There is need to look at factors holding corporate women back: minister

SINGAPORE: Law and Foreign Minister K Shanmugam said there is a need to look at the factors that are holding women back from doing well in the corporate sector to see what can be done.

Mr Shanmugam was speaking to Channel NewsAsia on Saturday after a closed-door women's dialogue in his constituency Nee Soon GRC, in the lead-up to International Women's Day on 8 March.

He said while the labour force participation rate for women in Singapore is good, the board representation of women is "very low", at seven per cent. In addition, he noted the representation of women in executive committees in Singapore companies is 15 per cent.

He said women have done well in the professional sectors such as law and medicine, but their performance in the corporate sector has been held back by the "usual factors", such as having to juggle family and work as well as gender bias.

He said these issues which hold women back from reaching the very top are particularly relevant.

A resident suggested lowering the foreign domestic levy for more households - other than those with dependents - as a way to encourage more women to return to the workforce.

Mr Shanmugam said: "We want to reduce the growth of foreign workers, which would include house help, maids. If we liberalise this sector, the numbers will go up, and the overall number of foreigners here, which includes nurses, construction workers, maids - we have about 200,000 maids in Singapore - that number will go up as well.

"I think it's a conversation we have to have with Singaporeans to say in which areas it can go up, by how much and yet take into account the overall public sentiment that you want foreign worker participation to go down."

In its recent Budget announcement, the government reduced the levy to S$120, from S$170, for families with dependents such as children and elderly parents.

- CNA/xq

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British PM under pressure after election rout

EASTLEIGH, United Kingdom: British Prime Minister David Cameron was under pressure on Friday after his Conservatives were beaten into third place in a key election by his scandal-hit coalition partners and a eurosceptic party.

Cameron admitted it was a "disappointing" night for his party after the Liberal Democrats held the parliamentary seat of Eastleigh in southern England in a contest billed as the most important British by-election in a generation.

The Conservatives had hoped at least to come in second but they were condemned to third place by the anti-European Union and anti-immigration UK Independence Party, which registered its best ever performance.

The vote was sparked by the resignation of disgraced former energy minister Chris Huhne, a Liberal Democrat who has pleaded guilty to trying to avoid a speeding fine.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, whose own position as Lib Dem leader had been on the line after a collapse in the party's poll ratings, said the "stunning victory" showed they "can be a party of government and still win".

UKIP leader Nigel Farage insisted the party's best ever result in a British election was not a "protest vote".

Cameron said he was "confident" the Conservatives could win back support at the next general election, which is due in 2015.

"It is a disappointing result for the Conservative party but it's clear that in mid-term by-elections people want to register a protest," the prime minister told the BBC.

The returning officer announced shortly after 0200 GMT on Friday that Lib Dem candidate Mike Thornton had secured 13,342 votes, 1,771 more than UKIP representative Diane James.

Tory nominee Maria Hutchings limped in third with 10,559 votes in a seat that the Conservatives held as recently as 1994, while the main opposition Labour party's candidate John O'Farrell was fourth with 4,088.

The Lib Dems overcame not only the Huhne scandal, but also an ongoing row surrounding the party's handling of claims that its former chief executive Chris Rennard molested female party members.

A jubilant Clegg told supporters in Eastleigh that they had won the election in "exceptionally difficult circumstances" and that "our opponents have thrown everything at us".

"Two and a half years ago when we entered into coalition with the Conservatives our critics said we were going to lose our soul. Last night, we proved those critics are emphatically wrong," Clegg told supporters.

The coalition has brought in a series of unpopular austerity measures to tackle Britain's record deficit, but it is the centrist Lib Dems who have taken a far bigger hit in opinion polls than the centre-right Conservatives.

UKIP's James said her second-place finish was a "humongous shock" that showed the party was now a major force in British politics.

Farage -- a member of the European parliament who had reportedly considered standing in Eastleigh himself before backing out -- said he was confident UKIP would win seats in the 2015 general election.

"If the Conservatives hadn't split our vote we would have won," he told the BBC.

He said Cameron had alienated voters by "talking about gay marriage, wind turbines, unlimited immigration from India (and) he wants Turkey to join the European Union."

Senior Conservative David Davis had earlier warned that third place for the party would be a "crisis" that would place serious doubt over Cameron's leadership.

But Cameron rejected the claims and dismissed talk that the party would now lurch to the right.

The result came despite Cameron's pledge in January to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the European Union and then put British membership of the bloc to a referendum by the end of 2017.

The vow was supposed to head off both the threat from UKIP and the increasingly noisy eurosceptic wing of his own Conservative party, but appeared not to have resonated with voters.

- AFP/al

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Govt taking brave step to achieve quality growth, inclusive society: Dr Yaacob

SINGAPORE: Communications and Information Minister and Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Dr Yaacob Ibrahim has described Budget 2013 as a brave step taken by the government to achieve quality growth and an inclusive society.

Dr Yaacob made the statement during the first Budget Forum to be conducted in Malay.

The forum will be aired on MediaCorp TV channel Suria from 9.30pm to 10.30pm on Thursday.

He said the government has to make some specific choices to achieve the two objectives.

These include reducing the number of foreign workers and extending more help to businesses and those who are in need.

He said the economy also needs to be restructured in order to improve productivity.

Some 20 people from all walks of life were invited to share their views on the Budget.

Polls were also conducted during the show. Nearly 8 in 10 participants felt Budget 2013 could bring about quality growth and an inclusive society.

One way the Budget aims to do this is to have a more progressive tax structure, with the rich paying more.

Dr Yaacob said such a policy is useful, but needs to evolve depending on the conditions of the economy.

"If in the future, our economy slows down and affects all levels of society, it may not be possible to implement this," he said.

"But as one of the policy tools, I feel this is one the government can use in suitable times because we know the income inequality has to be looked into as we do not want to see the emergence of two classes in Singapore ... which could affect our harmony," Dr Yaacob added.

- CNA/al

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China overtakes Japan on IT spending: German trade body

BERLIN: China has overtaken Japan in terms of its share of global IT spending, German IT industry organisation BITKOM said on Wednesday, ahead of the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech trade fair.

Global IT spending is poised to rise by 5.1 per cent to 2.7 trillion euros (US$3.5 trillion), said BITKOM in a new survey, with India (+13.9 per cent), Brazil (+9.6 per cent) and China (+8.9 per cent) the biggest growth markets.

"There is a shift in the 2013 country ranking: China has overtaken Japan and is for the first time the second biggest national market," said BITKOM president Dieter Kempf.

China holds 9.5 per cent of the global IT market, now ahead of Japan with 8.3 per cent. Both Asian giants are still comfortably behind the United States, which enjoys a 26.8-per cent share of the world's technology market.

When the 27 countries of the European Union are lumped together, they represent 21.8 per cent of the global market share but will grow at a mere 0.9 per cent in 2013, according to the BITKOM survey.

"Given the current economic situation, an EU-wide growth of around one per cent is a pleasing outlook for the coming year and the CeBIT," judged Kempf.

The CeBIT, in the northern German city of Hanover, is the world's top trade fair for the IT sector, showcasing the latest gadgets and inventions. It runs from March 5 to 9.

- AFP/xq

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Fatah-linked militants claim Gaza rocket after inmate death

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza militants from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fired a rocket at Israel on Tuesday as a "preliminary response" after one of its members died in an Israeli jail.

It was the first time a Gaza rocket had struck southern Israel in more than three months, and stoked fears that the mass protests in the West Bank over the fate of prisoners held in Israeli jails could spread to the Hamas-run territory.

Following weeks of anger in support of four prisoners on long-term hunger strike, the issue came to head on Saturday with news that a 30-year-old prisoner who had been interrogated for throwing stones, had died in custody.

Arafat Jaradat was arrested on February 18 and interrogated by Israel's Shin Bet internal security services on suspicion of involvement in a "stone-throwing terror attack" in November. Five days later, he died in Megiddo prison.

His death sparked angry demonstrations across the West Bank, with Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Issa Qaraqaa saying preliminary results from his autopsy showed he had died "as a result of torture".

At his funeral near the southern city of Hebron on Monday, militants from Al-Aqsa Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, vowed revenge, with the group claiming Tuesday's rocket as a first response.

"In a preliminary response to the killing of our hero the prisoner Arafat Jaradat, we claim responsibility for firing a Grad rocket on Ashkelon at 6:00 am (0400 GMT)," the Gaza branch said in a statement.

The rocket struck a road just south of the Israeli port city, causing damage but no injuries, police said.

It was the first such attack since the end of an eight-day confrontation in November during which militants fired more than a thousand rockets at Israel and the air force hit back with a major bombing campaign.

The violence, which killed 177 Palestinians and six Israelis, ended with a truce deal on November 21.

Meanwhile Palestinian police were Tuesday preventing demonstrators from reaching an area near Jalame checkpoint in the northern West Bank where several mass protests have erupted into violence in the past 10 days, an AFP correspondent said.

Earlier, Abbas had instructed the security forces to "maintain the calm" in the West Bank, following a demand from Israel at the weekend that he act to cool the situation.

Washington also sent a "clear message" to both sides calling for calm, a State Department spokesman said, indicating it expected "all parties to consider the results of the autopsy calmly and without inflammatory rhetoric".

And the United Nations said there must be an independent inquiry into Jaradat's death.

"The United Nations expects the autopsy to be followed by an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Jaradat's death, the results of which should be made public as soon as possible," UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry said late on Monday.

The Palestinians also called for an independent inquiry in a letter from their UN ambassador Riyad Mansour to the UN Security Council in which it said the autopsy showed Jaradat "was subjected to severe beatings, abuse and medical negligence during his captivity, possibly amounting to torture."

According to the letter, the autopsy showed Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs, as well as other injuries.

Israel has said the prisoner could have suffered broken bones during the attempts by the emergency services to resuscitate him.

It said the preliminary findings were "not sufficient to determine the cause of death" which could only be known with the results of microscopic and toxicological, which are reportedly due back on 10 days.

-AFP/fl

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Nokia launches cheaper Windows-based phones

BARCELONA: Nokia, once the leader of the mobile phone world, unveiled Monday two new Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones aimed at the cheaper end of the market.

The Finnish group revealed the Nokia Lumia 720 and Nokia Lumia 520 on the opening day of the world's biggest mobile fair, the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain.

"The momentum behind Nokia is gathering pace," said Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop.

"The launches today reflect our commitment to broadening our devices and services portfolio to meet the demands of people and businesses around the globe."

The Nokia Lumia 720 has a camera with Carl Zeiss optics and has a starting price of 249 euros (US$330) before taxes, with a rollout due to start in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore in the first quarter.

The Nokia Lumia 520 would be priced at just 139 euros pre-tax, it said, the cheapest of its Windows Phone 8 devices, launching first in Hong Kong and Vietnam in the first quarter of this year before a broader release in the second quarter.

Nokia said it would bring the Lumia 720 and the Nokia Lumia 520 to China.

Last month, Nokia posted a net profit of 202 million euros in the fourth quarter, its first quarterly profit for 18 months.

But the beleaguered company, which is trying to cut costs, said that it would not pay a dividend to shareholders for the first time in more than 20 years.

In the three months ending December 31, Nokia made a net profit of 202 million euros compared to a loss of 1.07 billion euros in the same quarter a year ago.

The company sold a total of 86.3 million devices during the quarter, including 4.4 million Lumia smartphones, its new flagship product developed with Microsoft.

Nokia said at the time that the numbers were better than expected.

Still, net sales of smart devices fell 55 percent in the quarter to 1.2 billion euros on a yearly basis as volumes fell.

-AFP/fl

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German horsemeat scandal traced to Poland

BERLIN: Horsemeat found in beef products withdrawn from German shelves has been traced to a supplier in Poland, news weekly Spiegel reported on Sunday, citing European officials.

Spiegel said that beef products with traces of horse found in goulash sold by low-cost retailer Aldi were produced by German firm Dreistern Konserven, which in turn bought its meat via a dealer from Mipol, a Polish-based firm.

Dreistern Konserven acknowledged in a statement on its website that traces of horse DNA had been discovered in its products but insisted it was merely a processing firm.

"Dreistern is not involved in slaughtering nor the chopping up of meat. It buys meat already chopped up, either fresh or frozen, only from certified meat deliverers," the statement said.

Nearly 50,000 jars of this goulash were delivered to Aldi, said Spiegel, citing information from the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).

Spiegel also said another unnamed supplier in northern Poland had delivered some 20 tonnes of meat worth 60,000 euros ($80,000) to German firm Vossko via a Danish dealer.

Vossko supplies Liechtenstein-based firm Hilcona, which in turn supplies German firm Gusto, which manufactured beef tortelloni that was withdrawn from Austrian and German branches of budget food firm Lidl after horsemeat was discovered.

EU authorities are scrambling to reassure consumers after falsely-labelled meat has come to light in several European countries via a sprawling chain of production spanning a maze of abattoirs and suppliers across the continent.

- AFP/fa

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Hockey: Five-a-side format to make debut in S'pore

SINGAPORE: A new format of hockey introduced by the International Hockey Federation is set to make its international debut in Singapore.

The Boys U-16 Asia Cup competition, which will take place in April, will be the first official hockey tournament to use the five-a-side format.

Since October, 15 boys from the Singapore team have been training at the Sengkang Hockey stadium and they are looking forward to competing on a smaller pitch.

National U-16 player Ahmad Faris said: "In five versus five, we are allowed to shoot from anywhere so there are definitely going to be more goal scoring opportunities, we can expect higher scorelines."

For goalkeeper Wee Wei Xuan, the new format will make his job slightly tougher.

"In the 11-a-side format, the goal keeper gets to rest and like walk around but this five-a-side is a lot more challenging which makes it more fun," said Wee.

Ten nations are lining up to do battle at Sengkang in early April and powerhouses like Pakistan will be leading the Asian charge.

The tournament will also function as the Asian qualifiers for next year's Youth Olympic Games.

Only two teams will make the cut but host Singapore remains optimistic due to the new format of play.

National U-16 coach Coen Van Putten said: "It is new for everybody. What we do is we focus on our own performance and we hope we are prepared well. I think we are prepared well but it's always interesting to see what other teams come up with."

Fans are expected to take to the new format too.

The Singapore Hockey Federation is expecting a full-house here at the Sengkang Hockey stadium during the Asia Cup.

A carnival like atmosphere will be created similar to the buzz during the 2009 Junior World Cup and 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

- CNA/fa

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Eurozone facing recession right through 2013: EU

BRUSSELS: The eurozone faces another full year of recession in 2013 with unemployment likely to surge above the 20-million mark, and French and Spanish state spending badly overshooting targets, the EU said on Friday.

Economic output across the 17-state currency area is set to shrink by 0.3 percent this year after a 0.6-percent contraction last year, the European Commission said.

That means that millions more people are likely to lose their jobs, with already record unemployment expected to rise markedly right into 2014.

The EU's winter economic forecast said there would not be a return to growth for the debt-laden monetary union -- home to about 340 million people -- until 2014, when growth would return at a rate of 1.4-percent from this low base.

As a result, the unemployment rate would hit 12.2 percent for 2013 after 11.4 percent last year -- which left the number of people unemployed already at nearly 19 million.

Much of the attention was on France where the public deficit is set to be worse than expected in 2013 and 2014, veering up to 3.7 percent of output this year and 3.9 percent next year.

France, with the eurozone's second-biggest economy, was due this year to get back within the European Union's deficit ceiling of 3.0 percent of output, and had been expected to show a deficit of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product.

The gap leaves Socialist President Francois Hollande looking for special leeway from Brussels.

Spain's public deficit meanwhile exploded to 10.2 percent of output in 2012, the Commission said two days after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said it had fallen below 7.0 percent of GDP.

The figure for 2014 in the EU's latest economic forecasts would be 7.2 percent, Brussels also said -- although these figures may pre-date those of Rajoy, who said Madrid had avoided an economic "shipwreck" last year.

"We must stay the course of reform and avoid any loss of momentum," EU Economy and Euro commissioner Olli Rehn told a press conference, arguing that the drag on growth and uptick on joblessness was a natural consequence of "the ongoing rebalancing of the European economy."

Across the full, 27-state EU, which also includes Britain and Poland, growth is expected to be 0.1 percent this year and 1.6 percent next year, with the non-eurozone part doing better on unemployment too.

- AFP/al

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Man who drowned in NUS pool unlikely to survive despite resuscitation

SINGAPORE: A man who drowned in a pool at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2007, would likely not have survived despite resuscitaton efforts, according to a cardiologist during a court hearing on Thursday.

40-year-old Roland Yeo, who was an IT manager with NUS, drowned after suffering a sudden heart attack in the university's pool on June 6, 2007.

His wife is seeking S$1 million in damages from NUS after claiming the university was negligent.

Dr Michael Lim Chun Leng, a medical director with Singapore Heart, Stroke and Cancer Centre, took the stand on Thursday as an expert witness.

He told the court that Yeo had an underlying heart problem where there was "severe" damage of his heart muscle and impairment of the heart pump function.

Coupled with waterlogged lungs, Dr Lim said that Yeo "really had no chance of survival in an acute event."

The court heard that Yeo, a father of two, was a regular swimmer who could "outswim" his friends.

On that fatal day, Yeo had finished more than seven laps when he ran into difficulty.

He was spotted struggling and was semi-conscious when pulled out of the pool.

Efforts by lifeguards to revive him failed and he was later pronounced dead at the National University Hospital.

But Dr Lim emphasised that any resuscitation efforts by lifeguards or using an automated external defibrillator (AED) would have made little difference.

He noted that the exercise could have precipitated the heart attack, as there was not enough oxygen sent to the vital organs.

NUS is contesting the lawsuit and has named the pool operators, Hydro Aquatic Swimming School, as the second defendant.

The operators have in turn included their insurers Overseas Assurance Corporation in the suit to indemnify them for any liabilities.

The case continues on Friday.

- CNA/de

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Tunisia president holds crisis talks over new PM

TUNIS: President Moncef Marzouki was holding urgent talks on Wednesday with political leaders in a bid to steer Tunisia out of a weeks-long crisis exacerbated by the resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.

Marzouki was meeting in the morning with leader of the Islamist ruling Ennahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, and later with Maya Jribi of the opposition Republican party, his office said.

Tunisia was plunged into its worst political crisis since the 2011 Arab Spring revolt that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali when leftist politician Chokri Belaid was shot dead outside his home in Tunis on February 6.

Though no one claimed responsibility, Belaid's family accused Ennahda of being behind the killing, which the party vehemently denied.

The killing did little to ease the misgivings of liberals and secularists who believe Ennahda is failing to rein in religious extremists threatening the stability of the country.

Belaid's murder also sparked deadly street protests as well as strikes, which Jebali attempted to defuse by announcing plans for a non-partisan cabinet of technocrats to lead Tunisia into early elections.

The proposal quickly foundered and Jebali received a final rebuff by his own Ennahda party on Monday, prompting him the following day to carry out his threat to resign if he failed to win sufficient support.

Late on Tuesday he announced the resignation, saying he had failed in a last-ditch effort to push for "another solution" to the long-running crisis in a meeting with Marzouki.

Ghannouchi, whose Ennahda party dominates the national assembly, will be asked by Marzouki to nominate a new prime minister. Names being mentioned are those of Health Minister Abdelatif Mekki and Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri.

Jribi's opposition Republican party, meanwhile, has in recent days made it clear it is ready to support a cabinet comprising a mix of politicians and technocrats.

The 63-year-old Jebali had said he was convinced a non-political team was "the best way to save the country from wandering off track".

Analysts said it is possible Marzouki will ask Jebali to try again to form a government.

But Jebali said he would not sign on again with "any initiative that does not fix a date for new elections. What about the constitution? What about elections?"

As well as the row over the new government, there is deadlock over the drafting of a constitution, with parliament divided over the nature of Tunisia's future political system 15 months after it was elected.

The prospect of Jebali carrying on is "on the table, but we still have to discuss it, and there are several competent people in the event he refuses," said Ennahda parliamentary bloc chief Sahbi Attig.

Jebali's plans had been bitterly opposed by Ennahda hardliners, represented by Ghannouchi, who refused to give up key portfolios and insist on Ennahda's electoral legitimacy.

The Islamists control the interior, foreign and justice ministries and dominate the national assembly.

The political deadlock has left the country paralysed.

"Everything has stopped. The problem is that nobody thinks about the general interest but only of their special interests," a government official told AFP.

Since the revolution, Tunisia has also been rocked by violence blamed on radical Salafists, and ongoing social unrest over the government's failure to improve poor living conditions.

- AFP/fl

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S'pore's fiscal surplus for FY2012 expected to surpass govt's estimates: economists

SINGAPORE: Despite booking a slower GDP growth of 1.2 percent last year, economists expect Singapore's fiscal surplus to surprise on the upside for FY 2012.

The projections, which range from S$1.6 billion to nearly S$5 billion, surpass the government's estimates of a S$1.27 billion surplus for the year.

The record number of new homes sold last year despite additional cooling measures and the high property prices are likely to prop up government revenue for FY2012.

Vishnu Varathan, market economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank, said: "If you are looking at adding to the coffers by 30 to 40 per cent, that is not unimaginable given how heated activity was in the property market. Overall, the surplus should come up much stronger than expected and I think that reinforces that Singapore runs a pretty strong budget position year after year."

In addition, economists say motor vehicle taxes, rising COE premiums as well as higher foreign worker levy will all add to the state's coffers.

Meanwhile, corporate and personal income taxes and the Goods & Services tax will remain top revenue generators, accounting for more than half of total operating revenue.

Taking into account higher expenditure outlays due to higher than expected inflation, DBS Bank forecasts a S$1.62 billion overall fiscal surplus for 2012.

Meanwhile, OCBC Bank projects a S$4.96 billion overall surplus while keeping expenditure unchanged from initial estimates.

Economists say with the higher surplus, the government could offer some incentives help lower income households and businesses cope with rising cost.

However, it is unlikely to do a U-turn on foreign manpower policies. In fact, economists expect the government to further tighten foreign labour rules, albeit at a more moderate pace to allow more time for companies to restructure.

Broadly, they expect Budget 2013 to focus on boosting productivity and fostering inclusive growth.

Some economists say the upcoming budget could also focus on interim projects that will be undertaken over the next few years to complement the longer term objectives and targets set out in the Population White Paper.

Among the government's future plans are the doubling of rail networks in Singapore and building another 700,000 homes by 2030 to support a larger population.

Social expenditure could also increase to cater for an ageing population

Irvin Seah, senior economist at DBS Bank, explained: "As the population continues to age in the next 10 to 20 years, social expenditure would continue to rise. Furthermore, the government is embarking on infrastructure capacity expansion exercise. This would be the most extensive and most comprehensive infrastructure expansion exercise ever since independence.

"Those two considerations will definitely take a toll on the fiscal position therefore there is a need to raise the tax revenues. Hiking GST is out of the question due to political concerns. The only area where there is room for increase in tax rate would be income tax rate so we expect a hike of one to two percentage point for income tax for the top income brackets in the upcoming budget."

Different tax rates apply for Singapore residents at between two per cent and 20 per cent depending on the chargeable income for the year.

Currently, Singapore has one of the most competitive personal income tax rate in the world.

The government will announce the Budget on February 25.

- CNA/fa

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India's first monorail in Mumbai to open by August

MUMBAI: India's first monorail will be opened to the public in the next six months in Mumbai.

Built at a cost of half a billion US dollars, it will be the world's second longest monorail which aims to improve the city's rapid transport systems.

India is undergoing an infrastructure building boom.

The government recently approved a budget of one trillion US dollars on infrastructure development over the next five years.

After the successful launch of Metro trains in India, Mumbai is all set to be the country's first city to have a monorail.

An official test run of the monorail was recently conducted and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is hopeful the service will be operational by August.

Rahul Asthana, Chief of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, said: ''Although the commissioning of the Mumbai monorail project has been delayed, we are confident that the Mumbai monorail will get commissioned by the end of August for commercial operations.''

The first phase of the monorail is 8.8 kilometres long and during the test run, it took just over 15 minutes to cover that distance.

The monorail is expected to complement the local railway services and offer faster connectivity, which is good news for residents.

Surendra Vishwakarma, a resident, said: ''For the common Mumbaikars... you see too much crowd in local (trains) and every suburb in Mumbai. But this Mumbai monorail would be very effective, compared to safety (standards) and all... comparing the prices also. It'll be very effective for common men."

The coaches of the monorail are sleek and have an ultra modern design.

Each train will have four coaches with a total carrying capacity of 560 passengers.

MMRDA officials said that special provisions have been made so that women can travel safely and comfortably.

The Mumbai monorail has been commissioned under the Indian Tramways Act.

It will cost around 1.5 times the amount it takes to travel by a local bus.

Most stations will have staircases instead of escalators, which could prove to be a problem for senior citizens and children.

It remains to be seen whether more monorail projects will be commissioned in the future. That will depend on the success of this one.

- CNA/de

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Three dead in Thai south bombings: officials

PATTANI, Thailand: A series of blasts shook a town in the restive Thai south leaving three dead and 17 wounded, officials said Sunday, days after a major attack on a military base in the unrest-hit region.

Three bombs have exploded in the provincial town of Pattani since late Saturday, while police said four more devices had been defused, in the latest attacks to rock the Thai south, where thousands have died in a nine-year insurgency.

The National Security Council, said the incident was linked to Wednesday's failed assault on a military base in neighbouring Narathiwat province that left 16 militants dead -- one of the bloodiest incidents in the conflict.

"The militants want to show their power," NSC secretary general Paradorn Pattanathabutr told AFP.

A blast at around noon on Sunday in the centre of Pattani town killed a local security volunteer instantly, police said. Hospital staff said two defence volunteers later died of their wounds, while around 17 people, including civilians, were injured.

The attacks began with two fire bombs on Saturday night which damaged local shops.

Thailand's southernmost provinces near the Malaysian border suffer almost daily gun and bomb attacks by shadowy insurgents fighting for greater autonomy.

More than 5,500 people have been killed in the bloody conflict since early 2004.

Members of Thailand's security forces and civilians accused of collaboration with the authorities are frequently targeted with ambushes and roadside bombs.

Wednesday's attack saw the military repel an assault by scores of heavily-armed gunmen who stormed the Narathiwat army base.

The NSC's Paradorn said suspected insurgents could go on to attack a third province in the violence-plagued region.

"They have to change their targets because of heightened security in the areas targeted earlier... Once they stop actions in Pattani, we have to be concerned about Yala. But there is tight security in all areas," he said.

- AFP/xq

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Spike in dengue cases in first months of 2013

SINGAPORE: Dengue cases have spiked in the first couple of months this year.

In the first week of January, there were 100 cases. This number climbed to more than 300 cases last week.

Within Punggol South, there have been more than 100 cases reported in seven clusters.

To remind residents in the area to do their part in preventing dengue, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu visited households on Saturday.

She said that officers from the National Environment Agency and the town councils are stepping up checks to make sure the environment is free of mosquito breeding.

She also urged residents to be vigilant, noting that 70 per cent of the breeding sites in dengue cases are found in households.

She also said those suffering from dengue must also protect themselves from being bitten by mosquitoes - so as to stop the chain of transmission.

Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan also reinforced the message that homeowners must be pro-active in making sure that their homes do not become mosquito breeding grounds.

He said: "We will never have enough officers to inspect every home all the time. It only takes five to seven days for the mosquito life cycle to restart again and clearly we cannot be entering homes every five days. So the key thing is we do need the homeowners to take their own precautions for their own safety."

He added that the situation is aggravated because of a different serotype which is beginning to emerge.

"Dengue I and Dengue III, and because these are serotypes which have not previously circulated in a significant way in Singapore, we don't have the immunity for it. That's why I think this epidemic is taking off and I do need to sound that note of caution to all Singaporeans," he added.

- CNA/xq

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66-year-old man arrested for alleged outrage of modesty

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested a 66-year-old male suspect for a case of outrage of modesty.

Police were notified of the case on Friday evening when an 11-year-old victim reported that he was kissed and touched inappropriately by an unknown man in the vicinity of Yishun Street 11.

Following the report, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division conducted extensive follow-up and managed to establish the identity of the 66-year-old suspect.

The suspect was arrested an hour from the time of the report.

The suspect will be charged in Court on Saturday for three counts of Outrage of Modesty under Section 354(2) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, which carries an imprisonment term of up to five years and caning.

- CNA/xq

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Athletics: Pistorius charged with murder

PRETORIA - South Africa's Olympic sprint star Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius has been charged with the Valentine's Day murder of his model girlfriend, police confirmed Thursday ahead of his expected court appearance.

"I can confirm that a suspect has been charged, he has been charged with murder," said Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale. Officials said there was no other suspect in the case.

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EU ministers to meet on horsemeat crisis

BRUSSELS: European Union farm ministers hold crisis talks in Brussels on Wednesday to agree a response to a scandal over mislabelled frozen meat products which is spreading across Europe.

The snap talks come a day after British police searching for the source of horsemeat found in kebabs and burgers raided two meat plants, the first such operation in the row, and France became the second EU nation after Britain to find horsemeat posing as beef in frozen food.

"If there is horsemeat in hamburgers or lasagne there should've been a label indicating this," EU commissioner for health Tonio Borg said ahead of the talks.

"Consumers are entitled to know what they are eating," he said at a news conference, "If anyone distributes and circulates meat products as beef, when it is not beef, that is in violation" of EU legislation.

It was up to member states to enforce current labelling legislation, he said, reiterating also that the European Commission believed that the scandal "up until now is a labelling issues" and "not a health issue".

"It is evident," he added, "that someone down the line has fraudulently or negligently -- probably fraudulently -- labelled a product in a deceptive way."

Wednesday's talks between EU agriculture ministers opening at 1630 GMT aim to have "an exchange of views and allow for sharing of information between the most affected member states" -- Britain, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Sweden.

The ministers will also look at "whatever steps may be necessary at EU level to comprehensively address this matter", said Ireland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

On Tuesday, supermarkets in Switzerland and the Netherlands became the latest to pull ready-made meals as anger grows across Europe.

France has called for precise labelling on the origin of meat in ready-made dishes.

And President Francois Hollande warned on Wednesday that the scandal could seriously damage the country's frozen food sector.

"The president underlines that it is a serious affair in relation to consumer confidence and potentially serious for the consequences for the French sector," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

Interbev, an association representing the French cattle and meat industry, has denounced the EU's failure to act, saying bth consumers and professionals wanted swift action on better labelling.

In Britain, police and officials from the Food Standards Agency on Tuesday raided a slaughterhouse in northern England and a meat-producing factory in Wales. They shut both sites and seized all meat there.

"The agency and the police are looking into the circumstances through which meat products, purporting to be beef for kebabs and burgers, were sold when they were in fact horse," the agency said.

Andrew Rhodes, operations director of the FSA, said he had ordered an audit of abattoirs that produce horsemeat in Britain when the scandal arose last month "and I was shocked to uncover what appears to be a blatant misleading of consumers."

The raids on the British meat premises opened a new front in the pan-European search for the source of the horsemeat: the allegations had so far focused on Romania.

In France, retailer Picard said tests had confirmed that horsemeat was present in two lots of frozen "beef" lasagne meals made by French firm Comigel.

Retailers in Britain, Sweden, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands have been removing Comigel products after the firm alerted Swedish frozen food giant Findus to the presence of horsemeat in its meals last week.

Swiss supermarket giant Coop said it had now withdrawn all frozen lasagnes produced by Comigel as a precaution.

Comigel denies any wrongdoing. It said it obtained its meat from another French firm, Spanghero, which said it was supplied from two abattoirs in Romania who allegedly passed off horsemeat as beef.

But Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta this week angrily denied his country was to blame and called on European Union officials to find out from where the fraud originated and identify the guilty parties.

Dutch supermarkets PLUS and Boni said Tuesday they had withdrawn Primafrost brand frozen lasagne as a precaution because it may contain horsemeat without being marked on the packaging.

-AFP/fl

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North Korea threatens "stronger" action after nuke test

SEOUL: North Korea said its nuclear test on Tuesday was only a "first" step and warned of stronger action if it was faced with tougher sanctions as a result.

"The latest nuclear test was only the first action, with which we exercised as much self-restraint as possible," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official news agency.

"If the US further complicates the situation with continued hostility, we will be left with no choice but to take even stronger second or third rounds of action," it said without elaborating.

The statement came just hours after South Korea's spy agency chief warned Pyongyang might carry out another nuclear test or ballistic missile launch in the coming days or weeks.

North Korea said Tuesday's test was directly targeted at the United States. It accuses Washington of inciting global condemnation of its nuclear programme and of leading the sanctions charge in the UN Security Council.

The ministry statement said any measure like forced ship inspections or a sea blockade would be considered an "act or war" and trigger "merciless retaliations".

The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet in emergency session later Tuesday to discuss the international response to the latest test.

"The US should make a choice between taking the path of easing tension... or continuing on its current, wrong path of pursuing anti-DPRK (North Korea) policies and further escalating tensions," the ministry said.

- AFP/al

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US economy picks up, China might slow: OECD indicator

PARIS: Economic activity in the United States is rising, in the eurozone it is steadying, but in China and India the growth trend is slowing, leading indicators from the OECD showed on Monday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that its index of leading indicators suggested that economic growth in the United States was "firming".

Activity in Britain was also firming but at a slower pace than seemed to be the case a month ago, the OECD said in its monthly report on composite leading indicators which are considered a reliable pointer to activity in six months' time.

In Japan and Brazil signs were emerging "of growth picking up."

For the 17 members of the eurozone, and notably in Germany and Italy, the leading indicators "point to a stabilisation in growth prospects" but in France "growth is expected to remain weak."

The OECD, which is a policy forum for 34 advanced economies but also monitors some other important economies, said that China and India appeared to be on a growth path but "below trend compared with more positive signals in last month's assessment."

The indicators for Canada and Russia continued to signal growth that was below trend, the OECD said.

-AFP/ac

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