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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Ponggal Wishes to all Tamil readers! Managed to reach home in time to celebrate Ponggal today:
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Iniya Ponggal Valthukal
January 14th, 2010 | Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email
5 percent economic growth target?
January 13th, 2010 | Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email If we recorded -3.6% growth last year ( source) and aim to achieve more than 5% growth this year, that means an increase of 8.6%. I think very few countries achieved that percentages, among them China and India. Anyway, we pray for the best…
The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is confident that the country will achieve an economic growth of more than 5% this year based on several positive indicators.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said one of the indicators was the shift from retrenchment to recruitment in the manufacturing sector since July last year.
He said business confidence and consumer spending was also on the uptrend as loan applications rose by 37.4% while approvals were up by 25% until October last year compared with the same period in 2008.
The sales of passenger cars had also showed an increase at 40,569 units up to November last year compared with 36,254 during the same period in 2008.
“The trends are changing and we are confident that 2010 is going to be a good year,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Government and the Oxford Business Group on The Report: Malaysia 2010.
EPU director-general Datuk Noriyah Ahmad signed on behalf of the Government while the Oxford Business Group was represented by its country director Laura Herrero.
Nor Mohamed also said the impact of the two stimulus packages rolled out by the Government last year would be seen this year.
The anticipated higher demand for semiconductors due to the rapid expansion of the automative industry in China and India would benefit Malaysia as it is a major producer of electronic chips.
The prices of oil and commodities like palm oil were also on the uptrend and there had also been a rise in tourism activities, he said.
First Malaysian to receive Aussie PM scholarship Award
January 13th, 2010 | Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Dr Jeegajeeva Rao, a role model for academic aspirants:
SHAH ALAM: A Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) medical faculty lecturer, Dr Jeegajeeva Rao, created history by becoming the first Malaysian to receive the Australian Prime Minister’s scholarship award.
Dr Jeegajeeva, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, received the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards worth RM630,500 to pursue a doctorate in medicine.
UiTM vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar said Dr Jeegajeeva, one of the university’s excellent service award recipients last year, had vast experience in his field in several countries including Malaysia, Britain, Indonesia and Australia.
“UiTM is proud of Dr Jeegajeeva’s achievement. He is one of 10 individuals in Asia chosen for the scholarship,” he said at the presentation of the scholarship here Wednesday.
Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Penny Williams presented the award.
Dr Jeegajeeva described the award as “a dream come true.”
“I was pleasantly surprised upon receiving an e-mail from the Australian High Commission about my selection,” he said.
Dr Jeegajeeva has served at hospitals in Penang, Sungai Petani, Batu Pahat, Alor Setar and has been a Selayang Hospital specialist over the past three years.
He leaves for Australia on Sunday to pursue his study at the University of New South Wales, and will carry out research at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. — Bernama
Ex HM Nadarajah honoured with trust fund name
January 13th, 2010 | Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email FORMER SMK Maxwell headmaster P. Nadarajah left such an impression on his former students that some of them have set up a trust fund in his honour for the school’s needy students.
According to former head boy Ngiam Foon, the group who started the fund wanted to show their gratitude to the school and headmaster.
“What we are doing is a reflection of the compassion that Nadarajah showed us during our school days,” said Ngiam.
About RM15,000 was collected and used to buy back-to-school gifts for 100 needy students from Remove classes to Form 3 at their alma mater. They distributed the gifts at a ceremony on Monday.
The students received one set of school uniform each, shoes, a school bag and stationery.
“We will try to raise more funds during a dinner on Jan 23,” said Ngiam, who added that this was the first trust fund set up for the school.
Twelve old boys and four former teachers joined Nadarajah at the small ceremony held at the school hall.
“He used to cane us when we did something wrong, but it was because he loved us,” said Ngiam.
Ngiam’s former classmate, K.L. Tan said: “He is a humble and disciplined man.”
Tan said that Nadarajah would also pay for meals and school fees for students who could not afford them.
“I used to think that I would need bodyguards once I left the school because I used to whack them all the time. But I am proud that many of them have made it,” quipped Nadarajah.
“The most important thing for teachers is to show they care for the students,” he added.
Those interested in contacting the group can e-mail maxwellian@live.com.
from: The Star.
Coal a renewable energy?
January 13th, 2010 | Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email This seems to contradict what we learn in school! Coal and petroleum are considered as non-renewable energy, but this news really shocked me. Is it merely a miscommunication or misreporting of some sorts?
The Borneo Resources Institute has strongly critised the move by the Sarawak government to classify the exploitation and mining of 1.156 billion tonnes of coal reserves as part of its “renewable energy” projects.
The institute, a Sarawak-based environmental watchdog group with global links, wants the ministries involved in environmental management at state and national levels to explain to the Malaysian public how the mining of coal could be categorised as “renewable.”
Institute executive director Mark Bujang said the state government had already included the mining of coal as part of the multibillion-ringgit projects to be carried out under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiatives.
“We object to the move to categorise such an environmentally-hostile project as a renewable energy project because it is very misleading. Coal is a mineral that is exhaustible. It cannot be regenerated.
“The mining of coal is one of the most environmentally-damaging and polluting projects on Earth. The burning of coal in power-generating plants produces huge volume of green-house gas and have caused tremendous climatic changes all over the world.
“The extraction of coal from the ground and from underground mines have caused irrepairable environmental damages. These woes have been seen all over the world, especially in coal-producing countries.
“How is it possible then for Sarawak to classify coal-mining and the use of coal for power-generation as one of the projects approved under the renewable energy corridor?” he told The Star on Wednesday.
On Monday, Sarawak secured a US$11bil (RM38.5bil) investment from China to carry out three hydro-dam construction projects and other energy-intensive projects in the SCORE region spanning a 340km belt between Mukah district in central Sarawak and Similajau district in Bintulu Division in northern Sarawak.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud witnessed the inking of the deal between 1Malaysia Development Bhd and China State Grid Corporation in Kuala Lumpur.
Taib, upon his return to Sarawak, elaborated that the China consortium will handle the building of three hydro-electric dams and also look into the possibility of mining 400 million tonnes of coal deposits in Merit Pila in Kapit Division in central Sarawak.
This move to mine the 400 million tonnes of coal in Kapit is just the tip of the iceberg, claimed Bujang.
“Sarawak has more than a billion tonnes of coal and already, there are numerous mining projects being carried out, especially in the Mukah-Balingain region, which is part of the SCORE territory.
“In fact, a coal plant in Mukah has already been constructed and it is almost about to be completed. This (RM903mil) plant will use the coal as raw materials to produce electricity.
“This development is very worrying indeed because we (the institute) have never heard of any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study being done or any Social Impact Assessment (SIA) survey being carried out for that project, yet that Mukah coal plant is about to be completed,” he said.
