International standard schools face shutdown after Indonesia court ruling

JAKARTA: Ten years ago, Indonesia set up international standard schools with the aim of producing globally-competitive students.But some say the project was a failure... and the Constitutional Court has recently called for the schools to be disbanded, as they are now considered to be discriminatory.Students in one of the classes are learning Chemistry... not in Bahasa Indonesia, but in...

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Chopper deal, Kurien controversy to dominate Parliament

NEW DELHI: The VVIP chopper deal and P J Kurien controversy are expected to dominate proceedings in Parliament tomorrow, practically the first working day of the budget session after the President's address today. The opposition is united in plans to flag the Italian chopper deal issue in both Houses tomorrow but disruption is unlikely with the government already making it clear that it was ready...

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NASA's Mars Rover Makes Successful First Drill

For the first time ever, people have drilled into a rock on Mars, collecting the powdered remains from the hole for analysis.Images sent back from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Wednesday confirmed that the precious sample is being held by the rover's scoop, and will soon be delivered to two miniature chemical labs to undergo an unprecedented analysis. (Related: "Mars Rover Curiosity...

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Lead Pistorius Cop Facing Attempted Murder Charge

Hilton Botha, the detective at the center of the Oscar Pistorius murder case, is facing his own attempted murder charges in connection with a 2011 shooting in which he and other police officers allegedly fired a gun at passengers in a vehicle.Botha is scheduled to appear in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder in connection to the October 2011 incident in which he...

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Annabel Pennefather named Chef de Mission for SEA Games in Myanmar

SINGAPORE: Miss Annabel Pennefather has been named Chef de Mission for the Singapore contingent at this year's SEA Games in Myanmar.This will be her fifth time as Chef de Mission to Singapore's contingent.Previously, she filled that role at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and most recently, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in...

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Kurien writes to RS members on rape charges

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Budget session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien has written to members of the House, saying three police inquiries and two judicial processes have cleared him in the 17-year-old Suryanelli rape case. Kurien, who is under attack since the victim demanded recently that he be made an accused in the case, has attached an elaborate note on the sequence of...

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Florida Python Hunt Captures 68 Invasive Snakes

It's a wrap—the 2013 Python Challenge has nabbed 68 invasive Burmese pythons in Florida, organizers say. And experts are surprised so many of the elusive giants were caught.Nearly 1,600 people from 38 states—most of them inexperienced hunters—registered for the chance to track down one of the animals, many of which descend from snakes that either escaped or were dumped into the wild.Since...

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Pistorius Shots Said to Come From High Angle

At the second day of a bail hearing for Olympian Oscar Pistorius, a South African investigator who arrived at the scene of the Feb. 14 fatal shooting said that Reeva Steenkamp was shot from a high angle, which prosecutors say contradicts the runner's account that he was not wearing his prosthetics when he shot his girlfriend to death.Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs on carbon-fiber...

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SGX to review listing rules to protect retail investors of troubled firms

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is looking at reviewing listing rules to better protect retail investors of troubled firms. This was revealed in a letter to the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) from SGX deputy chief regulatory officer Richard Teng.SGX was responding to SIAS' earlier proposals to safeguard investors of foreign issuers on the SGX. The exchange...

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Dubai-based saviour of Youths suggstes information network for UAE goers

JALANDHAR: Dubai-based hotelier S P Singh Oberoi, who has returned with 17 Punjabi youths after saving them from gallows of Sharjah, has suggested to the NRI Sabha Punjab to have an "information and feedback offices" in every district of Punjab to guide youths who wanted to go to UAE for doing odd labour jobs. During his visit to office of NRI Sabha Punjab, where he was felicitated on Monday late...

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