PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
Alor Setar: Citadel Group bekerjasama dengan GoBarakah, platform e-voucher patuh syariah bagi menyalurkan bantuan kewangan kepada pelajar yang terjejas akibat banjir di Kedah.
Pengarah Citadel Group, Fred Chan berkata, pihaknya menyasarkan kutipan dana sebanyak RM50,000 untuk membantu sekurang-kurangnya 250 pelajar sekolah menengah di negeri itu.
Menurutnya, dana itu akan digunakan bagi membeli keperluan asas sekolah seperti seragam, buku dan alat tulis, sekali gus memastikan pelajar terjejas banjir dapat meneruskan pelajaran tanpa gangguan.
"Citadel Group dan GoBarakah menggunakan sistem transaksi digital dan penjejakan pintar untuk memastikan bantuan disalurkan secara telus dan berkesan.
"Platform GoBarakah membolehkan sumbangan disalurkan terus kepada penerima yang disahkan, dengan transaksi digital yang membolehkan dana digunakan secara fleksibel mengikut keperluan mereka.
"Komitmen kami adalah untuk berdiri bersama komuniti yang terkesan dengan bencana ini. Melalui penyelesaian digital inovatif, kami memastikan bantuan sampai kepada yang memerlukan dengan cepat supaya pelajar dapat meneruskan pembelajaran mereka tanpa gangguan," katanya dalam kenyataan.
Beliau berkata, GoBarakah yang dilancarkan pada November 2023 menawarkan penyelesaian inovatif dalam pengurusan bantuan sosial dengan meningkatkan ketelusan dan keberkesanan penyaluran sumbangan.
Katanya, kerjasama Citadel Group dan GoBarakah menghubungkan penderma, organisasi dan penerima manfaat dalam satu ekosistem digital yang bertanggungjawab dan mampan.
"Citadel Group kini memasuki tahun kelima operasinya dan terus komited dalam menyediakan produk kewangan berlandaskan syariah.
"Perkhidmatan kami kini merangkumi Semenanjung Malaysia dan Malaysia Timur dengan pejabat di Kuching, Sibu, dan Tawau, Sabah.
"Citadel Group bersedia untuk berkembang ke peringkat antarabangsa menjelang 2025, serta mendefinisikan semula landskap pengurusan kewangan. Untuk maklumat lanjut, sila layari: www.citadelgroup.com.my," katanya.
‘Don’t panic’ (but keep a towel handy): Earth’s options to city-killer asteroid that might hit in seven years
- Admin UKK
- Berita
PARIS, Feb 20 — There is a very small chance that an asteroid capable of taking out an entire city could strike Earth in less than eight years. But even if this asteroid is hurtling our way, humanity is now able to defend itself against such a threat, experts say.
The odds that the recently discovered asteroid will hit Earth on December 22, 2032 have now risen to 3.1 per cent, NASA said on Tuesday, the highest probability for an impact by such a large space rock in modern forecasting.
“Don’t panic,” Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency’s planetary defence office, told AFP.
As astronomers gather more data, the odds of a direct hit are widely expected to edge upwards before rapidly dropping down to zero.
However, even in the unlikely event that the probability does keep rising up to 100 per cent, “we are not defenceless”, Moissl emphasised.
Here are some of the ways that humanity could deflect or destroy the asteroid known as 2024 YR4.
Smash a spacecraft into it
Only one planetary defence strategy has been tried out on an actual asteroid.
In 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) deliberately smashed a spacecraft into the 160-metre-wide Dimorphos asteroid, successfully altering its orbit around a larger space rock.
An advantage of this plan is that we could hit the 2024 YR4 asteroid with multiple spacecrafts, observing how each one changed its trajectory, Bruce Betts, chief scientist for the nonprofit Planetary Society, told AFP.
The asteroid discovered in December is estimated to be 40-90 metres wide -- roughly half the size of Dimorphos.
“You have to take care not to overdo it,” Moissl warned.
If the spacecraft partially destroyed the asteroid, it could send “bits flying off” that still head towards Earth, he said.
If this kind of mishap changed the eventual impact site on Earth — for example, “from Paris to Moscow” — that would likely cause major problems back home, Betts added.
Tractor, ion beams, paint
A separate idea called a gravity tractor involves a large spacecraft flying up near the asteroid and — without touching it — using its gravitational pull to tug it away from Earth.
Another non-contact plan would put a spacecraft near the asteroid armed with thrusters that would exert a “constant stream of ions” to shove the asteroid off course, Moissl said.
Scientists have also considered spray painting one side of the asteroid white, increasing its reflectiveness so it slowly changes trajectory.
These subtler strategies would require reaching the asteroid sooner than for some more severe options.
The nuclear option
Or we could also just blow it up with a nuclear bomb.
Rather than drilling a nuclear weapon deep into an asteroid — as depicted in the 1998 sci-fi action movie “Armageddon” — this would likely involving detonating a bomb nearby.
Last year, US researchers testing out this theory on a marble-sized mock asteroid in the lab found that the x-rays from a nuclear blast would vaporise its surface and send it shooting off in the opposite direction.
Even setting aside the ethical, political and legal issues of sending nukes into space, this is considered more of a last-ditch plan for kilometres-wide asteroids like the one that killed off the dinosaurs.
And again, there is a risk that a nuclear explosion could still send unpredictable chunks hurtling towards Earth.
Lasers
Along less dangerous but similar lines, another idea is to shoot laser beams from a spacecraft to vaporise the side of an asteroid, pushing it away.
Lab experiments suggest this plan is viable, but it is not one of the “top techniques” being looked at, Betts said.
If all else fails
If necessary, deflecting this asteroid is “doable, but it depends on the speed at which we move as a planet”, Moissl said.
While experts and space agencies will make their recommendations, ultimately the decision on how to tackle the asteroid will be made by world leaders.
If all else fails, we will have a good idea of the strike zone of the asteroid — which is not a “planet killer” and at most could threaten a city, Moissl said.
This means that preparing for impact, potentially including evacuation if the area is populated, will be the last line of defence.
“Seven and a half years is a long time to prepare,” Moissl said, re-emphasising that there is a roughly 97 per cent chance the asteroid will miss Earth. — AFP
TEMERLOH, 20 Februari- Seramai 47 penduduk daripada 11 keluarga di Pahang masih ditempatkan di pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Lanchang di sini selepas kediaman mereka dinaiki air akibat limpahan Sungai Semantan awal pagi tadi.
Laporan Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana Negeri Pahang menyatakan penduduk terjejas banjir itu adalah dari Kampung Insaf, Kampung Rantau Panjang, Kampung Jeragan dan Kampung Kuala Kaung.
Sementara itu, daerah Bentong pulih sepenuhnya selepas PPS Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Karak Setia ditutup pada 2.00 petang tadi.
PPS tersebut sebelum ini menempatkan 140 penduduk daripada 47 keluarga.
TEMERLOH - Empat kampung di daerah ini dilanda banjir akibat limpahan air Sungai Semantan di sini pada Khamis.
Sekretariat Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana (JPBD) Temerloh melaporkan setakat jam 4 petang, seramai 47 mangsa terjejas dan dipindahkan ke pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Lanchang.
"Empat kampung yang terlibat iaitu Kampung Insaf; Kampung Rantau Panjang; Kampung Jeragan dan Kampung Kuala Kaung.
"Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) Temerloh menerima laporan banjir yang berlaku di empat kampung itu kira-kira jam 1 pagi dan 11 rumah dinaiki air," kata sekretariat terbabit.
Ujarnya, PPS di sekolah itu mula dibuka pada jam 1.23 pagi bagi menempatkan 18 lelaki, 15 wanita, enam kanak-kanak lelaki dan perempuan serta masing-masing seorang bayi lelaki dan perempuan.
National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said the donated items included personal care kits, hygiene kits, financial assistance and school aid.
He said the distribution was made possible through a strong collaborative network involving district and state disaster management committees, the Resident’s Office, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, GLC Demi Rakyat dan Negara, Ihsan Johor, Sukarelawan Anak Malaysia, Yayasan Foodbank Malaysia, the Department of Youth and Sports, and various volunteer organisations (NGOs).
“All aid was delivered in phases through various means, including air transport for Sabah and Sarawak. This ensured that the aid reached the victims as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement today.
The latest aid shipment from NGOs was delivered to flood-affected areas on Feb 15, comprising eight tonnes of ready-to-eat food packs and 5,000 family essentials kits weighing 47 tonnes.
In addition to providing compassionate aid of RM1,000 to household heads registered at relief centres, Khairul Shahril said NADMA has established strategic collaborations with its registered partner NGO, known as ‘Rakan NADMA’.
“Rakan NADMA is involved in managing and coordinating aid distribution. To ensure smooth delivery, NADMA coordinated efforts between Rakan NADMA and representatives from disaster management committees.
“We greatly appreciate the close cooperation between state governments, NGOs, corporate bodies, and youth volunteers in delivering post-disaster aid. Effective coordination and communication have ensured that aid reached disaster victims quickly and systematically,” he said.
At the same time, he advised the public to remain vigilant about weather warnings issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department and to follow instructions from the authorities to prevent unwanted incidents, as the MTL season is still not over.