Highlights:
- Altantuya’s father makes police report for fresh murder probe
- May CPI rose 1.8 per cent to 121.11
- “Inflationary pressure to ease by year-end”
- Grab sees minimal effect from SST on pricing
- Experian named by Forbes as one of the most innovative companies in the world for fifth consecutive year
Altantuya’s father makes police report for fresh murder probe
Mongolian national Dr Shaariibuu Setev lodged a police report in Kuala Lumpur today seeking a fresh probe into the murder of his daughter Altantuya Shaariibuu who was killed in Malaysia 12 years ago. Family lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh said the report was made to request the police to reopen the case of the murder of Altantuya, a model. “It is an ordinary police report. If there are new leads in the case, the police will look at them in their investigation. If others are found to have been involved in the murder, they will also be prosecuted,” he said to reporters at the police headquarters. Altantuya is believed to have been killed and her body blown up with explosives at a secondary jungle in Klang in October 2006. In 2009, former police Special Action Unit members Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri were found guilty of Altantuya´s murder. The Court of Appeal overturned their sentences in 2013 but, upon the prosecution’s appeal, they were upheld by the Federal Court. However, Sirul fled to Australia where he was detained by the Australian Immigration in Sydney after Interpol issued a red notice on him.
May CPI rose 1.8 per cent to 121.11
Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures headline inflation, rose 1.8 per cent in May to 121.1 against 119.0 in the same month of last year. The Department of Statistics said among the major groups which recorded increases were indices for transport (+3.8 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.2 per cent), housing, electricity, gas & other fuels (+2.1 per cent), restaurants and hotels (+2.1 per cent), health (+1.9 per cent) and furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (+1.5 per cent). On a monthly basis, it said the CPI increased 0.2 per cent as compared with April 2018.
Commenting on the higher CPI, Sunway University Business School Economics Professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng said inflationary pressure is likely to trend downwards in the remaining months of 2018 mainly driven by the price of fuel which will no longer be floated on a weekly basis and pegged to the present price. He said the measure, which was introduced in May 2018 by the new government, would cushion any inflationary pressure. “It will provide a dampening effect on inflationary pressure until the government decides to change (the policy),” he told Bernama. Ealier this month, the Finance Ministry announced that the government had allocated RM3 billion to subsidise pump prices until the end of the year to fix RON95 fuel and diesel at RM2.20 and RM2.18 per litre, respectively.
Grab sees minimal effect from SST on pricing
Ride hailing services provider, Grab Malaysia, does not expect much impact on its pricing once the Sales and Services Tax (SST) comes into force on 1 September 2018. However, Country Head, Sean Goh said the company would continue to monitor the situation very closely and ultimately, balance the tax impact on both passengers and drivers. “Currently, we do not expect pricing to really change. What we are trying to do is try to displace as much of the cost in the system as possible,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Experian named by Forbes as one of the most innovative companies in the world for fifth consecutive year
Experian has been named among the top 100 most innovative companies in the world for the fifth year in a row by Forbes magazine. In the publication’s eighth annual list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” Experian climbed to 57 and was amongst the top 10 most innovative companies headquartered in Europe. Technology, innovation and new sources of data are fusing to create an unprecedented number of new ways to solve pressing business and consumer challenges. This accolade underscores Experian’s commitment to innovation, and using the power of data and technology to transform lives, businesses and economies for the better. Experian has jumped up 40 places in this year’s ranking, placing it alongside some of the world’s leading technology companies including Tesla, Netflix and Amazon. Forbes’ ranking identifies firms that investors believe to be innovative at present, and that will continue to achieve profitable new growth through innovation in the future.
