BENGALURU (Dec 30): Lynas Rare Earths Ltd said on Thursday (Dec 30) it had received environmental approvals from Malaysian authorities to build a permanent disposal facility for water leached purification residue in the country. The Australian rare earth miner said it had done detailed assessments for the proposed facility in the Gebeng Industrial Estate. Lynas, the world's biggest rare earth miner outside China, in late August received an extension of the deadline due to the Covid-19 pandemic to satisfy licence conditions to build the permanent facility. Australian rare earth miners have recorded strong gains this year on increasing popularity of electric vehicles amid a global push to reduce carbon emissions. Lynas shares have more than doubled so far this year and are on track for their best year since 2017.

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned on Wednesday (Dec 29) that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to "a tsunami of cases," putting immense pressure on national health systems, said Xinhua. Recapping WHO's response since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pic) said at a press briefing that he was "highly concerned that Omicron being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta - is leading to a tsunami of cases". "This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse and again disrupting lives and livelihoods," he said, citing the pressure as not only new Covid-19 patients requiring hospitalisation but also a large number of health workers were getting sick themselves. Tedros reiterated his concern over a recent narrative that Omicron has been causing milder or less severe infections. "I think it's really important over the coming weeks that we keep suppressing transmission of both variants to the minimum," he added - BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 22,851,542 individuals or 97.6% of the adult population in the country have completed their Covid-19 vaccination as of Wednesday (Dec 30). Based on the Health Ministry’s CovidNow portal, 23,146,049 individuals or 98.9% of the adult population have received at least one dose of the vaccine. For the adolescent population, 87.4% or 2,752,103 individuals of those aged between 12 and 17 have completed the vaccination and 2,844,678 individuals or 90.3% have received at least one dose of the vaccine. On Wednesday, a total of 185,321 doses of the vaccine were dispensed, with 3,364 as first dose, 4,900 as second dose and 177,057 as booster dose, bringing the total number of vaccine doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 57,305,127, including 5,908,852 booster doses.

PUTRAJAYA (Dec 29): A proposal paper on flood response and disaster management improvements will be tabled in the first 2022 Cabinet meeting on Jan 12. He said currently, some 40,813 personnel from various responding agencies were involved in flood operations nationwide, involving 3,419 combined assets, respectively. Commenting on the yellow alert of continuous rain issued by the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) on Tuesday, Abd Latiff advised residents in Sabah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Johor to always follow the weather developments issued by MetMalaysia only. “There are various information available on social media about weather forecasts and disaster warnings, but it can cause panic among the people. On Tuesday, MetMalaysia issued a yellow alert for continuous rain forecast for the states following the current monsoon surge, which is expected to continue until Jan 3 next year.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): Impiana Hotels Bhd has proposed to acquire a 30% stake in fintech solution provider Accuventures Sdn Bhd for RM4.2 million. The hospitality operator said the purchase, to be satisfied via Impiana shares, will be split into two tranches: an initial 10% stake, followed by another 20% upon completion of various due diligence processes. Separately, the issuance of consideration shares as settlement of the purchase price will enable the group to conserve cash resources, it added. Impiana was the sixth most active stock on Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, with 46.02 million shares changing hands. The counter closed one sen or 11.76% lower at 7.5 sen, valuing the company at RM108.3 million.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has invited coin blank suppliers to be pre-qualified to supply coin blanks for the central bank’s requirements for 2022 to 2024. In a notice on its website, BNM said interested coin blank suppliers with adequate financial standing, required technical capabilities, technology, expertise and resources are invited to register a new account on its eTender platform to participate in this procurement. The platform is accessible via procurement.bnm.gov.my, with suppliers required to submit their business registration certificate and letter of authorisation from their principal. “Pre-qualification documents will be issued via BNM’s eTender platform to registered and authorised tenderers. “Duly completed responses to the pre-qualification documents must be submitted in the format specified in the pre-qualification documents via the eTender system by 5pm on Friday, Jan 14, 2022,” it said.

Emails and phone calls to Martin Sauber and Juan Zhou, the China press representatives of Daimler AG, were not immediately returned. Chinese Internet users have recently been debating the way that models’ eyes are shown in advertising. Chinese company Three Squirrels Inc recently apologised for ads featuring model Cai Niang Niang wearing make-up that accentuated the slant of her eyes, the South China Morning Post reported. The model hit back on the Twitter-like Weibo service, saying: “With small eyes, am I not Chinese? Its weak profitability has been a concern at Daimler for years even as sales of its Mercedes luxury vehicles continued to surge in China.

WASHINGTON: European stocks rose on Tuesday while Wall Street shares closed mixed after another record-setting session in which investors shrugged off concerns over Omicron-driven travel disruptions and store closures. Asset classes http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn from oil to equities have clawed back losses from late November, when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 sent investors scurrying for safety. "Investors are digesting the gains from the last three days... but there are concerns such as 'How will the Omicron variant affect the market? The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26% while the S&P 500 lost 0.10%. The S&P 500 posted 81 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 105 new highs and 264 new lows.

“They have also been camera-trapped and seen in the area south of our concession.”The Cardamom Tented Camp is an ecolodge located in the foothills of Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains. Forest rangers at the Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia have sighted the return of a small herd of elephants to its area. However, international tourists make up a bulk of the lodge’s clientele, and since the pandemic began, Cardamom Tented Camp has been closed to guests. More elephants, please Meanwhile, in northern Thailand, another elephant camp invites guests to stay in a bubble, literally. The Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort features unique transparent rooms that are shaped like bubbles.

PETALING JAYA: Investor sentiment on CTOS Digital Bhd continues to improve after the credit rating agency announced several corporate exercises that could accelerate its growth. Last Friday, CTOS proposed three corporate exercises – the first entails the buying of a 49% stake in Juris Technology Sdn Bhd for RM205.8mil. Kenanga Research estimated that CTOS is paying about 23 times FY21 price-to-earnings ratio (PER) for JurisTech. Kenanga Research added that the acquisitions would increase CTOS’ profits from its associates, lifting FY22 core net profit by 7%. Both RHB Research and HLIB Research retain their “buy’’ calls with target prices of RM2.42 and RM2.45 a share, respectively.

Inter-Pacific said the gains in key global equity markets overnight could also provide some more upside impetus for Malaysian equities and window dressing activities are likely to continue ahead of the year-end. Still, it said the follow through buying strength remains to be seen as market participation has been thin of late. “Therefore, the market environment may become choppier following the strong gains over the past few sessions. Inter-Pacific said similarly, the lower liners and broader market shares are also poised for further gains due to the calmer market undertone. “However, their upsides could remain more modest due to the lesser market participation as most market players are still on their year-end break,” it said.

The Islamic fintech sector is undergoing rapid digitalisation, matching the speed of the digital transformation of the global finance industry. According to Dinar Standard’s Global Islamic Fintech Report 2021, the Islamic fintech market is projected to grow to US$128 billion (RM542 billion) by 2025. Last year, the Islamic fintech transaction volume within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries was estimated at US$49 billion. With its impressive growth in the Islamic finance market, Malaysia is ready to capitalise on and serve the global Islamic fintech market. The country ranks first in market maturity and is one of the top five Islamic fintech markets based on transaction volume.

PETALING JAYA: Mechanics have their hands full repairing vehicles that were damaged in the massive floods that hit several states. In level one, the water level only reached the carpet. “Car owners can easily handle this situation themselves by taking out the carpets and washing them. “It would be better if they put their vehicles under the hot sun for about three to four days to let the car interior dry thoroughly,” he said in an interview. “It would be great if the community can help each other and share information on how to fix their vehicles which suffer from level one or two damage,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: Up-and-coming golfer Jeneath Wong capped a splendid year with more outstanding results Down Under. At the Port Phillip Open Amateur, Jeneath carded rounds of 78-68-75-79 for a 300 total to finish one stroke behind Australia’s Kelsey Bennett. Despite the narrow miss, Jeneath would not be denied of her sixth victory of the season at the Sandbelt Invitational. Jeneath posted 80-77-73-73 for a 303 total to be crowned the women’s amateur winner by eight shots ahead of Belinda Ji. Jeneath’s four other victories were from the Victorian Junior Amateur, Riversdale Cup, Australian Girls’ Amateur and Murray River Junior Masters.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 27): Techna-X Bhd has proposed a backdoor listing of its 50%-owned Chinese capacitor technology company via Singapore-listed F&B group Chaswood Resources Holdings Ltd. The exercise values the capacitor technology company, HK Aerospace Beidou New Technology Co Ltd (HKAB), at US$500 million. Should the backdoor listing plan go through, Techna-X and the parties acting in concert will propose to waive the obligation to undertake a mandatory general offer for the remaining Chaswood shares. They will also be subject to a six-month moratorium from trading the Chaswood shares. Shares of Techna-X settled unchanged at 8 sen on Monday (Dec 27), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM162.55 million.