Isnin, 12 September 2011

NST Online: Topnews

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online: Topnews


Telcos defer move to collect 6pc service tax

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:54 AM PDT

2011/09/13
By Elvina Fernandez and Maizatul Ranai
news@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile prepaid users nationwide can be at ease, for the time being at least, as telecommunication companies (telcos) have agreed to defer their plan to pass the six per cent service tax to their customers.

Representatives from four major telcos — Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Bhd and U Mobile Sdn Bhd — yesterday agreed to put collecting the service tax on hold, following a meeting with the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry.


Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said telcos would not collect the tax from consumers until further notice and after the matter had been discussed at the next cabinet meeting.


Telcos had originally planned to cease absorbing the six per cent service tax on mobile prepaid services from Thursday.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak asked them to reconsider their decision in view of the rising cost of living.


"In the meantime, a thorough discussion and research will be carried out between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and telcos as well as among telcos themselves to determine a number of pertinent matters," Rais told a press conference after yesterday's session with the telcos at Angkasapuri.


This would include whether the proposed service tax should be chargeable only once when the starter packs were purchased or every time a reload card was bought.

Another issue discussed yesterday were the services provided by telcos.


Rais said he was relieved that the telcos had agreed to put the proposed tax on hold and hoped the public would let the issue rest. He acknowledged that telcos had been big contributors of service tax since 1998, collectively paying at least RM6 billion to the government in service tax since.


In an immediate response, the Malaysian Mobile Phone Owners Association said it would put on hold their planned protest at the MCMC headquarters until the next cabinet meeting. Its president, Mohd Ali Ibrahim, said a decision on whether or not to proceed with the demonstration would be made after that.

In a related development, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the public could report to the ministry if they were charged the six per cent service tax by unscr upulous traders and agents.


"The ministry is aware of some errant traders who are taking advantage over the earlier announcement by telcos on enforcing the service tax for reloads and starter packs." Ismail said the service tax issue would be brought to the cabinet tomorrow.

Tanjung Malim goes into 'unhealthy' territory

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:54 AM PDT

2011/09/12
By Punitha Kumar
punithak@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The haze has worsened in certain areas in the country, with Tanjung Malim recording a "unhealthy" level of 107 in the Air Pollutant Index (API).

Other badly affected areas were Nilai and Bukit Rambai with "moderate" (89) readings.

The Department of Environment (DOE) said yesterday Shah Alam registered a reading of 77, Petaling Jaya; 70, and Kuala Lumpur, 72.


Thirty other areas recorded moderate readings of between 51 and 100 while 21 areas registered good air quality (0 to 50).

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department website, Petaling Jaya and Subang had the lowest visibility readings of 4km.

Other areas with low visibility include Batu Pahat, Ipoh, Senai and Mersing, all at 6km.


The Meteorological Service of Singapore's website said there were more hotspots in central and southern Sumatra because of the persistent dry conditions.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai advised the public to spend less time on outdoor activities.

"If you must go out, use a face mask," he said in a statement.


Liow said it was necessary to drink a minimum of eight glasses of water and maintain strict hygiene while performing outdoor activities.

He also advised those suffering from asthma, cough or chronic lung diseases to seek medical help if the situation worsened.

On Sunday, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas expressed concern over the high temperature levels in Sumatra after satellite images detected 600 hotspots this year.

His ministry sent a letter on Friday to Indonesian Environment Minister Professor Dr Gusti Muhammad Hatta urging him to control the situation.

He said the monsoon winds that brought smoke from forest fires in Sumatra caused the haze in Malaysia.

Good API ratings range from 0 to 50, while a moderate API is from 51 to 100. An API level of above 100 is unhealthy.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

NST Online: Latest

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online: Latest


VW seeks talks with Suzuki

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:36 PM PDT

FRANKFURT: German auto giant Volkswagen said late Monday it is seeking talks with Japanese partner Suzuki, after the latter announced its intention to end their two-year-old alliance.

"We want to talk. We haven't changed our view of Suzuki as an investment," VW chief Martin Winterkorn said at a press event for the IAA motor show here.

"We're not working on any alternative scenarios" to the cooperation with Suzuki and Europe's biggest car maker has no plans to sell its 19.9-percent stake in the Japanese group, said VW finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch.


Earlier, Suzuki said it wanted to sever ties with VW, claiming its autonomy was under threat and the German giant was treating it as its own subsidiary.

The two car makers entered into a strategic alliance in December 2009, with VW buying a 19.9-percent stake in Suzuki and the Japanese group buying 1.5 percent of its German partner with the aim of pooling their respective strengths in hybrid and small-car technologies.

However, the 1.7-billion-euro ($2.3-billion) alliance turned sour.


And VW announced at the weekend that it was serving notice of an infringement by Suzuki of their cooperation agreement. -- AFP

China arrests 32 over 'gutter' cooking oil scam

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:33 PM PDT

BEIJING: China said Tuesday it had arrested 32 people over the sale of cooking oil made from leftovers taken from gutters, in the latest food safety scandal to hit the country.

The sting operation comes more than a year after state media revealed that up to one-tenth of cooking oil used in China was made from waste oil recycled from restaurants, which contains a carcinogenic substance.

The Ministry of Public Security said police first received reports in March that a group of people were buying waste oil from restaurants and turning it into cooking oil.


After a four-month-long investigation, police in the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Shandong and the central province of Henan busted six places that sold the illegally made cooking oil, and detained 32 people.

They also found more than 100 tonnes of the recycled oil made from leftovers taken from gutters, the ministry said in a statement.

"Under the pretence of processing biodiesel, the suspects had been buying waste oil from Zhejiang, Sichuan and Guizhou (both in the southwest) since 2009, turning it into cooking oil and selling it on the market," it added.


When the cooking oil scandal emerged last year, experts estimated that people in China consumed about two to three million tonnes of illegal oil every year.

The revelation forced the food safety watchdog to step up its inspections, but experts said the business was extremely profitable because the cost of buying food waste and refining it was low.

China's food industry is notorious for safety problems, despite regular government crackdowns.


One of the biggest safety scandals emerged in 2008 when huge amounts of the industrial chemical melamine were found to have been illegally added to dairy products to give the appearance of higher protein content.

The scandal was blamed for the deaths of at least six infants and for making 300,000 others ill in China. Two people were executed for their role in the incident.

In September last year, authorities in China — including the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Public Security — called for tougher penalties including the death sentence in serious food safety cases. -- AFP

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

NST Online: Sports

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online: Sports


Badminton: Zulfadli eyes world meet

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:14 PM PDT

2011/09/13
Ajitpal Singh
ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my


 The Malaysian badminton team ended their campaign in the Commonwealth Youth Championships with a haul of four gold, two silver and one bronze.

The Malaysian badminton team ended their campaign in the Commonwealth Youth Championships with a haul of four gold, two silver and one bronze.

ZULFADLI Zulkiffli received a boost ahead of next month's World Junior Championships by winning the boys' singles title at the Commonwealth Youth Championships in Isle of Man on Sunday.

Zulfadli defeated India's Sameer Verma 21-16, 17-21, 21-15 in a nail biting final for his second title of the year after his triumph at the Asian Junior Championships in July.

The 18-year-old, sponsored by KLRC, hopes to continue his momentum in upcoming 'Open' tournaments before he leads the boys' squad at the world junior meet, scheduled for Oct 28-Nov 6, in Taiwan.


Malaysia added three more gold medals in the boys' and women's doubles and mixed doubles at the Isle of Man.

Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi overcame a tough first game before beating England's Ryan McCarthy-Tom Wolfenden 24-22, 21-16 in the boys' doubles final while Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean beat compatriots Sonia Cheah-Yang Li Lian 21-17, 21-8 for the women's doubles title.

Ee Yi and Mei Kuan then teamed up to win the mixed doubles title by edging India's Srikanth Kidambi-Maneesha Kukkpalli 18-21, 21-16, 21-8.


Malaysia failed to earn a clean sweep when Sonia went down 22-20, 21-8 to India's top seed Pusarla Sindhu in the girls' singles final while teammate Li Lian lost 21-16, 22-20 to Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the bronze medal match.

National junior coach Yap Kim Hock was delighted with his shuttlers' performance in the competition.

"We were not expecting seven medals from badminton. I hope they will build from their performance here for next month's world junior meet," said Kim Hock.


The Malaysian contingent ended their campaign in the Commonwealth Youth Championships with a haul of four gold, two silver and one bronze.

England were the overall champions with 37-24-16 followed by Australia (29-38-17) and South Africa (8-7-15) from seven sports.

Obituary: Negri mourns the demise of two internationals

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:08 PM PDT

TWO double internationals from Negri Sembilan, M. Joseph, 77, and Peter van Huizen, 75, have died.

Peter died on Sunday, while Joseph died yesterday morning.

Both were a rare breed who played hockey and football for the country, something present day sportsmen can't even dream of doing.


Peter only started playing hockey when he was 20, and that too by chance as he happened to be at the Negri Sembilan Padang and was invited to play for the Negri Sembilan Ceylonese Association (NSCA).

He went on to become a pillar between the posts in hockey and was among the 18 young men who represented Malaysia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo. Peter was voted world's Best Goalkeeper in 1956.

He also played football for Negri Sembilan Indians Association (NSIA) and Seremban Rangers, the Negri state team in 1952 and represented Malaysia at the 1959 SEAP Games in Bangkok.


Peter then started coaching Seremban Municipal Council in 1985 and among the goalkeepers he spotted and trained were Hamdan Hamzah, who played for the National Juniors in 1989, Osbert Pinto (a winger turned goalkeeper) and recent former international and goalkeepers' coach Nasihin Nubli.

And Joseph was also made of the same stuff, as he too represented the country in hockey and football.

He represented then Malaya in football from 1947 to 1953, while in hockey, he played in the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games and in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.


After he retired, Joseph or fondly called 'One-eyed Jo', started coaching in the early 1980s and under his coaching were G. Torairaju, Tony Chia and Zainuddin Hussein.

Joseph kept himself active by playing in the NS League for NSCA as well as the state veterans' squad.

Negri Sembilan HA secretary P. Tamilselvan said both Peter and Joseph were prides of the state.

"Both of them were pillars of society as well as sports and it is a great loss to the state," said Tamilselvan.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

NST Online Business Times : latest

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online Business Times : latest


Tenaga upgraded to 'buy', stock climbs

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:18 PM PDT

Tenaga Nasional Bhd, a Malaysian power producer, rose in Kuala Lumpur trading after AMMB Holdings Bhd upgraded the stock to "buy" with a share estimate of RM6.40.

It climbed 1.4 percent to RM5.21 at 9:13 a.m. local time, set for its biggest increase since Sept. 8. -- Bloomberg

KKB Engr gains on two contract wins

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:11 PM PDT

KKB Engineering Bhd rose in Kuala Lumpur trading after winning two contracts totaling RM30.7 million to supply water pipes and gas cylinders.

The stock gained 1.2 percent to RM1.66 at 9:03 a.m. local time, set for its biggest increase since Sept. 2. -- Bloomberg

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

NST Online: StreetsJohor

0 ulasan
Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info
Sumber Asal Berita :-

NST Online: StreetsJohor


CREATIVE GLOW

Posted: 11 Sep 2011 09:00 AM PDT

2011/09/11
By Sim Bak Heng


Instead of buying lanterns to celebrate Mooncake Festival, 200 children were taught to make them using various materials

MOONCAKES and lanterns galore is what today's Mid-Autumn Festival, or more popularly known as the Mooncake Festival, is all about -- at least to the average Chinese the world over.

Mooncake and tea is traditionally enjoyed under the moonlight and surrounded by colourful lanterns.

It is the lanterns which brighten the mood of the celebration.


Lanterns are easily available from retail outlets and night markets several weeks before the festival.

From traditional paper lanterns featuring flowery designs to plastic lanterns with contemporary patterns and shapes, children will be spoilt for choice.

While candles are used for traditional lanterns, contemporary lanterns more often have bulbs.

Children are captivated by the many lanterns available in the market during the mooncake season and this year, some 200 children in Johor Baru decided to make their own lanterns in a course conducted by Creativity Art Studio.

Under the guidance of three teachers and Koh Ai Hoon, the principal, the children were divided into 10 classes to make a lantern in two two-hour sessions.

The children, aged from 5 to 12, were not only excited about making their own lanterns, but also challenged by being restricted to using only recycled items to make them.

They also had to keep the cost of making them to not more than RM5 each.

"They use the same materials, such as mosquito coil cans, aluminium foil, coloured paper, bottle caps and glue.

"Basically, the shapes and sizes of their lanterns are the same. What make them differ are the drawings on the lanterns.

"My theme is 'angry animals', so they have about 10 animals to choose from to draw on their lanterns. They have to exercise their imagination to ensure their drawings will fit the theme," she said.

Koh said every piece of work is exclusive as it was handmade by the students themselves.

Eileen Yong, 5, likes lions, so she painted an angry lion on her lantern.

"Look at its mouth, it is angry now," said the adorable child.

Her friend, Ong Yu En, also 5, likes elephants and so she drew an angry elephant with a short trunk on her lantern.

She said her elephant is not angry enough because it is well-fed in the jungle.

Ng Min Hing, 6, will have an angry tiger lantern to show his parents and relatives this year.

"The tiger is angry. Don't come too near," he said.

The lanterns created by the children are simple yet touching because they were made by innocent children.

Koh said it would be wonderful for the children to show off their inventions to their relatives to add to the festive cheer.

"Their lanterns might not be perfect, but some will sure to make you laugh. Every piece of work is interesting," she said.

Estate owner loses RM640,000 in scam

Posted: 11 Sep 2011 07:25 AM PDT

2011/09/11
By Sim Bak Heng


Supt Abdul Majid Ali (third from left) bersama pegawainya menunjukkan slip transaksi bank sebanyak 46 keping  dalam kes tipu RM646,187 dish  showing the bank transaction slips obtained from the victim of the scam in Segamat. — Picture by Ahmad Ismail

Supt Abdul Majid Ali (third from left) bersama pegawainya menunjukkan slip transaksi bank sebanyak 46 keping dalam kes tipu RM646,187 dish showing the bank transaction slips obtained from the victim of the scam in Segamat. — Picture by Ahmad Ismail

A RUBBER estate owner, 35, in Labis was cheated of over RM640,000 in what is believed to be a scam involving locals and foreigners.

The victim, who is also a housewife, said the incident happened after she received a call from an unknown person in Hong Kong on June 2 to inform her that she had won HK$460,000 (RM175,000) in a lucky draw in Hong Kong.

Segamat OCPD Supt Abdul Majid Mohd Ali said the victim was asked to claim the prize within a stipulated time, or else lose her entitlement to it.


"The suspect also told the victim that she could only claim the prize after banking in RM646,187 to the accounts of several people," he said.

Majid said the suspect promised the sum would be returned to the victim together with the prize money.

He said the victim transferred money to 13 Maybank and Hong Leong Bank accounts on June 7 as instructed.


"Checks showed that the victim made 46 transfers with the biggest single transaction amounting to RM23,168," he said.

The last transaction was on Aug 22 before the victim lodged a police report.

Majid said the suspects were believed to be operating as a syndicate.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my
 

NST Online

Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved