TRANSPORTATION
High-Speed Rail Not Ready for Halim

This year, Angin Prayitno Aji is not messing around. The head of the taxation directorate-general's Central Jakarta regional office said he had held five taxpayers 'hostage' during the first four months of 2016. This detention of someone against their will by tax officials, which is known in Dutch gijzeling, is a last-ditch effort to force a delinquent taxpayer to pay up. The taxation directorate-general has named 2016 'Law Enforcement Year'.

THE Best Halal Tourism and World's Best Halal Honeymoon awards at the World Halal Travel Summit last year prompted a number of regions around Indonesia to work on winning those awards. The interested provinces were Aceh and West Sumatra. The provincial administrations of these two provinces are now competing to develop halal (acceptable according to Islam) in their respective areas in the next three years. They are campaigning hard among tourism industry practitioners to develop this industry genre and allocating the necessary funding for the effort.

THE government has not budged from its refusal to apologize for the September 30, 1965 tragedy, when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and those thought to be affiliated with the group were killed or arrested and held for years without trial. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the victims of the tragedy had been the army generals whom PKI members allegedly killed in an attempted coup.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan's Right of Reply

More than a month has passed since President Joko Widodo announced his decision on the Masela Block, but nothing more has been heard about it. The two operators awarded the right to manage the block, Inpex Masela Ltd. and Shell Plc., have shown no signs of carrying out another feasibility study, following the President's decision. If this state of affairs continues, both the operators as well as the state will lose out.

The atmosphere in the Royal Ballroom at the Sofia Hotel Balkan in the morning of March 11 resembled a reunion of celebrities. There were academics, scholars, religious leaders, ministers, princes, international organization executives, human rights activists-reporters and writers. About 200 guests filled the meeting room of this five-star hotel. Discussion topics changed quickly, flowing in an array of European languages: English, German, French, Italian, the Slavic languages: Bulgarian and Russian, and Arabic.

When Joko Widodo entered the State Palace 18 months ago, he did so with less than a decade of political experience, and with little knowledge of world affairs.

Five men sat chatting in front of a shophouse in Pluit Sakti Raya, North Jakarta, on Tuesday last week. Though lacking uniforms, they behaved like security guards, glowering at any stranger who passed.

Last year was Marina Walker Guevara's busiest time. She had to face piles of documents, layers of digital data, and, most importantly, she was commanding hundreds of journalists from 80 countries who collaborated on investigating and publishing the Panama Papers.

Pardon' cannot be separated from memory, but can memory be everlasting? Is it possible for us to speak about 'pardon' outside of history?

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.