http://business-times.asiaone.com/alltheheadlines/0,4985,,00.html? The Business Times Online Edition - Singapore en-us Copyright 2010 Business Times Online. 9 Feb 2010 SGT 9 Feb 2010 SGT 60 http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/static/image/images/topmastheadsmall.gif http://business-times.asiaone.com http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371771,00.html? (SYDNEY) The dream of turning Australia's tropical north into a major food bowl to replace drought-stricken southern farmlands and feed a future Asia has been shattered by a new report released yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371775,00.html? (CANBERRA) Australia tightened its migration rules yesterday in favour of English speakers and professionals, saying that the country has been attracting too many hairdressers and cooks and too few doctors and engineers. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371768,00.html? (SYDNEY) Australia's BHP Billiton yesterday named Chris Campbell as president of the firm's iron ore business, the second major management reshuffle among top miners in the country focused on soaring demand from China. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371767,00.html? (SYDNEY) Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd has let its exclusive deal with French insurer AXA SA expire for a joint US$11 billion buy of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, paving the way for rival bidder National Australia Bank (NAB) to start talks with the French. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371778,00.html? (SYDNEY) Australia's stock-market operator, ASX Ltd, urged the markets watchdog yesterday to guard against some unhealthy aspects of algorithmic trading, voicing doubts on the benefits of such rapid-fire, computer-driven trade. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371786,00.html? (TOKYO) Japan Airlines, after declaring bankruptcy last month, has decided to keep its current tie-up with American Airlines and end talks to defect to Delta Air Lines, local media reported yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371793,00.html? (BANGKOK) Thai Airways International's board approved a plan to acquire 15 new aircraft over three years to replace aging planes, chairman Ampon Kittiampon said. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371790,00.html? (WASHINGTON) Citing industry objections, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing to scale back a controversial plan to expand aviation security rules for the first time to thousands of private planes. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371780,00.html? (TAIPEI) Taiwan needs to seal a free trade agreement with China to ensure the island can compete with regional rivals in global markets, according to the island's official who is leading the talks. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371772,00.html? (BEIJING) Police in central China have shut down a hacker training company that taught thousands of people how to launch cyber attacks and provided them with spy software, media reports said yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371774,00.html? (BEIJING) The authorities in China are hunting for nearly 100 tonnes of melamine-laced milk powder left over from 2008, when six babies died from consuming the toxic substance, state media said yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371720,00.html? THE Singapore Exchange (SGX) and three other regional exchanges have hired NYSE Technologies to set up an Asean e-trading link. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371719,00.html? TEXCHEM-PACK Holdings (S) yesterday said its Malaysian parent company and key shareholder is offering 13.5 Singapore cents a share to take the Singapore-listed plastic packaging products maker private. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371721,00.html? TEMASEK Holdings yesterday sold a 10-year $1 billion note issue with a coupon of 3.265 per cent, in yet another indication of the growing depth of the local bond market. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371734,00.html? SINGTEL said its total handphone customers in Singapore grew to 3.2 million by end-December 2009, up 8.1 per cent from a year ago. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371724,00.html? NEWBUILD orders are starting to trickle back for shipbuilders, with Keppel Singmarine sealing $140 million of contracts for a rock dumping fall pipe vessel and a pair of tugs. Meanwhile, ASL Marine grabbed a $38.5 million order for a diving support vessel (DSV). 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371732,00.html? CHINA Animal Healthcare - which makes drugs used to treat animals - posted a 40.5 per cent jump in fourth-quarter net profit due to firmer sales, and expects a future revenue boost from selling more forms of vaccine for pigs. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371725,00.html? RICKMERS Maritime Trust put in a creditable fourth quarter performance despite the cloud of unsecured funding hanging over it, with charter revenue and income available for distribution rising 29 per cent and 12 per cent to US$38.1 million and US$17.7 million respectively. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371728,00.html? KSH Holdings made a net profit of $5.09 million for the three months to end-December 2009, reversing a loss of $965,000 a year earlier, as expenses fell more quickly than revenues. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371733,00.html? CEREBOS Pacific, a food and health supplements company in the Asia-Pacific region, posted a net profit growth of 22 per cent to $36.8 million for its first quarter ended Dec 31, 2009, from $30.1 million for the previous corresponding period. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371743,00.html? BOUSTEAD Singapore's net profit fell 15.5 per cent to $8.7 million for the third quarter ended Dec 31, as revenue slid 9.6 per cent to $103.6 million, compared to a year earlier. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371723,00.html? JOHN Quincy Adams, the sixth US president, once famously said that 'Congress should not be palsied by the will of our constituents'. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371758,00.html? (MUMBAI) While rising government debt is a growing concern in Europe and the United States, Asia's economies remain remarkably resilient, even buoyant, underscoring how economic might is shifting from West to East. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371759,00.html? (WASHINGTON) Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said a US economic recovery is 'going to be a slow, trudging thing', and that he 'would get very concerned' if stock prices continue to fall. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371766,00.html? (IQALUIT, Canada) Top international finance officials renewed their commitments to keep spending to support a global rebound while playing down differences over new US approaches on bank reform. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371761,00.html? (WELLINGTON) New Zealand's soaring unemployment rate is confirmation the economy is fragile and not that it is in worse shape than expected, according to Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371813,00.html? FOR many devout Mormons, Utah's capital city is important mainly as a setting for the jewel that really matters: Temple Square at the city's centre. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371824,00.html? (NEW YORK) Borrowers looking to make energy upgrades in their homes that will lower utility bills, along with their environmental impact, may soon find additional options available to them. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371814,00.html? (HONG KONG) The Hong Kong property market has risen too fast and buyers must look out for a bubble, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd's executive director Justin Chiu said. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371832,00.html? (BEIJING) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said it will halt lending to property developers that are hoarding land and may even call back some loans, in a bid to guard against credit risks. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371831,00.html? (DENGKIL, Selangor) Malaysian Housing and Local Councils Minister Kong Cho Ha said yesterday that 1,345 developers and more than 5,000 directors of such companies involved in problematic projects have been blacklisted. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/suite/story/0,4574,371833,00.html? (HONG KONG) As a youngster living in a tiny flat with six others in one of the world's most densely populated cities, Hong Kong architect Gary Chang has been obsessed by living space, or rather a chronic lack of it. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371779,00.html? (MUMBAI) India's drive to sell a record 250 billion rupees (S$7.6 billion) of shares in state-owned companies to plug a deficit in government revenue may fall short after foreign investors shunned the year's biggest offering amid a stock market slump. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371776,00.html? (MUMBAI) Indian insurance companies may increase investments in the nation's stocks by 24 per cent to a record US$21 billion next fiscal year as premium collections rise, according to India's largest private insurers. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371760,00.html? (NEW DELHI) The Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2009/10, the government said yesterday, reinforcing the possibility that it may start to unwind its fiscal stimulus in the forthcoming budget. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371781,00.html? (MUMBAI) National Stock Exchange of India's upgraded system, tested during a special trading session over the weekend, will help the bourse cope with rising volume and competition, India's biggest brokerage by branch network said. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371765,00.html? (JAKARTA) Indonesia raised 8.033 trillion rupiah (S$1.2 billion) from the sale of a three-year retail sukuk, a finance ministry official said yesterday, more than double the indicative target of three trillion rupiah. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371762,00.html? WARY of cheaper Chinese products flooding the region following the implementation of the China-Asean free trade agreement on Jan 1, Malaysian Chinese businesses have called on the government to support a cap on Chinese exports. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371763,00.html? (KUALA LUMPUR) Islamic banks are expected to move more deeply into riskier, equity-based financing as they seek alternatives to controversial debt mechanisms like the tawarruq, a prominent Syariah scholar said yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371794,00.html? DRY bulk demand will be strong this year. But the dry bulk shipping market remains uncertain due to over-supply, which is likely to worsen in the second half as deliveries of new vessels increase, Norden Singapore's managing director Peter Borup said yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371785,00.html? (VALENCIA) Lack of wind postponed the start yesterday of the first race of the 33rd America's Cup, pitting defending Swiss champions Alinghi against US side Oracle in a best-of-three series. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371792,00.html? (RIO DE JANEIRO) Stena Bulk, a Swedish shipping company, said it is ordering four tankers from Samsung Heavy Industries Co for US$268 million to ship crude from Brazil, home of the Americas' biggest oil discovery in three decades. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/shippingtimes/story/0,4574,371795,00.html? ANOTHER tug boat has gone missing in the waters off Pulau Tioman, suspected of being hijacked, in the same area that a similar vessel went missing last April. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371735,00.html? HAVING been burnt by the sell-off of the past two weeks, traders and investors alike quite understandably opted for caution and safety first yesterday. They still, however, managed to alternate between short-selling and covering throughout the session, which meant that there was a fair degree of volatility present, no doubt a deterrent to most punters who opted to stay away. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371747,00.html? THE effective tax rate for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry is likely to increase, given factors such as the global financial crisis, government pressure, changing market dynamics and healthcare reforms, says a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371746,00.html? IN ITS quest to be a comprehensive cancer centre, the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), will treat both adult and child patients, carry out research on cancers that afflict Singaporeans as well as train doctors and healthcare professionals. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371756,00.html? A STEP closer to its vision of establishing zero waste and zero landfills, the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday announced the awardees of the first Environment Technology Research Programme (ETRP) fund. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371751,00.html? A HOMEGROWN company may soon help advance new service models and logistics policies for Airbus aircraft. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371750,00.html? THE Housing & Development Board said yesterday it has awarded a 99-year- leasehold private condominium plot at Sengkang West Avenue/Fernvale Link to top bidder Sunmaster Holdings. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371742,00.html? YANG Kee Logistics Pte Ltd announced yesterday its plans to invest $45 million in a new one-stop chemical logistics hub at Jurong Pier Road. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371752,00.html? CONSUMER prices fell for all income groups in the second half of last year compared with a year earlier. The fall was largest for the poorest 20 per cent of households here - but economists say that this group is also likely to see the sharpest inflation this year. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371754,00.html? DESPITE the economic crisis putting many people out of work last year, Singapore's overall crime rate eased 0.4 per cent to 32,968 cases, from 33,113 in 2008. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/companies/story/0,4574,371744,00.html? INCREASED risk aversion triggered by fiscal fears in Europe - and, as a consequence, a stronger US dollar - has led to widespread redemptions from emerging market equity funds. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371753,00.html? WHO in their right mind would leave a top banking job for the treacherous world of television production? 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371745,00.html? HOMEGROWN bakery chain PrimaDeli is eyeing a bigger share of the consumer pie with a new concept store targeted at affluent, urban consumers. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371748,00.html? VIDEO companies used to have to pay 80 cents to apply a certificate to every single disc they produced. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371749,00.html? MANY Singapore SMEs have to look at overseas markets for their business expansion because the domestic market is too small to provide sufficient opportunities for sustained growth. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371764,00.html? LAST year's Singapore Budget extended a helping hand to individuals and companies during the downturn. In particular, the Resilience Package provided a much needed boost in support of a flagging economy. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/specialfocus/story/0,4574,371755,00.html? AS one of the first Indian restaurants here in 1969, Muthu's Curry pioneered the practice of using banana leaf 'plates' on which waiters would deposit copious amounts of white or yellow rice and curries of various orangey hues in Singapore. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371809,00.html? (SINGAPORE) The accountancy sector is set for a shake-up, if plans to consolidate the 500 small and medium practices here over a two-year period materialise. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371810,00.html? (SINGAPORE) It looks like everyone wants a piece of the casino action when it opens. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371825,00.html? (SINGAPORE) The drawn-out crawl to the dotted finishing line finally came to an end yesterday, with the main building contract for Singapore's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal being awarded to the Samsung C&T Corporation (Samsung). 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371830,00.html? KOITO Industries, the Japanese supplier of seats to carriers including Singapore Airlines, falsified test results and made unauthorised design changes, according to Japan's Transport Ministry. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371829,00.html? (NEW YORK) John Thain was yesterday restored to the top of a public company more than a year after he was ousted from Merrill Lynch. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371827,00.html? (LONDON) Sterling tumbled to a nearly 9-month low against the dollar yesterday as the UK currency bore the brunt of risk-aversion selling triggered by jitters about the fiscal health of some eurozone countries. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371722,00.html? (SINGAPORE) The take-up for corporate tickets at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix (Sept 24-26) is moving at a faster pace than the one for 2009 SGP, thanks to a stronger economy. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371718,00.html? (SINGAPORE) The $5 million audit exemption threshold is under review. The outcome could mean cost savings for small businesses, but also a reduced client pool for small and medium accounting practices. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371757,00.html? BANK lending in Japan suffered its biggest fall in more than four years during January, underlining the continuing weak state of the world's second largest economy and of Japanese corporate investment in particular, the Bank of Japan said yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371815,00.html? THE accountancy sector is set for a shake-up, if plans to consolidate the 500 small and medium practices here over a two-year period materialise. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371784,00.html? MALAYSIA'S economic goalposts have shifted. Last week, the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak unveiled its Government Transformation Programme Roadmap and its appraisal of the economy was sobering. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371783,00.html? KERALA, India's most globalised state, is in trouble. Unlike the rest of the country, the southern state's economy is based on the remittances sent by expatriate workers and on exports of cash crops. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371791,00.html? TRANSFER pricing, to put it simply, is the act of pricing goods and services to cross-border related parties. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371801,00.html? ONE of the fantasies concocted by Obamaniacs in the aftermath of the 2008 presidential election was that the Chinese leadership would welcome the election of an African-American president with whom supposedly they shared a non-white heritage. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371799,00.html? WE'VE always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371726,00.html? THE Singapore government awarded Genting Singapore (GS) its much-awaited casino licence last Saturday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371727,00.html? IF LAST Friday's dramatic snapback by the Dow Jones Industrial Average from its earlier triple-digit loss to a 10-point gain at the close is anything to go by, a short term reversal may be on the cards. This is supported by the long-legged candlestick with a long lower shadow, which appeared on the Dow's chart. However, we are not sanguine of a sustained rally taking place as optimism of good corporate earnings has been replaced by concerns over China's tightening moves, disappointment over US job recovery and the spiralling sovereign debt crisis in Europe 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/views/story/0,4574,371729,00.html? (LONDON) The euro slipped against the US dollar yesterday, staying near multi-month lows on concerns about the fiscal health of some euro zone countries. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371770,00.html? (TOKYO) Kirin Holdings Co, Japan's largest beverage company, ended talks to buy Suntory Holdings Ltd that would have created the world's fifth-biggest foodmaker after baulking at a US$10 billion asking price. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371773,00.html? (NEW YORK) Small businesses are becoming the Achilles heel of the US recovery by limiting growth and job creation. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371769,00.html? (WASHINGTON) If the Democratic Party has a stronghold on Wall Street, it is JPMorgan Chase. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371789,00.html? (HELSINKI) Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, plans to defend itself 'vigorously' in a class-action lawsuit filed by US investors. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371787,00.html? (WASHINGTON) People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer, researchers reported yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371777,00.html? (MADRID) Spain's Socialist government will stand by a plan to raise the retirement age despite a threat of union protests, Labour Minister Celestino Corbacho said in an interview published yesterday. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/news/story/0,4574,371788,00.html? (ATHENS) Greek officials yesterday put the final touches on an overhaul of the country's ineffective tax system - part of their urgent effort to fix a debt crisis that has shaken the entire euro zone. 09 Feb 2010 04:00 SGT