood clots in his brain, a medical team at the Taichung hospital operated on him and removed about 200cc of congealed blood. Lin regained consciousness yesterday and was recovering in an intensive care unit.
■ Finance
Credit co-ops' ODL down
The average overdue loan ratios of the credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations dropped to 8.52 percent as of the end of November, tallies released yesterday by the Bureau of Agricultural Finance showed. The overdue loans of the grassroots associations totaled NT$56 billion as of the end of November, down NT$800 million, or 0.16 percentage points from the previous month's level, bureau officials said. As of the end of November, their assets totaled NT$1.5794 trillion, up NT$5.4 billion from the previous month, with their net worth totaling NT$87.5 billion, up NT$400 million from October, they added. Their outstanding deposits totaled NT$1.364 trillion, up NT$4.8 billion from October, and their outstanding loans totaled NT$656.8 billion, up NT$1.5 billion.
■ Labor
Management pay down
Management personnel in the industrial and service sectors on average made less than NT$50,000 (US$1,525) per month last year, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. The agency conducts a job market survey between May and June every year and publish the results at the end of the year. The survey last year showed that employees in the industrial and service sectors on average received NT$26,266 per month at the end of May last year, up slightly from the NT$26,074 recorded in a survey in June 2005. Supervisory staff in the two sectors had the highest average salaries of NT$47,630 per month, followed by professionals at NT$35,899. Monthly salaries for executives in supervisory positions fell below NT$50,000, down NT$2,839 from the NT$50,469 recorded in June 2005.
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