PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has reviewed its policy on visits from caregivers and visitors to hospitals, which will take effect on Saturday (April 23). Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the decision to review and update the policy was based on the latest trend analysis of Covid-19 category 3, 4 and 5 cases. Dr Noor Hisham added that the assessment is also considering the low rate of utilisation of specific health facilities for Covid-19 cases. He added that generally, visitors or guardians allowed to visit and accompany patients must be aged 12 years and above. For Covid-19 patients, Dr Noor Hisham said the presence of a caregiver is only allowed for patients who require specialised care as well as paediatric patients only.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Taliworks Corporation Bhd on Thursday (April 21) completed the acquisition of majority economic interest in four solar projects from TerraForm Global Operating LP (TerraForm Global) and several of its subsidiaries. In a statement, the infrastructure company said the solar projects, located within the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, have an aggregate capacity of 19-megawatt peak. The group will also be acquiring TerraForm Global Operating (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, an operations and maintenance services provider of the solar project, as part of the transaction. “Our maiden acquisition will provide Taliworks with a solid platform to further expand into other renewable energy projects. “Additionally, the four solar projects will immediately serve as a reliable contributor to the Group’s earnings and cashflow, as the projects are fully backed by renewable energy power purchase agreements with investment grade off-takers.

MELAKA: Melaka is facing a shortage of grade C chicken eggs due to high demand from food traders, said state Unity, Information, Human Resources and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Ngwe Hee Sem. He said the high demand for the grade C chicken egg was because of its price, which is the cheapest, at only 37 sen each, compared to grade B (39 sen) and grade A (41 sen). Ngwe said the situation stabilised again in March, but by April, there was shortage again due to the fasting month. For grade A and B chicken eggs, he said there were plentiful in the local market, with some exported to Singapore. As such, he urged traders to use grade A and B eggs as the price did not differ much.

According to Axiata’s Bursa Malaysia filings, Axiata’s share trade was halted between 9am and 10am on Wednesday in conjunction with the telecommunication towers purchase announcement. "Both SMART and DMPI are part of PLDT Group, Philippines’ largest fully integrated telco company. Axiata said ISOC edotco on Tuesday (April 19, 2022) entered into a sale and purchase agreement with SMART and DMPI for the acquisition of the telecommunication assets. In addition to the proposed leaseback transaction, ISOC edotco will build 750 build-to-suit (BTS) sites for leasing to SMART in the future. Besides helping ISOC edotco establish a platform to accelerate organic and inorganic growth, Axiata said the proposed acquisition of the Philippines telecommunication assets will give ISOC edotco, among others, exposure to a high-growth market.

ALSO READ: Traders pleased with brisk salesProf Mohd Fadhil said efforts to minimise food waste could be dampened by social media posts promoting the delicious dishes on offer at certain bazaars and eateries. “Traders should keep in mind the consequences of food waste, including its impact on the environment,” he said. Prof Mohd Fadhil, who is also an environmental engineering expert, said although food waste was biodegradable, when sent to landfills, it produced large amounts of carbon dioxide that contributed to climate change. He called for more efficient separation of household waste so food and other types of rubbish could be better managed. Site supervisor Jarrald Leroy, 33, said he was taking conscious steps to minimise food waste after some of his recent purchases from the bazaar went to waste.

ALOR SETAR: A riot at an immigration detention centre in Relau, Bandar Baharu in Kedah resulted in a massive prison break that saw about 500 detainees fleeing. The riot, which began as a protest around 5am on Wednesday (April 20) by around 650 Rohingya detainees, quickly got out of control. An insider told The Star that around 229 of them have been recaptured while around 10 have died. ALSO READ: 165 out of 528 escapees still on the loosePolice have deployed personnel to the centre to control the situation. It is understood most of the Rohingya there were previously detained in operations by various agencies in Langkawi.

Under the JV, KABTEL will hold a 60% stake in the JV company and MRH the remaining 40%. MRH, which is 99.9% owned by Mohamad Ezzul Na'im Mohd Roahizee and 0.1% by Mohd Rohaizee Hashim, operates a network of multi-operator telecoms towers and provides facilities and services relating to maintenance of telecoms towers, owns the telecoms structure and fibre for in building coverage. "The JV marks a significant milestone in the development of telecoms infrastructure and telecoms services business for the group's strategy on expanding the group's recurrent income in other ways," said KAB. "The term sheet is not expected to have any material effect on the group's earnings and earnings per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022, but is expected to contribute positively to the group's future earnings and earnings per share," it added. "MRH has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with a local established telecoms operator for joint business participation and cooperation over digital connectivity and infrastructure development for the 1,342 sites," it added.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and the United States will revive the bilateral Duel in the Pool contest after a gap of 15 years in Sydney in August, Swimming Australia announced on Wednesday. The rivalry between the swimming powerhouses was revived at the Tokyo Olympics last year, where a resurgent Australia ran the United States close in the final medal tally. Titmus edged that race in dramatic fashion to claim one of nine gold medals Australia won in Tokyo, only two behind the American haul of 11. The third and last "Duel in the Pool" between the United States and Australia was contested in Sydney 2007, although the Americans later took on a team from Europe in four further editions. The original idea aimed to cash in on the rivalry between the countries at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where Australia famously handed the United States men's team their first defeat in the 4x100m relay at a Summer Games.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): A total of 487,728 children aged five to 11 or 13.7% of the child population in the country had been fully vaccinated under the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) as of Tuesday (April 19). According to the COVIDNOW website, a total of 1,425,865 children in the same age group or 40.1% had received at least one dose of the vaccine. Follow our Covid-19 vaccination tracker to see where we are in the race to herd immunity. On Tuesday, a total of 47,612 doses of the vaccine were administered, comprising 35,398 second jabs, 4,635 booster shots and 7,579 first doses, bringing the cumulative number of vaccine doses dispensed under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 69,742,922. Meanwhile, according to the Health Ministry's GitHub portal, 12 deaths due to Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday, with Perak recording the highest number at five fatalities, followed by Johor with three deaths.

Ismee, a member of TIA’s steering committee, later became a board director and remained one when TIA became 1MDB. A star prosecution witness in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB-Tanore trial, Ismee testified last week that he had stayed on as a director in 2009 because he had “a high degree of trust in the leadership” specifically “the prime minister’s trust and loyalty”. It should be noted that Ismee, 58, was at the time also serving as group managing director and CEO of Lembaga Tabung Haji. “Therefore, I believe I had a high degree of trust in the leadership,” he said, referring to Najib. Before Bakke resigned, Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Ismee and Tan Sri Azlan Mohd Zainol had also served on the board.

“Any question of a change in management is speculative and premature at this stage,” the board said. The company raised US$226 million at a valuation of US$970 million in 2019 when Bose was 27 years old. Sequoia said on behalf of the board that any question of change in management is “speculative and premature at this stage”. At least some of the bookkeeping practices at Zilingo are technical decisions that are typically considered judgment calls at start-ups. The board had argued that as Zilingo emerges from the Covid-19 downturn, it is better to press the reset button with a new CEO, one person said.

Kendrick Lamar quietly announced his new album on Monday by quote-tweeting the words “oklama.com” on a tweet from February that claimed he’s officially retired. It’s a long-awaited announcement for fans who haven’t heard a new album from the rap superstar from Compton since his Pulitzer award-winning album, “DAMN.,” was released in 2017. “I brought kendrick lamar out of retirement,” wrote @raptalksk on Twitter, whose initial tweet was used for Lamar’s announcement. !” flooded his post about the album, with musicians like Kevin Abstract and Denzel Curry celebrating Lamar’s return to music on Twitter. But that appearance didn’t seem to be enough for Lamar’s fans, with thousands tweeting about their excitement for his new album.

ALOR SETAR: A company manager lost more than RM1.2mil to a Macau Scam syndicate after she was duped by a person posing as an insurance agent. The victim then spoke to three individuals who claimed to be Sergeant Adam, Inspector Mazlan and Inspector Yong. "The suspect had instructed the victim to make a transfer of RM900,000 from Tabung Haji account to her Bank Islam account and RM200,000 to her Bank Rakyat account. "The public is advised not to ever believe any call professing to be from any government department or financial institution. "Before making any payment, check the account status on the website http://ccid.rmp.gov.my> semakmule or contact the CCIS Response Centre at 03-26101559/1599," he said.

The principal activities of Sarwaja Timur are manufacturing, fabrication, galvanising and sale of steel structures. SCable has on Monday entered into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Hercules for the purpose. Founded in 1972, Hercules specialises in manufacturing steel and rubber engineering devices, construction equipment, construction cementitious grout, bitumen & waterproofing. SCable said the group and Hercules are desirous of cooperating with each other to revitalise Sarwaja Timur's business. SCable shares closed down 0.5 sen or 2.86% at 17 sen on Monday, bringing a market capitalisation of RM65.94 million.

KAJANG: A joint police operation with federal and district police led to the bust of a fake online call centre here. In a statement, Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Zaid Hassan said that the operation with Bukit Aman was conducted on April 12 at five houses within an apartment block in Kajang. "The syndicate were offering bogus jobs and the raid against them led to the arrest of 39 men and six women, local and foreign. Of those arrested, 35 suspects were charged today at the Kajang Magistrate’s Court," he said. He also urged all to be aware of such scams and to use the http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/ semakmule website to verify if any accounts had been flagged by the authorities.