MALAYSIA EPF, KWAP LOST RM75 MIL ON FELDA GLOBAL SHARES?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - PKR's trade and investment bureau chairperson Wong Chen( right photo
) claim two pension funds, the Employee's Provident Fund (EPF)
and Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP), have collectively suffered an
estimated paper loss of RM75 million as a result of buying Felda Global
Ventures Holdings (FGV) shares.
Wong said this is because the pension funds had bought the shares despite
market analysts generally recommending against the stock since Aug 9
last year.
- Despite that, Wong said the EPF had since bought 46 million shares while KWAP bought 10 million, bringing the total shares to 275 million and 253 million respectively.
- "The buying behaviour of EPF and KWAP are extremely contrarian. This seems unbecoming of a pension fund," he told a press conference today.
- If the analysts' predictions are correct, Wong warned that EPF's losses could worsen from RM40 million to RM146 million in 12 months, while KWAP's would worsen from RM35 million to RM129 million over the same period.
- This is based on data compiled by finance data provider, Bloomberg, he said, which found that 21 analysts believe that on average, FGV stock prices would drop from RM4.60 to RM4.19 over the next 12 months.
- He also singled out one analyst, Alliance Research Sdn Bhd for having one of the worst 12-month target price at RM3.53 per share. This would mean a paper loss of about RM327 million for EPF and RM295 for KWAP.
- In a screenshot from a Bloomberg terminal shown to the press, the 21 analysts appeared to be split between whether to sell the stock or hold it. Only two recommended that it should be purchased.
- "So who are these fund managers that EPF and KWAP listening to? If they are listening to market analysts who are trained to do this kind of research, surely they won't buy, but they have bought instead! Why?
- "It does not make economic sense. Long-term strategy, if you asked me, I would wait until the price falls to RM4, then I'd buy. You don't buy as it is going down," said Wong.
He demanded EPF and KWAP to answer whether it had received any instruction from politicians to prop up FGV share prices.During its IPO in June last year, EPF was allotted 185 million FGV shares while KWAP was allotted 194 million.
EPF has since bought another 90 million shares in total for RM455 million, while KWAP bought 59 million shares for RM305 million, according to Wong.
MALAYSIA AIR ASIA OFFERING FREE AIR TICKETS
LAST
Saturday, Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the
implementation of the 1Malaysia Integration Programme in association
with Air Asia.
The program offers 10,000 free return tickets to Sabah
and Sarawak that will be open for booking on Wednesday. The tickets cover travel period from 14 January to 4 February.
Datuk Masidi Manjun,
Sabah State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment praised Air Asia for the
Malaysia Integration Programme, saying that it would give opportunity
for Sabahans to travel by air.
“This
provides the opportunity for Sabahans to travel to other states in
Malaysia without being burdened by high traveling costs,” Masidi said
when asked by reporters at Ming Garden yesterday.
“I
know that the cost to operate a flight is high but I feel it is a good
investment in corporate social responsibility that has a good aim, which
is integration," he said.
“I thank Air-Asia and hope that this offer will be continued in the future and that other airlines would do likewise,” he said.
However,
Masidi sees that the objective of the program will only be realized if
the seats were made available to those who have never traveled by air
before.
“My
personal opinion is that we should give two groups the priority to
participate in this scheme, those who have never traveled in an airplane
before, especially those in the rural areas and young students,” he
said.
The
free seats are available for booking at www.airasia.com to all
Malaysians who have a valid Malaysian Identification Card, on Wednesday,
9 January 2013, beginning at 12.01 am.
However,
airport taxes will be applicable, even though fares and fuel surcharge
are waived. Baggage allocation, in-flight meals, seat selection and
other value-added services are also not included along with the free
seats.
The
free seats are only valid for flights departing from Kota Kinabalu,
Kuching, Labuan, Sandakan, Miri, Tawau Sibu, Bintulu, Kuala Lumpur,
Penang, Johor Bahru. Domestic flights within the Peninsular or within
East Malaysia are not applicable.
Source: Insight Sabah
US CONTRACTOR PAYS UP MILLIONS OVER ABU GHRAIB ABUSE
WASHINGTON: A US defence contractor accused of helping torture
prisoners at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison has paid former detainees
more than $5 million to settle a lawsuit, according to regulatory
filings obtained by AFP on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs, 72 former detainees, alleged that L-3 Services Inc.
(now called Engility Holdings) and others, “either participated in,
approved of, or condoned the mistreatment of prisoners by United States
military officials,” according to the document.
“On October 5, 2012, we and the plaintiffs agreed to resolve and
dismiss the action in return for a payment of $5.28 million,” the
company wrote in its third quarter report to the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Abu Ghraib prison became infamous after the publication in 2004 of photographs showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion.
Abu Ghraib prison became infamous after the publication in 2004 of photographs showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion.
The scandal led to the sentencing of 11 soldiers to up to 10 years in prison.
- The majority of the abuse took place at the end of 2003, when CACI and L-3 employees were working in the prison, US military courts have said.The initial complaint was originally filed on May 5, 2008, the company stated, adding that multiple cases were consolidated into a single lawsuit to be heard in federal court in Maryland.
- It said it agreed to settle after first losing a motion to dismiss the complaint in 2010, and an appeal of that decision in 2012.
Source: Agency
MALAYSIAN PM IS HEALTHY?
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has quashed speculation over his health, saying he did not suffer a stroke.
"Bursa Malaysia is healthy, the (stock) market is healthy, the Sukuk market is healthy and I am also healthy.
"So don't listen to the blogs," the Prime Minister said when launching the Exchange Traded Bonds and Sukuk (ETBS) here Tuesday.
Speculation over Najib's health was rife following a recent report by an online portal that alleged he had suffered a stroke.
The prime minister's press secretary, Datuk Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad, reportedly said yesterday that Najib was fine.
Najib attended the monthly assembly of the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya yesterday morning.
The prime minister's press secretary, Datuk Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad, reportedly said yesterday that Najib was fine.
Najib attended the monthly assembly of the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya yesterday morning.
sources: The Star
A MAN SET WIFE ON FIRE FOR LACK OF SALT IN COOKED MEAT
PATNA, India - A man in Bihar set his young wife on fire merely because she forgot to add salt to a mutton dish she had cooked at home.
The victim with severe burn injuries has been admitted to a local
hospital for treatment even as police are conducting raids to arrest her
absconding husband.
The heart-rending incident occurred at Alam Tota locality under
Forbesganj police station in eastern Bihar’s Araria district on Thursday
night but was reported in the local media only on Saturday.
Police said Nazarana Khatoon, 25, served the cooked mutton to her
husband Mohammad Guddu Khan when he returned home after a day’s work on
Thursday night but when he ate, he found the dish tasteless as it had no
salt, leaving him extremely infuriated.
In a fit of anger, the man grabbed the kerosene lamp kept at home,
poured the entire inflammable on his wife and then lit the match stick
before locking her in one of the rooms as she screamed for help.
Hearing her scream, someone in the locality informed the local police
who reached the spot after about three hours due to incomplete address
details and finally rescued the victim who was battling for life in her
solitary confinement. Immediately, she was moved to a local hospital for
treatment. Doctors say the victim has suffered more than 40 per cent
burn injuries and her condition is still critical.
Source: Agency
EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE COULD ALTER FILIPINOS EATING HABIT?
MANILA, Philippine - Changes in global temperature could alter the eating habits of
Filipinos, particularly their fondness for eating rice, a lawmaker
warned citing findings of international experts.
According to Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on
Climate Change, Filipinos’ love affair with the staple cereal could end
eventually if they do not take necessary steps.
- “Filipinos are rice-loving citizens because that’s our staple food and we find it harder to resist eating rice than any other kind of food.
- Fast food chains and restaurants even offer unlimited rice to their customers, while some of our citizens can live with almost any dish as long as they pair it with rice,” she said.
- Just as in most other Asian countries, rice is a standard fixture on every Filipino’s dining table, but Legarda warned they might find themselves with no other option but to turn to other staple foods as staple if authorities fail to address global warming concerns.
- “The sad fact, however, is that our rice production is greatly affected by the warming climate. If we want to continue enjoying eating rice with our dishes, we have to do something to address the risks brought by climate change and the threat of further rise in global temperature,” she said.
Source: Gulf News
FAST-TRACK COURT LAUNCHED IN INDIA GANG-RAPE TRAIL
NEW DELHI, India - Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir, inaugurated Delhi’s
first fast-track court to hear the December 16 gang-rape case of the
23-year-old victim who died in a Singapore hospital last week.
The fast-track court is located in South Delhi’s Saket court complex.
Three other fast-track courts have also been set up at Dwarka, Rohini
and Tis Hazari court complexes.
All four courts will take up cases of
violence against women and become functional from tomorrow.
All four courts will take up cases of
violence against women and become functional from tomorrow.
Delhi police have finalised a 1,000-page charge sheet against the six
accused, including a juvenile. Report on his bone tests undertaken to
determine his exact age is expected Thursday.
The juvenile was two months short of turning adult when he along with five others attacked the physiotherapy student on a moving bus.
Delhi Police had earlier invoked murder charges against the six men
allegedly involved in the gang rape of the 23-year-old girl in a moving
bus after she died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.
Source: Agency
KIM CALLS FOR EASING OF TENSIONS WITH S.KOREA
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Un called Tuesday for an easing of tensions with the South and flagged a
“radical turnabout” in the national economy in a rare voiced message broadcast
on state television.
“An important issue in putting an
end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification is to
remove confrontation between the North and the South,” Kim said in a New
Year’s message.
“The past records of inter-Korean
relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to
nothing but war,” he said.
- The message came just weeks after the election of the conservative Park Geun-Hye as South Korea’s new president and coincided with UN Security Council discussions on how to punish North Korea for its recent long-range rocket launch.
- The voiced message was the first of its kind since Kim’s grandfather and North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung delivered one in 1994, the year of his death.
- Kim Jong-Un, who took power after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il on December 17, 2011, also said 2013 would be a year of “great creations and changes in which a radical turnabout will be effected.”
- “’Let us bring about a radical turn in the building of an economic giant with the same spirit and mettle as were displayed in conquering space!’ — this is the fighting slogan our Party and people should uphold this year,” he said.
HONG KONG PROTESTERS URGE LEADER TO RESIGN
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched on Hong Kong streets,
demanding greater democracy and the resignation of the city's embattled
leader.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from Hong Kong, said Leung
Chun-ying had been embroiled in scandal ever since he became chief
executive six months ago.
- Our correspondent said some of the problems "stemmed from changes to his luxury home which were techinically against the law".
- Leung has acknowledged and apologised for the structures, which were built without planning permission and include a wooden trellis and a glass enclosure.
- But our correspondent said many have not been convinced by his explanations and apology.
- "He subsequently explained those things to legislators here and also to the public. Many people believe he has been economical with the truth. Some people - legislators - have accused him of downright lying. He has a credibility problem. Thousands of people here just don't believe him," said our correspondent.
- Organisers have said they expected 50,000 people to join the New Year's Day march against Leung, while pro-government groups staged separate and smaller rallies in support of the Beijing-backed chief executive.
Source: Al Jazeera...More...
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