PUTRAJAYA (Jan 31): The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has posted the latest indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the SDG Dashboard platform. This time, he said, the SDG Dashboard presented an additional 18 new indicators from 128 indicators in the previous year. The SDGs are a global commitment towards more sustainable, resilient and inclusive development with 17 goals and 169 targets. Mohd Uzir said the SDG Dashboard used the digital literacy approach and displayed the SDG indicators in an interactive way. The SDG Dashboard is accessible at http://mysdg.dosm.gov.my/.

THE letter 'E' is the most common letter in the English language, but there was an author in the late 1930's who wrote an entire book without using the letter. Verdict:TRUE“E” is the most commonly used letter in the English language, so it is no mean feat to write a novel in English, without using this letter. In 1939, American author Ernest Vincent Wright published Gadsby, a 50,000-word novel that ditched this vowel. This isn’t the only book that is a lipogram - a written work in which a particular letter is intentionally omitted. Partly inspired by Gadsby, the French novelist Georges Perec wrote La Disparition (in French) without using the letter "E", in 1969.

(Jan 30): Jerome Powell’s hawkish pivot makes it clear that a key crutch of support for the global economy is going to be pulled away sooner than financial markets had been betting. The Bank of Canada last week signalled it could tighten monetary policy in coming weeks having ended so-called quantitative easing in October. “If central bank rates alone were increasing [rates], but quantitative easing was staying in place, this would provide at least some liquidity support to asset prices,” said Freya Beamish, head of macro research at TS Lombard. While that’s a consolation, it hasn’t stopped financial markets from turning skittish about the pending withdrawal of liquidity. QT could be announced in July or even sooner and the central bank could eventually sell some of the mortgage-backed securities it owns, according to economists.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 30): Ericsson (pictured) has beaten Huawei in 2021 as the radio access network (RAN) market leader, displacing the latter from its long-running lead in the industry, according to a report by analyst firm Mobile Experts. Mobile Experts stated that Nokia’s share of the global RAN market also surpassed Huawei last year, putting Huawei in the No 3 spot. The report also stated that while its rankings “differed significantly” from “widely cited Dell’Oro Group figures”, chief analyst at Mobile Experts Joe Madden, said the firm obtained its data from "more than 100 sources”. Mobile Experts stated that its data showed that “Ericsson closed 2021 with a 26.9% share of the RAN market, followed by Nokia at 21.9%, Huawei at 20.4%, ZTE at 14.5%, and Samsung at 8%”. According to a report by Reuters on Jan 25, Ericsson beat quarterly core earnings forecasts, “sending its shares up 8% as global demand for telecoms equipment for 5G networks offset more market share losses in mainland China”.

BEIJING (Jan 29): China's central bank and foreign exchange regulator issued new rules on Saturday that bar domestic banks from using overseas loans to invest in securities or "speculative deals", a notice on the bank's website showed on Saturday (Jan 29). The rules will take effect from March 1.

Emblazoned on our nation’s coat of arms and Filem Negara’s emblem, yet our tigers face a dire prospect in Kelantan. The area will see the presence of animals such as mouse deer, which are food for tigers. The NGO said it was important to note that the study refers to selective logging, not indiscriminate logging. Is it big enough for them to run away from logging areas when logging activities are carried out? If the Orang Asli and even the general population don’t stand a chance in Kelantan, what more the tigers in the state?

PETALING JAYA: Dedicated lanes and numbering systems will be implemented at vaccination centres (PPV) offering booster shots to ensure smooth operations, says ProtectHealth chief executive officer Datuk Dr Anas Alam Faizli. Dr Anas also said that eligible individuals who cancelled their prior booster appointments were allowed to walk in to PPV. “Some off-site PPV and general practitioner PPV would remain open while most of the private hospitals would be closed,” he said. Individuals who intend to receive their booster shots at general practitioner clinics were advised to contact the PPV first. To view the list of vaccination centres, visit the ProtectHealth website at http://www.protecthealth.com.my and select Find Vaccination Centre (PPV).

KUALA LUMPUR: Six women, believed to be guest relations officers (GROs) from South Korea, were arrested in a raid by the Immigration Department at a karaoke centre in Solaris Mont Kiara on Friday (Jan 28). Two South Korean men and a Pakistani man who were suspected workers at the premises were also detained, Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Syamsul Badrin Mohshin said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 29). He added that no one escaped during the raid because the premises was completely surrounded. In the same operation, the department detained six Thai women and one from Vietnam in a raid involving three massage and reflexology centres around Pandan Indah. "To get the services offered, customers have to pay RM200 for a period of one hour," he said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): The ringgit is expected to trade in a tight range with downside bias between 4.19 and 4.20 against the US dollar next week. “As such the ringgit is expected to move in a tight range next week. However the upside bias for ringgit could come from crude oil prices which strengthened further following geopolitical risks,” he continued. For the week just ended, the ringgit ended slightly lower against the US dollar at 4.1880/1915 compared with last Friday's 4.1840/1870. The ringgit gained versus the euro to 4.6621/6660 from 4.7434/7468 a week earlier and rose against the British pound to 5.6031/6078 from 5.6764/6805 previously.

PUTRAJAYA (Jan 29): The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) said the new standard operating procedure (SOP) for umrah travel has been refined with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) and will be brought to a quartet meeting for approval. It said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri hoped the decision would be welcomed by companies handling the umrah pilgrimage and Malaysian families and reminded all parties to abide by the new SOP. MOTAC said the Cabinet, at its meeting on Jan 26, agreed to allow Muslims in the country to resume the umrah pilgrimage starting Feb 8 after temporarily suspending it following the transmission of the Omicron Covid-19 variant among returning pilgrims. It was also suspended was to provide space for government agencies and all parties involved to evaluate and improve the SOP for umrah. MOTAC said a total of eight engagement sessions was held since December last year between its minister and umrah companies such as the Malaysian Association of Bumiputera Tourism Operating Companies Malaysia (BUMITRA), Association of Umrah and Haj Travel Agencies (PAPUH) and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA).

KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade lower next week on profit-taking after prices rallied to above RM5,600 a tonne, Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said. "The market is forecast to trade between RM5,000 and RM5,100 per tonne next week,” he told Bernama. Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng said CPO is expected to trade on a downward bias as profit-taking is expected to emerge due to the recent rally in prices. For the week just-ended, the CPO futures finished higher tracking gains in the crude oil market, stronger soybean oil performance on the US Chicago Board of Trade, and Indonesia’s restriction on CPO exports. The physical CPO price for February South rose RM300 to RM5,800 a tonne.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): Top Builders Capital Bhd — formerly known as Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd — has been classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company after Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd rejected the company's application for a six-month extension of the relief period. As such, it continues to trigger the PN17 criteria of the Main Market Listing Requirements (MMLR). "[The company] is now classified as a PN17 listed issuer of which the requirements under PN17 of the MMLR shall apply to Top Builders with effect from Dec 30, 2021," it added. An announcement on Top Builder triggering the PN17 criteria was also made by Bursa Securities. Top Builder first triggered the PN17 criteria in 2020.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives hit a fresh all-time high on Friday on prospects of weaker output as well as stronger soybean oil performance on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), palm oil trader David Ng said. The benchmark palm oil contract for April 2022 jumped RM184 to RM5,628 a tonne. Meanwhile, Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics owner and co-founder Dr Sathia Varqa said CPO traded on further record high prices driven by Indonesia’s export policy. “Prices hit record high today (Jan 28). I do not think there are any new fundamentals to support the rise to a new record high except for speculation.

THE Johor residential property market witnessed plenty of uncertainty over the past couple of years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, amid brighter economic prospects and better control over the Covid-19 crisis in the country, the market is expected to stage a sustainable recovery in 2022. However, Samuel says the Johor residential market is only expected to see a marginal improvement rather than a V-shaped recovery. “Landed residential units priced below RM700,000 in good locations are still in demand. In the first nine month of 2021, Lo says the Johor property market suffered due to lengthened lockdown periods that were implemented by the government.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): CVC Capital Partners' purchase of a 68.35% stake in Affin Hwang Asset Management Bhd (Affin Hwang AM) for RM1.54 billion is the private equity fund’s sixth investment in Malaysia since 2007, bringing its total capital invested to over US$1 billion. “We are particularly excited to partner with Affin Hwang AM’s talented management team, who has shown a track record of outperformance, and Nikko Asset Management (Nikko AM), who will remain as a strategic shareholder. CVC’s unit Starlight Asset Sdn Bhd has signed a conditional share purchase agreement with Affin Bank Bhd to take over the controlling stake of Affin Hwang AM. The sale values Affin Hwang AM, whose assets under management amount to RM81 billion, at RM2.25 billion. "We are delighted to continue our long-term partnership with the [Affin Hwang AM] management team and welcome CVC.