SIBU: The standard operating procedures for the coming state election will be drafted soon and will involve campaigning as well as casting votes, says Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah. The Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister said the Health Ministry and the Election Commission would decide on these SOPs. "The two bodies will have the mechanism for the SOPs to be implemented and observed during campaigning and while casting votes," he said. Uggah, who was also the chairman of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), said his committee might be invited to give its input before the SOPs were drawn up. Touching on the lifting of the Emergency proclamation, he said it would pave the way for the state to hold its 12th state election within 60 days.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) will withdraw the listing status of IJM Plantations Bhd (IJMP) as it has managed to secure more than 90% of shares in IJMP after twice extending the mandatory takeover offer’s closing date. On its behalf, RHB Investment Bank announced that KLK had received valid acceptances under the offer and had acquired offer shares resulting in it holding 795.39 million shares, representing 90.33% of IJMP’s total issued shares. The bank said KLK did not intend to maintain IJMP’s listing status on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market. To recap, KLK made a cash offer of RM3.10 for the remaining IJMP shares that it did not hold following the acquisition of shares that gave it 56.2% equity interest in IJMP. It subsequently extended the date for accepting the offer twice, first to Oct 25 and then to Nov 18.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pentamaster Corp has announced that its sub-subsidiary Pentamaster Equipment Manufacturing Sdn Bhd has entered into an agreement to acquire a tract of leasehold land from Penang Development Corp for RM28.28mil.It said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that the leasehold land measures about 11.8037 acres in Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang.It added that the proposed acquisition will increase the group’s engineering and manufacturing capacity, specifically to cater for its expansion into the factory automation solution and medical segment.Shares in Pentamaster closed seven sen or 1.26% higher at RM5.62 with 2.98 million units traded.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): Dialog Group Bhd has secured an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract with an estimated value of RM248 million in Pengerang, Johor. Dialog, via its wholly-owned Dialog E & C Sdn Bhd (DECSB), secured the contract from PRPC Utilities and Facilities Sdn Bhd (PRPCUF) for the EPCC of a "titanium nitrile butadiene latex (NBL) outside battery limit facility" project for the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC). PRPCUF is a subsidiary of Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corp Sdn Bhd (PRPC). The EPCC project — which was obtained through competitive bidding — will commence immediately and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2023. Dialog shares slipped two sen or 0.69% to close at RM2.87 on Wednesday, with some 6.28 million shares transacted, giving it a market capitalisation of RM16.2 billion.

The inequality of the inequality phenomenon globally shows that some governments have handled these market dynamics better than others and obtained much better outcomes. But today’s fiscal situation has reduced the size and, therefore, the significance of public investments. As budgets have been in deficit during the last two decades, the share and contribution of public investments to the economy have declined. More worrying is that these public investments have not induced private investments the way they had in the past. Not only has the public investment lever become smaller, its ability to influence private investments too, has diminished.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded another 5,071 Covid-19 cases, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday (Nov 2). In a Twitter post, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said cumulatively, the country had recorded 2,481,339 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. More to come

(Bloomberg) -- Iron ore futures extended losses below US$100 a ton on shrinking steel output in China and signs economic growth is facing mounting headwinds. Prices in Singapore slumped for a fifth day as the world’s top steelmaker ramped up efforts to cap annual steel volumes. There were frequent requests from local governments to curb production, while lackluster steel demand and softening prices have dampened mills’ willingness to produce, it said. "The probability that iron ore demand slides by at least 20% in the fourth quarter is increasing, judging from lower downstream demand,” said Orient Futures Co. analyst Xu Huimin. Iron ore futures in Singapore dropped 7.5% to US$92.75 a ton by 2:59 p.m. local time.

“On the other, China’s growth slowdown is a dark cloud that would prevent Malaysia from expanding at a faster pace. “We therefore maintain our real growth forecasts of 4.0% for 2021 and 5.0% for 2022,” said Chua and Tan. Fiscal, monetary policy to normalise, albeit at modest paceThe DBS research team opined that policy will start to normalise, but is likely to be modest and drawn-out, staying sufficiently loose to avoid derailing the nascent recovery. “The timing of the hike is contingent on the pace of recovery but any tightening is likely to be less aggressive,” they added. That said, it is difficult to forecast the timing and strength of such a recovery,” they said.

Musk’s net worth rose by $24 billion to $335.1 billion Monday as the electric automaker’s shares jumped 8.5% in New York. Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ranks 10th with a net worth of $104.1 billion. The value investor has donated a portion of his Berkshire stock every year to various charitable organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett, 91, said in June that the value of his gifts over the past 16 years totaled $41 billion. Musk responded by saying he would sell Tesla stock worth $6 billion “right now” if the U.N. agency could outline how it would use the money to solve world hunger.

A STUDY will be conducted to determine the suitability of including anti-racial discrimination provisions in the proposed Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), says Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican. While acknowledging that such discriminatory practices exist, the Housing and Local Government Minister said the issue needs to be looked into thoroughly. Ong had asked if anti-discriminatory provisions would be included in the proposed law which is to be tabled in Parliament to deal with discriminatory practices by landlords based on race or nationality. Among the proposed provisions under the new law is to prevent landlords from raising rent during the tenancy contract period. At present, disputes between landlords and tenants can only be settled by way of contract law or the Distress Act and Specific Relief Act.

KUALA LUMPUR: Cukai Makmur notwithstanding, analysts remain bullish on the banking sector as September banking system data continues to point towards an economic recovery. "With the gradual opening up of the economy, we expect loan growth to strengthen in the coming months and maintain our industry loan growth forecast of 3.8% (annualized 3.4% end-Sep 2021)," it said. The research firm noted that system loans in September rebounded 1% m-o-m, helped by the phased relaxation of lockdown measures. System loan applications on a three-month moving average basis was up 2.6% m-o-m after falling 6% m-o-m in August. Article type: metered User Type: anonymous web User Status: Campaign ID: 46 Cxense type: free User access status: 3Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is keeping a close watch on the unfolding political situation in Sudan amid its ongoing legal action to reclaim its rights over Petronas Complex and land in Khartoum and also to cancel arrest warrants issued against its officers there. “The legal processes to reclaim the rights over Petronas Complex and land in Khartoum and for the cancellation of the wrongful arrest warrant issued against PetroDar Operating Company officers are ongoing. Following the recent military coup in Sudan, the transitional government had reportedly issued an arrest warrant against Petronas’ country manager and other officers. Petronas said in an Oct 7 statement on its website that its rights over the land and complex in Khartoum were obtained in accordance with rightful applicable laws. As the legal process has commenced, Petronas is unable to provide further information on this matter,” it said in that statement.

We recognise the need for the global goal of emissions neutrality to be achieved as soon as possible. However, mitigation of emissions from some activities is either economically unfeasible or physically impossible in the short run. An important consensus among the countries participating in the Climate Agreement is the “common but differentiated responsibilities”. Common responsibilities: all countries must reduce emissions with the goal of achieving climate neutrality. We want to reach a consensus on climate policies that is good for Brazil, for Brazilians and, consequently, for the planet.

PHNOM PENH, Oct 31 (Xinhua): Cambodia will begin to inoculate five-year-old children across the country with China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine starting from Monday (Nov 1), the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement released late on Saturday. "Five-year-old children in all 25 cities and provinces will receive two doses of Sinovac vaccine from Nov. 1, 2021 onwards and an interval between the first and second doses is 28 days," MoH's Secretary of State Or Vandine said in the statement. When taking their children for the jab, parents or legal guardians must bring along their birth certificates, family record books or passports, she said. Of them, 13.05 million, or 81.6 percent, have been fully inoculated with both required shots, and 1.83 million, or 11.4 percent, have taken a third dose or booster dose, it added. Most of the Covid-19 vaccines used in the kingdom's vaccination campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Aaron-Wooi Yik advanced to the last four, after defeating fifth seeds S. Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India 18-21, 21-18, 21-17 in the quarter-finals. The 2019 SEA Games champions had come close to winning titles by advancing to the finals in the 2018 SaarLorLux Open, 2019 Malaysia International, 2019 All England and 2020 Thailand Open, but the title dream remains elusive for them. Meanwhile, the future looks promising for Malaysia as men’s singles player Ng Tze Yong clinched the Belgian International title in Leuven. Speaking on the success, Tze Yong said the final looked easy for him because his tactical plan came good, besides being in good shape. I will try my best to win the next tournament,” said Sze Yong, who was the Czech Open runner-up last weekend.