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 Oct 3 till the end of the week.

METAV.RS raises 3M€ in Seed Funding

Paris, Oct 4: METAV.RS, a start-up dedicated to helping brands get into the metaverse, has announced a €3M seed round to speed up platform development, boost recruitment, and expand globally.
The no-code platform provides brands and agencies with a series of integrated apps, which enable them to, among other things, manage their own virtual worlds, or ‘miniverses.’
The start-up, which has been self-financed until now, has onboarded several French and foreign investment funds, experienced entrepreneurs, and Web3 industry leaders.
This seed round was led by Jsquare, a specialised Web3 fund based in Singapore, which was joined by consulting firm, Sia Partners – via its investment arm, Studio – and 50 Partners, an investment fund co-founded by 50 successful entrepreneurs.

More Money For Pensioners 

Sydney, Oct 6: Australians on a pension will today be waking up to see a boost in their bank accounts, thanks to the largest pension indexation increase in more than 12 years and the largest increase to allowances in three decades.
Those receiving a pension will receive the full payment boost in the first normal pension pay cycle following the formal indexation to rates on September 20.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said this increase would help all Australians, including veterans.
The Service Pension, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment have risen by $38.90 a fortnight for singles and $58.80 a fortnight for couples in the latest indexation round.
The maximum rate of pension has increased to $1026.50 a fortnight for singles and $773.80 for each member of a pensioner couple or $1547.60 per couple (including Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement).

Tech Data Asia Pacific & Japan Strengthens Partnership 

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 6: Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX company, today announced its distribution partnership with MailGuard  – a world leader in email security. 
At launch, its Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) solution, MailGuard 365, will be available in 6 markets across the Asia Pacific & Japan region, namely Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
This distribution partnership allows Tech Data to add MailGuard 365 – a solution built in Azure by MailGuard in collaboration with the Microsoft team to protect the more than 345 million Microsoft 365 subscribers – to its cyber security go-to-market portfolio in APJ.
This partnership is part of Tech Data’s overall strategy of empowering ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) and partners, while further building on its cloud security solutions portfolio.

Free Haircuts For Selangor Students

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 6: For some Malaysians, even getting a haircut is a luxury these days. 
With prices rising and putting a strain on wallets, it is nice to get a freebie once in a while, just to lighten the load and give a lift to the spirits.
Recognising this, Malaysia’s favourite home improvement retailer MR D.I.Y. recently stepped up with an unusual offer for students in Selangor – a free haircut! 
Over 300 students enjoyed the treat under the retailer’s ‘Program Gunting Rambut’ initiative, part of its efforts to promote greater awareness of better personal hygiene. 
The programme was a joint initiative between the retailer, the Joint Management Body [JMB] Pangsapuri Sri Bakawali, Bukit Sentosa, Rawang, Pusat Tuisyen Sinaran Impian and Pertubuhan Penggerak Komuniti Impian in Seri Kembangan. 

More Support Offered In Preschools 

Sydney, Oct 7: Early childhood teachers (ECTs) in NSW working with children with disability or additional needs are encouraged to apply for up to $20,000 of financial support to enhance their skills before applications close next week.  
Applications for the Early Childhood Inclusive Education Scholarships program opened last month for the first time to help ECTs develop specialised skills and knowledge to support children with additional needs, thanks to the $281.6 million Workforce Package to attract and retain early childhood education and care staff over the next four years.
Successful scholars would receive a cash boost of up to $20,000 to begin or complete a Master of Special and Inclusive Education, specialising in Early Childhood. $10,000 is available for those commencing or finishing their Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Disability and Support. 
More than seven per cent of three– five-year-old children attending preschool in NSW are children with disabilities. 
Deputy Secretary of Education and Skills Reform, Gillian White said the NSW Government is committed to making sure every child can participate in early childhood education and care.  

New eCommerce Business Intelligence Launched

Sydney, Oct 7: A new competition monitoring service has been launched by DataFeedWatch by Cart, allowing online merchants to track the prices of all their competitors on Google Shopping.
Pricing starts from US$19.99 a month, making it the most accessible business intelligence tool on the market. 
“We expect that within a few weeks Price Watch may be used by thousands of merchants to adjust their price strategies against their competitors during this Q4 holiday season,” Rahul Bali, Commercial Manager at DataFeedWatch, responsible for the Price Watch project said.
“The information provided by our tool will significantly influence advertising and sales strategies in the coming weeks and months.”
Price Watch is a competition monitoring service that enables e-Commerce advertisers to keep track of competitors’ prices for the same products they sell.
The service is currently available for Google Shopping – the world’s leading eCommerce channel.

Fun-Filled Educational Activities at Aurelius Hospital Nilai 

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 7: Aurelius Healthcare officially launched Aurelius Hospital Nilai (AHN) on Sept 23 and was officiated by Deputy Health Minister 1, Datuk Dr  Noor Azmi  Ghazali. 
Along with this launch, Aurelius Healthcare Nilai organised a fun-filled event on Sept 24 and 25 at their hospital in Nilai.
There were multiple talks given by professionals ranging from talks on cancer to PCOS, a motivational talk session by an orthopaedic surgeon and Malaysia’s first astronaut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. His talk included some interesting topics such as his journey to the moon and how he did things in space such as eat, pray, and all other daily activities and he motivated the youth to follow their dreams and never to give up. 
Additionally, he also presented his book to the audience during the quiz sessions conducted.

Kuantan Super Major Bridge ‘Stitching’ Ceremony

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 7: China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd (CCC-ECRL), the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) contractor for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, is pleased to announce the successful ‘stitching’ of Sg Kuantan Super Major Bridge crossing at Jalan Kuantan-Sg Lembing C4 Highway, yesterday.
The 3.88 km Sg Kuantan Super Major Bridge crosses C4 Highway near Kampung Padang, Pahang.
The highway is one of the busiest in Kuantan with high traffic flow and flood prone. 
To avoid disruptions and ensure the safety of road users, the section was built using the Balance Cantilever Method, where a 48m continuous beam is constructed in 5 segments with a final closure segment completing the stretch.
Construction of the Sg Kuantan Super Major Bridge began in July 2020 and is expected to complete by August 2024. Today’s milestone is the first of its kind along the construction of the 665km ECRL alignment scheduled for completion in December 2026. 

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