The ban to broadcast LGBT content is considered to be discriminative. The big hand of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) is involved.

News of the week.

Leakage of the T-301G tank is believed to be the cause of a big fire at the Balongan refinery. The management ignored community reports on strong gasoline smell prior to the fire. Losses are estimated in the trillions of rupiah.

Sumarni Laman is motivating Dayak youths to return to their tradition of preserving the forest. She made it to the list of 16 Women Restoring the Earth by the Global Landscapes Forum.

Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) Chair Sri Rezeki Hadinegoro said that the Covid-19 immunization has been fairly smooth albeit the vaccine shortage. The high mortality rate among the elderly population has prompted the government to shuffle the order of priority groups for vaccination. On the advice of the ITAGI, the elderly group was moved forward from the fourth to the second in line to be vaccinated along with public servants. Accoding to Sri Rezeki the main objective of vaccination was not to create heard immunity as widely publicized but rather to lower the death rate. Not only participating in the preparation of vaccination roadmap, the ITAGI also gives recommendations to the health ministry.

What happened to Nurhadi does not deter us. Instead, the pain that he went through reminds us that we journalists are working for the public.

Joyce Josephine clarifies information in the cover story article of Tempo English of the January 25-31, 2021 issue titled Aid Packages for the Red Party.

Cartoon: Yuyun Nurrachman

Fishermen are concerned about the impact of the dredging activities in the Poso River basin in Central Sulawesi. Dams and traps block the life cycle of eels.

Without accountability, the police will lose public trust. People will suspect that the war on terror is being used to distract attention from other issues. 

Now Covid-19 can remind us that intimacy with the flesh is the same as simple gratitude when one is healthy, and taking an easy attitude towards pain and death.

Riau Land and Forest Fire Task Force, consisting of officers from the Pekanbaru Manggala Agni, Pekanbaru Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Masyarakat Peduli Api group, as well as the Indonesian Military and the National Police, tried to extinguish the bushfire that broke in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Friday, April 2. Strong wind and difficulties finding nearby water sources made the fire spread quickly, engulfing shrubs on a land estimated to be 10 hectares in size.
ANTARA/Rony Muharrman

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.