Day: May 23, 2024

KUANTAN, The National Al-Quran Recitation and Memorisation Competition 2024, which will last for six days, commenced at the Darul Makmur Auditorium, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Broadcasting Complex here today.

The public can witness the competition, hosted by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and the Pahang state, at the auditorium from 9 am until 11 pm or watch it live on TV1, TV Al-Hijrah, and Jakim web TV from 9 am to 4.30 pm for memorisation (hafazan) and 9 pm for recitation (tilawah).

Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) also broadcast the event on their radio channels, allowing more people to follow the competition, including on Jakim’s official social media platforms.

Featuring 110 participants from across the country, 29 of them, comprising 14 qari (male reciters), 14 qariah (female reciters) and one qariah who is the awaiting champion competing for the recitation category and 81 participants in the memorisation category.

Deput
y Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof will officiate tonight’s opening ceremony.

First held in 1960, the 66th edition of the competition this year sees a new format in place, including requiring the recitation participants to recite the verses in two melodic styles consecutively and to complete it with at least four maqamat (melodic modes) within a 10-minute timeframe.

Meanwhile, the memorisation participants must complete at least 10 lines within two minutes.

To make it more challenging, judges will question those competing in the memorisation category without mentioning or specifying the verse number, the name of the surah (chapter), the juz (part), or the page number, which was practised in previous editions.

Winners of the recitation and memorisation categories will receive cash prizes, additional haj funds, trophies, souvenirs, and certificates. Additionally, each participant will receive RM1,000 as an appreciation from the Pahang state government.

Pahang hosted the national event in 2011 and 2
014.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Cambodia has requested Japan to speed up the feasibility study of upgrading of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) into a regional port and logistics centre by 2050 to boost Cambodia’s economic growth.

The request was made by H.E. SUN Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), accompanied by H.E. TUY Ry, Ambassador of Cambodia to Japan, while he was meeting with H.E. Saito Tetsuo, Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, in Tokyo, Japan, this morning.

The CDC vice president took the opportunity to thank Japan for her contribution and assistance to Cambodia’s socio-economic development and infrastructure construction so far, including the projects of National Road No. 5, Choeung Ek sewage treatment plant, and PAS improvement-phase 2.

On the same day, H.E. SUN Chanthol also held talks with Mr. Tsuyoshi Hasebe, President of Nikkei Inc., during which he encouraged more Japanese investment in the electronics, automobil
e and technology sectors to promote Cambodia’s transformation from labour-intensive to skill-based industries.

H.E. SUN Chanthol has been on a two-day mission in Japan from May 23 to 24 to participate in the Nikkei Forum 29th Future of Asia.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

KUALA LUMPUR, APRINOIA Therapeutics Inc (APRINOIA) announced the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) to APN-1607, a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer for imaging tau protein in patients with suspected progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

PSP is a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused primarily by the accumulation of a specific form of tau in subcortical brain regions, and there are no FDA-approved diagnostic markers for PSP or any other rare tau-related disorder such as frontotemporal dementia, and until now, diagnosis has primarily relied on clinical assessment.

According to APRINOIA in a statement, APN-1607 may enable more accurate diagnosis at earlier disease stages, potentially improving patient management and resulting in more efficient clinical trial designs for novel therapies.

APRINOIA Chief Medical Officer, Dr Brad Navia said FDA’s decision to grant APN-1607 FTD underscores the significant unmet medical need for a diagnostic
marker for the early diagnosis of PSP and potentially other tau-related disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease.

‘If approved, APN-1607 would provide physicians with an important diagnostic tool that will allow them to diagnose PSP with greater confidence and differentiate it from other disorders, thereby improving the management of these patients,’ he said.

FTD is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of product candidates that demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need, with the goal of advancing important new diagnostic and treatment options to patients more quickly than traditional regulatory routes.

Once a drug candidate receives FTD, early and frequent communication with the FDA, including discussions around the product candidate’s development plan and regulatory review process are ensured. If the relevant criteria are met, the product candidate may be eligible for Accelerated Approval and Priority Review by the FDA.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, APRINOIA is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing highly sensitive as well as selective diagnostic and therapeutic agents for a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

President of the Senate of Cambodia, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen this morning reaffirmed that Cambodia has maintained the same policy towards China and looked for deeper cooperation between the two nations’ legislative bodies.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen made the remarks while receiving a courtesy call from visiting Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Shohrat Zakir, at the Senate Palace in Phnom Penh.

In the meeting, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said the cooperation between Cambodia and China had provided many benefits for Cambodia.

Regarding the relationship between both nations, the senate president asked China to look at Cambodia as a trustworthy friend, and reiterated that the change in the Kingdom’s leadership does not change her stance in the relations with China.

The new Royal Government under the leadership of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet is trying to strengthen the existing relationship with new ideas
to make it stronger and deeper, he underlined.

For his part, H.E. Shohrat Zakir invited Samdech Techo Hun Sen to visit China at any convenient time in the future and hoped that the cooperation between Cambodia and China will be further strengthened and enhanced.

So far, he continued, China has considered Cambodia as a priority country and strongly supports the country in her development path in line with the actual situation. China is committed to cooperating with Cambodia in the diamond cooperation framework and promoting the development of Fish and Rice Corridor and Industrial and Technological Corridor for mutual benefit.

Both sides also agreed to tighten their cooperation in the areas of trade, Cambodian agricultural imports, road and railway modernisation, electricity, wastewater treatment, people-to-people exchange, tourism, fight against transnational crimes, online gambling, human trafficking, and dissemination of positive information.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse