S'pore & Indian armies conduct joint exercise in India

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Indian Army (IA) have conducted a bilateral artillery exercise in Devlali, India.The two-week exercise from 24 November to 8 December, codenamed Agni Warrior, saw the two armies carrying out combined artillery live-firing.The Defence Ministry said the exercise has enhanced the mutual understanding and interoperability between the two...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced...

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

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Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty ImagesWith the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional...

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Laos ratifies WTO membership

BANGKOK: Laos has ratified its membership of the World Trade Organisation, state media said on Friday, the latest step in the small Southeast Asian nation's 15-year effort to join the global body.The Laotian parliament on Thursday formally gave its approval, paving the way for the country's entrance to the 157-member organisation in early 2013, according to a report in the government mouthpiece...

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Government wins FDI battle, says reforms on track

NEW DELHI: The UPA government on Friday dealt a major blow to the opposition in the Rajya Sabha by winning a vote on FDI in retail by 14 votes and declared that there was no stopping India's reform process. In contrast to speculation that the government may lose the vote in the upper house, the victory proved pretty easy as the Samajwadi Party (SP) trooped out — like in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday...

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

Cassiopeia’s BubbleImage courtesy T.A. Rector, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSFA new camera called the One Degree Imager, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is responsible...

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Fiscal Cliff Debate Puts Spotlight on Small Businesses

At a sprawling 25,000-square-foot factory outside Dayton, Ohio, David Curliss manufactures high-tech composite fibers, structural adhesives and special sealants known as syntactic foams. The small business he founded a decade ago has grown steadily since the recession, employing 21 workers on several production lines.But now, with a tax hike on the horizon as part of a deficit-reduction...

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MOM says Jurong crane incident workers had approached ministry for help

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the two workers from China involved in a crane incident at Jurong Port Road on Thursday morning had approached the ministry previously.The two construction workers, Mr Zhu Guilei and Mr Wu Xiaolin, were at the top of the crane at a construction site at 31, Jurong Port Road, citing unhappiness with their employer Zhong Jiang (Singapore) International...

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Zee chief gets shield against arrest till Dec 14

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday granted interim protection against arrest to Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra till December 14 in a case of an alleged extortion bid of Rs 100 crore by two journalists of his TV channel. Additional session judge Raj Rani Mitra granting the shield against arrest on the anticipatory bail pleas of Chandra and Zee group's managing director Puneet Goenka. Both...

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