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seribulan Publish time 9-8-2019 06:29 PM

Grab Malaysia dismisses claims it failed to refund drivers

Nation
Wednesday, 07 Aug 2019

4:55 PM MYT
PETALING JAYA: Grab Malaysia has denied claims that it failed to reimburse the additional 5% commission imposed on drivers who chose not to immediately opt to auto accept rides.

Countering claims made by Malaysia E-Hailing Drivers Association (MeHDA) that the drivers did not get the refund, Grab Malaysia said they had to refund the drivers in phases because it involved a large sum.

"As we are regulated by the government, it is crucial that we comply with the regulation requirements, while ensuring that we continue to maintain a balance in supply and demand on the platform.

"When the regulation (cap on commission) was first introduced last year, one of the first changes we made was to introduce the 20% commission to all driver-partners who chose to auto accept all their rides.

"For selected driver-partners, almost 20% of them chose to manually accept their rides. Therefore, a fee of 5% was introduced to safeguard and compensate other driver-partners each time a ride was ignored or cancelled.

"That was important to reduce unexpected situations and maintain the balance in supply and demand as we serve the daily commuting needs of everyone, " the statement read.

MehDA president, Daryl Chong had earlier issued a statement, claiming the drivers did not get the refund on Aug 5 as promised.

Grab said following the reimbursement exercise, all drivers were required to auto accept rides, as they were no longer allowed to manually accept rides.

"In the past weeks, we have made efforts to ensure fairness for all driver-partners, improve their driving experience and maintaining the supply-demand balance.

"To date, we have reimbursed the 5% fee to all driver-partners who had previously chose to manually accept jobs through the app post, " he said.

Grab Malaysia also explained that the 5% fee was imposed on those who had earlier opted to manually accept their rides because they need to safeguard and compensate others when rides were ignored or cancelled.

"That was important to reduce unexpected situations and maintain the balance in supply and demand, as we serve the daily commuting needs of everyone.

"We are committed to continue working closely with our driver-partners, so that many more can continue to earn an income via ride-hailing and keep the Grab experience for both drivers and partners as efficient, balanced and as high quality as possible, " it said.

Related stories:

E-hailing drivers association cries foul after Grab misses refund date for extra charges

kokonut Publish time 13-8-2019 04:06 PM

Housewife claims trial to cheating two women over umrah package




https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2019/08/13/210159.jpg






SUNGAI PETANI (Bernama): A housewife has been charged at the magistrate’s court here with four counts of cheating over umrah packages involving losses of RM12, 000 in 2012 and 2013.
Nurul Yasmin Rosli, 30, however, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after all charges were read by the court interpreter before Magistrate Arif Mohamad Shariff here Tuesday (Aug 13).

On the first count, Nurul Yasmin was charged with cheating Nooriah Hanafi into believing that she could provide an umrah package, which prompted the latter to pay her RM1, 800 at No. 1129, Jalan Bandar Puteri Jaya 3/27, Bandar Puteri Jaya here on July 7, 2012.
On the second count, she was also charged with duping the same victim into paying another RM1, 770 to her for the same purpose at the same place in December 2012.




On the fourth count, Nurul Yasmin was charged with cheating Mazlifah Omar into depositing RM5, 310 into her account as payment for an umrah package at the same Maybank branch in Taman Ria Jaya in January 2013.
The housewife was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years with whipping, and also liable to fine if convicted.
The Magistrate allowed the accused bail of RM8, 000 with one surety and set Aug 28 for re-mention.
Deputy public prosecutor S. Pavitra prosecuted, while the accused was represented by counsel Ruzanna Abdul Rahim. – Bernama

thelittlestar Publish time 13-8-2019 04:23 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The regularisation on vapes by the government may bring a desirable outcome for tobacco players like British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT), forecasts TA Securities Holding Bhd.

As the government is expected table the regularisation plan on vape, e-cigarettes and shisha by month-end, the research house believe proper and clear framework over the alternative tobacco products could enable BAT to introduce its principal’s flagship vape products such as Vype.

Industry players estimate that 10 per cent of smokers use vape products and the regularisation plan can promise a higher growth momentum which was untapped due to legality.

"Alternatively, a revised regulation plan could entail some forms of governance over the ‘illegal vape’, hence keeping the space in check.

"Through our findings, we opine that using vape products ie Vype and its corresponding cartridge may be a relatively economical option to users. Cost of having Vype could possibly be lower than tobacco heating product (THP) products and legal traditional cigarettes, thus potentially relief BAT from the affordability plague that it currently encounters,” the research house said in a note today.

TA Securities said since incurrence of marketing spends are within control of BAT’s management team who has thus far shown great success in optimising costs, the research house believe BAT would be able to deliver a strong route-to-market strategy while having operating expenses maintained in a manageable level.

“As such, we believe investor’s appetite for high dividend-paying stocks would soon grow thus putting BAT back into the spotlight for dividend play,” the research house said.

Given BAT’s history of sticking with its minimum 90 per cent dividend payout ratio, TA Securities forecast this would translate into an attractive financial year (FY) 2019/20/21 dividend yield of 5.7/5.9/5.9 per cent respectively.

The research house maintains a Buy call for BAT with a target price of RM28.29 from the current RM23.00.

seribulan Publish time 13-8-2019 05:50 PM

Rescuers find body of 'female Caucasian' in search for Nora Quoirin
AUGUST 13, 2019 @ 4:51PM
BY BEATRICE NITA JAY

Police have yet to confirm whether this was the body of the 15-year-old special needs teenager. Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusop said the body was found at 1.57pm about 2km from the resort. (Pic by ADZLAN SIDEK)
SEREMBAN: The body of a “female Caucasian” has been found by rescuers searching for Nora Anne Quoirin, the Irish teen who went missing from a resort here on Aug 4.

However, police have yet to confirm whether this was the body of the 15-year-old special needs teenager.

Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusop said the body was found at 1.57pm about 2km from the resort.

“My deputy (Senior Assistant Commissioner Che Zakaria Othman) and forensics unit policemen went in at 2.05pm and reached the site at 2.30pm,” he told reporters.

However, that was all the information Mohamad could provide at the moment.

This is the 10th day of the search for Quoirin, the eldest of three children.

The family had arrived in Negri Sembilan for a two-week holiday in Malaysia and checked in at the resort the day before she went missing.

On Aug 4, the family discovered Quoirin missing, a large window in one of the room left open.

blurp Publish time 14-8-2019 10:07 AM

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAAluEu.img?h=40&w=138&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&f=png          Ex-king of Malaysia is set to marry 'a more suitable wife selected by his family' after dumping the Russian beauty queen he gave up his crown for

                        Will Stewart for MailOnline         





The ex-king of Malaysia whose whirlwind marriage to a Russian beauty queen stunned his people is poised to marry a more 'suitable' bride selected by his family after being forced to dump his wife, according to sources at the Kremlin.While glamorous Oksana Veovodina, 27, continues to deny a marital split from abdicated monarch Sultan Muhammad V, a diplomatic source in Moscow claims his clan has 'already chosen' him a new bride deemed more suitable.
Friends say the Russian socialite has not received any divorce paperwork and does 'not understand' why the former king, 50, suddenly 'went cold' on her.But pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravd, claimed in a major new report that it was the disapproval of the monarch's family that led him to give up the Malaysian throne earlier this year, a few months after his secret wedding to the surgeon's daughter and ex-Miss Moscow. Until now, the reason has not been clear but the newspaper cited its own source in the Russian Foreign Ministry saying the ex-king - known as Faris - was forced to lose both his crown and his glamorous beauty queen wife by his family, especially his 70 year old mother, and other Malaysian sultans.'According to my information, the king's family is hostile to the Russian wife,' said the source who also denied that there was any doubt over the paternity of the child Oksana gave birth to in May, despite this question being raised by a lawyer acting for the former king.The paper, which is Russia's most widely read, said the Kremlin source was 'official' and had a close understanding of Malaysia: 'The woman herself did not give any cause for jealousy.'The family of the king was against Oksana from the very beginning. 'It is traditional to marry women from their own society. Oksana was the wrong choice in all meanings of the word. 'At first the king looked decisive. He said he would marry her and he did. But the couple had to keep their marriage secret for a few months.'Soon the situation became unsustainable and the king did not voluntarily abdicate, said the source.'He was forced by the sultans who were not happy with his choice of wife. 'In Malaysia the king is a sort of a representative but the sultans run the country.'They pushed Muhammad towards the decision that if he went against his family when he married the Russian woman, so he had to abdicate.

seribulan Publish time 16-8-2019 11:05 AM

New Straits Times
Nora Anne's French relatives convinced of 'criminal element' in her death
Hana Naz Harun 14 hrs ago
a yellow sign on a dirt road: The grandfather of French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin believes that there were criminal elements in Noras death. -NSTP/IQMAL HAQIM ROSMAN
© Provided by Media Prima
The grandfather of French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin believes that there were criminal elements in Noras death. - NSTP/IQMAL HAQIM ROSMAN
KUALA LUMPUR: The grandfather of French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin believes that there were criminal elements in Noras death.

Sylvian Quoirin told Irish daily the Irish Times that he believed someone put the 15-year-olds body in the place where she was found.

She wasnt there yet (during previous searches). Someone put her there, to get rid of her, he said.

He discounted theories that Nora Anne wandered outside on her own, or had been enticed out by a stranger, describing it as absurd.

Sylvian said Nora Anne, a special needs teenager, would cling to her parents and siblings, and was easily frightened.

Can you imagine her walking 2.5km, naked and barefoot, over rocks, in the middle of the night? For me, thats absurd, he told the newspaper.

Nora Annes unclothed body was found on Aug 13, about 2.5km away from The Dusun resort in Seremban, where the family had been staying.

She was found after a 10-day search operation.

Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusop had said post-mortem examination results showed that Nora Anne died of starvation.

Police had ruled out foul play in her death, adding that there were no signs of kidnapping or rape.

The Irish Times also quoted Nora Annes French relatives as saying that the post-mortem results were inconclusive, stressing the need to continue to investigate the possibility that she was a victim of a criminal act.

Her uncle, Pacôme Quoirin, told the daily in a phone interview that it was important that criminal hypothesis was not excluded as there was incomplete information.

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

KakPahJ Publish time 16-8-2019 04:24 PM

Kashmir, wilayah indah yang kembali bergolak


India menuntut keseluruhan wilayah Kashmir sama ada di bawah pentadbiran Pakistan mahupun China. - Foto Fail


ISU Kashmir dilihat sebagai titik tolak kepada ketegangan hubungan antara India dan Pakistan. Ia melibatkan sempadan dan kedaulatan yang membawa kepada pembangunan senjata nuklear.

Kashmir merupakan sebuah wilayah kecil terletak di barat laut benua kecil India. Ia merujuk kepada lembah yang terletak di antara Banjaran Himalaya dan Banjaran Pir Panjal di kawasan paling utara negara India.

Lembah ini berasal daripada sebuah lembah 'air'. Secara literalnya, perkataan "Ka" membawa maksud "air", manakala perkataan "Shimir" membawa maksud "yang dikeringkan''. Maka, Kashmir membawa maksud "lembah yang dikeringkan airnya."

Terdapat juga teori yang menyatakan lembah Kashmir ini berasal daripada Tasik Satisar yang telah dikeringkan airnya.

Pada masa ini, secara geopolitiknya, Kashmir terbahagi kepada beberapa bahagian iaitu Jammu dan Kashmir yang ditadbir oleh India, meliputi lembah Kashmir serta Jammu dan Ladakh.

Kawasan-kawasan Utara dan Azad Kashmir pula ditadbir oleh Pakistan, dan Rantau Aksai Chin dan Laluan Trans-Karakoram yang ditadbir oleh China.

Walaupun, kawasan-kawasan tersebut dikuasai oleh ketiga-tiga negara terbabit, tetapi India mahupun Pakistan tidak pernah mengiktiraf pemilikan antara satu sama lain ke atas kawasan- kawasan yang menjadi pertikaian.

India mendakwa kawasan-kawasan -- termasuk yang diserahkan oleh Pakistan kepada China iaitu Laluan Trans-Karakoram pada tahun 1963 -- adalah sebahagian daripada wilayahnya.

Sementara itu, Pakistan pula menuntut keseluruhan kawasan Kashmir kecuali Aksai Chin dan Laluan Trans-Karakoram.

Ini bermakna, India menuntut keseluruhan wilayah Kashmir sama ada di bawah pentadbiran Pakistan mahupun China.

Sejarah pertikaian wilayah Kashmir bermula pada tanggal 27 Oktober 1947 merupakan detik hitam dalam sejarah wilayah Kashmir apabila lebih 300,000 penduduk Islam menjadi korban dalam tempoh dua bulan setelah tentera India menakluki wilayah Jammu dan Kashmir.

Kerajaan India telah mencabul Akta Kemerdekaan India dan Rancangan Pemisahantahun 1947 dengan menghantar tentera untuk menakluk wilayah tersebut.

Mengikut Akta Kemerdekaan India dan Rancangan Pemisahan yang diluluskan oleh Parlimen Britain pada 18 Julai 1947, kerajaan Britain telah memutuskan bahawa India sebagai negara jajahannya perlu dibahagikan kepada dua.

Kawasan yang mempunyai penduduk majoriti Hindu akan membentuk negara India, manakala kawasan yang mempunyai penduduk majoriti Islam di wilayah barat dan Bengal Timur (kini dikenali sebagai Bangladeh) akan dimasukkan di bawah negara baru Pakistan.
Kashmir yang mempunyai majoriti penduduk Islam hampir 90 peratus mempunyai kecenderungan untuk menyertai Pakistan, tetapi atas perancangan pemimpin Hindu dan Kongres Kebangsaan India menyebabkan impian penduduk Kashmir untuk menyertai sebuah negara Islam Pakistan berkecai.

Satu dokumen kontroversi berhubung hak pemilikan ke atas Kashmir yang dirangka di Delhi dan dibentangkan kepada Maharaja Hari Singh, yang merupakan pemerintah negeri Jammu dan Kashmir pada masa itu, tidak dapat dibuktikan, sama ada Maharaja itu telah menandatangani dokumen tersebut seperti yang didakwa oleh India.

Kerajaan India tidak pernah mendedahkan secara terbuka kepada umum dan secara rasmi tentang dokumen tersebut di mana-mana forum antarabangsa, kecuali dalam bentuk gambar salinan asal perjanjian berkenaan yang disiarkan melalui laman web rasmi kerajaan India.

Kerajaan India mendakwa Maharaja Hari Singh iaitu Maharaja Jammu dan Kashmir telah menandatangani dokumen penyerahan wilayah itu kepada India pada 26 Oktober 1947.

Penduduk Kashmir tidak menerima pendudukan haram India sejak hari pertama pencerobohan berlaku dan mula menjalankan pemberontakan bersenjata yang disokong dengan kebangkitan rakyat Kashmir pada tahun 1947.

Pada 1 Januari 1948, setelah kekalahan tenteranya, India merujuk masalah tersebut kepada Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) bagi mendapatkan bantuan.

Majlis Keselamatan PBB kemudian telah meluluskan resolusi menetapkan bahawa penaklukan dan pendudukan India ke atas Kashmir adalah tidak sah.

Badan dunia itu telah meluluskan dua resolusi, satu pada 13 Ogos 1948 dan satu lagi pada 5 Januari 1949 yang diterima oleh Pakistan dan India.

Melalui kedua-dua resolusi tersebut PBB meluluskan gencatan senjata, menetapkan garisan gencatan senjata (LOC), mengisytihar wilayah itu sebagai bebas tentera dan pungutan suara dengan pengawasan PBB.

Walaupun satu fasa daripada resolusi tersebut (gencatan senjata) telah dilaksanakan, namun langkah membebaskan wilayah tersebut daripada kuasa tentera dan mengadakan pungutan suara yang bebas di bawah pengawasan PBB masih tidak dilaksanakan sampai ke hari ini.

Pada 18 Julai 1949, Pakistan dan India menandatangani Perjanjian Karachi bagi mewujudkan Garisan Kawalan (LOC) dengan diawasi oleh pemerhati daripada PBB.

Berikutan persempadanan semula itu, kawasan seluas kira-kira 141,338 kilometer persegi meliputi negeri Jammu dan Kashmir kekal di bawah India, manakala kawasan seluas 85,846 kilometer persegi meliputi kawasan Azad Jammu dan Kashmir, yang dikenali sebagai Azad Kashmir berada di bawah kawalan Pakistan.

Semenjak dari itu, wilayah Kashmir terus menjadi rebutan antara India dan Pakistan sehingga mencetuskan beberapa siri peperangan antara kedua-dua buah negara yang mana kali terakhir adalah Perang Kargil pada tahun 1999.

Kini, wilayah Kashmir kembali bergolak apabila konvoi tentera india diserang oleh pihak pemisah Kashmir.

India menuduh pihak pemisah tersebut didalangi oleh Pakistan, manakala Pakistan menafikan bahawa mereka mendalangi serangan tersebut, namun menyatakan bahawa serangan tersebut adalah berpunca daripada perjuangan masyarakat Kashmir yang secara demografinya dihuni oleh majoriti Muslim yang tidak rela dan perasaan tidak puas hati dengan Delhi.

Rentetan daripada itu, Perdana Menteri India, Narendra Modi telah mengambil langkah drastik dengan menarik kembali status autonomi yang memberikan keistimewaan kepada masyarakat di Jammu dan Kashmir untuk mempunyai perlembagaan negeri sendiri, kuasa perundangan dan eksekutif terhadap kebanyakan rakyatnya selain mempunyai kuasa autonomi yang lebih besar berbanding negeri-negeri lain di India.

Hanya warga tempatan di negara itu yang dibenarkan untuk memiliki harta atau memegang jawatan dalam kerajannya seperti mana yang terkandung di dalam Artikel 370.

Artikel 370 tersebut diperkenalkan oleh Menteri dalam Negeri India, Amit Shah kemudian ditandatangani oleh Presiden Ram Nath Kovind dalam satu upacara di India pada tahun 1950-an.

Status khas Jammu dan Kashmir berpunca dari komposisi demografinya yang mana ia adalah satu-satunya wilayah di bawah pentadbiran India yang mempunyai masyarakat bermajoritikan umat Islam.

Ia sebagai keistimewaan dan perlindungan yang diberikan kepada mereka bagi mengurangkan rasa takut terhadap golongan asimilasi yang dipaksa.

Penarikan status autonomi terhadap Jammu dan Kashmr ini menunjukkan bahawakedua-dua wilayah ini adalah wilayah biasa di dalam India dan mengesahkan bahawa India mempunyai kedaulatan yang mutlak terhadap kedua-dua wilayah tersebut.

Bagi penulis, tindakan Narendra Modi terhadap Kashmir seperti sudah dirancang bagi menurunkan status autonominya kepada status wilayah biasa kerana beliau dan parti pimpinannya Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) memang sudah lama menentang artikel 370, malah ia menjadi salah satu janji dalam manifesto Pilihan Raya 2019.

Modi dan BJP berpandangan bahawa Artikel 370 perlu dimansuhkan bagi memastikan Kashmir dapat berintegrasi dengan keseluruhan India serta mempunyai sentimen nasionalisme terhadap India.

Hal ini kerana setelah 20 tahun tamatnya Perang Kargil, secara tiba-tiba terdapat serangan mengejut yang dikatakan dilakukan oleh puak pemisah Kashmir dengan disokong oleh Pakistan.

Mungkin secara fizikalnya, ya, kerana masyarakat di wilayah Kashmir tidak pernah rela menjadi sebahagian daripada India, namun mengapa baru sekarang puak pemisah tersebut kembali mengganas?

Seolah-olah pergolakan ini telah dirancang oleh pihak yang berkepentingan dan sememangnya tidak bersetuju dengan keistimewaan yang diperoleh oleh wilayah Kashmir ini, maka secara teorinya Narendra Modi adalah individu yang dikatakan berperanan dalam tercetusnya perkara ini.

Dengan penarikan status autonomi dan keistimewaan terhadap wilayah tersebut, Delhi telah menghantar seramai kira-kira 10 ribu tentera dan tambahan sebanyak 70,000 tentera akan dihantar dalam masa terdekat bagi memastikan kestabilan wilayah Jammu dan Kashmir.

Selain itu, kerajaan India juga memperkenalkan langkah keselamatan lain terhadap dakwaan wujudnya ancaman keganasan termasuk gesaan menyimpan bekalan makanan dan bahan api.

Tindakan kerajaan India ini seolah-olah mengiyakan bahawa rancangan untuk menurunkan status Kashmir sebagai wilayah autonomi sememangnya telah dirancang.

Sebagai seorang ketua kerajaan, tindakan Modi sekiranya terbukti bahawa beliau adalah dalang sebenar bukan suatu perkara yang pelik.

Ini kerana mana-mana ketua kerajaan atau negara di dunia ini akan memastikan kedaulatan negara mereka akan terus terpelihara, apatah lagi wilayah tersebut adalah sebuah wilayah yang kaya dengan sumber seperti mana Kashmir.

Selain itu, keutuhan sebuah negara bangsa di dalam sistem antarabangsa juga bertitik tolak daripada semangat nasionalisme yang ampuh oleh setiap wilayah dan masyarakat yang mendiami negara tersebut.

Maka, pergolakan yang berlaku di Kashmir baru-baru ini juga tidak terlepas daripada persoalan kepentingan nasional India dan jangkaan bahawa Pakistan dikambinghitamkan juga tidak boleh diketepikan dalam menganalisis isu ini.

Konflik Kashmir ini adalah antara konflik wilayah yang agak sukar diselesaikan kerana ia melibatkan persoalan kedaulatan terhadap wilayah.

Konflik ini juga hanya mampu diselesaikan oleh pihak-pihak yang bertelingkah ini sahaja.

Sekalipun referendum oleh masyarakat di Kashmir dikeluarkan, sekiranya India dan Pakistan, negara yang menuntut keseluruhan kedaulatan terhadap Kashmir tidak berlapang dada menerima suara tersebut, maka sampai bila-bila konflik di wilayah indah tersebut tidak akan tamat.

Malaysia melalui Pejabat Perdana Menteri telah mengeluarkan kenyataan berhubung konflik yang semakin menegang di Kashmir dengan mengusulkan kepada pihak-pihak terlibat agar mematuhi resolusi Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (UNSC) mengenai Jammu dan Kashmir dalam mengekalkan keamanan dan keselamatan antarabangsa.

Penyelesaian di meja rundingan adalah kaedah yang paling ampuh dalam menyelesaikan kemelut tersebut kerana sekiranya kemelut tersebut diselesaikan melalui kaedah ketenteraan, maka kebinasaan yang lebih dasyat akan berlaku serta akan merugikan pihak-pihak yang terbabit.

* Hisyam Basabah merupakan penulis bebas dan calon Ijazah Doktor Falsafah Pengajian Etnik, Institut Kajian Etnik, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

** Artikel ini merupakan pandangan peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan sidang pengarang Astro AWANI.

http://www.astroawani.com/berita-dunia/kashmir-wilayah-indah-yang-kembali-bergolak-214665

seribulan Publish time 17-8-2019 11:19 AM

Woman held for trying to sell her baby for RM60

Saturday, 17 Aug 2019
Compiled by CHOW HOW BAN, MEI MEI CHU and R. ARAVINTHAN


A WOMAN who was trying to sell off her infant for 1, 000 rupees (RM60) at a bus station in Telangana, India, has been arrested, Malaysia Nanban reported.


It was reported that the woman was sitting at the bus station in the Jangaon district when she suddenly announced loudly to bystanders that her seven-month-old baby was for sale.

Police who were called to the scene later detained the woman, who appeared dishevelled.


Officers also helped feed the crying baby before handing the child to the welfare department.

nora555 Publish time 18-8-2019 04:32 PM

By Bernama - August 18, 2019 @ 10:56am

KUCHING: The haze situation in Sri Aman and Miri in Sarawak is still bad with Air Pollutants Index (API) reading for Sri Aman as at 9am had risen to 252 as compared to 4pm yesterday.

However, for Miri, there was some improvement with the API reading dropping from 221 at 4pm yesterday to 158, according Department of Environment data.

As for Kuala Baram, there was also much improvement with the API going down to 78 as compared to 119 yesterday.

The air quality is good if the API reading is between zero and 50; moderate if it is between 51 and 100; unhealthy if it is between 101 and 200; very unhealthy if it is between 201 and 300; and hazardous if it is above 301.

The public can refer to the Department of Environment (DOE) website at http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/ or by downloading the MyIPU smartphone app on ‘Google Play’ to get hourly API readings.

Meanwhile, Sarawak recorded one “hot spot” (forest fire) as at 9am today.

seribulan Publish time 18-8-2019 04:52 PM

Hundreds attend El Paso memorial for shooting victim with few family

Antonio Basco greets well-wishers at the public memorial for his wife, Margie Reckard, a victim of the El Paso shooting AFP/Sandy Huffaker
17 Aug 2019 05:00PM




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EL PASO: Hundreds of mourners attended the memorial on Friday (Aug 17) of a woman they had never met, a victim of the El Paso shooting earlier this month, after her husband opened the service to the public.

When 63-year-old Margie Reckard died in the Walmart shooting that killed 22 people in the Texas border city on August 3, her husband Antonio Basco thought he would have to bury her alone, according to local media.

So 61-year-old Basco, married to Reckard for more than two decades and with no family of his own, asked the funeral home to post the memorial arrangements publicly.

An outpouring of some 10,000 messages and more than 900 floral arrangements, some from as far away as Asia, came flooding in, according to The New York Times.

And on Friday afternoon some 700 people - in a line that stretched down the street - waited in almost 100-degree Fahrenheit (38-degree Celsius) heat, according to US media, to pay their respects.

image: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/11817484/0x0/768/512/938f1ff85ed3cb9616cde6cf63c89d99/Ch/an-outpouring-of-some-10000-messages-and-more-than-900-floral-arrangements-came-flooding-in-1566027027970-5.jpg

An outpouring of some 10,000 messages and more than 900 floral arrangements came flooding in
An outpouring of some 10,000 messages and more than 900 floral arrangements came flooding in AFP/Sandy Huffaker
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The overwhelming response meant Reckard's service had to be relocated to a larger facility, La Paz Faith Memorial and Spiritual Center, Perches Funeral Homes said.

The standing-room-only service, which included a mariachi band and singing, was held in a hall overflowing with floral arrangements.

"This is incredible," said Basco, who wept as he greeted well-wishers, in video posted by local media.

image: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/11817480/0x0/768/512/f4d38401f8b02c590e693e8f423892f8/QR/antonio-basco-has-been-leaving-flowers-every-day-at-a-victims--memorial-outside-the-walmart-where-the-shooting-took-place-1566027027970-7.jpg

Antonio Basco has been leaving flowers every day at a victims' memorial outside the Walmart
Antonio Basco has been leaving flowers every day at a victims' memorial outside the Walmart where the shooting took place AFP/Sandy Huffaker
He has been leaving flowers every day at a victims' memorial outside the Walmart store where the shooting took place, media reported.

While some of the attendees had traveled from other towns or even states for the service, many were community members shaken by the act of mass violence that thrust their city into the national spotlight.

image: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/11817478/0x0/768/512/12f65bd90a72e63b9d2979ca0f7c083c/EU/many-of-those-who-attended-were-el-paso-community-members-shaken-by-the-act-of-mass-violence-1566027027970-8.jpg

Many of those who attended were El Paso community members shaken by the act of mass violence
Many of those who attended were El Paso community members shaken by the act of mass violence AFP/Sandy Huffaker
Although Basco and Reckard had no children, her offspring from a previous marriage had come to the ceremony, according to US media.

Reckard will be buried at 9am local time on Saturday at Restlawn Cemetery in El Paso.

Prior to the shooting, the 21-year-old gunman who carried out the attack posted a white supremacist manifesto online denouncing a "Hispanic invasion" of Texas.

El Paso lies on the Rio Grande River which marks the US border with Mexico. It has a population of 680,000, of which 83 percent are of Hispanic descent.

The shooting came hours before a gunman in Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people, reigniting calls for gun control in the US.

Firearms were linked to nearly 40,000 deaths in the United States in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: AFP/jt
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/hundreds-attend-el-paso-memorial-for-shooting-victim-with-few-family-11817486

nora555 Publish time 19-8-2019 04:49 PM

SEOUL (ANN): Actress Ku Hye-sun and actor Ahn Jae-hyun could become yet another high-profile Korean couple whose marriage ends in divorce.

On Sunday, the actress shared a post that hinted at the end of her marriage with Ahn. In the post that included a private message with Ahn, Ku wrote that she had lost faith in her husband.

HB Entertainment, which represents both Ku and Ahn, announced Sunday that the two have agreed to start divorce proceedings.

However, Ku has refuted the statement, saying she has not come to an agreement with Ahn yet.

Ku and Ahn met while starring on the vampire drama “Blood.” They began dating in 2015 and got married the following year. They took part in the reality show “Newlywed Diary, ” which featured their married life. - The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

seribulan Publish time 19-8-2019 07:25 PM

Cops looking into lawyer’s claim that Nora Anne’s family involved in her death
FMT Reporters - August 19, 2019 4:34 PM


Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin.

PETALING JAYA: The police are looking into claims by an Irish lawyer that the family of Nora Anne Quoirin was complicit in the teenager’s disappearance and death, FMT understands.

Authorities had attributed Nora Anne’s death to internal bleeding probably due to prolonged hunger and stress.

However, in a heated Facebook post this morning, lawyer Anne Brennan, who is also a child activist, accused the Quoirin family of doing “everything in their power to subvert the course of justice”.

Brennan said the family’s recent announcement that they were leaving Malaysia with the teenager’s body was highly suspicious.



She also alleged that Nora Anne’s parents, Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, had “high-tailed” it out of the country upon receiving a guarantee that they would not be investigated for any involvement in the teenager’s disappearance and death.

“(They) somehow convinced the Malaysian authorities to abandon their murder inquiry and release Nora’s body without producing the necessary forensic and toxicology reports that form part of every standard criminal death investigation,” she said.

Calling the entire matter a “cover-up”, Brennan said the Quoirins had given no account of their movements in the hours before they reported their daughter missing.

“All the simple routine things that happen in a missing child case and criminal investigation failed to happen in the case of Nora.”

Brennan also said the police had confirmed there was no evidence of a “third party” entering the family’s villa on the night Nora Anne was reported missing.

“There was no evidence of a struggle. No fingerprints, footprints, or screams. Nobody heard anything.

“Malaysian police said that Nora did not go alone. A third party was involved, and the third party was someone known to Nora.”

Nora Anne, who was reported missing on Aug 4, was found dead in a ravine about 2.5km from the resort where her family had been staying.

Police said small scratches were found on her feet but that the forensic pathologist who conducted the post-mortem had ruled that these would not have contributed to her death.

They also said there was no evidence of sexual assault or element of abduction or kidnapping.

On Aug 15, police arrested a 29-year-old man for alleging that Nora Anne was raped by an Orang Asli.

blurp Publish time 20-8-2019 07:27 AM

Lelaki pun kena ragut walau tengah bawa motor!

Abdul Rahim Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Ogos — Jenayah ragut tidak kenal mangsa baik keturunan mahupun jantina. Kejadian seumpama itu boleh berlaku pada bila-bila masa, di mana jua kita berada.
Berdasarkan rakaman yang dimuat naik Badan Pemantau Jenayah (My Watch) semalam, beg pinggang seorang lelaki diragut ketika beliau sedang menunggang di sebuah lebuh raya.

Paparan 16 saat menunjukkan seorang penjenayah bermotosikal muncul dari belakang mangsa sebelum merentap beg tersebut dan melarikan diri.
“Jangan ingat perempuan saja yang kena ragut,” tulis My Watch di Twitter tanpa menyebut perincian kejadian tetapi ada warga maya menyebut video itu rakaman lama.
Namun, kebanyakan warga maya menyumpah seranah pelakuan penjenayah berkenaan manakala sebahagian mereka berkongsi pengalaman diragut.
Azlan Azrul: Nak doa yang baik-baik ke macam mana ni. Aku dah geram je nak carut sekarang ni. Haaa
Mohamad Shazlan: Aku pun pernah kena ragut atas motor macam ni dalam tahun 2009 macam tu. Yang kurang ajarnya, peragut naik motor Yamaha 125z. Aku pulak naik Honda Wave 110c je. 'Confirm' (sah) la aku tak dapat kejar. Aku cuba kejar juga sampai enjin aku tak ada bunyi.
Anissshhhh: Macam ni la kena dulu
Faiqshry: Kesian member terpinga-pinga tak tau nak kejar cemana (macamana) pakai skuter je.
My Treat3: Apa driver (pemandu) kereta yang ada dash cam (kamera dash) tu tak kejar. Tak ada effort (usaha) langsung. Tak prihatin. Sayang kereta agaknya

blurp Publish time 20-8-2019 07:29 AM

‘Cinta tak kenal warna kulit’, Raja Zarith bangga berdarah Cina

Ben Tan

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Ogos — Permaisuri Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah berkongsi rasa bangga mewarisi darah berketurunan Cina Peranakan daripada neneknya.
Menulis tribut bertajuk “Cinta tak kenal warna kulit” buat neneknya, baginda mahu zuriatnya mempelajari dan menerima asal usul mereka.

Baginda yang memaparkan imej wajah nenek berketurunan Cina di Facebook The Royal Johor hari ini, berkata wanita itu warga Malaysia sebagaimana dirinya.
“Saya tahu anak-anak saya — sekalipun darah warisan mereka bercampur — juga warga Malaysia seperti saya juga,” kata baginda, kini berusia 60 tahun.
Raja Zarith Sofiahberkata anak-anak tidak kesah dengan perbezaan kaum tetapi ada ibu bapa, secara sedar atau tidak, mendorong mereka ke arah demikian.
“Sebagai ibu bapa, saya memastikan anak saya sendiri supaya mengetahui dan menerima hakikat nenek mereka berketurunan Cina, begitu juga mereka mengetahui nenek sebelah bapa adalah orang Inggeris.
“Saya harap mereka boleh belajar berbangga dengan darah yang mengalir dalam tubuh badan mereka dan faham ia tidak mengurang sedikitpun rasa keMelayuan,” kata baginda.

seribulan Publish time 20-8-2019 11:07 AM

Biggest drug bust in Malaysian history: Almost 4 tonnes seized worth over half a billion ringgit

    Nation

    Monday, 19 Aug 2019
    9:13 PM MYT

    By AUSTIN CAMOENS and FARIK ZOLKEPLI

PETALING JAYA: More than a half a billion ringgit worth of ketamine and cocaine have been seized in a joint operation between Bukit Aman and the Customs Department at Pusat Perdagangan Alam Jaya, Puncak Alam.

Said to be the biggest drug bust to date, over three tonnes of cocaine and half a ton of ketamine were seized during the joint raid.

Facebook page Kuala Selangor Official uploaded a post at around 6pm on Monday (Aug 19), saying that authorities found 500kg of ketamine and over 3.23 tons of cocaine worth more than RM676mil.

It is learnt that a team of Customs Department enforcement division and Federal Narcotic Crime Investigation Department personnel arrested four local and nine foreign men after raiding a shoplot at Jalan PPAJ 1/1, Pusat Perdangan Alam Jaya, at around 4.30pm on Sunday (Aug 18).

The raiding party discovered 11 gunny sacks containing over 500kg of white powder, believed to be ketamine.

Several hours later, the team was then led by two of the suspects to another shoplot at Jalan Musytari U5/AN, Subang Pelangi, U5 Shah Alam, where they discovered over three tons of compressed bricks, believed to be cocaine.

It is also learnt that all the suspects and the seized items have been taken to the Bukit Aman NCID headquarters for further action.

The case is being investigated as drug trafficking under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

As of 2019, one kilogramme of ketamine has a street value of RM60,000, while a kilogramme of cocaine is worth at least RM200,000.

Customs director-general Datuk Seri Paddy Abd Halim confirmed the case, calling it the biggest drug bust in history.

"It is a collaboration between Customs and the police.

"Our target is to rid the country of the drug menace," he told The Star.

He saluted his personnel, as well as NCID personnel, in successfully carrying out this major operation.

"We expect to divulge further details during a press conference on Friday (Aug 23)," he said.

blurp Publish time 21-8-2019 06:56 AM

20 more Giant and Cold Storage stores to close?

Vasantha Ganesan

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Hong Kong-based retailer Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (DFI) has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of a list — of 22 Giant and Cold Storage stores identified to be shut nationwide — that went viral on social media.
DFI, which operates the stores via GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, instead said it plans to continue investing in Malaysia for the long-term.

A table — listing seven hypermarkets, five superstores, nine supermarkets under the Giant brand and two premium supermarkets under the Cold Storage brand — with the remarks “to be closed”, went viral over the weekend, spooking the market as to how grave things are looking for GCH’s Retail’s employees, as well as the outlook for the retail industry.
The list appeared convincing, as it even identified each of the stores by a “site identification” number.   
“As we have previously stated we are reshaping and reorganizing our business to better meet the needs of our customers in Malaysia and to remain competitive. The need to rebalance our offer to keep pace with customer preference, is in line with what other retail business are doing in the region and will help us create more value for our customers and strengthen our food proposition, going forward,” a GCH Retail spokesperson told theedgemarkets via an e-mail response, when contacted to confirm the authenticity of the list.
“We are continuing to open, develop and invest in our stores in Malaysia. In fact, we are refreshing stores on a weekly basis, and in recent months, we have launched 14 refreshed stores which have been well-received by our customers,” the spokesperson said.
“This long-term investment in our store base will lead to a stronger, more sustainable business going forward for the benefit of our customers and our team members. We remain firmly committed to Malaysia and investing and growing our business for the long term,” the spokesperson added.
A quick check with other retail players revealed that they had trusted and believed that list was real, as rumours of GCH Retail closing some 19 outlets this year had started to spread in April. To make matters worse, the recent spate of store closure by the operator, two of which appear on the list — Giant Section 18, Shah Alam and Cold Storage Wangsa Walk — has further convinced the market that it is legitimate. One retailer suggested that it was an old list that is currently circulating.      
A cross reference of the stores named on the list and the websites of Giant and Cold Storage, reveals that, but for the Giant Section 18 Shah Alam and Cold Storage Wangsa Walk stores, the other 20 stores are still operating.
Last month, The Edge Malaysia weekly identified six other stores that had closed, apart from the one in Shah Alam and Wangsa Walk. They include Giant Paramount, Cold Storage Subang Parade, Cold Storage Sunway Pyramid and Cold Storage Jaya One in Petaling Jaya, Selangor and Giant Sungai Petani in Kedah and Giant Bandar Puteri Puchong.
In 2014, GCH Retail had a total of 147 stores including two Mercato supermarkets and one Jason’s Food Hall. Today, the number of outlets is just below a 100 stores. Whether a store is termed hypermarket, superstore or supermarket, generally depends on the store size.
GCH has been suffering four consecutive years of net losses from the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14). A search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia website show GCH Retail posted a net loss of RM235.11 million on revenue of RM4.61 billion in FY17, and had total liabilities of RM1.71 billion and total assets of RM2.63 billion. As at end of FY17, its accumulated losses were RM243.48 million.
The retailer experienced lower sales and profit in the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (1QFY19).
GCH Retail is 30%-owned by Negeri Sembilan royal family-controlled Syarikat Pesaka Antah Sdn Bhd and 70% by DFI Mauritius Ltd

blurp Publish time 21-8-2019 07:00 AM

James Bond 25 Title and Release Date Finally Revealed

Scott Baumgartner‍: 4 hrs ago

Prepare to be shaken (and not stirred) in 2020!
On Tuesday, at long last, the title and release date for the upcoming new James Bond film has been released, slating a spring premiere for the illustrious British franchise. The new film is titled No Time to Die and will be arriving on April 8, 2020 in the U.S.
The news arrived by way of the official James Bond social media accounts, where a clip was posted. It begins with Bond (played by Daniel Craig), strolling forward, before turning to the camera, much like the gun-barrel intro that precedes every film. The camera pulls out and Bond dissolves as the new title takes shape.
The revelation comes after a number of clips and stills from the production were shared as it has weathered several issues including Craig sustaining an ankle injury and a man being arrested for allegedly putting cameras in the women's room at Pinewood Studios in the U.K.
As fans know, this will be Craig's last outing playing the charming, well-dressed super spy. ET spoke with him at Bond author Ian Fleming's Jamaican villa in April, where he discussed finally bidding farewell to the coveted role.
"This is going to be my last Bond I think," he told ET's Kevin Frazier. "I think I've done enough, people are going to get sick of the sight of me. Someone else should have a go."
At the time, rumors swirled that the next Bond could be a woman or an African American actor, to which Craig responded that the next Bond should be "the right person for the job."
"I think that's what it should be," he says. "I think that everybody should be considered. For women and for African Americans, there should be great parts anyway, across the board. It shouldn't have to be Bond that takes ... it doesn't need to be Bond. It just needs to be written -- some good parts."
As for the plot of the movie, it will follow 007 as he comes out of retirement to help a friend.
"Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica," reads a press release. "His peace is short-lived when his old friend, Felix Leiter, from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology."
The cast also includes Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter.

blurp Publish time 21-8-2019 07:17 AM

A young Indian couple married for love. Then the bride’s father hired assassins.

Joanna Slater

MIRYALAGUDA, India —They were young, glamorous and dreamily in love.
Pranay Perumalla strode into the wedding hall in a midnight blue suit, his face lit by a grin as he clasped the hand of his bride, Amrutha Varshini. The couple draped huge garlands of flowers around one another’s necks and relatives threw grains of yellow rice that caught in their dark hair.
But even as they celebrated, they were already in danger.
One bright afternoon less than a month later, the couple left a doctor’s appointment in the small southern Indian city where they grew up. A man came up behind them carrying a large butcher knife in his right hand. He hacked Pranay twice on the head and neck, killing him instantly.
Pranay, 23, was a Dalit, a term used to describe those formerly known as “untouchables.” Amrutha, 21, belongs to an upper caste. Her rich and powerful family viewed the couple’s union as an unacceptable humiliation. Her father, T. Maruthi Rao, was so enraged that he hired killers to murder his son-in-law, court documents say.
While Indian society is changing, it is not shifting rapidly enough for couples like Amrutha and Pranay, whose marriage defied an age-old system of discrimination and hierarchy. Even as India has lifted millions out of poverty, increased education rates and built one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the influence of caste — a social order rooted in Hindu scriptures and based on an identity determined at birth — remains pervasive.
That system is at its most resilient in marriage. A 2017 study found that just 5.8 percent of Indian marriages are between people of different castes, a rate that has changed little in four decades. The results surprised the researchers, who had expected to see “more intermingling of the different castes,” said Tridip Ray, a statistician and the lead author. “Unfortunately, that’s not happening.”
In India, transgressing such boundaries sometimes provokes violence. Since late June, killings of men and women who married outside their caste have been reported in the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The daughter of a politician from India’s ruling party recently posted a video on social media seeking protection from her father after she married a Dalit man against her family’s wishes.
Such violent reprisals are “passed off in the name of tradition and honor,” said Uma Chakravarti, a renowned historian and expert on caste and gender. But the motives go far deeper, she said. If a woman can choose whom she wants to marry — including a Dalit man — it “destabilizes the entire system” that perpetuates inequality.
A forbidden love
On a recent morning, Amrutha — a slim young woman with a heart-shaped face — sat in the living room of the house she shares with Pranay’s parents. Next to her was a screen showing images from closed-circuit cameras: the front door, the street, the corner where a large mango tree towers over the home. Her son, a plump 6-month-old with his father’s smile, sat on her lap.
The house sits near the edge of a Dalit neighborhood and represents the middle-class stability won by Pranay’s father, Balaswamy, who has worked as a clerk at the Life Insurance Corporation of India for the past three decades. Amrutha grew up a five-minute drive away in a large building owned by her father, a wealthy real estate developer in this city of 100,000 surrounded by rice mills in the state of Telangana.
Dalits, who make up almost 17 percent of India’s population of more than 1.3 billion, are at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy. After centuries of subjugation, they have made inroads into politics, higher education and business, partly through affirmative action.
But as Pranay and Amrutha’s story shows, a modicum of upward mobility does not mean they can marry whom they want or live where they want. They continue to do India’s most stigmatized and dangerous work. They face discrimination in the job market and huge hurdles in owning land. India has “given one person one vote,” said Paul Divakar, general secretary of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. But it has not “given each human being the same value.”
When Amrutha started high school, her parents told her not to make friends with girls from lower castes, particularly Dalits, who are officially referred to as Scheduled Castes. Amrutha’s family are Arya Vysya, a group that is part of the Komati caste, traditionally a trading community.
The complexities of the Indian caste system were far from Amrutha’s mind when she went to a movie in the ninth grade with a group of friends. She recognized Pranay from school, where he was a year ahead of her, jovial and athletic. Afterward they started texting and talking over the phone.
Their growing friendship had immediate consequences. When Amrutha’s father found out, she said, he beat her for the first — but not the last — time. He took away her mobile phone and laptop and moved her to a different school. Over the next six years, Amrutha and Pranay would see each other only briefly on a handful of occasions.
For Amrutha’s father, the marriage of his only daughter was an obsession. “I can even marry you to a beggar who belongs to an upper caste,” Amrutha remembers him telling her. “But I don’t want you to marry from a lower caste, whoever it is.”
When the two were in college — Pranay pursuing an engineering degree and Amrutha studying fashion — she became frightened that her parents were maneuvering to marry her to someone else. She got word to Pranay that she wanted to elope.
On Jan. 30, 2018, when her mother went for a midday rest, Amrutha picked up a backpack she had prepared. It contained a cream-colored dress she had received for her birthday, her school certificates and her identity card. She went down the stairs to the street, where Pranay was waiting, just as he had promised.
Amrutha and Pranay were afraid, but they had a plan. They submitted their applications for passports and studied for an English proficiency test. They hoped to go to Australia and perhaps realize Pranay’s dream of starting a business — a fashion studio or even a dairy farm.
The couple had married in the presence of only a few friends at a temple in Hyderabad run by the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reformist group known for its openness to inter-caste unions. About five months later, Amrutha discovered she was pregnant, so they postponed the idea of leaving home. They also decided to organize a reception to celebrate their marriage.
Hundreds of people attended the festivities on Aug. 17, 2018, but Amrutha’s parents were notably absent. Rao, her father, had already begun to plot Pranay’s murder, court documents say. The month before, he agreed to pay $150,000 to have his son-in-law killed, using a local political leader as an intermediary. Rao, 57, passed along a photo of the pair from their reception invitation to make it easier for the killers to identify Pranay, the documents allege.
On Sept. 14, Amrutha, Pranay and his mother Premalatha were leaving Jyothi Hospital after an appointment with Amrutha’s obstetrician. In video captured by a closed-circuit camera, the couple looked relaxed as they chatted and strolled toward the street. The killer walked up behind them and struck two blows. The video shows Amrutha raising her hands to her head in shock and confusion, then running, crying, back to the hospital for help.
Before she fainted, she called her father. “Somebody attacked Pranay,” she said. “What did you do?”
A supportive community
The murder divided Miryalaguda. Hundreds of people, mostly Dalits, came to the home of Pranay’s family after his death to extend their support. They discussed installing a small statue of the young man to memorialize him.
But others rallied to the cause of Amrutha’s father. “The murder happened because their love started when they were in ninth , and he was killed because their love was not endorsed,” said Bhupathi Raju, honorary president of the Arya Vysya Association in the nearby city of Nalgonda. He formed a “Parents Protection Association” and gathered hundreds of people to visit Rao while he was in jail.
A lawyer in Miryalaguda, Shyam Sunder Chilukuri, formed his own similar group. “This is an incident where a guy intimidated her and married her,” he said. “There is a chance that other daughters of well-off people would be trapped in the name of love” by what he called “miscreants.”
Chilukuri said his group was not formed to support Amrutha’s father. He paused for a moment. “Do you want to meet him?” He picked up his phone and called Rao, who is out on bail pending the start of his trial, which is expected to begin by September.
Amrutha’s father was around the corner at a small cafe. A short, paunchy man with a mustache and gold-rimmed glasses, Rao sat down briefly with a reporter at a small plastic table but declined to speak on the record, citing legal advice. His lawyer, Ravinder Reddy, declined to comment. In the 56-page main charging document, police cite overwhelming evidence linking Rao to the murder and say he confessed to the crime on Sept. 30.
A.V. Ranganath, the superintendent of police for Nalgonda district, said the politician who acted as a middleman between Rao and the killers had inadvertently activated the automatic call-recording feature on his Android phone. Such recordings will be “quite helpful” in court, Ranganath said.
Pranay’s father Balaswamy, 53, said the family wants to see Rao punished to deter future such killings. As he spoke, he cradled his grandson Nihan in the crook of his arm, holding the baby’s chin with one hand to better plant an affectionate kiss on his cheek. Balaswamy can be seen using the exact same gesture for Pranay in a video taken during his son’s wedding reception a year ago.
When it came time to deliver the couple’s baby, the family decided that for safety reasons it was better to go to a hospital in Hyderabad, a major city three hours away. But when the family sought a temporary apartment there, Balaswamy said, several landlords declined to rent to them after learning they were Dalits. Caste discrimination is something “we are facing regularly,” he said.
Amrutha says Pranay’s parents are now like her own. “My father was the reason for his death,” she said. But Pranay’s parents “know how we loved each other.”
joanna.slater@washpost.com

kokonut Publish time 21-8-2019 04:41 PM

Get your McDonald's nasi lemak from 'Mekdi' this Merdeka month




https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2019/08/21/225321.jpg


PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has embraced its local nickname,"Mekdi", in conjunction with the Merdeka month.
The signage for Mekdi – which is the localised nickname for 'McD', short for McDonald's – is now displayed at McDonald's Bukit Bintang restaurant, the very first outlet to open its doors in Malaysia back in 1982.

McDonald's Malaysia vice president and chief marketing officer Melati Abdul Hai said the move is to celebrate its 37 years of operations in Malaysia.
"As a gesture of appreciation for their continuous support, we decided to embrace the Mekdi name Malaysians have affectionately given us, which is now synonymous with our brand," she said.
https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2019/08/21/225320.jpg
In celebration of National Day, Mekdi is also introducing Nasi Lemak McD.
The meal comes complete with fragrant coconut rice, crispy anchovies, fresh cucumber, and fried egg, topped with spicy sambal.
Mekdi has also initiated a nationwide petition on Change.org to rally for Nasi Lemak to be officially recognised as the national dish of Malaysia, with a target of gathering one million signatures by Malaysia Day (Sept 16).

mnh_2004_mnh Publish time 22-8-2019 11:17 AM

Edited by mnh_2004_mnh at 22-8-2019 11:20 AM


Semakin hampir menjadi kenyataan desas desus rombakan kabinet dalam masa terdekat ni.Semoga apa jua keputusan akan membuatkan rakyat lebih senang dan mudah mencari rezeki.....

Rombakan Kabinet: Tok Pa dilantik jadi menteri?
Astro Awani |Diterbitkan pada Ogos 22, 2019 09:05 MYT


Menurut sumber, beberapa pertemuan dibuat Tok Pa dengan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dipercayai untuk membincangkan isu berkenaan. - Gambar BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed dikatakan akan dilantik mengganggotai Kabinet dalam masa terdekat.

Menurut sumber, Ahli Parlimen Jeli itu akan menjawat jawatan menteri penuh di kementerian yang masih tidak dapat dipastikan.

"Beberapa pertemuan dibuat Tok Pa dengan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dipercayai untuk membincangkan isu berkenaan.

"Keputusan kementerian mana sudah dibuat, namun kata akhir tentu di tangan Dr Mahathir sendiri sama ada lantikan itu akan diumum dalam masa terdekat atau sebaliknya.
"Difahamkan Tok Pa akan diletakkan sama ada di Kementerian Kewangan atau MITI (Kementerian Perdagangan Antarabangsa & Industri). Semuanya disusun oleh Tun (Dr Mahathir)," kata sumber berkenaan.

Mustapa Mohamed menyertai Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) pada 27 Oktober lalu selepas keluar UMNO pada 18 September tahun lepas.

Sebuah portal sebelum ini melaporkan dua akhbar berbahasa Cina -- Oriental Daily dan Sinchew Daily -- mendakwa dalam rombakan itu, Mustapa Mohamed hampir pasti menyertai Kabinet.

Oriental Daily mendakwa tindakan itu akan diambil memandangkan Kabinet memerlukan anggota berpengalaman.

Pada Julai lepas, Dr Mahathir menafikan rombakan Kabinet akan diadakan.

Sebelum ini, Penganalisis Politik Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Prof Madya Dr Muhammad Fuad Othman menjelaskan rombakan Kabinet perlu dibuat untuk memperkukuhkan lagi jentera kerajaan selain meletakkan kepentingan rakyat di tempat teratas.

Jelasnya, ia memastikan penyampaian sistem kerajaan berjalan baik walaupun pada masa landskap politik negara mungkin tidak berada pada tahap terbaik.

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