:: 1 Ogos: Gara2 naiknya harga minyak ?

SEORANG rakyat Thailand
sedang mengisi minyak Petrol RON97
di sebuah stesen minyak di pekan Rantau Panjang Kelantan.
Mulai hari ini stesen minyak tersebut mengunci pam
RON95 selepas larangan pembelian terhadap kenderaan asing.

1 Ogos - Utusan/Hafiz Johari


...........................................................................................................

Rakyat Malaysia miliki kereta asing tunjuk Mykad beli RON95

01/08/2010 4:13pm

KOTA KINABALU 1 Ogos – Warganegara Malaysia yang mempunyai kereta bernombor pendaftaran negara asing perlu menunjukkan kad pengenalan untuk membeli petrol RON95 di stesen minyak.

Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob berkata, kelonggaran ini dibuat kerana terdapat ramai rakyat Malaysia terutama di Johor yang bekerja di Singapura memiliki kereta bernombor pendaftaran republik itu.

"Kita tahu ada yang ramai (rakyat) mendaftar kereta mereka di Singapura, dan berulang-alik di antara Johor Bahru dan Singapura.

“Jadi mereka hanya perlu tunjukkan kad pengenalan di stesen minyak, kerana tujuannya adalah untuk menjual minyak RON95 hanya kepada rakyat Malaysia,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Coop Fest Zon Sabah 2010 di sini, hari ini.

Bermula hari ini, penjualan minyak petrol RON95 di semua stesen minyak di seluruh negara hanya dibenarkan dijual kepada rakyat tempatan bagi memastikan subsidi minyak hanya untuk rakyat Malaysia sahaja, sementara bagi kenderaan asing, mereka hanya dibenarkan membeli minyak petrol RON97.

Ismail berkata, beliau akan menempatkan pegawai penguat kuasa di beberapa stesen minyak di kawasan sempadan untuk memastikan pematuhan larangan ini dikuatkuasakan mulai hari ini.

– Bernama

:: Skuter bertanduk di Kalimantan

[ Minggu, 01 Agustus 2010 ]

Parade Scooter Borneo di Taman Kota Sampit Kalteng

SEDIKITNYA 700 skuter mania dari berbagai kota di Indonesia kemarin (31/7) dan hari ini (1/8) berkumpul di Taman Kota Sampit, Kalimantan Tengah. Mereka mengikuti Parade Scooter Borneo (PSB), even tahunan bagi penggemar kendaraan jenis skuter itu. Banyak peserta dari luar Kalteng. Di antaranya, dari Kaltim, Kalbar, Bali, Makassar, Sumatera Selatan, dan Jakarta. Berbagai model modifikasi skuter dipamerkan dalam ajang ini. Bahkan, banyak yang bentuknya sudah tidak menyerupai skuter. (*)

:: Petanda PRU13 semakin hampir ?

PRU 13 semakin hampir?

29 July 2010

Oleh Amin Iskandar

Bekas menteri pengangkutan dan presiden MCA, Tun Ling Liong Sik hari ini didakwa berkenaan dengan skandal projek PKFZ.

“Ling didakwa menipu kerajaan dengan memperdayakan jemaah menteri untuk memberikan persetujuan pembelian tanah di Pulau Indah untuk projek Mega Distribution Hub di Pelabuhan Kelang.
Dia juga didakwa dengan curang menyembunyikan fakta bahawa penilaian Jabatan Penilaian dan Perkhidmatan Harta, Kementerian Kewangan ke atas tanah seluas 43,538,200 kaki persegi yang dicadangkannya.”

Sehubungan itu, beliau dituduh mengikut Seksyen 418 Kanun Keseksaan yang membawa hukuman penjara sehingga tujuh tahun dengan denda atau kedua-duanya sekali jika sabit kesalahan.

Bekas menteri pengangkutan itu juga berikan pertuduhan alternatif mengikut Seksyen 417, Kanun Keseksaan.

Beliau bagaimanapun mengaku tidak bersalah dan ikat jamin ditetapkan pada RM1 juta”. Petikan laporan Malaysiakini.

Dahulu bekas Menteri Tanah, Kasitah Gaddam dan Eric Chia pernah didakwa diatas pertuduhan rasuah. Selepas pendakwaan itu, pilihanraya umum 2004 berlangsung.

Parti pemerintah menang besar pada ketika itu kerana imej bersih Abdullah Badawi dan kerajaan beliau dlihat memerangi rasuah tanpa mengira siapa pelakunya.

Lama kelamaan, kedua-dua Kasitah Gaddam dan Eric Chia dibebaskan kerana dikatakan tidak ada bukti yang kukuh.

Apakah hari ini skrip lama dimainkan semula? Ling Liong Sik didakwa diatas skandal rasuah dan penyelewengan besar PKFZ.

Tidak lama sebelum ini, Ong Tee Keat, bekas menteri pengangkutan yang memulakan pembongkaran skandal PKFZ dijatuhkan dari MCA di atas sokongan pimpinan tertinggi negara.

Percayakah kita Ling Liong Sik akan benar-benar dijatuhkan hukuman? Tunggu dan lihat. Yang paling nyata adalah PRU 13 akan datang tidak lama lagi.

Kepada yang ingin bertanding, bersiap-siaplah. Kepada yang seronok jadi ahli parlimen, Adun atau memegang jawatan tertinggi dalam negeri, berjaga-jagalah.

Keseronokkan itu tidak akan terlalu lama kerana tidak lama lagi harus bertanding semula.

:: Malaysia: Imam Muda

News Asia-Pacific Malaysia hit show picks 'Imam Muda' Muhammad Asyraf, left, beat nine other contestants to become the show's first 'Young Imam' [Reuters] A hit Malaysian television show which has gained international attention has announced a winner in its talent search for an imam, or Muslim religious leader. Muhammad Asyraf Mohamad Ridzuan, 26, a religious scholar, was named the winner of the Imam Muda (Young Imam) programme on Friday, after he beat Hizbur Rahman Omar Zuhdi, a 27-year-old religious teacher, in the finale. He won funding for a trip to Mecca to perform the hajj pilgrimage, a scholarship to al-Madinah University in Saudi Arabia, and a job at a Malaysian mosque. Eight other contestants were eliminated during the 10-week series which began in May and grew hugely popular in the predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian country. The show – the first of its kind - follows the reality-TV formula similar to "American Idol" in the US and "The X Factor" in Britain, and has apparently ignited new enthusiasm for Islam among Malaysia's Muslim youth. "I feel good. Thanks to my parents, my wife and my fellow villagers who have been supporting me," Asyraf told studio audience at the end of the show aired live over Islamic lifestyle channel Astro Oasis. Religious youth Speaking to reporters later Asyraf said: "Our target is not just personal victory but the victory of a society and the victory of Islam itself. It has brought the youth closer to religion," he said, adding that his immediate plan was to set up a "Young Imam club". Stephanie Scawen reports on the show that has won international attention The 10 finalists, all men chosen from 1,000 contestants, were given a variety of challenges including preparing an HIV-positive corpse for burial and counselling marriage partners. They faced written and practical tests on religion each week, and were isolated in a mosque dormitory - banned from using phones, the internet and television. In the finale, the two finalists were tested on reciting the Quran, presenting a sermon, singing religious hymns and answering questions from the programme's sole judge, a former grand imam of Malaysia's national mosque. The show became a major hit, attracting worldwide interest, while the creators of the programme were thrilled by its success in achieving their goal of making Islam more appealing to young people. "When we talk about imams, the first impression is always someone who is old-fashioned or just does his work in the mosque," Adam Riyadz, a 21-year-old journalism student, told AFP on the sidelines of the show. "But with this show, it is easier for me to relate to what the young imams are trying to tell us," said Adam, who travelled for two hours from another state to watch the finale with five fellow students. Imams play a broad role in Malaysia – where some 60 per cent of the 28 million population are Muslim – including leading prayers at mosques and offering counselling. Source: Agencies

:: Pakistan: Banjir

News CENTRAL/S. ASIA Floods trap thousands in Pakistan Thousands have been forced to flee the floods in the northwest [Reuters] Eight hundred people are now known to have been killed in the worst floods in Pakistan's history as rescue workers attempted to reach thousands of people stranded by torrential monsoon rains. More than a million people had been affected by the floods on Saturday. Bloated rivers have washed away villages and triggered devastating landslides throughout the northwest of the country. Vast swathes of farmlands have been destroyed, and entire cities have been cut off after being lashed by the heaviest rains in living memory. Pakistani officials warned that more people could be affected as they expected river levels to continue to rise in coming days. The city of Peshawar has been entirely cut off from the rest of the country, and the Pakistani military has sent boats and helicopters to surrounding areas to rescue stranded villagers. Meanwhile, army engineers were working around the clock to divert floodwaters away from major roads so that rescue teams could reach stricken areas. Rising death toll Officials warn that the death toll is almost certain to rise, as many areas of the country are inaccessible. "We have not collected the complete figures from some districts and fear the number of casualties is much higher," Anwer Kazmi, a spokesman for the Pakistani charity the Edhi Foundation, said. Al Jazeera's Sohail Rahman, reporting from Pakistan's capital Islamabad, said that the government there was coordinating a response. "They have managed to deploy three battalions of the military, both by air, on the water and by foot," he said. "We estimate there are 2400 personnel working to help the survivors of the flooding." A UN situation report into the crisis said that many parts of the affected area have still not been reached. "Search and rescue as well as assessments operations are still patchy and do not cover the whole of the affected area," it said. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa's information minister said that a lack of suitable equipment was hampering rescue efforts. "A rescue operation using helicopters cannot be conducted due to the bad weather, while there are only 48 rescue boats available for rescue," he said. The floods came after what meteorologists described as an "unprecedented" 12 inches of rain fell in just 36 hours. Experts believe the worst of the rainfall is now over, but the extent of the damage is still being assessed. Poor weather this week also may have been a factor in Wednesday's Airblue plane crash that killed 152 people near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Source: Al Jazeera and Agencies

:: Pakistan: Paling teruk dalam tempoh 100 tahun

Home » Blogs » Asia

The worst monsoon rains in 100 years

By Kamal Hyder in

Asia

on July 31st, 2010

.

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Photo by Kamal Hyder

It's being described as the worst flooding in living memory, but the monsoon season is just beginning.

It's being described as the worst monsoon in living memory, and for good reason. I myself was ready to evacuate my family, even though we live in the relative safety of the capital.

Some of our neighbours saw dry river beds come to life and flow like major rivers right next door. I saw cars and belongings being washed away.

Not far away, rescue workers frantically tried to crawl through the thick Acacia trees to reach a steep slope where a passenger airliner had slammed right into a mountainside as it tried to circle before landing at Islamabad International Airport. Even though the tragedy was still fresh and the smoke still billowing out from the wreckage, another calamity was about to strike as the rain let loose a trail of destruction.

I remember sending an urgent message to the news desk that the rain was wreaking havoc, as small streams became raging rivers.

Northwest inundation

If the situation in Islamabad looked grim, all hell was breaking loose in the North West Frontier province. Frantic telephone calls were tantamount to mayday signals, an SOS of "save our souls".

Hundreds of people were running for high ground as the ferocious and swollen river was about to send a massive wall of water washing away large trucks and buses like matchbox toys. And as that wall of water passed through narrow gorges - areas known for their riverside hotels and markets - the flooding levels rose, leaving behind nothing but the twisted remains of steel and concrete.

The Pakistan Met office said that a 100-year-old record was broken as some parts of the frontier received over 300mm of rain. The trail of destruction, spread over a large area, has destroyed vital bridges, turning some mountain havens into virtual islands.

Because of massive deforestation by the timber mafias, the situation has become an ecological disaster. It is difficult to calculate what the real cost of all this will be, but at the moment, dead bodies are still stuck to trees while others have been swept away.

Billions in damage

Besides the human cost, the infrastructural damage is expected to be in the billions. The main road link on both the Grand Trunk road (that famous road that once ran from Kabul to Calcutta) and the motorway is cutoff as vital bridges have been swept away. Segments of the roads are now inundated with water. The scale of damage is going to be a real source of worry for a new civilian government already hard-pressed by growing unpopularity and riddled with scandals.

Unfortunately the worst may not yet be over as the Met office expects more monsoon rains, which will further complicate the rescue and recovery process, and may even threaten large scale destruction across the country.

Already swollen rivers are carrying huge amounts of water south and they will put a severe strain on the barrages and canals of the fertile Punjab province, as well as further down in Sindh. With Baluchistan and the NWFP already catastrophe stricken, it would mean that the whole of Pakistan would have to be ready for a National Emergency.

What people need now is to organise and see what they can do on their own, in case help does not arrive on time. What we are seeing is just the beginning of the monsoon season, and no one knows what the new clouds from the South West Monsoon will bring with them.

:: Jantung tiruan di Malaysia

IJN perkenal jantung tiruan mesra pengguna
Oleh Hafizah Iszahanid
hafiza@bharian.com.my
2010/07/31

ZAMRI bersama pasukan perubatan Institut Jantung Negara
menunjukkan alat pengawal jantung mekanikal
HeartMate II pada sidang media di Kuala Lumpur.

Heart Mate II berupaya mengepam darah 10 liter seminit

KUALA LUMPUR: Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) mencatat sejarah dalam dunia perubatan Malaysia melalui pengenalan jantung tiruan tanpa nadi dikenali sebagai Heart Mate II, berpotensi digunakan pesakit jantung kronik yang memerlukan sokongan jangka panjang.

Pengarah Urusan IJN, Tan Sri Dr Robaayah Zambahari, berkata IJN sudah melakukan pembedahan menanam Heart Mate II kepada seorang pesakit ‘dilated cardiomyopathy’ (jantung lemah, membengkak dan tidak boleh mengepam darah) berusia 39 tahun tiga minggu lalu.

“Berbanding jantung mekanikal yang digunakan sebelum ini, Heart Mate II lebih mesra pengguna kerana pamnya yang kecil membolehkan ia ditanam ke dalam tubuh pesakit tanpa mengira saiz ruang dada pesakit. Ia juga boleh digunakan pesakit yang memiliki tubuh bersaiz kecil seperti kebanyakan pesakit warga Asia juga pesakit wanita,” katanya.

Heart Mate II adalah sistem bantuan ventrikular kiri yang membantu jantung mengepam darah ke seluruh badan. Ia direka untuk bertahan lebih lama, melebihi lima tahun, justeru, memberi harapan kepada pesakit untuk tidak menjalani pembedahan pemindahan jantung. Digerakkan oleh bateri, Heart Mate II lebih senyap dan menyebabkan ia dikenali sebagai jantung tiruan tanpa nadi.

Sistem Heart Mate II merangkumi pam yang ditanam di dalam dada pesakit dan satu komponen terdiri daripada pam kawalan dan bateri berada di luar tubuh pesakit. Ia juga dihasilkan pengecas bateri dan monitor.

Heart Mate II direka dengan berat kurang satu kilogram dan berkeupayaan untuk mengepam darah sehingga 10 liter seminit. Ini membolehkan pesakit melakukan aktiviti harian dan tidak perlu berada di hospital.

Sebelum ini, jantung mekanikal yang digunakan oleh pesakit jantung kronik adalah seberat sembilan kilogram dan bertahan sekitar dua tahun. Pesakit yang menggunakannya juga tidak boleh mandi dan tidak boleh terdedah kepada hujan.

Pengarah Klinikal Pemindahan Jantung dan Paru-Paru IJN, Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, berkata sistem Heart Mate II tidak menggantikan fungsi asal jantung tetapi bekerjasama dengan jantung asal untuk mengepam darah. Umumnya pada jantung yang sihat, ventrikal kiri mengepam darah ke seluruh tubuh. Namun pada jantung yang sakit, ventrikal kiri tidak kuat untuk mengepam darah secukupnya. Justeru, Heart Mate II ditanam di sebelah jantung asal pesakit bagi membantu menyokong ventrikal kiri dengan menambah kadar aliran darah.

Jelas Dr Ezani, kos keseluruhan untuk prosedur membabitkan Heart Mate II ketika ini masih mahal iaitu sekitar RM500,000 dan pesakit pertama yang menggunakan Heart Mate ditanggung sepenuhnya Kerajaan Malaysia di bawah geran Program Jantung Mekanikal yang dilancarkan pada 2005.

Sementara itu, Mohd Zamri Din, pesakit pertama yang menerima Heart Mate II berkata, dia didiagnosa dengan ‘dilated cardiomyopathy’ pada 2008 dan mendapatkan rawatan di Hospital Pulau Pinang. Bagaimanapun, bekas pekerja hotel di Langkawi ini kemudiannya dirujuk ke IJN bagi mendapatkan rawatan selanjutnya apabila dia tidak menunjukkan tindak balas kepada rawatan yang diberikan.

Zamri yang ditemui berkata, dia sangat bersyukur dan berterima kasih kerana menjadi pesakit pertama yang menerima Heart Mate II di Malaysia.

Untuk rekod, kegagalan jantung adalah antara masalah jantung yang paling kerap menjadi punca pesakit dimasukkan ke hospital. IJN merekodkan 300 kemasukan disebabkan kegagalan jantung untuk tahun lalu saja. Pesakit yang mengalami kegagalan jantung tahap akhir biasanya disenaraikan dalam penerima organ baru kerana tidak lagi mempunyai harapan untuk sembuh dengan teknik perubatan sedia ada.

Sehingga kini, ada enam pesakit yang sedang menunggu jantung baru di IJN.