90 cyclists from 22 nations pursue glory in Tour d'Indonesia by Fardah

Jakarta , AUg 2, 2019 (ANTARA) - An enthralling adventure that started from Central Java’s Borobudur Temple and will conclude on Bali Island is set to test the mettle of 22 countries’ 90 cyclists participating in Tour d'Indonesia (TdI).
The UCI category 2.1 international cycling race of TdI 2019 was kicked off from the 9th-century Borobudur Temple, the world's largest and oldest Buddhist temple located in Magelang, Central Java Province, on Aug 19, with 18 domestic and foreign participating teams. The cyclists are expected to reach the finish line on Bali Island, one of the world's most famous tourist resort, on Aug 23.
The TdI 2019 comprises five stages, notably Candi Borobudur-Ngawi, stretching 178 kilometers (km); Madiun-Batu, 157.7 km; Batu-Jember, 195.9 km; Jember-Banyuwangi, 150km; and Gilimanuk-Batur UNESCO Global Geopark, 143.6km.
Of the 18 teams, the four Indonesian teams are Indonesia's National Team, PGN Road Cycling Team, Custom Cycling Indonesia (CCI), and KFC Cycling Team.
The foreign participants comprise those from France, Greece, Spain, and England, Parama Nugroho, chairman of the Bank BRI Tour d’Indonesia, remarked.
"We have made comprehensive preparations and are content that all regional heads, whose cities fall on the race's route, fully support the event," he emphasized.
Australian cyclist Angus Lyons emerged as the supreme winner of the first stage in a tightly contested race.

PEACE DIPLOMACY A PRIORITY IN KASHMIR ISSUE

Sabtu, 17 Ags 2019 20:24

Daerah : Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Nearly four million Kashmiris have been under lockdown with movement restrictions and a near communications blackout since August 4, 2019, as the Indian Government recently revoked special status accorded to Indian-administered Kashmir in its Constitution.
In the lead-up to the move, India sent tens of thousands of additional troops – joining 500,000 already there - to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and the Internet, arrested hundreds of Kashmiri political leaders, and turned parts of the main city of Srinagar into a fortress of roadblocks and barbed wire.
The latest developments have escalated the tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan formally asked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recently to hold an emergency session to address the situation.
As a non-permanent member of the UNSC, Indonesia, however, believes that dialogue and communication between Pakistan and India would be more desirable to resolve the Kashmir problem.
From Indonesia's point of view, peace and security diplomacy must be prioritized in dealing with the Kashmir issue. Indonesia is also of the view that the solution to the problem should be sought bilaterally by Pakistan and India. A bilateral solution is a key to this problem.
Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said in a statement on August 15, 2019 that it would be better for Pakistan and India to hold a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir problem, because a communication deadlock has led to information scarcity, giving rise to various interpretations that have only led to an escalation of the problem.
In the UN Security Council, Indonesia emphasized the importance of the two countries exercising restraint and resolving the problem bilaterally, Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said.

EMPOWERING INDONESIAN DIASPORA TO ACCELERATE NATIONAL HRD

Sabtu, 17 Ags 2019 22:57

Daerah : Jakarta

By Fardah

Jakarta, 17/8 (Antara) - Some seven million Indonesians living overseas are a huge asset for national development if they are synergized with the Indonesian governments programs.

Supporting the Indonesian Vision of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) for his second term (2019-2024), the Fifth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID-5) was organized in Jakarta, from Aug 10 to 13, 2019, by the Indonesian Diaspora Network-Global (IDN-Global).

Themed Empowering Indonesia's Human Capital, the congress discussed efforts to strengthen the role of the Indonesian diaspora in improving the quality of human resources in their home country.

"We chose this theme because human resource is the Indonesian diasporas biggest strength. We believe human resource development is the key to Indonesia's future," Gerald Eman, the president of IDN-Global Mark told the press prior to the CID-5.

Dino Patti Djalal, chairman of the Indonesian Diaspora Network-Global (IDN-Global) Board of Trustees, believed that if the Indonesian Diaspora is synergized with the governments programs, the impact would be enormous.

"The diaspora can function as an accelerator for the development of Indonesian human resources in the future and this could be the key for Indonesia to become the giant of Asia," said Djalal, who is also a senior diplomat and former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States.

The CID-5 is a biannual event organized to connect Indonesians living abroad and create a platform for them to contribute to national development.

Some 5,000 participants comprising Indonesian diaspora from around the world, government officials, religious figures, politicians, celebrities, artists, athletes, innovators, academics and youth leaders attended the event.

QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCES WILL MAKE INDONESIA DEVELOPED NATION

Jumat, 16 Ags 2019 23:45

By Fardah

Jakarta, 16/8 (Antara) - At the beginning of the first term of his presidency in 2014, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had expressed his ambition to develop Indonesia into a maritime axis and revive the country's past maritime glory.

One of the keys to realizing this ambition is by building competent and professional human resources in the maritime field.

And now, as his first presidential term draws to a close, Jokowi, who has been reelected for the 2019-2024 period in the 2019 Presidential Election, unveiled his vision to make Indonesia a developed country and one of the worlds economic powers, by relying on the quality of human resources and mobilization of its economic resources.

"We are the fourth largest population in the world. Most of them are young people. Our middle class population grows rapidly," the President said while delivering his address on the Government Statement on the Bill in the State Budget for the 2020 Fiscal Year and Its Financial Note before the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) at the Parliament Building, August 16, 2019, a day prior to the Indonesian National Day.

Indonesia currently has a population with a productive age constituting 68 percent of the total population of 267 million.

The government's determination to make Indonesia a developed nation reflects in the 2020 fiscal policy themed A State Budget to Accelerate Competitiveness through Innovation and Improved Quality of Human Resources.

Therefore, the State Budget Bill focuses on five main aspects, notably strengthening the quality of human resources, accelerating infrastructure development in support of economic transformation, strengthening social protection programs, improving the quality of fiscal decentralization to boost regional autonomy, and anticipating global uncertainty.

ALL-OUT EFFORTS TO EXTINGUISH WILDFIRES ON SUMATRA, KALIMANTAN ISLANDS

Rabu, 14 Ags 2019 20:48

By Fardah

Jakarta, 14/8 (Antara) - Indonesian Defense Forces Commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, and National Disaster Mitigation Agency Head Lt Gen. Doni Munardo, Aug 13, oversaw Riaus forest firefighting.
Aboard helicopters, they reviewed the condition of nature at the Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN), Indragiri Hulu, and Indragiri Hilir, among others, where wildfires razed forest and peatland areas.
In Jakarta, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had recently chaired a meeting at the State Palace to discuss efforts to combat forest fires. He instructed all-out efforts to extinguish the wildfires.
Eight provinces in Indonesia are prone to forest fires, but only six have declared an emergency status for forest fire, Director of Forest Fire Mitigation Raffles B. Panjaitan of the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry stated.
The six provinces are Riau, with the emergency status declared from Feb 19 to Oct 31, or 255 days; West Kalimantan (from Feb 12 to Dec 31, or 323 days); South Sumatra (March 8-Oct 31, or 237 days); Central Kalimantan (May 28-Aug 26, or 91 days); South Kalimantan (June 1-Oct 31, or 153 days); and Jambi (July 23-Oct 20, or 90 days).
Based on satellite monitoring on Aug 10, at 7 a.m. local time, 126 hotspots were found in Riau, four in Jambi, 13 each in South Sumatra and South Kalimantan, 533 in West Kalimantan, and 159 in Central Kalimantan.

INDONESIA REMAINS UPBEAT DESPITE REVISING TOURIST ARRIVAL TARGET

Minggu, 11 Ags 2019 09:57

By Fardah
Jakarta, 11/8 (Antara) -  With his ministry working hard to promote Indonesia globally, particularly in China, India, the Middle East and Europe, nearly 18 million tourists will arrive this year, an optimistic Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya believes.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya launched a Calendar of 100 Wonderful Indonesian Tourism Events in late 2018 to promote the country's tourism attractions and attract foreign tourists.
The Calendar of 100 Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Events is the initiative of President Joko Widodo to inform the world that the country has various events of international standards.
Besides, the Tourism Ministry has intensified the role of the Tourist Information Center (TIC) and coordinated with various regional administrations to step up tourism promotion activities.
The target of 18 million foreign tourists has been revised from the previous target of 20 million foreign visitors this year.
Several unpredictable circumstances such as natural disasters have affected the arrivals of foreign tourists in the first semester this year, forcing a revision in the target, the Tourism Ministry explained in late July.
"According to data from the BPS (Central Bureau of Statistics), the number of foreign tourist arrivals last year was 15.8 million. It would require a huge increase from 15.8 (million) to 20 (million). Therefore, this year's target has been revised to some 18 million," Esthy Reko Astuti, expert staff of the Tourism Ministry in charge of the Management of the Calendar of Events, said July 29, 2019.
Between January and May 2019, Indonesia welcomed 6.37 million foreign tourists, a 2.7 percent rise as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In May 2019, the number of foreign tourists had reached 1.256 million.