Singapore  - Singapore is considering a health insurance increase for foreign workers following the recent hospitalization of some workers whose medical bills had more than doubled the coverage, it was reported Monday.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he was considering increasing the foreign workers' insurance coverage, citing a case of a Filipino maid whose medical expenses rose to 20,000 Singapore dollars, or four times the maximum.

Singapore - Singapore port operator PSA International Ltd on Friday reported a 7.3-per-cent increase in 2008 container volume from the year before.

It said it handled 63.2 million TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, a capacity equal to a standard 20-foot-by-8-foot (6-metre-by-2.4-metre) shipping container.

But it said its strong growth up to July was rapidly eroded by the collapse in demand on major trade lanes in the final quarter of the year.

Singapore - A Malaysian mother and daughter pleaded guilty Friday to maid abuse in Singapore as their trial was under way, a newspaper reported.

Housewife Loke Phooi Ling, 38, was charged with 32 counts and Teng Chen Lian, 67, with six counts of abusing their 23-year-old Indonesian maid from March to July 2007. They pleaded guilty after nine days of testimony in their trial in Singapore District Court, the Straits Times said.

According to Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009 released today, China has defeated India on the worldwide IT (information technology) radar, by gaining the 46th position in what is known as the Network Readiness Index (NRI).

At the same time India fell to the 54th grade from the 50th position during the last year, China jumped 11 points to come forward as a more innovative nation in promoting its global IT interests.

Soumitra Dutta, management academic at INSEAD, France, made this announcement.

Singapore  - The body of a newborn baby boy was discovered in a rubbish bin in the transit area of Singapore's Changi Airport, the Straits Times reported Friday.

A cleaner made the sordid discovery just before 9 pm on Wednesday.

Close-circuit television footage from the terminal was being reviewed to trace the person who dumped the fair-skinned baby, who had his umbilical cord still attached.

It is believed that drops of blood were found in a toilet near one of the terminal's gates.

Singapore  - A Singapore restaurant owner became the first employer to be jailed for a so-called phantom-worker scam, which involves declaring a false number of local employees in order to to hire more foreign workers, the Straits Times reported Friday.

District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan jailed Sulaiman Abdullah for six months. Sulaiman claimed he had tried hard but failed to recruit Singaporean workers.