MOU inked in fight against diabetes

Singapore's "war on diabetes" received a shot in the arm yesterday when public healthcare group SingHealth signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with medical technology giant Medtronic International to develop Singapore as a base for tackling the chronic disease across South-east Asia.

The MOU listed four key areas of cooperation: clinical research; wider adoption of treatment devices; training of service personnel from doctors to nurses; and patient awareness.

Dealing with diabetes is costing the country more than $1 billion a year. There are more than 400,000 diabetics in Singapore today, with one in three not even knowing that he has the disease. Before the signing ceremony, Medtronic, whose headquarters is in Ireland, also announced the opening of its new Asia-Pacific regional headquarters at Mapletree Business City in Pasir Panjang.

SMRT info packs on EWL upgrades

Rail operator SMRT has started distributing information packs to homes located along the East-West Line (EWL), as part of its efforts to update commuters on rail renewal projects on the line. Some 295,000 homes are expected to receive the packs, SMRT said yesterday.

Titled Paving The Way For Better Journeys, each pack contains four collectible fridge magnets meant to commemorate the landmark rail upgrades, and will be sent directly to homes. Multiple projects are taking place at the same time on the EWL as well as the North-South Line (NSL), SMRT said. Both are Singapore's oldest MRT lines - the NSL opened in November 1987, followed by the EWL a month later.

The projects include the changing of old wooden sleepers with concrete ones, replacing signalling systems and renewing the third rail, as well as introducing new trains.

Contraband cigarettes seized

A total of 2,221 cartons of contraband cigarettes and 70kg of unmanufactured tobacco were seized from a bus at the Tuas Checkpoint on Sunday. The potential duty and goods and services tax for the cigarettes and tobacco would amount to about $199,810 and $19,270 respectively, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said. The items were found hidden in various compartments of a Malaysia-registered bus during checks. The driver of the bus, a 37-year-old Malaysian man, the bus and the contraband items were handed over to the Singapore Customs.