Over 8,500 have applied for Mitra’s undergrad tuition subsidy

PUTRAJAYA:A total of 8,583 applications have been made to the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit's (Mitra) tuition assistance subsidy programme for B40 Indian undergraduate students as of Aug 31. Mitra Special Vehicle Committee chairman Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan said the grant, involving RM20mil, has been distributed to 3,193 students attending public and private universities with subsidies worth...

‘Kembara Kenali Borneo’ tour realises King’s dream to be with people in Sabah and Sarawak

KUALA LUMPUR: The "Kembara Kenali Borneo” tour is a dream come true for Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah in getting to know Malaysians living in the interior areas of Sabah and Sarawak. The first-ever tour there by a head of state is a...

Klang River shedding murky past

KLANG: The once severely polluted 56km stretch of the Klang River has finally been given a chance to leave its murky past behind. The river is undergoing a massive improvement, with the main focus given to fishing out riverine garbage supervised by Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB), which is the Selangor state government’s master developer in...

Work on Penang’s Silicon Island to start on Sept 1, says CM

GEORGE TOWN: Early works on Penang's man-made island project – Silicon Island – will begin on Friday (Sept 1) after it secured approval from the relevant agencies, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow. He said project developer Silicon Island Development Sdn Bhd had obtained Environmental Management Plan approval from the state Environment Department on July 21. He...

Discovery of votive tablets proves existence of protohistoric settlement in Perlis

KANGAR: The votive tablets discovered in Gua Berhala and Gua Kurong Batang are the physical evidence of the existence of a settlement for protohistoric community in the state of Perlis in the ninth century. Kota Kayang Museum director Siti Munirah Kasim said the tablets were either circular or pear-shaped lumps of clay with Buddhist images and...

Ex-IGP Acryl Sani named PUNB chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) announced the appointment of former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani (pic) as its chairman with effect from Friday (Sept 1) to replace Datuk Ahmad Nazlan Idris, who resigned from the position on Dec 20 last year. PUNB chief executive officer Izwan Zainuddin said members of...

Amateur historians uncover WW2 plane wreckage to document nation’s wartime history

KUALA LUMPUR: "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We are going down.” This distress call was probably the last words uttered by the pilot of a Royal Air Force (RAF) B24 Liberator KL654 aircraft, carrying a crew of eight and war supplies, that had taken off from Cocos Island, Australia, before crashing in a remote forest in Negeri...

EPF seeking 100-year-old members

PETALING JAYA: Are there any 100-year-old contributors of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) out there? The answer is yes! The EPF recently posted a general notice including in The Star classified ads seeking to contact people who are 100 years old and above who have not claimed their EPF savings. The fund said members and their beneficiaries...

NIMP 2030 will help grow SMEs and improve livelihoods, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 will have specific plans to ensure growth in local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and improve the livelihood of Malaysians, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. According to Anwar, the government’s Madani Economy framework and NIMP 2030 were both aligned in their focus to improve lives...

Cops seek witness to help in gang rape probe

KUALA LUMPUR: Police are on the lookout for one witness in their investigations into an alleged gang rape here. Wangsa Maju OCPD Supt Ashari Abu Samah said that the victim, a local woman, had filed a report on Aug 30 stating that she had been raped by five men at a house in Wangsa Maju. "All suspects...