30% work from office rule to be abolished April 1, says Ismail Sabri
KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): The National Security Council (MKN) has decided that effective April 1, the ruling allowing only 30% of employees to work from office in Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) areas will be abolished. He said one justification for this is that the work from home order has been difficult to implement at manufacturing companies, as their operations cannot be conducted remotely. “Apart from this, manufacturing operations frequently involve complex and technical processes requiring the presence of different management and supervisory teams working together at the same time. Ismail Sabri said the level of office attendance for civil servants would be subject to circulars and directives of the Public Service Department (JPA), while the private sector is allowed to have 100% of their staff working from office for the management, supervisory, operations and support divisions. Read also:MEF hails lifting of 30% limit for work from officeCMCO extended in five states and KL, interstate travel still not allowed
Source:The Edge Markets
March 30, 2021 15:34 UTC
Najib: Defeat of GE14 shook me to the core, but I did not agree to an Emergency
KUALA LUMPUR: The moment when Barisan Nasional was defeated in GE14, former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak revealed that he was advised to push for an emergency on the night of May 9,2018. However, Najib said he refused to declare the Emergency, as it could lead to widespread chaos and bloodshed across the country. That will surely take a toll on my conscience, ” he said during his speech at the Malaysia Democracy Forum at Intercontinental Hotel on Tuesday (March 30). “It was a night that shook the whole of Malaysia and I admit it shook me even more. In a democratic setting, Najib said time and space for renewal is always available and Malaysia needs change.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 13:52 UTC
Andaman Sea ‘closed’ to Thai fishermen for three months of spawning season
BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN): Annual fishing restrictions have been imposed off Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang on the Andaman coast from April 1 to June 30 to allow stocks to recover. The Department of Fisheries said the restrictions – which cover net-mesh size, fishing methods and sea conditions – have been put in place for the Andaman spawning season. The spawning season peaks in May with an average density of 690 fish per 10 square metres. Statistics show the restrictions have been successful, with the annual catch in the lower Andaman steadily increasing from 207,236 tonnes in 2017 to 290,035 tonnes in 2020, said the department. The fishing ban covers an area of 5,000sq km, spanning Cape Panwa in Phuket province to Laem Yong Star in Trang province.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 09:56 UTC
Deliveroo IPO puts London's tech credentials to the test
Pandemic surgeDeliveroo has seen demand soar during the pandemic as restaurants were closed for several months of the last year. Its self-employed riders, distinctive in their cyan-and-white uniforms, have often outnumbered other traffic in cities during lockdown. Deliveroo riders are classed as self-employed contractors and earn a fee for every job. Deliveroo said its riders are self-employed because this gives them the freedom to choose when and where to work. Deliveroo, which is battling competitors, such as Uber Eats, Just Eat Takeaway.com, lost £226.4 million in 2020 despite the pandemic boost.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 30, 2021 09:33 UTC
To build a ‘Digital China’, the country must first deal with its rampant black market for personal information
In March last year, personal data from 538 million users of microblogging site Weibo was leaked and sold on the dark web, including phone numbers, gender and their geographical location. Tianjin flat buyer Liu suspects a real estate brokerage leaked her personal data, but without proof she cannot take any action. The country’s 14th five-year plan, unveiled earlier this month, fast tracked the roll-out of two “fundamental” pieces of legislation, the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and the Data Security Law. With insider theft being a major source of personal information leaks, companies need to improve their own control measures and both laws will push them to do that, said Anjie’s Yang. “Hefty fines proposed by the Personal Information Protection Law will have a great deterrent effect on companies, who will be more motivated to protect user data,” Yang added.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 08:15 UTC
Shahrir Samad fears discrimination should his RM1m graft trial continue in Sessions Court
KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Former Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad fears that he will be discriminated against should his corruption trial proceed in the Sessions Court instead of the High Court. Shahrir’s lawyer Syahrul Syazwan Salehin said today that these cases had similar charges and were all transferred to the High Court without any objection from the prosecution. “All three cases have the same elements; all were transferred [to the High Court] without objection. Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi, who is set to preside over the trial, has also pushed the trial's start date, pending the outcome of the application before Justice Zaini. Read also:Court sets 20 days starting from April 1 to hear Shahrir Samad's money laundering caseShahrir wants to write to AG to have money laundering charge dropped — lawyerAhmad Maslan, Shahrir claim trial to money laundering charges
Source:The Edge Markets
March 30, 2021 08:12 UTC
Astro, CIMB, five others are UOB Kay Hian's top ESG picks
KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, My EG Services Bhd (MYEG), Sunway Bhd, and Yinson Holdings Bhd have been cherry-picked as UOB Kay Hian Securities (M) Sdn Bhd's top environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) picks with the Covid-19 pandemic lifting ESG to further prominence, UOB Kay Hian said. UOB Kay Hian analysts including Vincent Khoo and Jacquelyn Yow Hui Li said besides looking at companies' ESG metrics, the research firm also focuses mainly on their fundamental growth based on their growth prospects and valuations. "To play on the ESG theme, we have cherry-picked our top picks from the constituents of FTSE4Good," they said in a note yesterday. The UOB Kay Hian analysts said as sustainable funds will continue to gain the attention of asset managers and investors with the convergence of sustainability and mega trends in investing, UOB Kay Hian would include its comments on ESG-related issues in its future reports. "ESG issues have been gaining attention alongside an increase in the AUM (assets under management) of ESG funds," they said.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 30, 2021 07:51 UTC
Easy trip co-founder upbeat despite IPO at worst time for travel
Still, Easy Trip Director Prashant Pitti is sanguine, even though his company, which operates EaseMyTrip.com, gets more than 90% of its revenue from selling airline tickets. "Since the IPO, Covid cases have started going up, that’s unfortunate, we didn’t foresee it, ” said Pitti, who founded Easy Trip in 2008 with his brothers Nishant, who is CEO, and Rikant, another director. Gross booking revenue fell to 12.2bil rupees (RM0.69bil) in the nine months through December versus 31.8bil rupees (RM1.8bil) the same period of 2019. Booking volumes more than halved. Investors don’t seem too perturbed, with Easy Trip shares trading 9% above their 187-rupee (RM10.62) issue price on Tuesday.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 07:47 UTC
Kneeling debate has diverted attention from racism - Henry
(Reuters) - Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry said the debate over whether soccer players should take a knee before games has diverted attention from the real issue of addressing racial discrimination. "There was the debate recently about taking the knee or standing, but that's not the debate," former France international Henry, who suffered racial abuse during his playing career, told CNN Sport. "I thought kneeling was a strong message and we all know where it comes from, but then the discussion moved to: Are we standing or are we kneeling?" Henry said the point was not whether to take the knee, but the racism itself, which still goes on, and how to tackle it. Henry, 43, last week deleted his social media accounts to protest against the platforms for not taking action against anonymous account holders who are guilty of racism and bullying online.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 07:34 UTC
Sapura Energy secures RM10.3bil debt refinancing
KUALA LUMPUR: Sapura Energy Bhd ’s wholly owned subsidiary, Sapura TMC Sdn Bhd has executed multi-currency financing facilities agreements (MCF 2021) to refinance its existing borrowings. It includes a conventional facility agreement and a further issuance of unrated sukuk murabahah under the multi-currency sukuk programme announced in 2015. Sapura Energy said the planned refinancing was part of the group’s capital management program to lengthen the maturity of its debt. “The refinancing exercise and previously announced RM1.2bil working capital provides us with timely financial headroom in a recovering energy market,” said CEO Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib. The group recently announced global contract wins of RM1.85bil, demonstrating its resilience in capturing opportunities in addressable markets and delivering its promises to clients and stakeholders, Sapura Energy said.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 06:39 UTC
Coronavirus variants stir worry among health and science experts
In addition, it had also reinfected 25% to 61% of those who had previously been infected with – and thus, had immunity to – other SARS-CoV-2 viral variants. In short, the viral variants may be partially or fully resistant to natural immunity (as in Manaus), vaccination or antibody therapies. > Effects on antibody therapiesThere is evidence that monoclonal antibody treatment in immunocompromised patients will generate escape virus variants that can render the treatment redundant. In MalaysiaAccording to the Health Ministry, the B.1.1.7 variant was found in two returnees – one in December (2020) and one in February (2021). Racing the virusA global consensus that the main SARS-CoV-2 variants are more transmissible and may evade infection- and vaccine-induced immunity, is emerging.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 04:52 UTC
Confusing love for political lust
PAS split away from Umno in 1951. Umno ... split from itself in 1988, forming Umno Baru. After the 2008 general election, a new love story was formed in the three-way marriage of PKR, DAP and PAS called Pakatan Rakyat. A sustainable democratic movement based on love will be grounded firmly in clearly defined and well-articulated Values, Ideals and Principles. We will continue going round and round in Malaysia’s “dirtying machine” (https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/all-the-pieces-matter/2021/03/21/principles-before-politics) as long as political lust for power dominates our democratic ecosystem.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 04:07 UTC
Soccer: Shaw regrets pulling out of England squads, letting Southgate down
(Reuters) - Manchester United left back Luke Shaw said he regrets letting down Gareth Southgate in the past by pulling out of England squads but is determined to make up for lost time. The 25-year-old made his first England appearance since September 2018 in Sunday's 2-0 win away to Albania in 2022 World Cup qualifiers. He withdrew from England squads in October 2018 and in March the following year but on both occasions started for United in their next fixture. "I think my biggest regrets was just pulling out, how I pulled out," Shaw said. "The past is the past and hopefully we’ve forgotten about that now and can just focus on the future."
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 03:28 UTC
Opinion: Artificial intelligence tools for monitoring employees come with complications
Some companies have seized on new tools built on artificial intelligence to monitor their employees. "The enthusiasm for these tools has increased since we started the Zoom life with the beginning of the pandemic. The challenge for AI apps is sorting through the variability of human responses. "I think it's extremely problematic to be surveilling and monitoring employees that way, because this will then imply that it will be in the employee's records," Tekin added. Truly empathetic managers, though, will not rely on digital tools to perform the humanistic portion of their jobs.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 03:01 UTC
Going green has never been so delicious. Are you ready, Malaysia?
THERE’S a new craze sweeping the nation and it has something to do with going green. But beyond the hype of ‘grammable cafés and fad diets, for many Malaysians, it’s about building sustainable and delicious new habits. Now, the idea of a plant-based diet as a healthier diet is not a new one. “I encourage everyone to reduce your impact in any way that you can, and one of the most effective ways is going plant-based, ” Tan says. Well, it means that the future is delicious, and you best be ready for it.
Source:The Star
March 30, 2021 02:15 UTC