MUSLIM SCHOLARS PLAN TO DECLARE SMOKING UNLAWFUL

Jakarta, Aug 28 (ANTARA) – Smoking in the history of mankind is a habit that has existed since time immemorial. Since then, pros and cons have emerged not only because smoking is harmful to human health and disturbs non-smokers but also because it is commercially profitable to many parties. The Indonesian Ulemas [...]

AUDITORS TO INVESTIGATE RI-CHINA LNG CONTRACT

Jakarta, Aug 16 (ANTARA) – As liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices are soaring in domestic and global markets to about US$20 per mmbtu, Indonesian state auditors are planning to investigate a seven-year old LNG contract with China where the price was set at US$3.3 per mmbtu. Auditors from the State [...]

INDONESIAN SUGAR PRODUCERS COMPLAIN OF SUGAR IMPORTS

Jakarta, Aug 24 (ANTARA) – Sugar producers in Indonesia are complaining about refined sugar available on local markets, as the commodity is normally imported for special consumption by industries. “The entry into the country’s retail market of refined sugar would discourage domestic sugar cane growers in increasing the volume of their production,” Gatot Kussetiady, administrator [...]

INDONESIA RESOLVED TO MAINTAIN ITS RICE SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Jakarta, Aug 23 (ANTARA) – Indonesia, which boasted about its rice self-sufficiency at a FAO conference in Rome in 1985, is determined to maintain the self-sufficiency in rice it has regained after years of importing the commodity. “We estimate that the country’s rice production this year will exceed national consumption. We have to maintain the [...]

GOVT CHALLENGED TO MEET ITS 6.2 PCT ECONOMIC GROWTH TARGET

Jakarta, Aug 20 (ANTARA) – While the government sees better economic conditions next year, businesses say that the Indonesian government has to work hard to achieve its 6.2 percent economic growth and 6.5 percent inflation rate targets for 2009. “The government has to work hard and focus on infrastructure development if it wants to [...]

INCREASED EDUCATION BUDGET RAISES CONCERN ABOUT IMPROPER SPENDING

Jakarta, Aug 19 (ANTARA) – Indonesian teachers and various quarters in the educational sector hailed the government’s proposal in the Draft 2009 State Budget to raise education expenditure from Rp154.2 trillion in 2008 to Rp224 trillion next year. However, worries and warnings also arose that the funds which for the first time reached 20 percent [...]

NINE KILLED IN TRAIN ACCIDENT IN SUMATRA

Sumatra, Aug. 16, 2008 . ( ANTARA) A train accident killed nine people, injured 26 others seriously, and 33 lightly in Bandarlampung, Lampung Province, southern Sumatra, on Saturday.

GOVT’S OIL PRICE ASSUMPTION AT US$100 SEEN AS TOO LOW

Jakarta, Aug 15 (ANTARA) – The government is considered to be too optimistic in setting the oil price assumption at US$100 a barrel for the 2009 state budget amid oil price volatility.

PRESIDENT ASKED NOT TO RESPOND TO U.S. CONGRESS OVER OPM ISSUE

Jakarta, Aug. 10 (ANTARA) – Legislators and activists have called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not to respond to a U.S. Congress letter asking him to release two sympathizers of the outlawed Free Papua Organization (OPM), Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage.

INDONESIAN CENTAL BANK RAISES BENCHMARK INTEREST RATE

Jakarta, Aug 5 (ANTARA) – The Indonesian central bank (Bank Indonesia/BI) on Tuesday raised its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) by 25 basis points from 8.75 percent to 9.00 percent in an effort to offset the upward trend in inflation and to keep its rate within a targeted range.