SingHealth trains staff to meet elderly patients' needs

SINGAPORE: SingHealth has launched two key initiatives - a handbook and workshops aimed at training staff to help elderly patients navigate better and use healthcare services in a more efficient manner.The handbook, co-developed with the Tsao Foundation, aims to scale up the skills, competencies, clinical experience and knowledge of staff. Some of the guidelines include recommendations...

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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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Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter...

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Agencies set up plans to manage cuts if Congress, Obama fail to reach deficit deal

Federal agencies are sharpening their plans for forced spending cuts starting Jan. 2 if the Obama administration and Congress cannot agree on a deficit reduction strategy in the coming days. Some agencies envision furloughs for federal workers, while others are mapping out how to slow hiring and outside contracting and put programs on hold if the across-the-board reductions known as...

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Kate hospital hoax call staffer in found dead

LONDON: A staff member at a hospital which treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine was found dead in a suspected suicide Friday, days after being duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station, reports said.British police confirmed that they were investigating the "unexplained death" of a woman whose body was discovered at a property near the King Edward VII hospital in...

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India asks Nepal to prevent terror groups from using its soil for infiltration

NEW DELHI: With several former militants from Jammu & Kashmir recently using Nepal to enter India from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), New Delhi has asked Kathmandu to strengthen its screening process since intelligence inputs suggest that ISI-backed terror groups are trying to push active terrorists in the guise of ex-ultras. In the recently concluded meet between the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB)...

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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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Missing Woman Survived on Tomatoes and Snow

The woman who was stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains survived for six days by eating tomatoes and snow until she was found by her brother, who was part of a team searching for her and her boyfriend.Paula Lane, 46, was rescued Wednesday. Her boyfriend, Roderick Clifton, died.He had left her to find help after their Jeep got stuck in the snow as they drove from Clifton's...

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All 13 Singaporeans on board stranded Indonesian ferry safe

SINGAPORE: All 13 Singaporeans on board a Singapore-Tanjong Pinang ferry which ran aground off Lobam island on Wednesday night are safe.Ferry operator Sindo Ferry and Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, BASARNAS, gave this update in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia.Of the 97 passengers, one Indonesian lady is still in hospital for medical attention.The ferry, MV Sindo 31, left...

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Dhindsa’ election as IOA vice president hailed

SANGRUR: The controversies surrounding the elections of Indian Olympic association(IOA) in the wake of International Olympic committee(IOC) directing against it, the election of Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa as IOA vice president is being hailed in Punjab.Dhindsa was elected as vice president in the election meeting held at New Delhi on Wednesday. Parminder' father and former...

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High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

Patrick J. Kiger Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity...

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Deadly, or Just Misused? Feds Sue Nap Nanny

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is taking action against the makers of a portable baby recliner called the Nap Nanny after five infant deaths linked to the product.The commission filed a complaint Wednesday to force the manufacturer, Baby Matters LLC, to pull its product off store shelves and offer full refunds to their customers. In addition to the five deaths, the commission...

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Rubio, Ryan look to the future during award dinner speeches

Two high-profile Republican members of Congress who stand at the forefront of the effort to rebuild the party after a stinging presidential defeat delivered speeches Tuesday night aimed at turning the page with a fresh emphasis on inclusion and a renewed focus on growing the middle class. “Nothing represents how special America is more than our middle class. And our challenge and our opportunity...

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Singapore calls for emissions reductions to achieve climate change deal

DOHA: Singapore has called on countries to show their commitment by pledging emissions reductions in order to achieve a global deal on climate change.Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the new agreement must be applicable to all."Climate change is a global challenge that requires a global solution. All parties have to play their part by making a contribution," he said.Mr Teo was...

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After DMK, UPA ally NCP says it is opposed to FDI in retail

NEW DELHI: Even as it voted in favour of FDI in retail, UPA's key constituent NCP today struck a discordant note by saying that it did not support implementation of the decision in Maharashtra. "NCP does not support FDI in multi-brand retail," Patel, who is also the Union minister for heavy industry, told reporters outside Parliament soon after its members voted in favour of the move in the Lok...

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Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

Jane J. Lee The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker...

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Fiscal Cliff: Can Savings Be Found Without Sacrifice?

How does one come up with $4 trillion in revenue and spending cuts?That's the question members of Congress, the Obama administration and fiscal experts around the country are grappling with as "fiscal cliff" talks continue to stall.The fiscal cliff is a combination of the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts coupled with a series of deep budgetary cuts to defense and domestic programs-...

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Foo Mee Har leaves Standard Chartered senior banker post

SINGAPORE: Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC Foo Mee Har has resigned as Standard Chartered Bank's Global Head for Priority Banking and International Banking to pursue other interests.In a Facebook posting on Tuesday, Ms Foo added that she was pleased to take on a non-executive role in the Bank and to continue contributing in such a capacity in Asia.She added: "I am excited about...

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SP, BSP slam govt on FDI policy, vague on voting

NEW DELHI: The much-talked about debate on FDI in retail in the Lok Sabha today saw SP and BSP joining the opposition in slamming the government over it but remaining ambivalent on voting tomorrow even as UPA ally DMK vowed not to rock the boat despite its opposition to the move. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav cautioned the Congress that the FDI decision would hurt its poll prospects and benefit...

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Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has detected several simple carbon-based organic compounds on Mars, but it remains unclear whether they were formed via Earthly contamination or whether they contain only elements indigenous to the planet.Speaking at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco, Curiosity mission leaders also said that the compound perchlorate—identified...

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Insiders Reveal 2012 Election Secrets

Pete Souza/White HouseThe 2012 election cycle came full circle last week when representatives from the Obama and Romney campaigns, as well as top advisers to many of the GOP primary candidates and several influential outside groups, gathered at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for a 2012 debrief — finally answering some of the lingering questions about the race.On neutral ground in Cambridge,...

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US manufacturing shrinks in November

WASHINGTON: US manufacturing activity contracted in November, with businesses blaming the slow global economy and uncertainty from the fiscal cliff battle in Washington, the ISM monthly survey showed on Monday.Businesses also cited the impact of superstorm Sandy, which shut down much of the Northeast economy for several days at the beginning of the month.The Institute for Supply Management's...

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Court denies bail to Zee journalists

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday dismissed the bail plea of two Zee News journalists arrested on an extortion complaint filed by Congress MP Naveen Jindal's company Jindal Power and Steel Ltd.Metropolitan Magistrate Rajinder Singh dismissed the bail plea of the duo, who were sent to 14 days' judicial custody November 30.Sudhir Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business,...

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

Into the Sea Photograph by Hugh Gentry, ReutersA spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into...

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