CNB Director Changed

There was a change in command in the Central Narcotics Bureau. It was a ceremony held yesterday for marking the change in directorship of the bureau.


Mr. Ng Boon Gay, 44, has become the new director of the drug enforcement agency. It has been after the retirement of Mr. Ng Seng Liang, 59. E had served the CNB as the director for the past 6 years. He has been in the Ministry of Home Affairs since the past 35 years.


He has been a great contribution to the organization and has helped in cracking many important cases. One of them was when the Heroin addicts were helped to quit with the help of Subutex. It later gained it own addicts though. It was listed as a controlled drug in the Misuse of Drugs act issued in the year 2006.


The new Director of the CNB is also a High official in the Police, has been a part of the forces since the past 19 years.

Fathers deserve a ‘maternity leave’ as well!

After 1000 parents were surveyed, the Association of Women for Action and Research says it wants paternity leave to be made a law. It is the same sort of debate that had sparked three years ago. Some are for it and some are not.


It was then that the government had decided to not make it a law. This was after they had made a study of the other countries that had this provision and did not make any use of it.


There is a need to make the fathers realize that they are equally important in the upbringing of the child in the initial years of life. There are obligations that the fathers need to understand.

Nursing Degree Course At NYP This September

In quest to make the occupation of nursing popular among the young students, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in collaboration with the University Of Manchester (UOM), has decided to set an honours bachelor’s degree in nursing, starting this September.

The two-year-course will be imparted at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and will provide admissions to no less than 70 pupils.

Reportedly, NYP already provides a diploma course in nursing. Along with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, this institution churns out nearly 1,000 nurses every year.

10-year-old Died Of Cardiac Arrest

In a tragic incident, a 10-year-old child died after collapsing in his school at 7.30 in the morning.

A primary class student studying at SJK (Cina) Kulai Besar, was identified as Wong Chong Ren.

In the wee hours, while he was on the way to his class situated at the second floor, he fainted suddenly. His horrified friends called for the teachers, who rushed him to the nearby Kulai Hospital.

But he was declared dead, after 90 minutes of doctors’ effort to save him turned futile, at 8.50am.

The post-mortem report of the young boy revealed that he had a hole in his heart and he died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday warned that the threat of terrorism against the United States was in some aspects “at its most heightened state” since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

WASHINGTON: 
In addition to the threats by al Qaeda, the militant group behind the attacks nearly a decade ago, Napolitano said the country faces new threats from those inspired by the group and those already inside the United States.
“The terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly in the last ten years — and continues to evolve — so that, in some ways, the threat facing us is at its most heightened state since those attacks,” Napolitano said in testimony to the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.
She also said that US officials believed there may be individuals who want to carry out attacks already in the country and that “they could carry out acts of violence with little or no warning.”

Pakistan’s ministers on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the prime minister as part of plans to appoint a smaller cabinet in order to reduce government spending at a time of economic crisis.

ISLAMABAD: 
Still reeling from unprecedented flooding last year that caused damages of $9.7 billion, the government is under huge pressure to introduce economic reforms and meet IMF targets agreed in a 2008 bail-out package.
“Today’s meeting is going to be the last meeting of the present cabinet, “Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told more than 50 ministers, praising their record on the economy, constitutional reform and response to major floods.
Government officials said the ministers tendered their resignations to Gilani and that the new cabinet would be announced within four days, although analysts and the political opposition dismissed the move as window dressing.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that the new short size federal cabinet would be announced soon.

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that the new short size federal cabinet would be announced soon.
In a telephonic conversation with a state-run television, Kaira said members of thecabinet have resigned and this decision would have positive affects on the economy.
When asked about the new cabinet, he said, “Whatever the decision our leadership takes, it would be accepted by all.”
He said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has appreciated the performance of the cabinet members and termed it as satisfactory.
Source

The army would be forced to intervene if anti-government protests push Egypt into chaos, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Wednesday, according to the state news agency.

CAIRO: The army would be forced to intervene if anti-government protests push Egypt into chaos, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Wednesday, according to the state news agency.
“We have to preserve the constitution, even if it is amended,” Abul Gheit told Al-Arabiya television, according to the MENA news agency.
“He warned that if chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step, he said, which would lead to a very dangerous situation,”the news agency said, paraphrasing the interview.
Gheit’s remarks came the day after Egypt’s Vice President Omar Suleiman warned those protesting in the street against Mubarak risk provoking a situation in which a coup d’etat was possible.

US embassies' foreign staff 'exploited'

US embassies in the Persian Gulf states are using low-level staff whose employers illegally confiscate their passports and provide them with poor living conditions.

An internal US State Department report says employers who provide gardeners, maids, cooks and local guards to embassies in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates put the workers at risk of human trafficking.

Over three-quarters of the scores of workers at the embassies in question told investigators that they were forced to pay fees to get their jobs, which for more than 25 percent of them was equal to over a year of their salary, AP reported.

Some workers also told investigators they had not been paid wages. 

US wealthy becoming well armed

Two and a half years after an end to a handgun ban in the US capital Washington, gun ownership has become widespread, with many households having access to firearms.

Since the US Supreme Court lifted the district's handgun ban in June 2008, more than 1,400 firearms have been registered with DC police, a Press TV correspondent reported on Wednesday.

But police data show that the capital's wealthy residents in lower crime sections have higher registrations of handguns than those in poorer crime-plagued areas.

For example, nearly 300 guns have been registered in high income areas like Georgetown, while only about 240 have been recorded in areas like Southeast DC, where crime is more prevalent.

Experts say there is no concrete reason to explain the dynamics between rich and poor community gun purchases, but it does show a changing attitude toward gun possession. 

US Commander Says:- Afghans has Frayed US Special Forces

After nearly 10 years of being at war in Afghanistan and Iraq, a US commander says that the elite troops of US special operations forces are showing signs of fraying.

Despite the increase in the number of special operations forces, they have been asked to do more.

"So we are, frankly, beginning to show some fraying around the edges that we are addressing,” Adm. Eric T. Olson said during a conference in Washington on Tuesday.

"Not on the same scale, but like the rest of the forces, we're seeing the indicators - pressure on duty, pressure off duty,'' he added.

Olson said that the number of operation forces has doubled, reaching 60,000 over the past nine years. However, the number of those deployed overseas has quadrupled, AP reported.

Nearly 3,500 special operations forces are in Iraq, while about 6,500 such forces are in Afghanistan. Altogether, about 12,000 special operations forces are deployed, and those not in Iraq and Afghanistan are scattered in other hotspots around the globe, such as Yemen.

Olson cited an increase in mid-grade forces who have decided to leave service since last year as an indicator of stress and strain.

Roughly 60 percent of the forces have joined after the September 11 attacks, “But what seems good for eight or 10 years, maybe doesn't seem as good looking ahead to 18 or 20 years," Olson said.

The Admiral said that his country's goal should be to secure high quality special operations forces over the next 20 to 30 years.

Olson stated that officials, who are working on creating more programs for wounded and ill service members, are attempting to make working conditions such as unexpected shifts and deployment more predictable. 

A great fire has Erupted at Gas Plant In USA

A great fire has erupted as a series of explosions struck a liquid natural gas plant in the US state of Texas, with no injuries reported.

The fire, visible 35 miles to the west in Houston, is affecting one of the largest natural gas liquids storage facilities in the US, Reuters reported.

The cause of the Tuesday blast at the Enterprise Products Mont Belvieu facility, a major gas storage and processing hub alongside a row of oil refineries, is yet unclear.

Enterprise spokesman Rick Rainey said that the fire struck after a “failure of some kind” hit one or more pipelines, transferring natural gas liquids, such as propane and butane, to the facility.