June, 2020

• 8 June

  Dubai electronically grants 600 plots to citizens

  

  Dubai / WAM Dubai Municipality announced that it has begun distributing 600 residential plots in the Nad Hessa area to eligible citizens using smart technologies as part of its remote work framework and procedures. In a statement, the municipality noted that the distribution of lands reflects the keenness of the UAE leadership to provide a decent life for citizens, and ...

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• 8 June

  Dubai Customs handles remote working efficiently

  

  Dubai / WAM The Customs Development Division of Dubai Customs, which is in charge of developing innovative systems and platforms, showed that 96 percent of customs transactions were approved and endorsed automatically thanks to smart workspace system which reduced clearance time to 4 minutes only. Employees have used TEAMS Microsoft 615,000 times, completed 3.1 minutes of calling, and sent 440,000 ...

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• 8 June

  Southern’s N-project ‘unlikely’ to meet deadlines

  

  Bloomberg Southern Co’s long troubled project to expand its Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia is “highly unlikely” to meet its state deadlines and is apt to face additional budget overruns, according to a local monitor. The company isn’t on pace to complete the two reactors by November 2021 and November 2022 deadlines approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission, Don ...

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• 8 June

  Indonesia cuts cost assumption for biodiesel production

  Bloomberg Indonesia, the world’s largest palm-oil producer, has cut the cost assumption of converting crude palm oil into biodiesel by 20% to $80 per metric ton, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The revision, effective this month, is needed to ensure the mandatory program to blend 30% of palm-biofuel with 70% gasoil, known as B30, continues even as ...

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• 8 June

  Record oil imports lead China energy recovery

  Bloomberg Crude oil led a recovery in China’s energy imports, rising to a record and feeding a rebound in industrial and consumer activity as restrictions to stop coronavirus infections ease. Imports rose to 47.97 million tons in May, or 11.3 million barrels a day, according to customs data. Ship-tracking data show tanker arrivals last month rose to pre-virus levels, as ...

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• 8 June

  An inglorious military moment like 1932!

  

  A small fraction of a large number can be a significant number. So, although the fact that there are a significant number of ninnies among the 329 million people in this country is embarrassing, it is not surprising. What is puzzling is that specimens such as Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen Mark A Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs ...

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• 8 June

  Vietnam breaks out of tourist trap

  

  Vietnam is pulling ahead in the race to reopen Southeast Asia to city-hoppers and sunseekers. International arrivals were down 98% in May from a year earlier, after a record 2019. Yet success in containing the coronavirus epidemic means domestic travel has already restarted. Thailand, by comparison, is still under a state of emergency, and other neighbours in the tourism-friendly region ...

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• 8 June

  Costco Corp should be Buffett’s next bulk deal

  Warren Buffett says “nothing can stop America.” To put his money where his mouth is and spend some of his $137 billion stash before this crisis is over, he wouldn’t have to look far. If there’s one company that warrants the dealmaker’s attention, it may be Costco Wholesale Corp, a retailer in which Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc already owns a ...

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• 8 June

  How to join protests without risking virus

  The many demonstrations on the streets of the US fill with both hope and dread. More Covid-19 cases would kill more people, and African-Americans die disproportionately from the disease. They also suffer a disproportionate financial burden from the economic slowdown caused by the virus. This pandemic really must be brought to an end sooner rather than later. So if you ...

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• 7 June

  Malaysia faces hit from palm oil staff shortage

  

  Bloomberg The coronavirus pandemic has left Malaysia’s palm oil industry without enough workers, a shortage that could cost farmers as much as 25% of their annual production — a loss worth about $2.8 billion. Malaysia’s economy relies on palm oil, its most important agricultural commodity, but palm oil needs migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and India to do jobs locals ...

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