Godiva recalls chocolate over metal debris

Godiva Chocolatier (Asia) Ltd has notified the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) that it is recalling its 16-piece Christmas Carre Gift Box containing Christmas Milk Caramel Carre chocolate squares, following two reports in Japan of a small strand of metal found in the chocolate. No injuries have been reported.

A statement from AVA on Friday said the recall is a voluntary one.

AVA has directed the importers to recall the affected product from the market immediately.

These gift boxes, carrying the produce code 5000059, are only available in Godiva-owned retail stores in Singapore. About 40 boxes of the chocolates have been sold. (story)

Singapore and Indonesia continue boundary discussions

Delegations from the Governments of Indonesia and Singapore have held a fourth round of technical discussions on maritime boundaries between their two countries in Bandung, Indonesia.

Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said the two-day meeting, which ended on Friday, was held in a friendly atmosphere and proceeded smoothly.

It added that good progress was made in the negotiations. The meeting has moved to the stage of submission of specific proposals and further work will continue on the proposals. (story)

Maria Sharapova to play exhibition in Singapore

Former world number one Maria Sharapova will make her debut in Singapore next month when she takes on compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in an exhibition match.Sharapova, who has won two grand slam titles, will play the world number six on December 30 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, organisers said on Friday.

The 20-year-old was runner-up in the season-ending WTA tour championship in Madrid after making a top-five finish in the tour rankings for the fourth consecutive year. (story)

Finland company to invest $810 million into Singapore plant

Neste Oil Corp. announced plans Friday to build a renewable biodiesel plant in Singapore that is expected to be online in 2010, in a project valued at US$810 million.The new plant, with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons, will use palm oil as its main raw material, the Finnish company said.

“The investment forms part of Neste Oils strategic goal of becoming the world’s leading renewable diesel producer,” Neste said. “The use of biofuels such as NExBTL (biodiesel) is predicted to increase rapidly in developed economies over the next few years.” (story)

India to cut tariffs on Singapore imports

India will eliminate or reduce tariff on 555 products it imports from Singapore to boost bilateral trade, Information and Broadcasting Minister, P R Dasmunsi, said on Friday.

“The Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday evening gave its approval for tariff elimination/reduction on 555 products through a protocol of amendment of India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement,” he told reporters here.

New Delhi would also offer Singapore any subsequent improvement made at the time of ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement in terms of product coverage timeline, Rules of Origin with appropriate amendments to India-Singapore CECA. (story)

Data recovery company releases new software

CBL Data Recovery Technologies Singapore has recently released new data recovery software. Previously only available to North American customers. In review of the software section, there are 3 titles. CBL Pro-V (FAT), CBL Pro-V (NTFS) and CBL Data Recovery software. All versions are free to download after filling out the form. Installation is simple and easy. Just make sure you download the correct version for your data format.

As well a press release issued on Oct. 29 indicated a joint project with Republic Polytechnic on a new version of Data Shredder (a hard drive secure wipe software). Available for download here.

Thankfully I’ve been keeping backups. Let’s hope you have been too.

ASUS Singapore launches Eee PC

In bringing people together and connecting us to an inexhaustible resource of information, resources, and services, nothing comes close to the power of the computer and the Internet in empowering the individual. Yet, these benefits were not universally available in the past, mainly because many people found computers to be highly complex and difficult to use. For its rugged build, and unrivalled ease of use, the ASUS Eee PC shatters all former barriers of access, putting the immense resource of the Internet within the reach of everyone. By mere point-and-click, it is changing the way we work, live and play.

Essentially, the Eee PC is a highly portable notebook computer with a difference, to make a difference: it is more compact than most notebooks; eschewing hard drive for flash storage, it is more lightweight and rugged; and industry-standard connectivity, it is also low-cost. (story)

Former trader found guilty

High Court has found a former stock trader guilty of posting false, price sensitive information on the Internet about listed company Datacraft Asia.Able Wang Ziyi, 42, now faces a possible jail term of up to seven years and a fine of $250,000 when his sentence is passed in January.

The High Court overturned last year’s acquittal of Wang, who had posted a claim that Datacraft’s office was raided by police in 2004.

In his ruling on Thursday, Judge VK Rajah said stock traders should be responsible for what they post on the Internet because if the rumour turns out to be false or unsubstantiated, they could face prosecution. (story)

CNB raids drug hideout, make arrests

Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested a total of 10 drug traffickers, 65 suspected drug abusers and seized over $10,000 worth of drugs when they raided a drug supplier’s hideout on Thursday.The two-day operation began on Wednesday when CNB officers arrested a heroin drug trafficker - a 49-year-old Malay man - after he sold a packet of heroin to an undercover officer.

Before the arrest, the trafficker had arranged for the undercover officer to go with him to his supplier’s residence to get the heroin. (story)

Children of working mothers happy

Working mums can breathe easy - a new study has found that hours at the office won’t will not affect the emotional well-being of their children. Despite parental fears, most children think their mums - working or not - often spend enough time with them, according to a study released yesterday by the Singapore Children’s Society.

‘Perhaps children don’t expect their mums to spend all their time with them,’ said senior researcher Mrs Shum-Cheung Hoi Shan.

‘It’s the quality of the time spent that matters.’ The study on the well-being of primary school children here painted a rosy picture. Researches interviewed about 1,800 parents and children and found (story)