INDONESIAN PURCHASE OF SUKHOIs PROCEEDS AT SNAIL’S PACE

Jakarta, Sept 21 (ANTARA) – The deal at home on the purchase from Russia of six Sukhoi jet-fighters worth over US$300 million is racing against delivery schedules as three of the warplanes are expected to arrive in Indonesia next month while the loan agreement for their purchase have yet to be approved by [...]

INDONESIAN HOUSE DELAYS PASSAGE OF PORN BILL

Jakarta, Sept 19 (ANTARA) – The House of Representatives (DPR) has finally succumbed to public pressure to delay the passage of a controversial pornography bill whose supporters had hoped would be a valuable Idul Firti (Muslim post-fasting month festivity) present if it were passed into law on Tuesday (Sept 23) . [...]

PASURUAN TRAGEDY NEGATES GOVT CLAIM OF REDUCED POVERTY?

Jakarta, Sept 17 (ANTARA) – The Pasuruan tragedy in East Java in which 21 people were trampled to death on Monday in a rush to receive tithes has prompted the opposition party to criticize the government’s poverty reduction program. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP)’s faction in [...]

GOVT CREDIT SCHEME UNABLE TO SATISFY SMALL-SCALE BUSINESSES

Jakarta, Sept 14 (ANTARA) – The government’s smallholder’s business credit scheme (KUR) is basically helpful for financing the informal business sector but to cover the country’s over 42 million small-scale businesses and cooperatives, the scheme which this year is expected to help 1.5 million recipients with funds totaling Rp15 [...]

RI BRACING FOR EXODUS OF IDUL FITRI TRAVELERS

Jakarta, Sept 12 (ANTARA) – Virtually all big cities in Indonesia are currently bracing themselves for an exodus of an estimated 15.8 million people who are to spend the annual Idul Fitri post-fasting month holidays in their home towns or villages later this month. In the runup to the D-Day [...]

TEMASEK LOSES LEGAL BATTLE IN RI’S SUPREME COURT

Jakarta, Sept 12 (ANTARA) – After a legal battle for about five months, Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd has to accept an unfavorable decision by the Indonesian Supreme Court (MA). The highest law enforcing body rejected Temasek’s legal review suit against a ruling by Indonesia’s Business [...]

ECOLOGISTS FACING POACHERS IN SAVING SUMATRAN TURTLES

      Jakarta, Sept 5 (ANTARA) – Ihsan Alhamid Andalas, a nature lover, was happy with face looked shining as he explained  he was to have about 400 new ‘babies’ this week.   Not only Andalas, other conservationists grouped in Bengkulu province’s Young Nature and Environment Lovers Association (KP3ALH) were also delighted. They all shared the same reason for happiness [...]

FOOD PRICES INCREASING IN FACE OF FASTING MONTH

Jakarta, Sept 1 (ANTARA) – Prices of basic necessaries in various cities in Indonesia such as in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi are moving upward in the face of the fasting month which starts on Monday (Sept 1). At the same time, the government has guaranteed that stocks of various essential commodities [...]