In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Q: SINGAPORE: Students from Republic Polytechnic have developed an "Apple Tree" app that keeps people away from smartphone apps. The team, which was one of the winners of a national IT competition - the Splash Awards - will receive funding of S$30,000 to develop and launch the app for the SG50 celebrations next year. 
  
 Singaporeans can download the app next year for free, which encourages them to spend quality time with their family and friends, instead of being glued to their smartphones. 
  
 When users activate the app and put their phones together, apples will start growing, which can then be harvested and exchanged for rewards, such as discounts. The productivity of the apples is dependent on the time the phones are placed together. Apples will only be produced when users are not using other apps. 
  
 Libern Lin, a member of the winning team from Republic Polytechnic, said the idea was conceived after his friends suggested placing their phones together when they hung out. 
  
 The Splash Awards, which is into its 11th year, received 63 entries from more than 167 students from pre-tertiary and tertiary institutions who had participated. Other entries included a fall alert app for the elderly and a heritage trail app. 
  
 Organised by the Singapore Computer Society, the theme of the competition was “Bringing Singaporeans Closer Together", which is in line with Singapore's 50th anniversary of independence next year. 
  
  
  
 Nicholas Khoo, chairman of Splash Awards 2014, explained: "We want to have a good quality app that Singaporeans can download, enjoy and just come closer together. There are a lot of ongoing activities for SG50 next year, and this is just a way for Singaporeans to enjoy the celebrations in a digital way, through technology. 
  
 “Mobile phones, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives and we wanted just to make sure that this part, this platform, this channel is not missed out in the celebrations." ||||| SINGAPORE - A team of 20-year-old Republic Polytechnic students have been awarded $30,000 to develop an app which stops phone users from using other apps. 
  
 Libern Lin, Fang Lingqing and Lester Yap won the grant at the Splash Awards on Tuesday to develop their app idea Apple Tree for release next March to mark the SG50 celebrations. 
  
 The awards, organised by the Singapore Computer Society, saw youngsters from schools and universities across Singapore compete to come up with apps that would bring the local community together. 
  
 Apple Tree, for instance, encourages users to spend more face time with friends and family instead of using their phones. The app functions by getting two or more users to put their phones together. The app then immobilises the phone while a virtual apple tree grows on the screen. The longer the phones remain together but untouched, the more apples grow on the tree. ||||| In 2015, we will celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence. It will be a momentous year, and this milestone is a timely occasion for us to commemorate, reflect on and celebrate our journey as one people. We have come a long way together as one people, and together, we can achieve even more. This celebration is about you, for you. 
  
 Singapore 50 Committees 
  
 Education and Youth; Culture and Community; Economic and International; Environment and Infrastructure; and Partnership. 
  
 A Singapore50 (SG50) Steering Committee has been formed to guide and coordinate the plans for the 50th anniversary celebrations. The committee is being led by Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat and includes representatives from the public, private and people sectors.The Steering Committee, which is further supported by five sub-committees, will engage partners in their respective sectors to develop programmes that support the SG50 celebrations. The Committees will focus on encouraging active community participation and involvement in the activities leading to 2015. The committees are: 
  
 Find out more about the Singapore50 Committee structure. 
  
 The SG50 Programme Office, led by Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Communications and Information, will coordinate the work of these Committees. 
  
 SG50 Projects: ICONS OF SG 
  
 ICONS OF SG showcases the unique characteristics of life in Singapore, through a series of 49 images. The 50th icon, the SG50 logo, was revealed on 24 January 2014 as a part of the showcase. 
  
 In January 2014, “little red dots” started appearing around Singapore, including at bus stops, train stations, neighbourhood coffee shops and schools. Each little red dot depicts a slice of life in Singapore - from our iconic HDB flats to Singaporeans’ love for durians. 
  
  
  
 Using a combination of channels such as social and traditional media and outdoor platforms, the ICONS OF SG aims to start conversations among Singaporeans on what makes us uniquely Singaporean. 
  
 See more. 
  
 SG50 Projects: Call for Celebration Ideas 
  
 The SG50 celebrations started with an open call for ideas – to find out from Singaporeans how they would like to celebrate this special milestone. In a short span of two months, from 24 January to 23 March 2014, we received more than 11,000 ideas. 
  
  
  
 The celebration ideas were submitted via the SG50 website as well as physical collection points at community centres, public libraries and museums. A wide range of ideas were received – from novel and meaningful to celebrating Singapore’s journey, to celebrating our culture and heritage, recognising our pioneers and everyday heroes, as well as how we can give back to the community. 
  
  
  
 To date, over 1,400 interesting suggestions have been identified to be incorporated into the celebrations. The other ideas have also been channelled to various SG50 partners for consideration to incorporate into their celebration plans. 
  
 See more. 
  
  
  
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A: 
A way to reward people for having face-to-face interaction instead of staring into the void of their smartphone screens? There's an app for that. Or there will be soon, thanks to three 20-year-old Singapore students who won $30,000 in funding Tuesday at the Splash Awards to develop Apple Tree, reports the Straits Times, via the BBC. The app—designed by Libern Lin, Fang Lingqing, and Lester Yap—works like this: Two or more users touch their phones together; the phones are disabled, and a virtual apple tree grows on each screen as long as they continue touching. The apples that keep growing as time passes can then be "harvested" and turned in for rewards such as discounts, Channel News Asia reports. The app is scheduled to be released in March 2015 as part of Singapore's celebration for its 50th anniversary of independence from Malaysia, the BBC notes. (If you can't stay off the phone, there's a city in China with a sidewalk lane for texting.)