Singapore No. 2 in World Infocomm Ranking

The Global Information Technology Report, published by the World Economic Forum and leading business school Insead, ranked 133 economies and examined how they used information and communications technologies in businesses and in government, the infrastructure, and the actual usage of such technologies by everyone.

The report took into account 68 indicators such as the use of ICT by individuals, businesses and the government; accessibility of digital content; Internet access in schools and the success of the government's campaign to promote ICT.

Sweden tops the charts, with Singapore coming in second - two places higher than the last ranking in 2008-09. Denmark is third.

The only top other Asian territory in the Top 10 is Hong Kong, ranked eighth.

Where the Republic came out tops: success in promoting technology, laws relating to ICT, and the Government's procurement of advanced technological products, among others.

Singapore first SE Asia country to have own locally built satellite in space

The X-Sat, a micro-satellite about the size of a refrigerator, will be launched in June or July from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh.

With the launch of the 120 kg satellite, Singapore is believed to be the first Southeast Asian country that will have its own locally built satellite in space.

Changi Airport reclaims No. 1 Spot

Changi Airport beat last year's winner, South Korea's Incheon International, which slipped to the second place in the Skytrax survey.

The skytrax survey ranked about 190 airports worldwide based on a poll of 9.8 million passengers from over 100 countries. Respondents were asked to assess the airports on aspects such as check-in, arrivals and transfers, duty-free shopping, leisure amenities and security processing.

Besides the overall prize, Changi also bagged the title of Best Airport Asia and best airport for leisure amenities.

Skytrax chairman Edward Plaisted said Changi triumphed because it was "almost a destination of its own right", among other factors.

Singapore team develops mobile ECG machine

A team of Singaporean researchers in the private sector has developed a portable and affordable electrocardiograph (ECG) machine.

The machine - known as the CP50 - is the first of New York-based medical diagnostic equipment maker Welch Allyn's products to be designed and developed in Singapore since it started operations here six years ago.

It was first launched in the United States in February 2010.

The CP50 is mobile and can be battery operated, which allows doctors to take it to patients' homes.

Singapore students bag top literature awards

Meridian Junior College student Nicole Kang, 19, was pipped to the 2009 Angus Ross Prize by Hwa Chong Institution's Lin Ruizi, but beat thousands of students worldwide to clinch the runner-up award.

The Angus Ross Prize is given out every year to the best-performing non-British candidate in the GCE A-Level English Literature examination.

Since Cambridge began awarding the prize in 1987, Singaporeans have clinched it almost every year, with students from Raffles Junior College dominating the winners in the last decade.

Singapore ranked 4th in financial centres survey

Singapore is closing the gap on London and New York as a leading financial centre, according to a new ranking. Third in place is Hong Kong.

The six-monthly index is compiled by the Z/Yen Group think-tank and published by the City of London. It combines a survey of financial professionals with factors such as tax rates, airport satisfaction, office occupancy costs and stock exchange capitalisation.

Among the top cities, Singapore was perceived to be riding out the financial crisis with more resilience than the others.

Singapore invited to be UN group member

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has formed a high-level advisory group on an important aspect - how mitigation measures on climate change will be financed.

Singapore has been invited to be a group member and will be represented by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua.

Singapore Second-best place for expats to raise kids

Some 56 per cent of expat parents said their children are more socially integrated here than they were in their home countries, according to the world's largest survey of expats, Expat Explorer.

Not only did 71 per cent say their kids adapted "really well" to the education system here (compared to the global average of 49 per cent), 65 per cent said their children found it easy to make new friends (global average 50 per cent).

Expat kids fit in easiest in Australia. In contrast, expat kids in the United Kingdom and United States struggled the hardest to make friends and integrate.

These were the findings of the second annual survey issued by HSBC Bank International, which polled over 3,100 expats from more than 50 countries.

Overall, Singapore was ranked next best, behind Australia, for expats to raise a family. Nine in 10 expat parents living here felt they had moved to a safer, more childcare-friendly place for their youngsters.

Three in four said education standards were better than in their home country (global average 56 per cent), while 70 per cent felt childcare had improved since moving here (global average 50 per cent).

But the Republic was also rated one of the most expensive place to raise a child - 60 per cent said they now spend more on childcare.

As for providing an environment to raise healthy kids, expat children in Singapore ate the least junk food, according to the survey. But over a third tended to spend less time outdoors and playing sports after moving here.

Overall, the UK was indicated as the worst country for childcare and education.

S'pore to sign HCCAICA pact

According to Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday, the ministry is working to accede to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (HCCAICA), and is expected to join some 80 signatories by the end of this year.

The pact facilitates the safe return of children wrongly removed from their home countries. Courts in countries which have signed the treaty are obligated to return an abducted child to his home country.