PUTRAJAYA: Covid-19 vaccination walk-ins for teenagers will begin on Thursday (Sept 23) at 156 PPV (vaccine centres) that have been identified by the Health Ministry nationwide. Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said in a statement that the walk-in method will be conducted according to schedules issued by schools. “The National Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force for Adolescents (CITF-A) has identified 156 public and integrated PPVs nationwide to boost the capacity of walk-in vaccination drives for teenagers. For teenagers that are not school-goers, they can walk in to any of the 156 PPVs that are nearest to their location," he said. Dr Noor Azmi said to avoid congestion at PPVs, teens should only be accompanied by one parent or guardian only.

KOTA KINABALU: Work to construct or upgrade 1,190km of roads in Sabah will be carried out during the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), says Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin. He said for this year, preliminary work will include designing, land measurement and investigation as well as acquisition for these road projects. He said that one of Sabah's major economic contributors - the tourism sector - was among the worst hit. “Tourism arrivals into Sabah last year was only 977,460, compared to 4.2 million arrivals in 2019, which is a 76.7% reduction," said Juhar. He added that efforts to conserve the state's cultural and natural heritage is on-going, among them the rehabilitation efforts of Wisma Radio Sabah which was formerly part of the RTM Sabah complex.

KOTA KINABALU: A waterspout was seen near Kampung Kopimipinan in Papar on Monday (Sept 20) as downpours continue to lash parts of Sabah barely a week since a freak storm caused massive damage in areas around. A video of the waterspout was shared on the Facebook page of local radio station Kupi Kupi FM and was originally shared by Facebook user Ayprel Bony Roman. Geologist Prof Dr Felix Tongkul said such watersprouts were quite normal and seldom caused danger to anyone. “Instead, from what we are experiencing now, with continuous rains, it is floods and landslides that we should be more worried about,” he said. Many parts of Sabah including Kota Kinabalu, Bundusan, and Kota Belud are experiencing flash floods.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Prolonged drought and minimum daily temperatures are factors that trigger intermittent mass flowering in the country, says a Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) study. FRIM director-general Dr Ismail Parlan said the institute's field research station in the Pasoh Forest Reserve in Negri Sembilan has been studying flowering cycles since 2001 under a seed and seedling distribution monitoring project. "The study showed the phenomenon occurred irregularly, between one to 10 years, and was recorded in 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2019. This year, mass flowering was followed by mass fruiting for 50% to 60% of the dipterocarps at the FRIM campus in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, and the seeds were collected by FRIM’s Seed Technology Laboratory for cultivation. FRIM’s research into the phenomenon was presented at the second Greening Malaysia Campaign webinar series themed "Mass Flowering of the Malaysian Rainforest: Capitalising on the Event for Mass Production of Planting Materials" on July 30.

The role of financial institutions thus farLadies and gentlemen,15. In that respect, the banking industry has been instrumental in maintaining livelihoods while providing support to the wider economy. The role of financial institutions moving forwardLadies and gentlemen,20. And, it is through those three (3) lenses that banks and financial institutions – including development financial institutions or DFIs – will play a critical role moving forward. To that end, I call on all parties – government, private sector, civil society organisations, and yes, banks and financial institutions - to come together as one Keluarga Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Battersea Power Station development in London was given a boost as the new Northern Line Extension (NLE) opened on Monday. BPS has contributed over £300mil to the NLE which runs from Kennington to Battersea Power Station via Nine Elms and has enabled the regeneration of both these areas. Chairman of Battersea Power Station Development Company Datuk Wong Tuck Wai said this new mode of transport is a game-changer for Battersea and Nine Elms and undoubtedly makes Battersea Power Station one of the most well-connected destinations in the capital. CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company, Simon Murphy said the launch of the Northern line extension is a major milestone in the regeneration of Battersea Power Station. Once open to the public next year, Battersea Power Station will house over 100 shops, bars and restaurants, as well as unique events and leisure spaces.

PETALING JAYA: Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (pic) has offered himself for the party's top three positions. He said this is due to requests from party members wanting him to contest the positions in the next Umno polls. According to Utusan Malaysia, Tajuddin said the Umno members were confident of his ability to bring changes and provide a good level of service. Some also say that if I run for vice-president, God willing, I can win," said Tajuddin. So whether it is the president, vice-president or deputy president, the position is not what I am striving for.

KUALA LUMPUR: AmInvestment Research believes the sharp fall in China’s Evergrande Group share price will have a limited impact on Malaysia’s stock market. Evergrande’s share price fell 10% on Monday to HK$2.28. As for the impact on Bursa, AmInvest Research believes the impact to Malaysia’s stock market will be limited. “In terms of direct exposure to China’s property market for stocks under our coverage, only two property companies have exposure to China property market. The weaker earnings growth is due to the reduction in earnings growth from Top Glove, which is one of the FBM KLCI components,” it said.

PETALING JAYA: Thunderstorms with heavy rain and strong winds, mostly in the afternoon and early evening, can be expected in states on the west coast and interior of the Peninsula, western Sabah and western and central Sarawak in the coming days. According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) flash floods could potentially happen and advised the public to always be vigilant. It said the region was currently experiencing a monsoon transition phase from Sept 24 until early November. “During the monsoon transition phase, the region will receive weak winds from various directions which are very suitable for thunderstorms which usually bring heavy rain and strong winds in a short period of time,” it said in a statement yesterday. To get updated weather forecasts and warnings issued by MetMalaysia, the public can refer to the agency’s official website, myCuaca mobile application and its official social media platforms.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has confirmed that cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat was detained in Thailand. Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan said Nur Sajat was detained by Thai Immigration for having an invalid passport around 6pm on Sept 8. In April, the then inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador urged Nur Sajat to come out of hiding. In June, police also sought Nur Sajat in connection with a fraud investigation involving MyKad details. “Nur Sajat is being sought as a witness in the case,” police said in a statement then.

KUALA LUMPUR: There are opportunities in times of crisis, as the saying goes. Leveraging Dooran Dooran – a brand she had earlier established to one day further her dream of opening a durian-based cafe – as well as ready access to durian orchards, Yong kicked off her venture selling durian online in mid-June. “A group of us own durian orchards that are several decades old, which we bought last year. While Dooran Dooran had its own source thanks to Yong’s prior investment in durian orchards, demand would far exceed supply, especially since the brand promises only fresh fruit seed-in-pulp, with the thorny exterior removed. SOBA 2021 is organised by Star Media Group Bhd with CGC, Maxis, PKT Logistics Group and RHB as main sponsors and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation as official trade promotion partner.

WhatsApp multi-device beta test: Two big changes are coming to WhatsApp, the world's most popular encrypted messenger service — the ability to encrypt cloud backups to iCloud and Google Drive, and multi-device support. The first WhatsApp feature will allow users' chats to be securely backed up to the cloud, while the latter will allow users to use WhatsApp on multiple devices, including WhatsApp Desktop, WhatsApp Web, and on a Portal device. Users who set up multi-device support can connect up to four other computers using WhatsApp Desktop, WhatsApp Web, and Portal. WhatsApp multi-device feature problemsHowever, users will also face challenges while using the WhatsApp multi-device feature, at least at the moment. However, all of these problems with the new WhatsApp features are expected to be resolved before the WhatsApp multi-device support officially exits the beta phase and rolls out to the general public in the future.

Malaysia previously included only run-of-river or smaller hydropower plants of less than 5mw in its COP21 commitments. The benefits of hydropower and the electricity Sarawak Energy’s power plants are producing have benefits that stretch beyond just powering households and businesses. The hydropower plants offer flood-­mitigating capacities, holding back the inflow of floodwaters during the wet season, releasing it downstream in a well-regulated and controlled manner. At the inaugural Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum or SAREF in 2019, Sarawak Energy launched its first Renewable Energy Certificate, allowing the corporate purchase of renewable energy generated in Sarawak. In recent months, IHA has been seeking public feedback on a new manifesto for hydropower development to be announced at the World Hydropower Congress 2021 (WHC 2021), called the San Jose Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): The Ministry of Federal Territories has allocated RM15 million to repair and upgrade public infrastructure in the capital under the Strategic Programme to Empower People and the Economy 2.0 (PEMERKASA 2.0). Its Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim said the allocation covered 26 small projects, the majority of which were in public housing (PA) areas and People’s Housing Projects (PPR) under the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). “The projects which include repainting buildings and reparing or replacing damaged basic infrastructure and public facilities are implemented in areas in need of immediate repair to ensure public safety. “The projects which started last July are expected to be completed in November,” he told reporters after visiting Surau Quba Pangsapuri Melur, Bandar Baru Sentul, here today. Shahidan said the government remained committed to providing a more conducive living environment to improve the quality of life of the people, as well as stimulate the economy in the Federal Territorries to achieve the "My City My Home" goal.

SEPANG: The Health Ministry (MOH) is running a pilot programme to ensure those undergoing home quarantine complied with the Home Surveillance Order, by making them wear a digital detector surveillance wristband. "It’s a pilot project going on where we issue a bracelet where they have to wear during the duration of the quarantine. Previously, he said, travellers’ application for home quarantine was made through email at hso@moh.gov.my, causing a backlog of over 6,000 applications. Khairy said that through the HQA portal, approval for quarantine application would be received within three days of submitting a complete application. Reopening Safely Malaysia is a strategy to revive the country from the Covid-19 health and economic crisis.