Welcome to our “News In Brief” column in which we digest all the news for you and write them in no more than five paragraphs.
Report: Landcare volunteers receive mental boast
Sydney: Landcare volunteers have benefited from a significant increase in mental and physical wellbeing – and a significant decrease to their healthcare costs, a new report said.
Unveiled by Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley at a launch event in Albury NSW last week, the newly published findings by KPMG Australia in partnership with Landcare Australia, suggested volunteers involved in Landcare enjoy substantial improvements to their mental and physical wellbeing.
“As one of the oldest conservation and sustainable agriculture movements in the country, our people in Landcare breathe extra life into our communities and local environment. Now we can see there is a quantifiable return to their physical and mental wellbeing as well, and that’s got to be a win-win for our country.”
These improvements lead to an approximate saving from avoided healthcare costs of $403 per individual per year, and for the Landcare movement which exceeds 140,000 individuals, that number equates to $57million nationally.
Championed by the late Bob Hawke in 1989, the Landcare movement has surged across the country over the last 30 years to become one of the largest volunteer movements in Australia, with local groups focused on conservation and improved management of agricultural landscapes.
Monash Uni Backs New Migrant Exhibition
Melbourne: The Perfect Migrant exhibition organised by the University of Monash in Melbourne will kickstart on June 24 with artwork and stories featured from refugees, including internees who immigrated to Australia during World War II.
Nearly 3000 ‘enemy aliens’ came to Australia on the Dunera and Queen Mary, many of whom were Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria.
Their contributions to Australian society and culture have led them to be held up as examples of ‘perfect’ migrants, despite their diversity in origin.
The Perfect Migrant explores the pain and isolation of detainment, loss of homelands and family. It also reminds us of the adaptive capacity of people to rebuild their lives and start new journeys when given a chance.”
The exhibition is free and ends on October 18.
dōTERRA Malaysia launches new food product
Kuala Lumpur: dōTERRA Malaysia has launched its first food product – TerraMix FB to the market.
The product is a naturally flavoured lemon-apple botanical beverage that provides a good source of soluble and insoluble fibres through a mix of natural apple fibre, tapioca fibre and ground flaxseeds.
“The Malaysian Dietary Guidelines recommends the intake of 25 g to 30 g of dietary fibre per day, which is equivalent to consuming a lot of vegetables, fruits and several bowls of oatmeal together,” dōTERRA Malaysia general manager Ethan Wang said in a statement.
“TerraMix FB will make it easier for Malaysians to obtain the recommended amount of dietary fibre daily, with each serving of the flavourful botanical drink providing up to five grams of dietary fibre.”
The product was launched in conjunction with the company’s fourth anniversary in Malaysia.
AIS and AOC partnership supporting athlete mental health
Sydney: The Australian Institute of Sport is encouraging athletes and their support networks to continue reaching out for help as the AIS meets unprecedented demand for its mental health support services.
In a positive step to support even more Olympic athletes, past and present, the AIS and Australian Olympic Committee have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will increase accessibility to the AIS Mental Health Referral Network.
AIS Director of People Development and Wellbeing Matti Clements said the AIS had never had a greater focus on supporting athlete mental health and wellbeing.
“Understandably, nerves and anxiety will grow in the build-up to events like the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, especially given these Games will be like no other,” Clements said.
A Significant grab bag of stimulus in NSW budget
Sydney: The New South Wales (NSW) Government has delivered an expansionary budget which increases the fiscal deficit for the coming financial year, according to Australia’s leading professional accounting body, CPA Australia.
General Manager External Affairs Dr Jane Rennie in a statement said: “The budget includes a significant “grab bag” of stimulatory measures which will touch all corners of the state’s economy.
“The NSW economy is doing better than expected but the government’s not looking to recoup its pandemic spend just yet. There are no new taxes or revenue raising measures for businesses or individuals in this budget.”
The budget forecasts net debt of $63.3 billion for 2021-22, which is $12.1 billion lower than expected. This is the result of a healthier than expected economy which has led to higher tax collections and the success of public health measures at preventing a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak, she said.
Micron vaccinates 2,200 of its staff, contractors
Penang: Micron Technology has successfully administered 2,200 COVID-19 vaccinations to its team members and contractors who play a pivotal role in the industry’s ecosystem, as part of its participation in the nation’s Public-Private Industry COVID-19 Partnership Immunisation Program (PIKAS).
This effort, begun on June 16 and completed in only five days, resulted in efficient patient registration and safe administration of the vaccines.
In collaboration with the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort Vaccination Centre, Micron appointed medical service provider, Qualitas to supervise and coordinate the safe handling, preparation and administration of the vaccines.
“We believe PIKAS is a pragmatic approach to curb the outbreak and will hugely contribute to
the success of balancing the protection of lives and livelihoods,” Micron vice president and country manager Amarjit Singh Sandhu said.
“We laud the Ministry of International Trade & Industry’s responsive actions, as extensions of the movement control would be damaging to businesses in Malaysia.”
Central Global Seeks Strategic Partnerships For Construction Projects
Kuala Lumpur: Central Global shareholders have passed all the resolutions at the Group’s AGM held virtually for the financial year ending December 31.
Central Global shareholders passed resolutions to re-elect its executive chairman Datuk Faisal Zelman, executive director Tobby Tan and independent director Lee King Loon to the board of directors.
All three were appointed to the board on Feb 26.
Shareholders also passed the resolution to appoint Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng PLT as the Group’s auditors in place of the retiring auditors, KPMG PLT.
“We shared at the AGM that the board is seeking opportunities for the construction arm through strategic partnerships as we believe that the landscape for the construction business is changing and that such partnerships are the way forward for us and we also spoke to shareholders about our plans to upgrade the machinery of the manufacturing arm in order to make the processes more productive and cost-efficient,” Zelman said.
iQiyi Partners with CITF for Bersama Rakyat Malaysia campaign
Kuala Lumpur: iQiyi has joined forces with the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to strengthen immunisation efforts in support of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK)’s agenda of reaching herd immunity by end-2021.
Through the “iQiyi Bersama Rakyat Malaysia (iQiyi with Malaysians)” programme, iQiyi will work closely with CITF to disburse RM1.5 million worth of iQiyi VIP subscriptions to Malaysians nationwide who have been vaccinated.
“Public-private partnerships send strong, clear messages that everyone plays a part in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and promoting vaccine awareness. I am looking forward to iQiyi and CITF working together to encourage more people to be vaccinated, while advocating the importance of staying home, ”National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said of the partnership.
By making the 3,000+ titles of beloved Asian content on the iQiyi International platform free to vaccinated Malaysians, the Asian entertainment streaming leader is doing its part in supporting the country’s CITF to drive both the registration and average attendance rate, through advocacy and reward-based initiatives across the nation.
For details and information on offers and how to redeem vouchers, log on to: https://iqiyibersamarakyat.com/
Bigin adds 7,500 plus customers within a year
Kuala Lumpur: Bigin, Zoho’s CRM for small businesses has surpassed 7500 customers in under a year while releasing new features including an industry-first mobile pipeline view.
Bigin’s new version also includes enhanced capabilities to help small businesses foster their customer relationships while recovering from the effects of COVID-19.
“Small and micro businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and we are pleased to have helped over 5000 of them grow their business during these tough times, ” Zoho chief operations officer Mani Vembu said in a statement.
“With the most affordable pricing in the industry, a promised setup time under 30 minutes, and an extremely low learning curve, our aim was to make it as easy as possible for companies to get started with a CRM.”
With the release of new customisation features, public APIs, new integrations, and enhanced capabilities on mobile devices, Bigin makes the CRM experience easier for its small business customers, he added.
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