Singapore - An India-based group with interests in the information-communication technology sector is setting up its global headquarters in Singapore, armed with a 
200-million-US-dollar war chest, news reports said Friday.

The city-state was picked because of its proximity to the fast- growing "Israel-to-Indonesia" market, The Business Times quoted Spice Corp Chairman BK Modi as saying.

Singapore - Singapore's Changi Airports International (CAI) and its Russian partner Basic Element have cleared the initial round of the bidding process to develop and operate St Petersburg's main airport, CAI said Thursday.

The Pulkovo International Airport development is Russia's first public-private partnership project for an airport.

The other bidders for the 1-billion-US-dollar project include India's GMR Infrastructure, Turkey's TAV Airports and Austria's Vienna Airport in alliance with Russia's Gazfond and Gazprombank.

Singapore - The inaugural flight of AirAsia Indonesia landed at Singapore's Changi Airport Thursday, making it the third airline to start operations in Singapore this year.

Aboard the flight from Pekanbaru, the capital city of Riau province, was the carrier's chief executive officer, Dharmadi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

Singapore - Singapore Airlines has become the world's first carrier to implement an automated document check facility that simplifies the task of checking travel documents, SIA said on Wednesday.

Jointly developed by experts from 11 Star Alliance member carriers, the facility processes all visa, travel and immigration requirements of the countries in the customer's itinerary and eliminates time-consuming manual verification by staff.

Singapore - A two-week exercise to test the preparedness of Singapore's financial industry for a deadly flu outbreak is to start at the end of this month, organizers said Wednesday.

Singapore - Frozen ducks from Taiwan are getting rave reviews from Singaporeans claiming they are cheaper, plumper and tastier, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The birds made their debut in April as part of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority's (AVA's) efforts to diversify food sources in case of unpredictable crisis.

"I tried them out because I was looking for another supplier other than Malaysia, and they were plumper and the meat was juicier," The Straits Times quoted roast duck seller Henry Tan as saying.

Pin Corporation, an importer of frozen ducks, has stopped purchasing them from the United States, previously its main supplier, the report said. It now buys the cheaper Taiwan frozen ducks.