Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 14 : The Malaysian Government has been asked to release the RM 50 million for Tamil schools under the 2009 Budget.

KLANG MP Charles Santiago made the appeal, the Malaysia Nanban and The Star reported.

He said the higher enrolment in Tamil schools had resulted in a shortage of classrooms. There was also a need to upgrade existing facilities in schools and quality of teaching, he said.

He said 370 Tamil schools out of the 523 were on private land and as such, they could not be converted into fully aided schools.

Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 13 : Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president S. Samy Vellu has denied "washing dirty Malaysian linen in Chennai".

He claimed he was merely responding to allegations made by Hindu Right''s Action Force (HINDRAF) leader P. Wathya Moorthy at the Seventh Pravasi Bharathiya Divas conference.

athya Moorthy had reportedly urged the Indian government to impose trade sanctions against Malaysia as a response to the alleged marginalisation of Malaysian Indians here.

In a statement yesterday, Vellu challenged the assertions of an article in the New Straits Times, which reported an open show of antagonism on foreign soil by both the MIC leader and opposition spokesperson Dr P. Ramasamy.

Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 13: About 250 Malay Indian and Malay Tamil families in the Kampung Pandan Indian settlement are worried that they would not be able to celebrate Pongal (Harvest Festival) tomorrow as they have received final notices from the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) to vacate their houses by today.

A Malaysia Nanban report said the families had been living there for the past 70 years. In earlier letters to the residents, DBKL requested the residents to move into rental houses built by the city council in Bukit Jalil, Puchong.

The residents, in their counter offer, asked for houses in the Sri Alam, Sungai Besi area. DBKL rejected the request.

Kuala Lumpur, January 12 : The current credit crunch has apparently sparked a "price war" amongst prostitution syndicates after many decided to offer "crazy" discounts in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Harian Metro, women were being offered at heavy discounts for the "crazy promotion for massage and services".

The tabloid alleged to have received "crazy promotion" pamphlets from groups operating from spas, offering as much as 40 percent discount.

A 45-minute session was being offered for about RM158 to RM188, as compared to the previous price bracket of RM200 to RM250.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian interstate bus drivers will soon be subject to urine tests conducted at bus terminals following allegations that many drivers are high on illegal substances during long-distance trips, a newspaper reported Monday.

The random tests are aimed at cutting down the number of road accidents and deaths during the coming Lunar New Year, where hundreds of thousands of people leave major cities to celebrate the festival in rural towns.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police have detained 13 people believed to be part of an international drug syndicate, a news report said Wednesday.

A Singaporean and Filipina woman, a Pakistani national, seven African men and three locals were all detained Monday at several locations including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, said Zul Hasnan Najib Baharuddin, director of the Federal Narcotics Department.

The Singaporean national was about to board a flight to Hainan, China, when airport police discovered heroin concealed in her bag, he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.