World

SINGAPORE: A project manager at a firm carrying out subcontracting work such as pipe-laying bribed a Public Utilities Board (PUB) officer in exchange for smoother business, including getting priority to lay pipes at sites. The PUB assistant engineer had approached the project manager at Pipe Works for "supervision fees", and the project manager accordingly gave him S$45,169 in bribes. Pipe Works employee Ganisan Suppiah, 52, was sentenced to seven months and two weeks' jail on Monday (Feb 14). He pleaded guilty to one charge of corruptly giving gratification to PUB assistant engineer Jamaludin Mohamed and a second of abetting Jamaludin in making a false invoice. A third charge was taken into consideration. The court heard that Ganisan was a project manager of both Pipe Works and Krish...

SINGAPORE: To deal with newly-announced carbon tax hikes that will take effect over the coming years, large emitters say they will continue improving energy efficiency, among other initiatives, to cut their emissions. Singapore’s carbon tax rate will go up from the current S$5 per tonne of emissions to between S$50 and S$80 by 2030, amid more ambitious climate goals announced as part of Budget 2022 on Friday (Feb 18). Rates will first be raised to S$25 per tonne of emissions in 2024, and again to S$45 per tonne in 2026. The tax is currently applied to facilities that directly emit at least 25,000 tCO2e of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year. DBS’ Senior Economist Irvin Seah said this will create a “significant impact” on the economy, especially for the power generation, manufacturin...

SINGAPORE: A maid hired by a man to care for his mother instead stole the elderly woman's ATM card and used it to withdraw S$18,000 over 36 occasions. Indonesian national Anastasia Paba, 35, was sentenced to 25 weeks' jail on Tuesday (Feb 15) for a charge each of theft and theft in dwelling. The court heard that Paba began working for the 79-year-old victim's son in November 2020. She cleaned the flat daily, including the victim's bedroom, and formed an intention to steal her United Overseas Bank (UOB) card to withdraw money. Paba would accompany the victim to the ATM to withdraw cash whenever she needed to. She noticed the elderly woman keying in her PIN passcode and found out what it was during one such transaction. Between Dec 16, 2021, and Jan 19, 2022, Paba stole the UOB card from...

We're in the midst of an energy transition. Renewable power and electric vehicles are getting cheaper, the grid is getting greener, and oil and gas companies are getting nervous. That's why the fossil fuel giants are looking towards petrochemicals, and plastics in particular, as their next major growth market. "Plastics is the Plan B for the fossil fuel industry," said Judith Enck, Founder and President of the nonprofit advocacy group Beyond Plastics. Plastics, which are made from fossil fuels, are set to drive nearly half of oil demand growth by midcentury, according to the International Energy Agency. That outpaces even hard-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation and shipping. "Every company who is currently engaged in producing plastic, if you look at their capital budgets for the next tw...

TOKYO :Sony Group will likely add new technology partners to its electric vehicle (EV) project to help it forge a mobility business to transform cars from transportation machines to entertainment spaces, a Sony executive told Reuters. An ongoing shift to electric cars, which are easier to build than those with internal combustion engines, is allowing new entrants into vehicle manufacturing. At the same time, autonomous driving and 5G connectivity is expected remold the auto industry by turning cars into mobile platforms for information and entertainment services. "We see the risk of ignoring EVs as greater than the challenge they pose," Izumi Kawanishi, the senior general manager who will manage a new Sony Mobility business, said in an interview. The coming transformation of cars was in ...

KYIV: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged dialogue to defuse a crisis with Russia on Wednesday (Feb 2) during a trip to Kyiv in which he also reaffirmed his resolve to secure justice for families of the victims of an airliner downed over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Rutte is the latest leader - following in the tracks of the British and Polish premiers - to visit Kyiv in a show of solidarity after Russia massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders in a standoff that has alarmed the West. The Ukraine crisis is closely watched in the Netherlands, where Dutch prosecutors have sought the convictions of four men charged with murder over the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The prosecutors say the defendants, who are all at large, helped supply a missile system ...

WASHINGTON: US stocks retreated on Thursday (Jan 27) after a solid opening, while the dollar gained as investors prepared for future rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. All three major US stock indexes ended lower, having been whipsawed by uncertainty in recent days, marked by wide fluctuations and heightened volatility. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.02 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.54 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4 per cent. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, fell 0.94 per cent. Markets opened higher as new data showed the US economy accelerated in the fourth quarter, growing 6.9 per cent - the fastest rate since 1984. But, as has been the case most of the week, gains were pared as investors processed how strong economic growth might infor...

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We may receive a commission when you click on links for products from our affiliate partners. There are few things that are as synonymous with American culture as the iconic Big Mac burger from McDonald's. Invented in 1957 by an early McDonald's franchisee, the Big Mac remains a very popular fast-food item. And because of its global popularity, The Economist invented the "Big Mac index" in 1986 as a unique way to track the price of the famous sandwich against other currencies. The index incorporates the concept of purchasing-power parity, which is the way to track the strength of an individual currency, and what 'purchasing power' it has. So why does this matt...

New iPhone 13s are displayed at an Apple store on Jan. 27, 2022, in Corte Madera, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images The global smartphone market grew for the first time in four years — but the total number of devices shipped last year remained below the pre-pandemic level, according to a report from market research firm Counterpart Research. Annual smartphone shipment grew 4% year on year to 1.39 billion handsets in 2021 even as the Covid pandemic and a worldwide components shortage hampered supplies. Counterpoint data showed that in 2017, smartphone makers shipped 1.56 billion units and that figure subsequently declined every year from 2018 to 2020. Pent-up demand in places like North America, Latin America and India contributed to the market's overall growth...

SINGAPORE: Top national marathoner Soh Rui Yong was excluded from the Singapore team for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi as his conduct and behaviour have continued to "fall short" of what's expected, said the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) on Thursday (Feb 17). The comments prompted Soh to speak out against the decision, saying Singapore would lose out the most as it would cost the country a good chance at a gold medal. He noted that he had clocked a time of 2:22:59 in the qualifying window, which is more than 10 minutes faster than the qualifying mark of 2:33:08 set by SNOC. This is the second consecutive SEA Games where the two-time marathon champion was not selected. He was left out of the contingent for the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, despite mee...