Real estate industry is dynamic, changes have only just started: Khaw

SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the transformation of the real estate industry has only just begun.He said what used to be regarded as a "cowboy" industry is now characterised by a more systematic and professional process of proper registration and licensing of property agents by the Council of Estate Agencies (CEA).He added that of the more than 100,000 property...

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26/11 anniversary: Experts doubt netas’ claim of safe Mumbai

MUMBAI: Senior police officers and politicians declared on Sunday that Mumbai is prepared to repel any attack of the magnitude of 26/11 but their words were met with disbelief and scepticism.On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the bloody assault, home minister R R Patil admitted that law-enforcement agencies were unequipped to fend off the 10 Pakistani terrorists who landed in Mumbai by sea...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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Fire Kills 112 Workers Making Clothes for US Brands

The 100-plus workers who died in a fire late Saturday at a high-rise garment factory in Bangladesh were working overtime making clothes for major American retailers, including Wal-Mart, according to workers' rights groups.Officials in Bangladesh said the flames at the Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka spread rapidly on the ground floor, trapping those on the higher floors...

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Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faced a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered violence in the street and exposed the country's deep divisions. The Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, called for a strike during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the...

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Bangladesh factory fire death toll rises to 121

DHAKA: The death toll from a fire at a Bangladeshi factory was lowered from 121 to 104 on Sunday, the operations director of the fire brigade told AFP."There were some double counting as different fire teams were working on different floors," Major Mahbub, who uses only one name, said."But now we have a total of 104 dead bodies including several who jumped to their death. Most bodies were...

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Corporation related to IT works in Haryana gets fourth head in 6 months

CHANDIGARH: After shifting whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka from Hartron, a corporation to handle IT-related projects, two months after his posting, the Haryana government on Friday transferred his successor Nitin Yadav just four months after he took charge. A Haryana civil services officer, Vivek Atrey, will be the next managing director of the corporation. With this appointment, the corporation...

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk...

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After Sandy, World Hopes to Hear New US Voice on Climate Change

During a year with a monster storm and scorching heat waves, Americans have experienced the kind of freakish weather that many scientists say will occur more often on a warming planet.And as a re-elected president talks about global warming again, climate activists are cautiously optimistic that the U.S. will be more than a disinterested bystander when the U.N. climate talks resume...

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Violence in cities; Mubarak deja vu?

CAIRO (Reuters) - Angry youths hurled rocks at security forces and burned a police truck as thousands gathered in central Cairo to protest at Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decision to grab sweeping new powers. Police fired tear gas near Tahrir Square, heart of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak at the height of the Arab Spring. Thousands demanded that Mursi should quit...

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