News In Brief

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Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you in no more than five paragraphs. Below are snippets of all the media releases that we received from April 4 till the end of the week. Please check back throughout the week for more updates.

Making Forbes 30 Under 30 List

Indonesia, Apr 4:  An agricultural start-up initiated by three students from Malang’s Brawijaya University whose app, Chickin, has been downloaded by a thousand farmers across Indonesia, has made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
According to the founders, the application uses Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the productivity of farmers by up to 25 percent.
The app was developed by students Ashab Alkahfi, Tubagus Syailendra and Ahmad Syaifullah.
“Based on initial research, we developed the app in Klaten, Central Java,” Alkahfi said.
The application allows farmers to control the micro-climate inside chicken coops from a distance. Through the technology, farmers can input data, including daily, sales, and production data, to enhance performance and make it more measurable and at the same time, minimising risks through preventive measures.

Mimecast Opens Sales Office in Singapore

Kuala Lumpur, April 4: Email security and cyber resilience company Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ: MIME), will continue its expansion in APAC  by establishing an office in Singapore as a regional hub for focus on South-East Asia.
The company has appointed Stanley Hsu as its Regional Vice President, to help improve the cybersecurity posture of organisations and supply chains, in this expansion in the APAC region.
For Mimecast, South-East Asia is a focused strategic growth market.
Organisations in this region are experiencing rapid digital transformation, and as cybercrime becomes a growing concern for governments and businesses alike, cybersecurity needs to be a core component in their transformation journeys. 
In his new role, Hsu will report directly to Nick Lennon, Vice President APAC, Mimecast, and will be responsible for building teams to help drive product revenues, increase adoption of Mimecast’s cloud-based solutions, and enhance customer success. 

Aliza Knox Launches New Book

Sydney, April 5: The former Head of APAC for Twitter and Cloudflare Aliza Knox has launched her debut book, Don’t Quit Your Day Job, launched in bookstores Australia wide. 
Awarded 2020 APAC IT Woman of The Year, she was an integral part of establishing Google APAC, before becoming Head of APAC for Twitter and Cloudflare.
Prior to forging a career in tech, Aliza spent decades as a global finance and consulting executive and is now a Board Director as well as a Senior Advisor for Boston Consulting Group. She is a regular columnist for Forbes, where she shares her wisdom (and humour) to help professionals who dream of “doing it all.”
Published by Wiley, the book outlines the six essential ‘mindshifts’ you need to rise and thrive in your career whilst finding the right balance to also enjoy your life outside of work, a hot topic when many people are contemplating a job change right now.
To purchase a copy, go here.

Catch Industry Leaders At Limitless 2022

Kuala Lumpur, April 4:  Shipsy, a leading SaaS-based logistics management solution provider is going to host its first-ever mega virtual Logistics Tech Summit – LIMITLESS 2022 with the theme ‘Powering The Next Wave of Commerce’ on April 6, 2022. 
The exciting speaker lineup at LIMITLESS 2022 comprises industry stalwarts from marquee organisations like Steve Stanton, Chief Business Officer – Parcels & Express, Emirates Post; Apoorva Kumar, Senior Vice President – Logistics Services, Jumia Group; Sourabh Pandey, CXO – Fulfilment & Experience, Meesho; Bhavik Jhaveri, Senior Director & Head of SCM (Outbound) Products, Myntra; Abhishek Chakraborty, Executive Director, DTDC Express Limited; Vikas Sharma, Senior Vice President – Operations, Zepto; Iyad Kamal, Former Chief Operating Officer, Aramex and Advisor, Shipsy; Soham Chokshi, Co-founder and CEO, Shipsy; and Dhruv Agrawal, Co-founder and COO, Shipsy. 
LIMITLESS 2022 is an influential global gathering of leading global logistics, supply chain, retail, and trade industry professionals.
The summit delves deeper into the limitless opportunities within the logistics universe.
It is designed to build a community of industry leaders and experts to enable open sharing of knowledge, key trends, and best practices that drive better decision-making and accelerated business performance in a rapidly evolving logistics ecosystem. 

Legoland Malaysia Education Drive 

Johor Bahru, April 4: Building on Malaysia’s key educational tourism destinations, key Malaysian ministries have announced the strengthening of their partnership with Legoland Malaysia Resort. 
To celebrate this momentous occasion, LEGOLAND Malaysia has launched the Planet LEGOLAND Education Initiative which will drive a series of activities encouraging educational field trips and school tours to LEGOLAND Malaysia and Johor. 
“With the joint effort of the government and private institutions such as LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, we hope to reinvigorate tourism activities in Malaysia and subsequently contribute to a faster economic recovery. We have identified strategic locations throughout Malaysia to seek opportunities to help them drive visitations, benefitting the destination and the community around them such as LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort,” Datuk Seri Dr. Santhara J.P., Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia said.
The partnership will draw active involvement and support across federal and state government departments, including the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), Johor Tourism, Johor State Education Department and Iskandar Puteri.  

Minor Figures Becomes Certified 

Sydney, April 4: Australian oat milk brand Minor Figures, is now a B Corp Certified Company – an official recognition of the social and environmental ethos that has guided the company from the beginning.
Minor Figures is now one of just 4,856 B Corps globally and is proud to be among the ranks of companies setting the new standard for the way business should be done.
Awarded by the non-profit organisation, B Lab, the B Corp Certification is more than just a sustainability label.
It’s also a movement, with the collective goal of transforming the global economy to benefit people, communities, and the planet (the ‘triple bottom line’).
Minor Figures is now one of a select number of B Corp Certified, 100 per cent Carbon Neutral companies across the world.

Malaysian Company Awarded Contract

Petaling Jaya, April 4:  Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Berhad, a leading genomics and biopharmaceutical specialist, was recently awarded a COVID-19 surveillance contract by the Institute for Medical Research, the biomedical research arm of the Ministry of Health.
Malaysian Genomics is one of the private laboratories that IMR has engaged to outsource genome surveillance of SARS-CoV2.
“We are pleased to support IMR and MOH in this important effort to monitor the evolution of the COVID-19 virus, its variants and sub-variants,” Malaysian Genomics executive director Datuk Alvin Nesakumar said.
“With our expertise and knowledge in genomics and bioinformatics, we can help IMR track and trace the virus for any variants of concern that the Government needs to be informed of as well as prepare for.”
Malaysian Genomics, whose cell laboratory is the only privately-owned BioSafety Level 2 (“BSL-2”) facility in Malaysia with the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) certification, is moving towards becoming a premier healthcare provider through the production of CAR T-cells for cancer immunotherapy for solid cancers, as well as other cell engineering services. 

CNERGENZ Bhd Appoints UOB Kay Hian Securities

Kuala Lumpur, April 4: CNERGENZ Berhad, an electronics manufacturing solutions provider based in Penang, specialising in surface mount technology catering to the electronics and semiconductor industries (“E&S Industries”)  has entered into an underwriting agreement with UOB Kay Hian Securities (M) Sdn. Bhd. (“UOB Kay Hian”)  for its upcoming initial public offering  on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. 
The Company has obtained approval to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities and is targeting to launch its Prospectus in April 2022.
The IPO exercise involves the public issue of 100.0 million issue shares and an offer for sale of 50.0 million offer shares by way of private placement.
From the public issue, 25.0 million issue shares will be made available for application to the Malaysian public, 10.0 million shares will be allocated for application by eligible directors and employees as well as persons who have contributed to the success of CNERGENZ Group (“Group”) (“Eligible Persons”), 52.75 million shares will be reserved for private placement to identified investors and 12.25 million shares will be reserved for private placement to identified Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (“MITI”).
UOB Kay Hian will underwrite an aggregate of 35.0 million issue shares, comprising 25.0 million shares under the public issue and 10.0 million shares allocated to Eligible Persons as part of the underwriting agreement.

Scammers Targeting Victims Again

Sydney, April 5: Scamwatch is warning people to be aware of uninvited offers of help to recover money for an up-front payment, following a spike in reports of money recovery scams.
These scams target people who have already lost money to a previous scam by promising to help victims recover their losses after paying a fee in advance. Australians have lost over $270,000 to these scams so far this year, an increase of 301 per cent.
“Scammers will ask for money and personal information before offering to ‘help’ the victim and will then disappear and stop all contact,” (Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions (ACCC) Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
“Money recovery scams are particularly nasty as they target scam victims again. These scams can lead to significant psychological distress as many of the people have already lost money or identity information.”
This year Scamwatch has received 66 reports of money recovery scams, a 725 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2021.

Qualtrics Selected by Pos Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, April 5: Pos Malaysia Berhad has selected Qualtrics CustomerXM and Kantar to guide and accelerate its ongoing digital transformation aimed at improving the way customers connect with the company and enhancing operational efficiencies.
As organizations across Malaysia race to respond to evolving consumer needs in the country – driven by the pandemic, rise of the digital economy, and new payment technologies – the intelligent capabilities and customer insights enabled by Qualtrics will be essential to Pos Malaysia as it works to actively modernize and expand its retail services and offerings.
Using Qualtrics, the national postal service provider is standardising its customer experience platforms to create a single program helping it to listen, understand, and act on customer feedback captured across all touchpoints and channels.
This will allow Pos Malaysia to rapidly and meaningfully identify and respond to customer needs across the Group, which includes a network of 900 plus branches, 11 subsidiaries, and digital channels.
It is the first time Pos Malaysia will manage its entire customer experience program through a single system, which will provide the Group with continuous real-time visibility into current and emerging issues and opportunities to improve the experiences provided. 

 Kenanga’s Launches Bond Fund 

Kuala Lumpur, April 5: Kenanga Investors Berhad has announced the launch of the Kenanga Sustainability Series – High Yield Bond Fund.
The Fund seeks to provide income and capital growth by investing in the Global High Yield ESG Bond Index Fund managed by Northern Trust Asset Management.
The Target Fund tracks the risk and return characteristics of the ICE BofAML Global High Yield Index which is subject to certain environmental, social, and governance exclusions and ESG weightings.
“The Fund is the first Sustainable and Responsible Investment (“SRI”) qualified High Yield Bond fund in the local market,” Kenanga’s CEO Ismitiz Mattheew De Alwis said.
“It will offer investors a more robust portfolio stemming from ESG analytics which will consider factors such as carbon efficiency and quality of governance to mitigate risks or capture new opportunities aside from the standard quantitative and qualitative metrics during evaluation.”

Revealing Gen Z’s Priorities

Kuala Lumpur, April 5: TEAM LEWIS Foundation released a new global study which reveals that Gen Z prioritises gender equality alongside enterprise and environmental issues more than any other age group.
The study revealed that gender equality is seen as the 4th most pressing societal issue for Gen Z.
In comparison, the global average across all ages places it as the 7th most important issue when asked which issue is most important to people in their age group.
When surveyed, Gen Z ranked economic opportunity, LGBTQ+ issues, and climate change ahead of gender equality. 
To read the full report, go here.

Skyports’ New Partnership

Singapore, April 5: Leading Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer and drone operator Skyports has entered into two new commercial partnerships with Thome Group, a fully integrated ship management company, and Wilhelmsen Ships Agency, one of the worlds’ largest ships agents 
With strong backing and partnerships, Skyports is on the path to full-scale commercialisation of maritime shore-to-ship delivery services and the concurrent development of the necessary infrastructure to support these services for all industry players in Singapore and beyond.
“Skyports is proud to be working with some of the leaders in the shipping and maritime industry, and to have forward-looking partners like Wilhelmsen and Thome recognise the importance and relevance of using AAM in their operations. Looking ahead, we hope to continue developing the AAM industry in Singapore and the region to enhance processes in the maritime industry – by reducing delivery times and carbon emissions, providing a new transportation option that is both more efficient and more sustainable,” Skyports Head of APC Yun-Yuan Tay said. 
Separate trials will see Skyports in close collaboration with Wilhelmsen Ships Agency and Thome Group, as well as the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) in Singapore, and other government agencies. Skyports will lead the development and testing of the Concept of Operations (ConOps) for Proof of Concept (PoC) operations for shore-to-ship drone deliveries, leading into the operationalisation of drone delivery services in the maritime sector. 

Months To Go For Battery Standards

Sydney, April 6: The ACCC is urging businesses who supply button batteries, or products that are powered by them, to ensure they are complying with the new button battery safety standards ahead of the laws becoming mandatory on 22 June. The ACCC is also calling on consumers to check for unsafe button battery products in their homes.
Under the mandatory safety and information standards, products must have secure battery compartments to prevent children from gaining access to the batteries. Manufacturers must undertake compliance testing, supply batteries in child-resistant packaging, and place additional warnings and emergency advice on packaging and instructions.
Three children have died and 44 have been severely injured in Australia from incidents involving button batteries, and more than one child a month is seriously injured as a result of ingesting or inserting the batteries, which are contained in millions of consumer goods worldwide.
“These world-first mandatory standards for button batteries are an important step in helping to prevent injuries to children. ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
“Time is running out for manufacturers and suppliers to ensure their products are compliant.”

Mambu’s New Partnership With JurisTech 

Kuala Lumpur, April 6: Innovative Malaysian fintech JurisTech has entered into a partnership with Mambu, the market leading cloud-native core banking platform, with the partnership formed to propel the growth of the digital banking ecosystem in Malaysia.
This new collaboration will act as a catalyst for further expansion of the industry, with the result being greater support for both unbanked and underserved markets in Malaysia, and a boost to overall financial inclusion in the country. 
The partnership of the two software powerhouses will look to streamline exchanges to create a seamless customer and user journey in the credit and financing application lifecycle.
The connectivity between Mambu and JurisTech’s products allows JurisTech to offer a holistic credit management platform from digital onboarding, loan origination, debt collection, and artificial intelligence to the digital banking sector.
Founded during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis with revolutionary software to connect banks to legal firms for late-stage debt recovery, JurisTech has since continued to innovate to handle the end-to-end needs of digital banking from digital customer onboarding to orchestrating complete digital ecosystems.

Fuel Excise Cut Begins

Sydney, April 6: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACCC monitoring of petrol prices has found significant falls in retail prices in the major capital cities a week after the cut in fuel excise came into effect.
The fuel excise cut, announced in last week’s Federal Budget, is being passed on in full by wholesalers through reduced wholesale prices to retailers, ACCC analysis shows.
“Over the next weeks, as petrol stations use up their stocks of fuel on which the higher excise had already been paid, we expect the reduced wholesale price to be passed through at the bowser everywhere,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
Between March 29 and April 5, average daily regular unleaded petrol prices fell by between 25 cents per liter (cpl) and 27 cpl in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, by around 31 cpl in Adelaide, and by 35 cpl in Perth.
“Despite the various factors impacting the fuel price, our analysis indicates that clearly a major part of the reduction in excise has already been passed through in the major capital cities.”

Malaysia Moves Forward In ESG Practices 

Kuala Lumpur, April 6: Malaysian public-listed companies (PLCs) are faring well in environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors among their ASEAN peers based on leading ESG indicators.
This is according to Positioning Corporate Malaysia for a Sustainable Future, a research publication released by PwC Malaysia and Capital Markets Malaysia highlighting Corporate Malaysia’s progress in sustainability and overall transition trajectory, and the country’s efforts in promoting sustainable investing.
The publication provides an in-depth view of the regulations set and efforts made by the government and regulatory bodies in Malaysia in supporting climate-friendly and sustainable practices in the private sector and traction made by Malaysian corporates as a result.
Twenty-eight Malaysian companies are represented as constituents in the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) ESG Leaders Index.
The Index consists of large and mid-cap companies across developed and emerging markets countries. 

Akt.io First Of Its Kind App Launches 

Dublin, April 7: Automata announces the official launch of akt.io, the application that aims to revolutionise the way people manage their personal finances.
The application akt.io is now available on iOS and Android stores, providing a first-of-its-kind, easy-to-use multi-node exchange for 90 cryptocurrencies, a dedicated IBAN and free SEPA transfers to and from 36 countries throughout the EEA region.
As a “financial mobility” app, akt.io gives users a springboard to improve their financial status through new means of investment, including cryptocurrency, overcoming the barriers associated with investment banking.
Leveraging crypto-investment education as a means of increased financial autonomy, akt.io gives users the information and insight they need to make educated decisions on how to invest, democratising access, simplifying the process and providing advice and guidance on how to make the most of their money.
“With akt.io we want to open up investment to all, to give everybody the tools they need to make the most of their money,”  Automata  akt.io  CEO Gael Itier said.
“The traditional world of finance is often intimidating and many feel shut out, instead, as a result, money sits stagnant in a bank account with little or no returns while Akt.io empowers the user to gain from their money with an easy-to-use interface offering beginners video tutorials on how to get the best out of their money and increase their financial autonomy.”

 NKF launches New CKD Centre

Kuala Lumpur, April 7: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a growing public health concern in Malaysia. With the number of CKD patients expected to significantly rise in the future largely due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes, hypertension as well as the ageing population, the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF) has launched a CKD Education Centre at Pusat Dialisis NKF – Rotary Damansara, in Selayang.
Officially opened in December 2021, the CKD Education Centre aims to provide first-hand information and support regarding dietary and lifestyle changes; also assisting patients in choosing the right renal replacement therapy – be it kidney transplant, peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis, or palliative care.
Patients who would like to do home monitoring of sugar (glucose) levels and blood pressure can also borrow a glucometer and / or blood pressure set (sphygmomanometer) from NKF’s CKD Education Centre.
Patients diagnosed with CKD in both early and late stages are welcome to make an appointment with the centre’s CKD nurse and renal dietician.
For more information, email ckdclinic@nkf.org.my or call 03-6137 1884 (Sister Amy) to make an appointment – a referral letter from a doctor or general practitioner will be required.

An Open Discussion On Mental Health

Kuala Lumpur, April 7:  The Green Ribbon Group (GRG) held a roundtable with  students and staff of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) recently.
Moderated by Marsya Shamshul Bahari, Advocacy & Programmes Executive at GRG, the  roundtable gathered opinions and experiences on three topics such as COVID-19 pandemic and its  disruptions to daily life, mental health awareness and the experience of stigma amongst  university students, and peer support and the importance of having a strong support system. 
In her welcoming remarks, GRG Founder and President YAM Tengku Puteri Raja Tengku Puteri  Iman Afzan Al-Sultan Abdullah stated that open discussions on youth mental health is very much  needed, especially from the youth themselves, given the challenges of the pandemic and the  transition towards the endemic phase of COVID-19. 
“If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that we must learn to manage disruptions to our  everyday lives; mental health is the foundation that we must get right, and positive attitudes  towards mental health should be cultivated from young,” YAM Tengku Puteri said. 
For more information on the Green Ribbon Group, go here.

Talend Expands Google Cloud Partnership  

Singapore, April 7: Talend, a global leader in data integration and data governance has achieved the Google Cloud Ready – BigQuery Designation.
Talend is one of a select group of launch partners identified to participate in this new designation program.
By earning this designation, Talend has proven that its integration and governance solutions have met a core set of functional and interoperability requirements when integrating with BigQuery, the highly scalable multi-cloud data warehouse.
Through this advanced support, Google Cloud customers using BigQuery can rely on Talend to ensure everyone can access the data they need effortlessly, understand it, and use it with confidence — without exposing the business to risk.  

Enjoy Ramadan And Raya At IPC’s Jumpaverse

Kuala Lumpur, April 8: With the upcoming Raya celebration around the corner, IPC Shopping Centre (IPC) celebrates Ramadan and Hari Raya with their “Jumpaverse” campaign from now till May 15 where shoppers can enjoy special promotions and great rewards when they visit and shop at IPC Shopping Centre. 
The pandemic has led many to live their lives online, in the digital metaverse where they work, engage, and interact with friends and family.
This upcoming Raya celebrations, IPC wants to encourage people to step out from the metaverse into the real world through its “Jumpaverse” campaign for richer real-world interactions where they can meet up and mingle in their home away from home, at IPC Shopping Centre. 
In conjunction with the holy month of Ramadan, IPC has transformed their outdoor al-fresco area where Muslim diners can berbuka puasa with their friends and family while also enjoying 20 per cent off pick-up orders from Foodpanda, whereas Pandapro members enjoy an additional 5 per cent off.
Diners can also do their part for the environment by segregating their food waste and packaging into the allocated bins at the outdoor dining area which is open daily from 10am to 10pm. 

Reverse Take-Over of LTKM Berhad 

Klang, April 8: LTKM BERHAD, a leading chicken egg producer, has announced a composite proposal, chiefly to divest the Company’s existing business and venture into the business of providing of electronic manufacturing services while at the same time, rectify its non-compliance with the public spread requirement of its shares under the listing requirements of Bursa Securities Malaysia Berhad.
“At its core, the proposals seek to reward our shareholders from the proceeds of the disposal of the Company’s existing poultry business while at the same time, allow them to continue participating in the new EMS business following the proposals,” LTKM Executive Chairman Datuk Tan Kok said.
“The proposed disposal comes amid the challenging operating landscape for the poultry industry brought on by overcapacity, low average selling price of eggs, high raw material prices, difficulty in controlling disease outbreaks in the farms and acute labour shortage. In relation to these challenges, we have also incurred losses in the recent financial years ended 31 March 2020 to 2021 and for the nine-month period ended 31 December 2021. This has affected our ability to pay dividends too.”
“Concurrent with the proposed disposals, we believe the proposed acquisition of the EMS business is an opportunity to create value for our shareholders through a business that is viable and profitable.”

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