How Indonesia Could Lose Its Pride

The immediate rescuing of 20 Indonesian nationals held hostage by Somali pirates is a matter of national pride, a legislator said.
"I urge the National Defense Forces (TNI) special force to immediately take action to set free the MV Sinar Kudus’ crew who are being held hostage by Somali pirates," House of Representatives (DPR)’s Commission I member Fayakhun Andriadi of the Golkar faction said here on Monday.
The ship with a cargo of ferronickel belonging to state mining company PT Aneka Tambang was on its way from Indonesia to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, when it was pirated by Somali gunmen. Freeing the ship’s crew was a matter of national urgency and pride, Fayakhun said.
"We still remember the TNI’s Special Force’s success in freeing the hostges aboard the "Woyla’ in Bangkok, Thailand, and thus its image is respected and revered in the world," Fayakhun said.
Therefore, Fayakhun urged the TNI’s Special Force to move quickly to set free the Indonesian citizens now held captive by Somali pirates. He also wondered why the government had not responded positively to the hostage taking drama involving 20 Indonesian sailors on the MV Sinar Kudus which happened almost a month ago.

Google's Fare Search to Take off

Google's entry into the online travel sector was cleared for takeoff on Friday as the US Justice Department gave the green light to its $US700 million purchase of flight data company ITA Software.
The Justice Department's anti-trust division, however, extracted a number of concessions from Google and imposed conditions on the Internet search giant to allow the controversial acquisition to go ahead.
The proposed legal settlement, which will need the approval of a US District Court, requires Google to notably develop and license ITA's travel software to other companies.
Several online travel sites, including Expedia, Kayak and Travelocity, had sought to block the Google-ITA deal, claiming it would give Google too much control over the lucrative online travel market and lead to higher prices.
The Justice Department agreed that unless modified, the acquisition "would have substantially lessened competition among providers of comparative flight search websites in the United States."
But US deputy assistant attorney general Joseph Wayland said the proposed settlement "promotes robust competition for airfare websites by ensuring those websites will continue to have access to ITA's pricing and shopping software.
"(It) assures that airfare comparison and booking websites will be able to compete effectively, providing benefits to consumers," Wayland said.
ITA, a 500-person firm founded in 1996 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer scientists, specializes in organizing airline data, including flight times, availability and prices.
ITA flight data software is used by many US airlines and a number of leading online travel sites, including Expedia's Hotwire and TripAdvisor, Kayak, Orbitz and Microsoft's Bing search engine.
Under the settlement, Google agreed to let ITA customers extend their contracts into 2016 and to let new customers license ITA's QPX software on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms" into 2016. Google also must offer ITA's next generation InstaSearch product to the sites.
Google is also barred from entering into agreements with airlines that would restrct sharing of seat and booking class information with its competitors. In addition, Google will be required to build a "firewall" that will prevent it from gaining access to competitors' proprietary software which runs on ITA servers.
Google senior vice president Jeff Huber welcomed the approval of the deal and said "by combining ITA's expertise with Google's technology we'll be able to develop exciting new flight search tools for all our users." FairSearch.org, a coalition of opponents of the acquisition which includes Google rival Microsoft, welcomed the conditions imposed on Google.
"By putting in place strong, ongoing oversight and enforcement tools, the department has ensured that consumers will continue to benefit from vibrant competition and innovation in travel search," FairSearch.org said.
Another group, Consumer Watchdog, expressed concern that even with the conditions on the deal, Google will "ultimately win control of the travel search industry, driving ticket prices up for consumers."
Google has said the ITA acquisition will help it create new tools that will make it easier for consumers to search for travel, compare flight options and prices and drive more customers to online travel agencies. Google has said it has no plans to sell airline tickets or set airfare prices.
Google has drawn increasing government scrutiny as it has grown from a scrappy startup into the dominant player in Internet search and the ITA settlement marks the first time it will be subject to anti-trust supervision.
The US Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Google last week over Google Buzz, the social networking tool rolled out last year which spawned a slew of privacy complaints.
Under the settlement announced by the US regulator, Google is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program and will be subject to independent privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years.
Last month, a US judge dealt a setback to Google's plans for a vast digital library and online bookstore, rejecting a copyright settlement hammered out by the Internet giant with authors and publishers.

Converting Ferrari 360 into A Limousine

Luxury limo: The owner of this Ferrari F360 couple spent 200,000 converting it into a limousine




If you thought hiring a limousine to celebrate that special occasion was a little 1990s, here's one motorist who has stretched the concept that little bit further.

This exclusive Ferrari 360 Coupe has been converted into a luxury limousine after six months of reconstruction.
Costing from around £120,000 new, the owner of the vehicle spent £200,000 converting his pride and joy using genuine Ferrari parts. Extra reinforcing had to be used to sustain the weight of the vehicle and the power of the car's 400 BHP engine.
But the Ferrari, based in London, can't quite match up to its original speed due to the extra weight it is now carrying.

Collective Egoism of Indonesian House

The House of Representatives (DPR) needs to reconsider its plan to build a Rp1.1 trillion office tower in response to a storm of protests against the plan, a political observer said.
"This is necessary because of many objections to the plan to build a new House of Representatives (DPR) building. What is more, the building will be very costly," Arie Sujito of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said here on Sunday.
If the House pushed through the plan it would mean that the House ignored public aspirations and lacked sensitivity to the condition of the people. Consequently, the people’s confidence in the parliament would decline, he said.
"The DPR is now under the spotlight. The decision to push through the plan to build a new tower implies that the vast majority of DPR members care only about themselves at the expense of the people’s interests," he said.
He stated the construction of a new tower would have no significant impact on the performance of DPR members. The small office of DPR members should not be made an excuse for their lackluster performance.
"What is more, the construction of office rooms for the DPR members will cost Rp800 million each. Some quarters have questioned the higher amount of funds," he said.
The decision to go ahead with the project implied that most of DPR members had been infected by collective egoism. "DPR is considered egoistic because they have paid no attention to the aspirations of the people opposing the plan to build a new tower," he said.

Fear of Shootings at Freeport

The body of a security guard who worked for Indonesias Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Incs gold mine who was killed by gunmen on Thursday arrives in Timika in Papua province April 9, 2011. Hundreds of workers went on strike after a series of deadly attacks, refusing to return to work unless Freeport management and local authorities guaranteed the safety of all employees.

The regency administration authorities of Mimika, Papua, said they were shocked by the shootings at PT Freeport Indonesia employees in which two security officers, Daniel Mansawan and Hari Siregar, were killed.

Mimika deputy regent H Abdul Muis said here Sunday the government authorities and people of Mimika expressed their deep condolences for the families and relatives of the victims.
"We are deeply concerned about what had happened. And we are ready to facilitate a meeting of all the relevant sides in solving the problem, because the employees who were killed are also our brothers," Muis said.
Muis said that the terror shootings in the area of PT Freeport Indonesia although the firing took place far from the mining complex the incidents indicated that security in Mimika especially near the gold, copper and silver mines were still insecure.
To uncover the shooting terror of Freeport employees, on Saturday afternoon a ten-member forensic laboratory team arrived at Timika from Makassar.
Mimika deputy police chief Police Commissioner Mada Indra Laksanta said the team included ballistic and fire experts. With assistance of Papua police and Mimika police resort, the forensic lab team will conduct an investigation of the car used by Daniel Mansawan and Hari Siregar.
The car that was burnt on its way from Tanggul Timur to Nayaro village is now kept at the Mimika police station. Several bullet holes were found on the body of the car. In the meantime, the remains of Daniel and Hari had been laid in state Sunday as well as at the Freeport Indonesia office before their burial.

Caterpillars Roam over Wide Areas in Indonesia

Thickly hairy caterpillars which were found in many places in Probolinggo regency, East Java, have also attacked trees of Buleleng regency, Bali.
Head of the Buleleng agricultural and cattle breeding farms Putu Mertha Jiwa said here Sunday most of the caterpillars attacked manggo trees in Sawan and Gerokgak sub-districts. The black caterpillars were also found on the walls of houses.
"Their hair will cause intense itching of the skin," he said.
He said he planned to localize the areas where the caterpillars were found, and sprayed with strong pesticides in the last four days. Besides spraying, some people also conducted some special rituals to stop the nuisance.

Quake Unlikely to Destabilize Japan Financial System

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa vowed Monday to closely monitor the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami on Japan's economic and financial conditions, but said that the disaster is unlikely to destabilize the country's financial system.
“Given that financial firms have tried to improve net worth by increasing capital and internal reserves, and that the settlement system has been stable, the earthquake is not something that will threaten the stability of the nation's overall financial system,“ Shirakawa said at the opening of the central bank's quarterly branch managers' meeting.
“Still, it is necessary to carefully examine domestic financial and economic conditions, including in the affected areas, and their possible impact on the overall financial system,“ he added.
At the meeting, managers from 32 domestic branches and general managers based in the U.S. and Europe gather to discuss economic and financial conditions.
The comments come days after the central bank introduced a special lending facility that makes Y1 trillion worth of cheap funds available for banks in the affected areas, and also said it is considering accepting a broader range of collateral to make it easier for financial institutions to secure funds.
The bank's policy board also decided last month to ease monetary policy even further by doubling its asset-purchase program to Y10 trillion, while supplying ample liquidity to the money market amid growing concerns about the ability of banks to meet a surge in demand for funds from companies and households.
As for the overall economy, the BOJ chief reiterated “Japan's economy is under strong downward pressure, mainly on the production side, due to the effects of the earthquake disaster.“
But he expects the economy to eventually return to “a moderate recovery path“ as exports and domestic demand are expected to pick up on the back of improvements in overseas economies and post-quake reconstruction.
Market participants will now focus on the release of the bank's regional economic report, due 0530 GMT, for information on the quake impact in local areas.
“As economic conditions have rapidly changed since the earthquake, there will likely be significant downgrades in assessments in regional economies, especially in Tohoku (the northern region of Japan hit by the quake) and Kanto-Koshinetsu (eastern region of Japan including the Tokyo metropolitan area),“ said Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities.

Indonesia to Award Its Regions Ready to Anticipate Disasters

Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono said the government is considering to give awards to regions for their preparations to anticipate natural disasters.
"So the preparations can be the extent to which the (local) governments have trained the people (to face natural disasters) and the extent to which the people have been prepared for disasters," he said on the sidelines of a working visit in Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi province, on Sunday.
The awards are called adipura. Regions that had prepared anticipatory steps to deal with disasters would deserve to receive the awards. The preparations also included guidance to evacuate natural disaster victims, he said.
He asked each region to optimize the function of their regional natural disaster mitigation boards (BPBD). The regions must have maps of disaster-prone areas, such as tsunami-prone areas in the western coast of Sumatra, the southern coast of Java, and the northern part of Papua.
In addition, each region must have training programs to anticipate disasters. Each disaster-prone region must also build paths to evacuate victims.
Jambi Governor Hasan Basri Agus said the local authorities had proposed construction of paths to evacuate victims. "We have proposed it to the National Disaster Mitigation Board," he said.
He said the local authorities would build two paths to evacuate disaster victims. The first one was path leading to Tuo hamlet. The path would be linked to Jangkat, Merangin district and the other was a path leading to Bengkulu from Masqo village, Gunung Raya subdistrict.

N Sumatra's Iron Imports Up 30 Pct

This photo taken on December 25, 2010 shows Indonesian miners filling baskets with sulphur before carrying them from the bottom of the crater of Indonesias active Kajah Iwen volcano, in the extreme east of Java island. Some 350 sulphur miners eke out a dangerous and exhausting living on the active volcano, carrying hauls of up to 80 kilos of yellow gold which will be bought by local factories and used to refine sugar or make matches and medicines. The miners extract the liquid sulphur as it flows out of hot iron pipes. Once in the open air, it cools, crystallises and turns bright yellow. The sulphur is then loaded into wicker baskets at either end of bamboo yokes and carried back over the lip of the crater and down the side of the volcano, a treacherous journey of four kilometres (2.5 miles).

North Sumatra’s iron and steel imports in the year to February 2011 rose 30.32 percent to US$32.41 million from the same period a year earlier.
"Since the past few years, North Sumatra’s iron and steel imports have continued to increase on the back of rising needs due to construction of infrastructure facilities as well as robust property business in the region concerned," Head of the Production Statistics Section of the North Sumatra Provincial Statistics Office Erwin Said said here on Sunday.
In the year to February 2011, the province’s iron and steel imports were recorded at US$32.41 million compared with US$24.871 million the year before, he said.
According to him, the higher import value was fueled not only by raising volume but also by a surge in prices. An upward trend in the import of iron and steel could be seen from last year when the figure was recorded at US$15.094 million in January and US$17.318 million in February.
"Based on data, the iron and steel imports were mostly from China. We imported the goods because domestic production fell short of rising demand in North Sumatra," he said.
Head of the Domestic Trade Section at the North Sumatra Provincial Industry and Trade Office Margaretha Elly Silalahi said the imported iron and steel entering North Sumatra must meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI).

Indonesian Housemaid Burnt Alive by Malaysian Employer

Fire had been set on an Indonesian housemaid from Cianjur, West Java, by her employer in Malaysia simply for picking the wrong plate. The poor girl managed to save herself by jumping into a swimming pool in the back of the house.
Yani (25), the house maid, who came from Cibinong, Sukaratu village, Bojong Picung sub-district, Cianjur, sustained serious burns after some of her fellow housemaids took Yani out from her employer’s home. For her mistake of picking the wrong plate, her employer got so angry and poured kerosene on the housemaid.
"I did not suspect that my employer will burn me alive only because I picked the wrong plate. And this was not the first time that she beat me," she said Sunday.
"I then locked myself in my bathroom for two days and tried to heal my burns with toothpaste," she said.
After the two days some of her friends came to the house, and freed her. Several days later she returned home to Cianjur via Kalimantan.