News Today

India okays merger of state-run airlines
NEW DELHI - INDIA'S two state-run carriers will merge to create a larger airline able to compete in an increasingly deregulated aviation market, officials said.Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters on Wednesday that a Cabinet panel has approved the merger... [Read more]

S'pore research may slash cost of radio tag readers
COMING soon - shopping carts that scan purchases and total up the bill and hotel rooms that unlock the door automatically for guests. These could well become a reality with researchers at the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) discovering a way to... [Read more]

Cramming in for art's sake
PHOTO: XINHUAThese art students are oblivious to the crowded surroundings as they took part in entrance exams for art school in Nantong city in China's Jiangsu province. The test centre did not expect the huge numbers, forcing them to hold tests... [Read more]

London police calm fears after third teen shot dead
LONDON - POLICE chiefs sought to reassure Londoners yesterday after a third fatal shooting in less than two weeks in the south of the city, fuelling fears of an escalating gun culture. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair and senior detectives held... [Read more]

KL backs away from plan to confine foreign workers
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S government yesterday backed away from a proposal to confine foreign workers to their living quarters, acknowledging that such a drastic move would have 'implications'.'The government hasn't taken a position on it yet,' Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun... [Read more]

Putin offers Saudis help with atomic energy
RIYADH - PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin of Russia has offered to help Saudi Arabia develop atomic energy and pledged to develop ties with the Islamic world during his first visit to Saudi Arabia, a key US ally. Mr Putin yesterday listed the... [Read more]

Undignified to place a price on body organs
I refer to the recent debate on organ trading. I am against such a trade. I am also against the medical directive which states that I have to opt out of the situation whereby other people are automatically entitled to my... [Read more]

Diversified Indian firm with global presence
NEW DELHI - INDIA'S Tata Group boasts an increasingly global stable of interests from tea and trucks to technology.A little more than two years ago, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said he wanted the conglomerate to 'spread its wings far beyond... [Read more]

Outdated price data on dental association's website
My tooth cracked while I was having lunch and my regular dentist was fully booked for the day. Thus I walked into a clinic in a shopping mall in the Thomson area as there were no patients at that time.The dentist... [Read more]

Father's hugs gave woman cancer
A FATHER'S loving hugs proved deadly for one British woman, who developed an asbestos-linked cancer years after her contact with the naval dockyard worker.Now, Ms Debra Brewer, 47, has won a compensation claim against the British Defence Ministry, after it admitted... [Read more]

Paradise lost
PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIMDeserted and in a state of disrepair, the Jurong Crocodile and Reptile Paradise is anything but Eden for the 60 crocodiles that live there.Dwindling visitor numbers forced the park to close its doors in June last year, and... [Read more]