Klang (Malaysia), Apr. 27 : Malay Indians are generally unaware of economic opportunities made available to them by the government, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister''s Department T. Murugiah has claimed.

He said many did not know they could take loans from the government to start their own businesses or get involved in the agriculture sector.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysia's Health Ministry placed its disease control division on alert to detect any signs of possible cases of the deadly swine flu virus in the country, news reports said Monday.

Hospitals and medical doctors have been asked to report cases with symptoms of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia, said the ministry's director-general Mohamad Ismail Merican.

Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 25 : The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) is reportedly concerned that many Malay Indians may not have the financial means to take up the 15 per cent quota of Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) units allocated to the community.

Party president S. Samy Vellu was quoted by The Star as saying that according to Permodalan Nasional Berhad, as of last Wednesday, Malay Indians had bought only 10.71 per cent or 53.5 million units of their quota of 499.5 million.

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 25 : Indian businessmen in Malaysia working in the restaurant, textile, provision and hairdressing industries have been greatly affected by the Malaysian Government decision to increase in levy for foreign workers.

Klang Indian Chamber of Commerce president T. Muthusamy said the levy increase has forced many foreign workers to return home as their income had been reduced drastically.

The Tamil Nesan quoted him as saying that many traders in the Little India area in Klang were finding it hard to hire local workers.

Kuala Lumpur - International passenger volume and demand for air cargo were down again in March, as airlines were warned that an end to the industry crisis was nowhere in sight, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said Friday.

Asia-Pacific airlines carried a total of 11.2 million passengers in March, a drop of 10.8 per cent from March 2008, while air cargo volumes dropped by 21.9 per cent.