The film industry in Indonesia is going through a golden period. Production of national films have gone up sharply compared to two decades ago. In 2014, the highest-ever number of films were produced: 115 titles. This is much higher than the number of films produced from 1991 to 2001, which was a total of 94.

SHANDRA Woworuntu still remembers the day she received an email from the office of President Barrack Obama in September 2015, offering her to become a member of the US Advisory Council on Human Traffickingthe first of its kind. The email also requested for her biodata.

Every year, Reporters without Borders announces the results of their findings on the number of journalists worldwide who have been killed, threatened and harassed during the year. Accordingly, last year 67 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of doing their jobs, bringing the total number of journalists killed since 2005 to 787 people. Meanwhile the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that in 2014, 119 media workers were kidnapped and more than 800 arrested.

Thai Foreign Minister DonPramudwinai made his first visit to Indonesia, meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi. Both ministers agreed to intensify relationship between the two largest economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). They also discussed three particular issues: trade cooperation, maritime borders and combating terrorism.

The Aceh provincial government has placed on a ban on Valentine's Day celebrations this year. Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Saaduddin Djamal said celebration of the February 14 holiday was vulgar and promiscuous. "No youth or Muslim in Banda Aceh should celebrate Valentine's Day in any way. It opposes sharia law," she said on February 11.

The grave of Sheikh Yusuf al-Makassari, a major Islamic scholar from Gowa, South Sulawesi, is located on a small sandy hill in Fasley Bay, not far from his home of Kampung Makassar, Cape Town. Based on Lontar Bolangngan (papyrus) documents, Sheikh Yusuf was born in Gowa on the 8th of the month of Shawwal, 1036, on the Islamic hijri calendar (July 3, 1626), and died on the 22nd of Dhul-Qa'dah, 1109 Hijri (May 23, 1699) at the age of 73. He was initially exiled to Sri Lanka in September 1684, along with his two wives, children and several students.

Mysteriously missing from most media reports on the controversy over how to develop the giant Masela gas field is the danger posed by a 2,000-3,000-meter-deep undersea trench, which lies between the concession and the remote Tanimbar islands in the Arafura Sea.

Workers always bear the brunt of any economic recession. Companies such as Ford Motor Indonesia, Panasonic Lighting, Toshiba Consumer Products Indonesia and Chevron Pacific Indonesia have begun streamlining their operations, affecting some 1,300 workers in Jakarta and its environs, as well as in South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi, per labor ministry data.

IT took three weeks for the police to name a suspect in Wayan Mirna Salihin's murder case.

Jokowi's Criticism

Kornelius Kodi Mete has only been chief of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) health department for the last four months, but like his predecessor, he is determined to continue improving the health care system in the province through various programs. He believes that many people in NTT today are more aware of their health, so that it is now up to the government to provide them with the good service they seek.

FITRIA Sumarni did not expect the ten visitors on Friday morning two weeks ago. Bangka's Ahmadiyah representative received the guests at the Ahmadiyah secretariat in Srimenanti village, Sungailiat subdistrict, Bangka.

Masela Awaits Presidential Decision

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.