LTA unveils high-speed test site for MRT trains, on track to complete Southeast Asiaâs first rail testing facility
Teach tests may be conducted away from the main rail lines thanks to the dedicated center, freeing up time and space for maintenance tasks during those brief time.
Since the SRTC is far from domestic areas, the tests can also be done around-the-clock. & nbsp,
A Assessment GROUND, MORE THAN THAT
According to Mr. Chee, as Singapore develops and expands its rail system, the need for a federal testing center has become more clear.
As we enter a period of unprecedented community development until early 2030s, he said,” We will need to examine more systems, and more often, as well as the expansion and regeneration of our existing MRT traces.”
Mr. Chee hopes that the facility can serve as a training ground for aspiring operators and track experts.
Deepening the capabilities of our local track workplace is one ambitious extend goal, he said. Leading road companies, experts, academic institutions, and users who can use SRTC’s services to test and pilot new systems and systems can also use it to support research and development.
The service can act as a regional and international assessment hub for cutting-edge railroad systems, Mr. Chee continued.
According to him,” The SRTC has the potential to develop into a local tests hub to support the expanding road networks in neighboring nations.”
This can, in turn, give our native bridge engineers more chances to interact with and learn from their counterparts in the area.
Warning over sales of âfreeâ condoms
As part of a public health promotion, online sellers are making money off of products that are distributed for free.
3 November 2023 at 17: 32 PUBLISHED
Officials have issued a warning to companies not to sell condoms that are meant to be freely distributed to the general public.
According to Dr. Atthaporn Limpanyalert, deputy secretary-general of the National Health Security Office( NHSO ), the free condoms, which are offered as part of a health promotion program, are being offered for sale online at low prices.
He claimed that because the condoms are funded by taxpayer funds, selling them for a profit is improper and unlawful.
Dr. Atthaporn pleaded with the vendors to stop or face legal repercussions, and he urged the general public to refrain from supporting such dishonest merchants despite the fact that the goods were being sold for a lower price.
He claimed that Thai men over the age of 13 can use the Pao Tang mobile app to record for 10 condoms per week for free and present the prescribed at a pharmacy or clinic that is NHSO-registered.
According to him, people without phones can use their ID cards to get free condoms from their closest health facilities.
One of the eight preventative health care services provided to all Thais without fee is safe supply. The people include routine physical and mental health exams, pregnancy tests, salt protection, iron or folic acid deficiency screening, and birth control pills.
Two wardens sought over prisoner’s escape
According to sources, the cuffs and precepts used on the prisoner had been altered.
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: In connection with the nearly two-week-old prisoner’s exit from a doctor in this southwestern province, two prison rangers are being detained for neglect of duty.
According to a policeman cause, the Muang city police stop in Nakhon Si Thammarat requested arrest warrants for Warinthorn Thongprachong, 41, and Ekkalak Chaiyakarn, 35, which were approved by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases.
On October 22, Chaowalit Thongduang, who was incarcerated for attempted murder, escaped from a doctor in Nakhon Si Thammarat. He had been escorted there by the two wardens, according to Pol Lt. Col. Charu Phetpan, the Muang police station’s lieutenant research chief.
Chaowalit, 37, also known as” Sia Paeng Na Nod,” had been admitted to the hospital for medical treatment after collapsing and complaining of excruciating knee pain. He’s still out there.
According to a cause, the two jailers who had been assigned to the Department of Corrections were aware of the imprisonment permits and would likely be turned over to officers shortly.
The two men would probably be used as scapegoats, according to another prison governor who declined to be identified, while the actual offender who planned the escape did go unpunished.
The two accused wardens’ dismissal from government services would be equivalent to serving arrest permits, he continued.
The fetters and handcuffs that were to be worn on Chaowalit, according to the governor, were changed during the day before the two warDENs started working their night change.
The governor claimed that Chaowalit’s alleged genius who ordered the pair to carry out their duty at night and the supposedly changed fetters for them had not been impacted.
Sutiwas Khunnarong, 28, a Chaowalit secretary, was previously detained in Ratchaburi for aiding the prisoner’s leave and operating the getaway vehicle. In a rocky region of Phatthalung, he abandoned Chaowalit, and the slave hasn’t been seen since.
Authorities showed him how he assisted the slave in escaping on Thursday by taking him to Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital.
A top prison established arrived at the Muang police station shortly before the reenactment to give the police shackles and handcuffs as proof. He informed the soldiers that Chaowalit and his coworkers had unsuccessfully attempted to cut the fetters at night between October 20 and October 21.
According to a source, one prison warden after changed the fetters during the day, allowing the prisoner to leave the next day.
Chaowalit’s leak was aided by seven suspects, all of whom have been detained.
The Phatthalung Provincial Court gave Chaowalit a 20-year, six-month prison term last year for attempted murder in connection with an armed assault on officers that occurred during an attempted kidnapping on September 2, 2019.
In January 2022, he started serving his sentence at Phatthalung Prison, and on August 7 of this year, it was transferred to Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison. Numerous other legal fees are likewise brought against him.
Why Lebanon wants peace, not war, with Israel
On October 31, Syrian Prime Minister Najib Mikati laid out a three-step peace plan for the fight in Gaza. He said something that might appear commonplace to American audiences:” We will acquire the right of Israel and the rights of the Palestinians.”
But in a nation that has yet to understand Israel, let only entertain the idea of peace talks, his words had the potential to incite anger.
Mikati described his plan in a conversation with The Economist. His strategy calls for a five-day peace followed by an end to warfare for all time. Therefore, a global conference may be called to finally address the problem by putting the ever-elusive two-state solution into practice.
Without a doubt, Mikati’s strategy reflects the more reasonable preferences of the Middle Eastern populace. The majority of those who are not directly involved in the conflict want to see an instant end to what is commonly regarded as Gaza’s significant and collective punishment. To address the underlying problems, they also call for an expansion of international political work.
It is obvious that many people in the Muslim world do not view the October 7 problems as isolated occurrences. And that Israel and the West, who they believe failed to significantly pursue the two-state option at the expense of Arab dignity and social appearance, should bear some of the blame.
However, Mikati’s strategy itself is barely novel. It is a reiteration of the Egyptian peace program that the much more powerful Saudi Arabia demanded in 2002.
So why, when his nation has yet to resolve its own issues with Israel, is a caretaker prime secretary( only the president, which Lebanon hasn’t had in two years, you presides over an apparent hopeless peace plan ) leading the way?
No desire to go to combat
The growing concern in Lebanon that the nation will be forced into a battle it just cannot afford to take part in is the first and most pressing reason for Mikati’s action.
Since 2019, the Palestinian state has been essentially bankrupt, and the nation has experienced one issue after another ever since. According to World Bank estimates, its economy has shrunk by 39.9 % of GDP since 2018, while the Lebanese Pound has lost more than 98 % of its value.
The government’s debt-to-GDP ratio was listed at 283.2 % in 2022, while average inflation reached 171 %.
Due to this financial crisis, which was made worse by the incredible explosion at Beirut’s slot in August 2020 and later energy and grains crises, Lebanon is currently experiencing one of the worst economic conditions in its history. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there isn’t a particularly strong desire for battle.
Social motivation is the second driving force behind Mikati. Lebanon has usually held a unique place in the Israeli-Arab issue. While some of the nation view it as an existential concern due to concerns about Jewish anger, others have taken on a more indifferent stance.
The Syrian government has avoided taking any military action against Israel since a quick involvement in the Egyptian war against it in 1948.
Some people have come to associate the Iran-sponsored” Party of God” with opposition against Israel as a result of Hezbollah’s success in driving Israel out of the north of Lebanon in 2000 and its small campaign against it in 2006. The government hasn’t done much to stop Jewish encroachments and assaults on Syrian infrastructure, despite the best efforts made by many of the country’s leaders to distance themselves from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah continues to gain a lot of authenticity in Lebanon for its opposition movements, frequently citing Israel’s continued activity of the Shebaa Farms as an official justification.
There are a few communities in this 16-square-mile region that Lebanon claims. It is located on the Syrian-Lebanese border, which even passes through the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
17 % of respondents in Lebanon said they” strongly favor” or” favor” normalization between Arab states and Israel, according to a survey by the Arab Barometer from 2022.
Lebanon was ranked second among the nations surveyed as a result. Additionally, the two countries above it, Sudan( 39 %) and Morocco( 31 %), are both parties to the contentious Abraham Accords, which Israel and various Arab states signed in 2020 and 2021. Just 5 % of Egyptians and Jordanians responded in the same way, in contrast.
Even among the more overtly hostile Lebanese toward Israel, it appears that a number of engagement rules established over time between Hezbollah and the Israeli military — including the prohibition of attacking civilians and military outposts— have contributed to the current state of affairs.
In fact, a different survey this week by the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, which is frequently regarded as being in favor of Hezbollah, revealed that 68 % of respondents opposed direct engagement, while only 52 % supported limited” operations” to maintain pressure on Israeli forces.
However, one shouldn’t conflate a lack of desire for battle with acceptance or even tolerance of Jewish domestic and regional activity, not least in the most recent conflict with Hamas.
Over the past few weeks, protests have been occurring throughout Lebanon and the rest of the place, expressing unity with Palestinians and denouncing the West’s ostensibly unequivocal support of Israel.
Additionally, 73 % of respondents to Al Akhbar’s survey opposed a neutral Lebanese position in the conflict while 80 % supported Hamas’ operations. This is consistent with the opinions of many others in the Muslim world and various developing nations, who believe that Israel is either at fault or that its revenge in Gaza has gone too far.
With his fresh peace program, Mikati is attempting to maintain such delicate balances. The rest of Lebanon did remain anxiously awaiting the outcome of his plan as it possibly fails, as the fate of the nation( and the region ) will determine the next few weeks and months.
Tarek Abou Jaoude teaches as a teaching fellow at the University of Portsmouth in politics and international relations.
Under a Creative Commons license, this post has been republished from The Conversation. Read the original publication.
Woman faces eviction from flat after allegedly owing HDB at least S$106,000 in mortgage arrears
SINGAPORE: The Housing Board ( HDB ) claims that a woman would have owed about S$ 106 000( US$ 77, 800 ) by May 2020. She purchased the apartment in 2001 after allegedly failing to pay her mortgage for many years.
Ms. Jasmine Gowrimani Daniel attempted to challenge HDB’s eviction from her apartment by going to the district court, but her efforts were rejected in a decision that was made public on Friday( Nov 3 ).
CASE STUDY
District Judge Jonathan Toh Jun Hian’s decision from October 20 states that Ms. Daniel purchased the apartment in April 2001 and secured a product from HDB to do so.
She applied for and received a momentary postponement of her repayment responsibilities in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 and 2005, she was also given temporary mortgage payment decreases.
Due to Ms. Daniel’s inability to make her loan payments on time, HDB served a recognize of purpose in September 2009 to compulsorily purchase the apartment in accordance with the Housing and Development Act, which was in effect at the time.
In a letter of reply, she objected, noting that her loan payments were past due despite her challenging individual circumstances.
After that, HDB responded in November 2009, giving Ms. Daniel the option of keeping the apartment for S$ 1,200 per quarter starting in December 2009 or selling it on the open market.
The events in the assessment then moved a few years ahead to August 2016, when HDB wrote to Ms. Daniel to let her know that she was behind on S$ 63, 123.87.
HDB issued a written request to Ms. Daniel instructing her to pay the debt by August 30, 2016, or sign up for an installment plan that would cost S$ 2,100 per month.
Judge Toh stated that Ms. Daniel did not pay the debt and that no other settlement was reached.
In June 2017, HDB reissued a realize to purchase the apartment in accordance with the HPB Act. Ms. Daniel was six years and two months’ worth of loan debt at the time, or Sulfur$ 72, 024.37, according to HDB.
The Minister of National Development was subsequently contacted by Ms. Daniel. She claimed that HDB had” entrapped” her in a letter dated October 2019 and requested that the Ministry of National Development ( MND ) mediate and come to an agreement.
According to Judge Toh, MND made an attempt. Between October 2019 and January 2020, Ms. Daniel, HDB, and MND corresponded to request payment schedule proposals, but no deal was reached.
In a letter dated January 17, 2020, MND ultimately denied Ms. Daniel’s charm.
MND stated in the letter that Ms. Daniel’s proposed repayment plan may not pay off her debt, which would be S$ 106,254 by May 2020.
MND added that it was uncertain whether Ms. Daniel would generate enough money to cover the necessary regular payments.
MND gave Ms. Daniel six times to buy her apartment for free; if she didn’t, HDB may continue with its forced purchase.
According to Judge Toh, MND granted Ms. Daniel until October 17, 2020 to buy the apartment after she requested extensions of time.
Instead, Ms. Daniel wrote to HDB on October 17, 2020, stating that she intended to give notice of forgiveness, likely to pay off her lease payment in full.
Judge Toh claimed that HDB responded to her letters about the mortgage payment amounts and clarified the different calculations and fees.
Finally, on January 8, 2021, MND sent a notice stating that HDB would move forward with the enforced acquisition and that its decision regarding Ms. Daniel’s appeal was final.
HDB informed the important city council that the house had been vested on August 26, 2021. Ms. Daniel received a” realize to get hands” from HDB informing her that the apartment had been vested and giving her notice to vacate her possessions and equipment.
HDB stated that objects discovered in the apartment after 30 days may become deemed abandoned and that it would take possession after that time. It stated that HDB may dispose of the things without consulting Ms. Daniel.
After Ms. Daniel objected to the forced acquirement and requested more time, HDB granted her until October 8, 2021.
On October 8, 2021, she sent a letter to HDB stating that she planned to give the apartment to them on January 8th, 2022, in three weeks. She promised to pay any outstanding fees up until that point.
THE DESCRIBED Expulsion
HDB responded on October 13, 2021, stating that a 10am expulsion was scheduled for October 27. They informed her that her second lodging would be a one-room rental apartment.
In response, Ms. Daniel requested a meeting with the head of HDB’s legitimate division and the reason for the evacuation.
Ms. Daniel still hadn’t taken all of her personal items out of the apartment when the scheduled evacuation day arrived on October 27, 2021. & nbsp,
Judge Toh stated that HDB and Ms. Daniel each secured the apartment’s main doorway with a different lock.
Ms. Daniel received notices from HDB to pick up her things and was given access to the apartment on specific schedules, but she did not take them all back.
Therefore, Ms. Daniel submitted applications to the jury. She requested, among other things, that HDB’s evacuation, possession of the apartment, and notices for her to pick up items left there be overturned by the court.
Instead, Ms. Daniel requested a longer period of time to give unoccupied ownership of the apartment. She requested to be free to access the apartment and its contents in the meantime without interference from HDB.
Judge Toh claimed that Ms. Daniel was actually requesting a administrative review of HDB’s rulings, which the district court” just has no control over.”
Judge Toh ruled that her application may be completely rejected along with the associated costs.
” Ms. Daniel is asking the court to do something it does not have control over. It disclosed no fair cause of action in the district court because it is certainly untenable.” It is trivial, annoying, and an abuse of operation for the same reason, according to Judge Toh.
He gave Ms. Daniel the order to pay expenses to HDB. Mr. Daniel has filed an appeal against each and every one of Judge Toh’s purchases.
In order to” keep status quo” with regard to the apartment, HDB agreed to Ms. Daniel’s demand, promising to hold onto the products from the residence until Md. Danes’ charm was fully heard.
Srettha says 20 of Thai hostages safe, citing Malaysian PM
Published on November 3, 2023, at 15:46
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stated on Friday that twenty of the Vietnamese workers who had been kidnapped by Hamas are safe and being moved to a single place while they wait to be freed when the time is right. Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, was cited as telling him on the phone.
Mr. Srettha claimed that the Malaysian prime minister called him on Thursday and informed him that 20 Thai hostages — a total of 12 — were being relocated to the same location while they awaited the release.
Nevertheless, he cited Mr. Ibrahim as saying that efforts were being made to find two or three additional Siamese victims whose whereabouts were still unknown.
Another Thai actor, bringing the total to 23, was taken prisoner, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday.
When asked if the hostages’ people could now be confident in their children’s safeness, Mr. Srettha replied,” Yes, as I merely said.” However, the whereabouts of the other two or three people are also unknown. 20 are healthy, according to the Indonesian prime minister.
Mr. Srettha expressed his gratitude for Ibrahim’s generosity and said the Malay rival promised to call him once more information about the hostage situation emerged.
He claimed that the head of the Thai defense forces had visited Malaysia over the previous year in an effort to broker the release of Thai hostages.
Panpree Bahiddha-nukara, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, had likewise visited Qatar and Egypt for this purpose before arriving back in Thailand on Thursday.
In the event that Vietnamese people, not only in Israel but also in other nations, want to return home, Mr. Srettha said he would get important officials to put plane on standby and make aircraft routes.
Civilian deaths from Israel’s air strikes in Gaza raise questions about proportional response, say experts
Civil Life LOSE
According to Dr. Ong Weichong, director of the National Security Studies Programme at RSIS, the laws of armed conflict forbid the target of schools, institutions, places of worship, and other protected places.
However, if Hamas militants purposefully use protected areas for their military operations, they may lose their safety. However, he added,” armed forces must make a distinction between civilians and combatants and make sure that proportionate military force is employed when targeting such places.”
In the crowded metropolitan area of the Gaza Strip, he continued, it is” really challenging” to carry out precise air strikes on Hamas violent infrastructure.
In highly developed Gaza, strong penetrator bunker-busting bombs are used to destroy Hamas’ tunnel network, which is incredibly destructive because they not only destroy the tunnels below but also the structures above it.
According to Dr. Pascal Vennesson, senior colleague and head of research at RSIS, there is no proof that Israel consciously targets residents during airstrikes. & nbsp,
Dr. Vennesson studies global surveillance, including corporate thought, wisdom, and decision-making in battle. He is also a professor of political science at the University Pantheon – Assas, Paris II.
The air strikes cause collateral damage because Hamas’ features are” deliberately embedded in civilian facilities and really close to where human populations live,” according to him.
He also emphasized the much more ambitious goal of Israel’s recent military campaign, which is to undermine Hamas’ military and political abilities. The Israel Defense Forces ( IDF) do not employ force in a” more limited and measured way” for this reason.
According to Dr. Vennesson,” such an objective implies a little wider set of goals which instantly increases the possibility and magnitude of lending damage.”
Dr. Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute, said the IDF has cameras to detect Hamas’ underwater equipment in the Gaza Strip in response to Israel’s accuracy in locating military targets.
However, he claimed that those caverns, which are 20 to 80 meters below the surface, are” unlikely to have a complete picture.”
” Any attack against the team will ultimately result in civilian casualties because Hamas operates among the Gazan people.” The question then becomes,” Does Israel intentionally shoot civilians, or are they just bystanders?” he remarked.
Given the number of casualties and the fact that the Israeli government has so far argued that it is the former case, it also raises the question of proportionality: Knowing how many civilians are likely to perish in a single strike, what level of tolerance does Israel have to allow for indirect damage?
Hong Kong student jailed for 2 months under sedition over social media posts in Japan
HONG KONG: A student who published pro-independence social media posts while studying in Japan was sentenced to two months in prison by a Hong Kong judge on November 3. The colonial-era sedition law in Japan has resulted in the first known conviction of a Hong Konger for virtual conversation. ThisContinue Reading
Australian PM Albanese visits China as relations emerge from deep freeze
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North Korea says recent embassy closures are ‘regular affairs’
After Seoul claimed that the recent string of embassy closures was a sign of Pyongyang’s dire economic straits, North Korea claimed on Friday( Nov. 3 ) that they were merely” regular affairs” to improve its external relations. According to state advertising and local government, Pyongyang has closed diplomatic missions inContinue Reading