Labour challenge

$30.30 million revenue for local enterprise

THE Rice Company of Fiji Ltd is forecasting lower sales volume in the backdrop of overall slowdown and increased competition on the rice production front. Company chairman Gary Callaghan however said they were constantly looking for opportunities to ride the growth cycle despite increased competition locally. The company released its 2019 annual report which showed...

Bank aims to make home loans accessible for clients

THE only local bank in the country has reduced its home loan rate from 7.5 per cent to 6.99 per cent. HFC Bank’s retail banking manager Tony Ram there has been a steady growth for the past few years. He said the fixed rate for 12 months was 4.5 per cent which was very competitive...

Fiji Airways- Finnair enter new codeshare partnership

FIJI Airways and Finland’s national airline Finnair have agreed on a new codeshare partnership. Finnair’s AY code will be added to Fiji Airways flights Nadi into to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo and Narita. Fiji Airways’ FJ code will be added to Finnair’s flights to Helsinki from Singapore. The new codeshare partnership between Nadi and...

Price reduction for LPG products effective from next week

THE price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products will drop from Tuesday next week, according to the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC). The commission stated that the following new LPG prices will come into effect from October 15. 4.5 kg cylinder from $13.46 to $11.84, a decrease of $1.62; 12 kg cylinder from $35.89...

Shandil: Don’t expect special favours from council

DONORS cannot expect special favours from the Consumer Council of Fiji when it comes to consumer rights issues, according to CEO Seema Shandil. Ms Shandil stated this during the council’s submission to the parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts on its 2016-2017 audit report in Suva today. “Right from the beginning, they (donors) are told...

Facebook’s Zuckerberg to testify before U.S. House panel on Oct 23

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Oct. 23 as the social media company faces growing scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over a planned cryptocurrency and other issues including advertising policies. Zuckerberg will testify at a hearing titled “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact...

American Airlines cancels 737 MAX flights until Jan. 16

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc on Wednesday extended cancellations of Boeing 737 MAX flights through Jan. 15, running contrary to the U.S. planemaker’s promises that the grounded jets would be flying again before the year-end. The largest U.S. airline, which had previously canceled about 140 flights a day through Dec. 3, upped its...

Shell urges collaboration with other industries to tackle emissions

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive took aim beyond the energy sector to call on leaders of other industries including aviation, shipping and steel to jointly draw up plans to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Ben van Beurden also warned on Wednesday that energy companies that do not collaborate in the fight against climate...

Fiji Sugar Corporation’s Lautoka Mill began the crushing season yesterday. Picture: REINAL CHAND

Fix mills first, says farmer

“WE can produce more than two million tonnes of sugar cane but all we ask is for the mills to be fixed first.” This was the plea of prominent sugarcane farmer Jain Kumar to Fiji Sugar Corporation executives in Lautoka this week. “If you are a truck driver and you have to wait for 24...

Council confident of final cane payment for 2018

THE Sugar Cane Growers Council says it is confident the final payment to make up the $85 per tonne guaranteed cane price for the 2018 season would be paid by the Fiji Sugar Corporation before the end of this month. Council CEO Sundresh Chetty has reassured farmers and stakeholders that despite negative comments about the...

Jury says J&J must pay $8 billion in case over male breast growth linked to Risperdal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> must pay $8 billion in punitive damages to a man who previously won $680,000 over his claims that it failed to warn that young men using its antipsychotic drug Risperdal could grow breasts, a Philadelphia jury said on Tuesday. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury’s verdict...

Vodafone to close more than 1,000 European stores

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Vodafone <VOD.L> will shut 15% of its 7,700 stores in Europe and upgrade some of the remaining outlets as customers buy more online and change their expectations of in-store shopping, chief executive Nick Read said on Tuesday. The group will overhaul its European store estate using data to give insight into...

800-plus EFL stay to receive bonus payout

AROUND 813 staff from Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) will receive a bonus payout this Friday and next Monday as the company records a performance payout of $1.9million. Attorney-General and the Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made this announcement today saying 70 per cent of this would go to the salary and wage earners, which was...

Four plead not guilty to defrauding FNPF

FOUR people who allegedly defrauded the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) of over $30,000 have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Former FNPF employee Jack Edward Hiramatsu, 32-year-old former TLTB employee Adi Mara Rufina Qaranivalu, Melisateki Wara and Seini Pece Tadulala appeared at the Suva Magistrates Court last week. Mr Hiramatsu is charged with five...

Turtle suspends flights pending investigations

TURTLE Airways has suspended all its flights pending the outcome of investigations into an incident where one of its floatplanes sank in Yasawa waters on Sunday. Chief engineer Ian Gill said that at 3.15pm on Sunday, October 6, one of its floatplanes had an incident shortly after landing in the southern Yasawa Group. “The pilot...

Lautoka school first to create own biogas

LAUTOKA’S Central College has become the first school in Fiji and the Pacific region to create its own HomeBiogas 2.0. School principal Amant Lal said the biogas would be used to fuel their home economics stove burners and waste would be utilised in agriculture classes. He said the project started when the Fiji Water Foundation...

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