The police found a truck abandoned in a remote Austrian village on the side of the highway between Vienna and Budapest. There was a putrid smell. Soon it became clear why: seventy-one rotting bodies were inside the truck. Corpses of migrants. They died most probably of suffocation, lack of oxygen where they were hiding or had been hidden, full of fear and hope that they could make it across Austria.

President Joko Widodo had good reasons to send Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, 52, to meet protesting labor union members last September 1. He is, after all, well-known for his negotiating skills. "Yes, that's my job. Anyway the President was having dinner with (an association of) minibus drivers," explained Pramono.

Indah Morgan's visit to Indonesia last August was a busy one. She not only attended the Indonesian Diaspora Congress in Jakarta and a related event in Yogyakarta organized by the Javanese diaspora, she also traveled to Bandung in West Java, to Semarang in Central Java, to Banyuwangi in East Java, and to Lampung in Sumatra.

GALERI Salihara is currently displaying scientific objects and works of art related to Alfred Russel Wallace. Among the items are a test tube containing mosquito larvae, a two-channel television installation, white and gold glazed porcelain, and a piece of organic organdy applied with artificial butterflies. These art pieces are on display alongside scientific objects such as a stuffed bird of paradise and a roll of tiger skin. However, it is the photographs lining the curved wall of the gallery that give this exhibition, titled 125,660 Natural History Specimens its power.

A photo of a young woman clad in a yellow T-shirt went viral on Monday two weeks ago. With her mouth slightly agape, eyes staring straight ahead, the fair-skinned girl had her T-shirt knotted above her belly button, exposing her midriff and a tattoo. The appeal was not so much that her outfit was revealing, but that it was the Bersih 4 uniform.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has begun work on an initiative to clean up Indonesia's land-use regime, which is wracked by the proliferation of illegal land use permits. To build support for the initiative, leaders of the commission met two weeks ago with the Home Affairs, the Environment and Forestry and the Agrarian and Spatial Planning ministers.

It would be dangerous for the public to misunderstand the dismissal of Police Crime Investigation Division Chief, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso. People might see him as a victim, as if he had been sidelined as a result of uncovering the hoarding of beef, the alleged corruption of Pertamina social funds or the Pelindo II crane case.

THE rivers in Jakarta are in a state of severe neglect. Since Jakarta city planning is a mess and the government suffers from corruption, residents are forced to build their homes along the filthy rivers. As a result, the rivers are becoming narrower and shallower, and are buckling under the load of garbage.

Laws against smoking in public places throughout Jakarta and Depok are numerous and have been in place since 2005, all of four governors ago in the Jakarta vicinity.

According to the Global Financial Inclusion Index, Indonesia's position falls below 20 percent, lower than Malaysia (66 percent) and Thailand (77 percent). To improve conditions, the government recently amendended Law No. 1/2013 on micro-financing agencies (LKM) to give the marginalized people more access to financial services. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) was then given the mandate to formalize more than 630,000 LKM all over Indonesia so that they can comply with existing regulations.

In the past two weeks, Teten Masduki was almost never absent from the side of President Joko Widodo. He accompanied Jokowi when he launched the 2 x 1,000 Megawatt power generator project in Batang, Central Java, two weeks ago. Two days later, Teten was with Jokowi to open the President's Cup football tournament in Bali.

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
IMF Asks Jokowi to Improve the Exchange Rate

Reports of a plan by Medco Energy International to acquire the assets of Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) spread fast. But the following report on TPPI's intention to save the moribund refinery in East Java has been vetted by some groups in the government who are suspicious that the Panigoro family-owned company was doing the transaction on behalf of the old owner, and that is Honggo Wendratno. Honggo intends to come back through a scheme proposed by Medco.

ComR. Gen. Anang Iskandar was shocked by the hundreds of text messages he had received on his cellular phone on last Thursday night. The head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) had just landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after traveling for nearly 10 hours from the Fiji Islands.

This year, Indonesia and India mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. However, the ties between the two nations have existed much longer, predating the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India. These connections span social, cultural, religious, economic, and trade aspects. But do those close ties of the past have any bearing on the present relationship? Why is there no direct flight between the capitals of the two countries?

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Sandeep Chakravorty, shares his views on this matter at TEMPO TALKS.