S R Nathan Fellowship set up for foreign dignitaries' training

SINGAPORE: Starting next year, a new high-level fellowship honouring former Singapore President S R Nathan will see foreign officials, such as cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and mayors, coming to Singapore on customised training visits that meet their interests and needs.

The S R Nathan Fellowship will be part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), which provides technical assistance to other countries.

Primarily focused on ASEAN, the programme provides training and experience in areas such as public administration, port management, economic development and civil aviation.

Over the past two decades, SCP has trained over 80,000 officials from 170 countries.

Speaking at SCP's 20th anniversary on Thursday evening, Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, said going forward, SCP will improve and customise its existing programmes.

He added that Singapore is partnering international organisations and countries such as the US in the effort.

"We have already started on all of this. In January this year, to support Myanmar's efforts in reform, we put together an enhanced technical assistance package tailored to Myanmar's present needs.

"In February we signed an MOU with Hillary Clinton to establish the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme, primarily in support of ASEAN's community building efforts.

"We have also developed a new programme on sustainable development and climate change focused on small island states and the least developed countries."

Also speaking at the event, former Singapore President S R Nathan said he hopes the participants of the Fellowship will not regard their visit to Singapore as a one-off contact, but the start of a long and meaningful journey filled with conversations with their Singaporean counterparts.

- CNA/lp

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CAG reports major shortcomings in defence procurements

NEW DELHI: India's official auditor Thursday reported major deficiencies in defence procurement process that could have implications for the nation's defence preparedness.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on the air force and navy tabled in parliament points to several shortcomings, including "inordinate delay in procurement and integration of a Radar Warning Receiver system" by the defence ministry and "procurement of unsuitable Navigation Computers" by the navy.

The report highlights cases involving substantial expenditure in which either the procurement has been delayed or has failed to achieve its objective.

In the case of procurement of 336 Radar Warning Receivers (RWR), the Indian Air Force failed to derive intended benefits out of an investment of Rs.521 crore as the performance of the integrated RWRs was found unsatisfactory, leading to a decision to integrate these as an interim measure till development of an advanced system.

The CAG said the Indian Navy could derive no tangible benefits from an investment of Rs.167.64 crore made about a decade back, on procurement of a system for commissioning on board four submarines. Only two of these systems could be commissioned in 2011, which impacted the operational preparedness of the Indian Navy.

"Failure on the part of Integrated Headquarters (IHQ), Ministry of Defence (Navy) to synchronise the creation of a critical test facility with the procurement of a equipment led to continuous disuse of test equipment worth Rs.10.72 crore for over three years," the report said.

The CAG also underlined the need for the defence ministry and services headquarters to improve their decision-making processes to deliver value for money.

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again.

Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite called cordyceps means hope—and big money. Chinese markets sell the "golden worm," or "Tibetan mushroom"—thought to cure ailments from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction—for up to $50,000 (U.S.) per pound. Patients, following traditional medicinal practices, brew the fungal-infected caterpillar in tea or chew it raw.

Now the folk medicine is getting scientific backing. A new study published in the journal RNA finds that cordycepin, a chemical derived from the caterpillar fungus, has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent," said study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor of the University of Nottingham. "When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."

And it does so in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. That means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level—a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.

From Worm to Pill

But such new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilizes cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.

De Moor cautions against this practice. "I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," she says. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where [taking] a single bite will kill you."

Today 96 percent of the world's caterpillar-fungus harvest comes from the high Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan range. Fungi from this region are of the subspecies Ophiocordyceps sinensis, locally known as yartsa gunbu ("summer grass, winter worm"). While highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, these fungi have relatively low levels of cordycepin. What's more, they grow only at elevations of 10,000 to 16,500 feet and cannot be farmed. All of which makes yartsa gunbu costly for Chinese consumers: A single fungal-infected caterpillar can fetch $30.

Brave New Worm

Luckily for researchers, and for potential consumers, another rare species of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps militaris, is capable of being farmed—and even cultivated to yield much higher levels of cordycepin.

De Moor says that's not likely to discourage Tibetan harvesters, many of whom make a year's salary in just weeks by finding and selling yartsa gunbu. Scientific proof of cordycepin's efficacy will only increase demand for the fungus, which could prove dangerous. "With cultivation we have a level of quality control that's missing in the wild," says de Moor.

"There is definitely some truth somewhere in certain herbal medicinal traditions, if you look hard enough," says de Moor. "But ancient healers probably wouldn't notice a 10 percent mortality rate resulting from herbal remedies. In the scientific world, that's completely unacceptable." If you want to be safe, she adds, "wait for the medicine."

Ancient Chinese medical traditions—which also use ground tiger bones as a cure for insomnia, elephant ivory for religious icons, and rhinoceros horns to dispel fevers—are controversial but popular. Such remedies remain in demand regardless of scientific advancement—and endangered animals continue to be killed in order to meet that demand. While pills using cordycepin from farmed fungus might someday replace yartsa gunbu harvesting, tigers, elephants, and rhinos are disappearing much quicker than worms.

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Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not announce which town until later this morning.

Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.

The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million. The cash payout is $192.5 million each.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.

"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

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This is the 27th win for Missouri, ranking it second in the nation for lottery winners after Indiana, which has 38 wins. Arizona has had 10 Powerball jackpot wins in its history.

Players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

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"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.
As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.
Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

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Football: Scolari set to return as Brazil coach: reports

RIO DE JANEIRO: Felipe Scolari will be named for a second spell as coach of the Brazilian national side on Thursday, press reports said on Wednesday.

"The Brazil Football Federation has already chosen its new coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari will replace Mano Menezes," the GloboEsporte website said.

An official announcement is expected on Thursday.

Scolari, who previously coached Brazil to World Cup glory in Japan in 2002, will be charged with bringing further success on home soil in 2014.

- AFP/fa

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China, India should get over unfortunate past: Chinese expert

NEW DELHI: China and India should get over the "infortunate incidents" of the past relating to their festering border issue and open a new page in relations as soon as possible, Li Junru, a top Chinese expert, said here Wednesday.

Li, addressing Indian media on China's once-in-a-decade leadership change, said talks on the border issue between the two countries had helped to bring in more understanding.

He said "unhappy and unfortunate incidents in the past" over the border have "hindered further development" in relations between the two countries. Five decades of the 1962 India-China war were marked in October-November this year.

But putting behind the past both countries "should open a new page as soon as possible", said Li. This, he added, "will benefit people of both countries".

Li said he was "happy to see that we are engaged in negotiations, and though a breakthrough yet remains, we have more understanding of each other."

He was referring to the joint mechanism set up on the border issue. India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is to meet China's special representative Dai Bingguo in Beijing later this month to take forward the boundary talks, their 16th such.

The top Chinese expert said both sides "should make compromises... meet each other half way for early settlement of the border issue."

"I believe when it (border issue) is solved, there will be nothing in the way of China-India relations."

He said China and India relations are very important and the Chinese see Indians as friends.

"We are two large developing countries.. exchanges between the two countries will benefit both sides and contribute to peace in the world."

The two-way trade between India and China can touch $100 billion by 2015, if both sides "work harder and find ways to boost trade", said Li.

The two-way trade has grown from $4.9 billion in 2000 to $73.9 billion last year.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had met outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Phnom Penh Nov 19, which was their 14th meeting in eight years. During their 45-minute bilateral talks, Wen had told Manmohan Singh he was "very happy they had been able to develop an equation".

The two countries are holding a "strategic economic dialogue" at the end of November in New Delhi. The Indian side would be led by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, while China is to send a large economic delegation, comprising economic experts.

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Susan Rice Made Allies, Enemies Before Benghazi

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, on Capitol Hill this week answering questions about her role after the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, has become yet another player in the divide between the left and right, with her possible nomination as the next Secretary of State hanging in the balance.

But who was Susan Rice before she told ABC's "This Week" and other Sunday morning shows the attack was a spontaneous response to an anti-Islam film and not a premeditated act of terror? Four Americans died in the September attack.

Unlike many in government, Rice holds a rare claim to Washington, D.C.: she's a local. She hails from a prominent family with deep ties to the Democratic Party. She was born Nov. 17, 1964 to Emmett Rice, a deputy director at the Treasury Department who served as a member of Jimmy Carter's Federal Reserve board, and Lois Dickson Rice, a former program officer at the Ford Foundation who is now a higher education expert at the Brookings Institution.

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As a high school student at the all-girl National Cathedral School in Washington, Rice was known as an overachiever; valedictorian, star athlete and class president. After graduating high school in 1982, she went on to study history at Stanford, where she graduated as a Truman scholar and junior Phi Beta Kappa. Rice also attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

The family has roots in Maine. In an interview with the Portland Press Herald in 2008, Lois Dickson Rice said that she held the same high expectations for her children as her mother had held for her. According to the paper, Ambassador Rice's drive to achieve spanned generations. Her maternal grandmother, an immigrant from Jamaica, was named Maine State Mother of the Year in 1950. Rice's father was only the second African-American man to be chosen for the Federal Reserve board.

Two years out of Stanford, Rice joined Massachusetts Democrat Michael Dukakis as a foreign policy aide during his 1988 run for president. After his defeat, Rice tried her hand in the private sector, where she went on to work as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company. After President Clinton's election in 1992, she joined Clinton's National Security Council, eventually joining her mentor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

A profile of the diplomat from Stanford paints the Rices and Albrights as old family friends.

"The Rice and Albright kids went to school together and shared meals at Hamburger Hamlet," Stanford Magazine reported in 2000.

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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.

Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

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Global private equity firms eyeing Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE : More global private equity firms have been setting up offices in Southeast Asia, and the funds raised in the region are expected to grow at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next three years.

Private equity investors are also likely to cast the spotlight on Singapore, Indonesia and China.

Things are heating up in Singapore's private equity space.

Singapore-based venture capital and private equity firms managed a total of S$26.5 billion last year, according to a survey by the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Out of this, S$2.3 billion was invested in Singapore.

US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) opened its Singapore office in October, with plans to inject more than US$1 billion in Southeast Asia over the next five years.

Indonesian private equity firm Northstar Group has also made its first foray into the Singapore market.

It recently acquired a 50 per cent stake in Nera Telecommunications, through its newly-incorporated unitE, Asia Systems.

Northstar has invested close to US$2 billion with co-investors in the Southeast Asian region.

Experts have said Singapore's location makes it a natural platform for global investors to set up base.

Eugene Wong, chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, said: "Singapore is becoming like the Asia equivalent of NYC and Silicon Valley, so we can play the role of a New York for private equity, the big M&A private equity players, and the Silicon Valley tech region for high-tech high-growth companies. So for players in Singapore, one advantage is that we can also invest in China, Korea, and New Zealand. "

While private equity transactions in Southeast Asia have totalled US$3.6 billion so far this year, investing in this region is not without its challenges.

Jack Wang, a partner at Lexico, said: "US private equity firms are familiar with corporate governance. And in Asia, personal relationships are the predominant factors when it comes to deal sourcing and deal execution, so a change in mindset, lots of focus on the personal element...this is particularly true in Indonesia, most of the existing companies are owned by family business, and in China as well, politics is a big factor. "

According to research by the Singapore Venture Capitalist Association, approximately US$6.4 billion worth of funds will be raised in Southeast Asia by the end of 2012. And with the rising affluence in this region, market watchers have said they expect more private equity firms from the US to invest in the telecoms, commodities and consumer sectors in Southeast Asia.

- CNA/ms

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