CAAS to develop system to monitor drones
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) plans to develop a system to monitor unmanned aircraft systems.
The system will allow it to check if individual drones are operating under a valid permit, and issue alerts to pilots who fall afoul of regulations, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min said yesterday.
He was responding to questions from MPs about anti-drone measures, in the light of drone-induced disruptions that affected two major London airports recently.
Dr Lam said there were eight cases of unauthorised drones flying within 5km of Changi Airport in the past three years, but none involved intrusions into Changi Airport.
New rules for bringing in controlled chemicals
People transporting controlled chemicals under the Chemical Weapons Convention in Singapore by road in excess of the allowed quantity will have to first get transport approval under changes to the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act.
This is in addition to an existing licence they would need to get, to conduct controlled activities concerning these chemicals here. The new rules are part of efforts to tighten national security, and prevent the stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.
The new laws apply to Schedule 2 and 3 chemicals, which are potential chemical warfare agents, or chemicals that have previously been used as warfare agents. Certain chemicals used in insecticides and toiletries are among the items that could be affected under the new rules.
Among other things, inspectors have also been given greater powers, such as being able to arrest those breaking the new laws, under certain circumstances.
Out of 490k flat owners, 65% took HDB loans
There were 490,440 Housing Board flat owners servicing mortgages as at the end of last year, of which 65 per cent took loans from HDB.
The average monthly instalment for three-room flats or smaller was $567. For four-room flats, it was $853, and for five-room flats, it was $1,058. For executive flats or larger, it was $1,253. Of these, 70 per cent paid the monthly instalments fully using their CPF funds, 14 per cent paid fully in cash, while 16 per cent used both cash and CPF funds.
In a written reply to Nominated MP Walter Theseira, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that as of September last year, less than a third of all outstanding housing loans extended by banks were pegged to floating interest rates. This was down from about 60 per cent in 2016.
Correction note: This article has been edited for clarity.
