Page 13 Lee Kuan Yew eulogized at funeral as architect of Singapore Monday, March 30, 2015 16 Pages Number 73 7 th Year e-mail: [email protected] online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com. Price: Rp 3.000,- I N T E R N A T I O N A L DPS 23 - 32 WEATHER FORECAST “Advanced countries have since the beginning done this (award subsidies) to protect their farmers. Indonesia should also do that,” Prof. Dr Wayan Windia, the head of the Subak Research Center of the Denpasar-based University of Udayana, said. He said the International Mon- etary Fund (IMF) has offered and even urged Indonesia to award sub- sidies to protect its people, mainly by imposing import taxes and en- forcing export subsidy policies. The import tax policy is intended to boost the prices of imported goods, thus making them expensive at home. Such a policy is expected to boost domestic production, while the export subsidy is aimed at expe- diting the growth of exports. Given this situation, less de- veloped countries, which are usu- ally weak, will be forced to import goods whose prices in the global market are relatively lower. The prices are lower as a result of the export subsidy. Windia said the prices of import- ed and cheap goods in Indonesia were usually lower than domestic products in the same categories. This was also prevalent in the agricultural sector and had resulted in disadvantages for local farmers. Even in Bali, which is an inter- national tourist resort province, the need for food products that are dominated by foreign goods was high, Prof. Windia remarked. An official from the Agriculture Ministry said in Riau province re- cently that around 500,000 Indone- sian farming families changed their livelihood every year for a number of reasons. Among the reasons was high production costs, the Head of Ag- ricultural Extension and Human Resource Development at the Agri- culture Ministry, Momon Resmono, pointed out. “That is one of the problems identified by the ministry,” he said, adding that during his three months in office he had visited 22 of the country’s provinces. “We identified five problems that are potentially hampering the program and keeping us from achieving self-sufficiency in food,” Resmono said. One of the five problems was damaged infrastructure, with 52 percent of the irrigation systems being out of order, he said while addressing a meeting of the As- sociation of Agriculture Extension (Perhiptani). Many of the both primary and secondary irrigation systems had long been left untended, he said, adding, that therefore, the repair of irrigation systems had to be priori- tized during budgeting. “The ministry has set targets for making irrigation systems function and service 3 million hectares of farm land. Meanwhile, the Public Works Ministry will also support the repairs of 49 water reservoirs, including primary and secondary irrigation systems, with a budget of Rp4 trillion in 2015,” he said. The second problem was a short- age of seeds in 2014, with only 20 percent of the seed budget allocated by the government being used, he said. “Just imagine, 80 percent of the budget provided by the government for seeds failed to reach the farm- ers,” he said. The third problem was fertilizer supply. In a number of areas in Central Java, farmers, who were entitled to subsidized fertilizers, were forced to buy non-subsidized fertilizers, he said. The ministry had reported the case to the military and police and the perpetrators had been arrested. The fourth problem was related to labor. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of farm workers had nar- rowed from 31 million in 2003 to 26.5 million in 2013 or around 500 farm families had changed their livelihood every year. As a result there was always a shortage of labor during the harvest and planting time and an optimiza- tion of existing laborers was needed by equipping them with more farm- ing equipment and tools, he said. The minister also found fault with Perhiptani’s role, adding that the program for agricultural exten- sion had not been as efficiently executed as expected. “We hope that Perhiptani would enhance its role in the program of agricultural extension to support it in general,” he said. (ant) IBP/Wawan Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said. Indonesia needs to protect its agriculture DENPASAR - Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said. News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2my- radio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali. Page 8 Croatia rout Norway 5-1 but Kovac wants more Page 6 Leading suspect in Tunisia museum attack killed
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Page 13
Lee Kuan Yew eulogized at funeral as architect of Singapore
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
16 Pages Number 737th year
e-mail: [email protected] online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.
Price: Rp 3.000,-
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
DPs 23 - 32WEATHER FORECAsT
MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, Massachusetts — Lights, camera, action: Manchester-by-the-Sea is the backdrop for a new Matt Damon movie.
Damon is producing the in-dependent film with the work-ing title “Manchester-by-the-Sea.” Scenes are being shot in the Massachusetts town as well as in nearby Beverly, Gloucester and Salem.
The Salem News reports that the movie tells the story of the working-class Chandler family.
Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler, who gains legal guardianship of his nephew following the sudden death of his brother.
Filming got underway in the coastal communities north of Bos-ton last week and is expected to run into April. (ap)
LONDON - James Bond legend Roger Moore insisted Saturday he had said nothing racist about fellow British actor Idris Elba -- tipped to play the superspy next -- in a French magazine interview.
The 87-year-old star, who played the suave British agent in seven films from 1973 to 1985, insisted his meaning had been lost in translation.
“An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba. That is simply untrue,” Moore wrote on Twitter, using the hashtag “Lost in
translation”.He added: “When a journalist
asks if ‘Bond should be English’ and you agree, then quotes you saying it about Idris Elba it’s out of context.”
Reproductions of the interview have led to Moore being blasted by Twitter users.
In the interview, Moore was talking about the different actors who have played agent 007 on screen.
In the 23 official Bond films to date, the title role has been played in turn by Sean Connery, George
Lazenby, Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, who is currently shooting “Spec-tre”, due out in November.
In a translation of the quotes printed in French in Paris Match, Moore told the magazine: “Though James has been played by a Scot, a Welshman, an Irishman, I think he should be English-English. It’s nonetheless an interesting idea, but unrealistic.
“Some years ago, I said that Cuba Gooding Jr would make an excellent Bond but it was a joke!” (afp)
LOS ANGELES — Sam Tay-lor-Johnson will not be returning to direct the sequels to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” she announced Wednes-day night.
“Directing ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful,” she said in a statement to industry site Deadline in which she thanked Universal Pictures.
Taylor-Johnson’s $40 million adaptation of author E L James’ erotic novel has grossed a stag-gering $558 million worldwide in just six weeks in theaters, but even before the film debuted, rumors cir-culated that she would not likely be the person ushering “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed” to the big screen.
Stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are expected to return for both sequels, which have yet to be officially announced.
While it is nothing new for direc-
tors to exit franchises after the first film — “Twilight,” ‘’The Hunger Games,” and “Divergent” all made directing changes between their first and second installments — Taylor-Johnson and James’ fraught on-set relationship was widely reported.
Earlier this year, James, also a producer on the film, alluded to their conflicts, telling The Associ-ated Press that she “had to fight for a lot of things really hard,” which included a disagreement over the last line of the film.
Still, in her statement, Taylor-Johnson made sure to note the “close and lasting relationships” she formed with the cast, produc-ers, crew and “most especially, with Dakota and Jamie.”
She added: “I wish nothing but success to whosoever takes on the exciting challenges of films two and three.”
A representative for Universal Pictures had no comment. (ap)
‘Fifty Shades’ director Taylor-Johnson bows
out of franchise
New Matt Damon film shooting in Massachusetts
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Moore denies racism in comments on next Bond
Malik quit the group this week, saying he wanted “to be a normal 22-year-old.” He had earlier pulled out of One Direc-tion’s world tour, citing stress.
He told Friday’s edition of Britain’s Sun newspaper that “I did try to do something that I wasn’t happy doing for a while” to keep fans happy.
“I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them,” he said.
He said he felt upset that “I may have let them down in some sort of way.”
“It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I can’t do that anymore because it’s not real to me,” he said.
And he said his bandmates had been “really supportive” of his decision.
One Direction formed in 2010 after
five teenagers — Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Malik — audi-tioned individually for the British TV talent show “The X Factor.” Simon Cowell had the idea of putting them together as a boy band.
They didn’t win the competi-tion, but they went on to top charts and win young hearts around the world.
The four remaining members say they will carry on as One Direction.
“They still want to do it for a while,” Malik said. “I think they’re going to be cool.” (ap)
LONDON — Zayn Malik says he worries that he’s let One Direction fans down by leaving the world-conquering boy band, but couldn’t carry on in a role that made him unhappy.
“Advanced countries have since the beginning done this (award subsidies) to protect their farmers. Indonesia should also do that,” Prof. Dr Wayan Windia, the head of the Subak Research Center of the Denpasar-based University of Udayana, said.
He said the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) has offered and even urged Indonesia to award sub-sidies to protect its people, mainly by imposing import taxes and en-forcing export subsidy policies.
The import tax policy is intended to boost the prices of imported goods, thus making them expensive at home.
Such a policy is expected to boost domestic production, while the export subsidy is aimed at expe-diting the growth of exports.
Given this situation, less de-veloped countries, which are usu-ally weak, will be forced to import goods whose prices in the global
market are relatively lower. The prices are lower as a result of the export subsidy.
Windia said the prices of import-ed and cheap goods in Indonesia were usually lower than domestic products in the same categories.
This was also prevalent in the agricultural sector and had resulted in disadvantages for local farmers.
Even in Bali, which is an inter-national tourist resort province, the need for food products that are dominated by foreign goods was high, Prof. Windia remarked.
An official from the Agriculture Ministry said in Riau province re-cently that around 500,000 Indone-sian farming families changed their livelihood every year for a number of reasons.
Among the reasons was high production costs, the Head of Ag-ricultural Extension and Human Resource Development at the Agri-culture Ministry, Momon Resmono,
pointed out.“That is one of the problems
identified by the ministry,” he said, adding that during his three months in office he had visited 22 of the country’s provinces.
“We identified five problems that are potentially hampering the program and keeping us from achieving self-sufficiency in food,” Resmono said.
One of the five problems was damaged infrastructure, with 52 percent of the irrigation systems being out of order, he said while addressing a meeting of the As-sociation of Agriculture Extension (Perhiptani).
Many of the both primary and secondary irrigation systems had long been left untended, he said, adding, that therefore, the repair of irrigation systems had to be priori-tized during budgeting.
“The ministry has set targets for making irrigation systems function
and service 3 million hectares of farm land. Meanwhile, the Public Works Ministry will also support the repairs of 49 water reservoirs, including primary and secondary irrigation systems, with a budget of Rp4 trillion in 2015,” he said.
The second problem was a short-age of seeds in 2014, with only 20 percent of the seed budget allocated by the government being used, he said.
“Just imagine, 80 percent of the budget provided by the government for seeds failed to reach the farm-ers,” he said.
The third problem was fertilizer supply. In a number of areas in Central Java, farmers, who were entitled to subsidized fertilizers, were forced to buy non-subsidized fertilizers, he said.
The ministry had reported the case to the military and police and the perpetrators had been arrested.
The fourth problem was related to labor. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of farm workers had nar-rowed from 31 million in 2003 to
26.5 million in 2013 or around 500 farm families had changed their livelihood every year.
As a result there was always a shortage of labor during the harvest and planting time and an optimiza-tion of existing laborers was needed by equipping them with more farm-ing equipment and tools, he said.
The minister also found fault with Perhiptani’s role, adding that the program for agricultural exten-sion had not been as efficiently executed as expected.
“We hope that Perhiptani would enhance its role in the program of agricultural extension to support it in general,” he said. (ant)
IBP/Wawan
Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said.
Indonesia needs to protect its agricultureDENPASAR - Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food
self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said.
News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http://globalfmbali.listen2my-
radio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.
Page 8
Croatia rout Norway 5-1 but Kovac wants more
Page 6
Leading suspect in Tunisia museum attack killed
International2 Monday, March 30, 2015 15International Activities
Bali News
EvEry Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.
The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is con-sidered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.
The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.
In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.
Balinese Temple Ceremony
Monday, March 30, 2015
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp.
(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield began her career with Archipelago International creating and developing the group’s entire centralised ecommerce, online marketing and reservation divisions as their Corpo-rate Ecommerce Director. Her team has lead the industry in sales online, gaining awards for the highest production in the country. Her eye for detail and creative visions will keep Archipelago at the fore-front while the sectors between the online and offline sales and marketing worlds merge into the technology driven hands of the future.
Ms. Tenaiya will be replacing Mr. Norbert Vas who after spearheading Archi-pelago International’s Sales & Marketing effort for 7 years has been appointed to the new role of Vice President of Business Development & Operations overseeing hotel operations in Malaysia, Sumatra and Western Java and driving the companies future international expansion.
During the Archipelago International Fair Trade Show the company will also proudly announce its 100th hotel opening at the beginning of 2015 with another 80 in the pipeline through 2016. The group
continues to be the preferred hotel man-agement company in Indonesia with its wide range of brands to meet a variety of market needs.
The newest hotel set to open is under the Aston brand, located in the heart of TB Simatupang’s business district in South Jakarta. Aston Priority Simatupang Hotel & Conference Center will open its doors to guests in mid April, with 296 rooms and suites, 12 state of the art meeting rooms, and a ballroom for up to 800 delegates. Visit www.Aston-International.com for more information
Any work done without spirit is boring. Working in the tourism sector, spirit is very important in providing appropri-ate services and also helps to strengthen the work ethic of a team. Sometimes providing an example is necessary when the spirit of employees is lacking. Yayat Hidayat, General Manager (GM) of the Inna Grand Bali Beach recently ex-pressed his believe in this principle.
This calm man born in Bandung on February 3, 1963 said that with spirit, everyone works in accordance to their functions and responsibilities. Most importantly, everyone must provide sincere and selfless services to customers, so that guests will want to return again. “By providing sincere service, customers will definitely want to stay at the Inna Grand Bali Beach again” he said.
Yayat Hidayat who completed his studies at the Center for Tourism Education and Training (BPLP) Bandung in 1985, is very familiar with serving guests. He started his career in the tourism industry from the position of receptionist at the Hotel Wisata Indonesia (1989-1992). Because he worked well, he was promoted to Sales Executive and Executive Secretary (1996-1998).
Husband of Titi Arini and father of Rakha Nugraha Hi-dayat and Demas Nugraha Hidayat, Yayat served as Market-ing Manager for the Inna Samudra Beach Hotel, Pelabuhan
Ratu, West Java, until 2003 and Executive Assistant Manager at the same hotel.
Yayat whose hobbies include fishing and singing is also a reliable analystprooven by the fact that he was given the position in the PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (Persero) as Manager of Administration, Subdivi-sion Head of Administration as well as Sales and Marketing Manager Analyst until 2008.
With the wealth of experi-ence and formal education that Yayat Hidayat possesses, he is a most suitable person to fill in the position of Gen-eral Manager of the Inna Samudra Beach (2009) and General Manager of the Inna Garuda, Yog-yakarta (2011). “Starting from September 1, 2014, I was the General Manager of the Inna Grand Bali Beach, Sanur” he said. (kmb) IBP/kmb
IBP/Courtesy of Archipelago International
Archipelago International annouces new VP of Sales and Marketing
JAKArTA - On March 24th, during the celebrated annual “Archipelago Fair Trade Show”, previously known as the “Aston Fair Trade Show”, a tourism industry business to business event that brings together hundreds of representatives of Jakarta’s Travel Trade Industry, Media Communities and Archipelago Hotels from far and beyond Indonesia and Malaysia, Archipelago International, the leading Indonesian Hotel operator, took the opportunity to announce the group’s future development plans and introduce their new Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield.
“This is a very exciting time for hotel growth in Indonesia as well as development and changes within the industry. I am thrilled to head up such a hard working and dynamic team in our corporate offices working hand in hand with over 13,000 employees within our hotel units. We are always looking for the best and brightest in the industry to join our growing family,” Said Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Archipelago International.
Profile
Yayat HidayatWorking spirit is important
AMLAPURA - When presenting the strategic recommenda-tions of the Karangasem House in the end of the term report at the office of I Wayan Geredeg, Regent of Karangasem, on Friday (Mar. 27), a number of useless pond projects were pointed out during the plenary session.
Legislator, Ketut Badra, who read the strategic recommen-dations, said that the ponds projects were bound to fail due to pour planning. The House requested that the useless ponds be managed better so that the water can be utilized by people during the dry season. “The ponds, having been built, must be used,” he said.
According to observations, the pond projects have not func-tioned since they were built, including one located at Puragae, Pempatan village, Rendang. Regent I Wayan Geredeg said the Puragae pond was constructed with the Bali Regional Budget a few years ago. He said that the planning of the Puragae pond project was assessed to be wrong because it just streams di-rectly from the watershed. As a result, dirty water comes into the pond that is lined with a plastic carpet or the geo-membrane. Since the dirty water from the river also runs in, brings in litter and twigs, the plastic carpet has torn and the pod is leaking.
The pond in Daya Ban, Kubu, is also not utilized by the local community because the water is dirty and smelly. The water from this pond project that was financed by the Bali Regional Budget for use during dry season is only taken advantage by a few cattle breeders in the surrounding area for their livestock to drink from.
Regent Geredeg had previously pointed out that the ponds at Muntig are not well managed by the surrounding communities. Awareness on the part of the community is required to maintain village infrastructure. If people are aware, the pipeline that runs from Mount Agung will not become clogged by rubbish during the rainy season as it would be repaired periodically. According to information from the community near the ponds at Bantas hamlet, Baturinggit village, the water of the pond at the foothills to the east of Mount Agung is only used by about 30 families. This pond with a budget of more than IDR 4 billion only has the capacity to provide water for these 30 families in this arid region. As a result many more families are left without clean water during the dry season.
Regent Geredeg said that the pond construction projects could in fact be very beneficial for people in the barren moun-tain areas. The water in these ponds is cheap because it comes directly from the clean water flowing from the massive stone on the mountain, with little to no sedimentation. Proper pond management is what is required.
Geredeg is going to build a pond near Kunyit Temple at Batudawa Kaja, Kubu. This project has long been coveted by residents around the area of Bejug, Batudawa Kaja, who still routinely face clean water crisis. The regent hopes that water from this pond can be used to meet the consumption needs of the local people as well as provide drink for their cattle. It is being suggested that the dung from these cows be used to make organic fertilizer for beans that have the potential to be developed into a viable crop for the village of Tulamben.
“Aside from building ponds, opening and paving roads to Bejug, Batudawa Kaja, is also important so that rangers can have access to the area so that they can prevent and manage fires in the protected forest on the slopes of Mount Agung. In addition, it is also important to maintain the infrastructure of roads so as to facilitate and support the economic activities of communities in the region,” said Geredeg. (013)
Measures being taken by immi-gration start with having applicants interviewed and considerations are made regarding the applicants country of destination. These and other such measures are being taken in anticipation of potential ISIS members trying to take advan-tage of the negligence of immigra-tion officers when they apply for passports to fl to Middle Eastern countries. All documents, including the reasons for departure overseas are being strictly checked.
Hanif, Head of the Class II Immigration Office in Singaraja,
has appealed to his entire staff his to conduct careful inspection of suspicious passport applicants, in-cluding using common sense. Such efforts are meant to promote safety and prevent ISIS radicalism from evolving and poisoning the minds of the citizens of Indonesia. “Upon finding anything suspicious, we’ll take action based on the monitor-ing stage set forth in the circular from the director of investigation and immigration. This monitor-ing is applied starting from the interview process and also consid-ers the country of destination of
passport applicants,” said Hanif recently.
If there is an indicat ion or suspicion of the applicant being involved in ISIS, immigration will immediately report this to police authorities and to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). “So far we have yet to issue passports to anyone destined for any coun-try in the Middle East, either to Iraq, Syria, Turkey or any other. Hopefully, Buleleng will remain safe and no applicants will show indications involved with ISIS,” he stated. (kmb34)
Karangasem House scorns useless pond projects
IBP/File
The pasport making process will be tighten due to the spread of ISIS in Indonesia
Passport issuance tightens amid ISIS’ cases
SINGArAJA - The proliferation of the radical group known as ISIS has made the Class II Immigration Office in Singaraja tighten its supervision of Indonesian citizens wishing to ap-ply for passports as a security measure. The more stringent procedures are meant to prevent Indonesian citizens from joining radical groups that could lead to violence and anarchism.
3Monday, March 30, 2015 14 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTraveling Monday, March 30, 2015
But for something a little offbeat, or a fun outing with colleagues, con-sider an evening on Manhattan’s Ko-rea Way, also known as Koreatown or K-town, just steps from the Herald Square shopping district and Macy’s on 34th Street. The main drag, 32nd Street between Fifth and Broadway, is lined with Korean restaurants and karaoke bars. And while it might sound intimidating to make your own Korean barbecue or belt out “Livin’ on a Prayer” with office-
mates, both experiences are fun and easier than you might imagine.
First, the food. The neighbor-hood’s Korean fried chicken places are cheap and yummy. Bonchon Chicken, around the corner from 32nd Street on Fifth Avenue, offers soy garlic or spicy wings, strips and drumsticks starting at $9 for six pieces. Another fried chicken foodie fave on Fifth Avenue is Kyochon.
For more upscale dining, head
to Gaonnuri, which offers stunning views of Manhattan from a pent-house near 32nd and Broadway. The middle of the Empire State Building is practically in your face, and it’s magical to see the lights of Times Square begin to glow as darkness falls. The restaurant’s well-known guests have included Jack Ma, the China-based founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Don’t miss the table barbecue, which you can order with beef,
LONDON — If you’ve ever wanted to see coral reefs but don’t fancy getting wet then London’s Natural History Museum may be the place for you.
The museum’s new show plunges into the underwater world, featuring a “virtual dive” that provides a 180-degree view of five coral reefs controlled by a joystick, including one vista with a manta ray in Komodo Island, Indonesia.
“We know more about outer space than we do about the oceans,” said Miranda Lowe, the museum’s collections man-ager for marine invertebrates. She said the patchy health of coral reefs globally could have dramatic consequences for the thousands of species of marine life that depend on them, and added the recent cyclone in Vanuatu could spark a massive bleaching of corals if water temperatures rise substantially.
The exhibit also includes six corals col-lected by Charles Darwin demonstrating his first-ever scientific theory about how
coral reefs are formed. Hint: It involves volcanos.
Other specimens include a parrotfish and hawksbill turtle, which both feed on coral, helping it to regenerate. That isn’t the case for the crown-of-thorns starfish, which is an increasing threat to reef stability.
In addition to marine species living in coral reefs, the show also features those that just come by to hunt, including the jaw of a tiger shark. The usually solitary sharks often swim thousands of miles to Raine Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to feast on weak and injured turtles during nesting season, using their razor-sharp teeth to bite through turtle shells.
Lowe said the exhibit aims to increase understanding of the human impact on the oceans, noting that how we dispose of waste affects turtles, fish and other animals.
“Most people in London won’t be able to go diving so this is the next best way for them to see a coral reef,” she said. (ap)
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This March 25, 2015 photo shows West 32nd Street in Manhattan, also known as Korea Way or Koreatown.
The enclave is home to numerous Asian businesses, including Korean restaurants
and karaoke bars.
Korean barbecue, karaoke for biz travelers to NYC
NEW YORK — New York City is a 24/7 kind of place. That makes it easy for business travelers to squeeze a little sightseeing in after a day of meetings. Take in a Broadway show and late din-ner, or a nighttime view from Top of the Rock, the Empire State Building or Times Square. The Staten Island Ferry glides past the Statue of Liberty 24 hours a day, the 9/11 memorial is open until 9 p.m. and the High Line, a park built on an elevated rail line, stays open until 10 p.m.
duck, pork, chicken or shrimp, $28-$45. Resist the temptation to ask your server to cook the meat for you. If you’ve ever fried anything at home or on a grill, you’re more than capable of handling this. Just put the raw meat on the heated griddle in the middle of the table, searing and turning the pieces with chopsticks until done to your preference.
Gaonnuri’s bar menu has small plates and the cocktail menu in-cludes creations like ginger poire (Grey Goose, St. Germain, fresh gin-ger and lime juice) and The Oriental, made with soju, the classic Korean liquor strong enough to knock your socks off. Appetizers start around $8, with a share platter for three at
$44. Bibimbap — rice mixed with vegetables and/or meat or fish — is $12 or $20.
Karaoke options on the block include 5 Bar Karaoke Lounge a few doors down from Gaonnuri. Private rooms at 5 Bar include a bell for summoning another round of Cosmos. And the song system is easy to navigate: Look up your favorite song in a thick, dog-eared book, type the number in and lyrics appear on-screen. Too shy to solo? Pick an anthem or oldie and invite the gang to sing along. Room rentals are $10 per person, per hour, for four or more people. You’ll be belting out “New York, New York” in no time. (ap)
Take a dive at Natural History Museum, manta ray includedAP Photo/Alastair Grant
A Pacific lipstick tang -Naso Lituratus- swims in an aquarium as it appears to look at Vikki a
member of staff at the Natural History Museum during a media preview of ‘Coral Reef - Secret Cities of the Sea’ exhibition at the museum in
London, Wednesday, March, 25, 2015.
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This Feb. 26, 2015 photo shows meat being cooked on a tableside Korean barbecue grill at Gaonnuri restaurant in New York. Gaonnuri is located on the 39th floor in
the penthouse of a building on West 32nd Street, known as Korea Way.
“Denpasar, Badung and Tabanan are still the major con-tributor to the economic growth of Bali,” said Dewi during the Roadshow on the Dissemination of Results of the Regional Financial Economic Studies (KEKR) for the Province of Bali in the fourth quarter of 2014.
She went on to say that the highest economic growth oc-curred in Denpasar with a rate of 6.77 percent, followed by Badung (6.75 percent) and Tabanan (6.35 percent). The tourism and hotel and restaurant (PHR) sector provides major contribu-tions, especially in Badung and Denpasar.
“Inflation in Bali, for early 2015 showed a decreasing trend in the past two months with deflation reaching -0.21 percent on the island,” said Setyowati.
She also expressed the Bank of Indonesia’s appreciation of the Bali Inflation Control Team (TPID) which worked to control inflation. One method used was market value operations and encouraging a low price for rice, while the price of rice soared in many places.
Head of the Bali Logistics Agency (Bulog), Wayan Budita, admitted that the market operations held at 42 locations over the past month have had significant impacts. A total of 98 tons of rice have been distributed to the poor in need, which also inspires a gradual decrease of the price of rice in the market. “This morning (Saturday—Ed) the rice price has dropped to IDR 8,900 per kg,” said Budita.
This year, the Bali Logistics Agancy also allocated rice for the poor (raskin) amounting to 2,278 tons per month to 712 villages in Bali. (kmb32)
TABANAN - Strengthening of the US dollar against the exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah has apparently not had a positive impact on the price of Pupuan mangosteen -one of the export commodities from Ta-banan. The price of mangosteen dubbed ‘the Queen of Fruit’ dropped at the level of farmers. The price drop on the Asian mar-ket made the Pupuan mangosteen business sluggish.
Suardika, Chief of the Na-tional Farmers Contact (KTNA) of Pupuan, who is himself a mangosteen farmer, revealed that the slumping price of mangosteen started happening last month. At the same time there has been the strengthening of the US dollar that should affect the export price for the better. But in reality, the price of mangosteen in Pupuan has not gone up but has declined, rang-ing from IDR 2,200 per kg for standard quality, to IDR 3,000 per kg for superior quality. Accord-ing to Suardika, declining prices hit Pupuan farmers first. Usually
farmers can profit by selling man-gosteen for export. “Last year, farmers were able to benefit from selling their their mangosteen for the export market,” he said.
By comparing figures from 2014 to figures for 2015, we see that there is a big difference in the selling price of mangosteen at harvest. Last year, farmers were selling their mangosteen for IDR 10,000 per kg. “Although it was the harvest season and the fruit’s price was at its lowest point, the harvest price didn’t go below IDR 10,000 per kg,” said Suardika.
The low selling price this year means mangosteen farmers are suffering great losses as they cannot even cover their harvest-ing costs. According to Suardika, to harvest one kg of mangosteen, farmers have to pay IDR 1,000. So, with present prices, farmers in Pupuan are reluctant to bother harvesting their mangosteen crops. Suardika could not con-firm the exact cause of the drop in price for mangosteen. “Why the price drops I do not know
IBP/Net
Inflation in Bali, for early 2015 showed a decreasing trend in the past two months with deflation reach-ing -0.21 percent. One method used to control inflation was market value operations and encouraging a low price for rice, while the price of rice soared in many places.
IBP/Net
Strengthening of the US dollar against the exchange rate of rupiah apparently does not have a positive impact on man-gosteen of Pupuan that becomes one of the export commodi-ties in Tabanan. The price of fruit dubbed as the Queen of Fruit drops at the level of farmers.
Bali’s economy grew 6.72 percent during 2014
DENPASAR - Chief Representative of the of Bank Indonesia for the Province of Bali, Dewi Setyowati, said that Bali’s economy is still stronger than the national average. Bali’s economy grew 6.72 percent in 2014, compared to the national growth rate of 6.69 percent.
Price of Pupuan mangosteen slumps in export market for sure. We even have a quite high demand, but farmers in Pupuan cannot afford to harvest
their crops under present market conditions,” explained Suardika. (kmb24)
International4 Monday, March 30, 2015 Monday, March 30, 2015 13InternationalBali News
Undeterred by heavy rain, tens of thousands of people lined a 15-kilometer (9-mile) route through the city to catch a glimpse of the funeral cortege. Lee’s coffin, draped in Singapore’s red and white flag and protected from the downpour by a glass casing, lay atop a ceremonial gun carriage that was solemnly led past city landmarks from Parlia-ment to a cultural center where the state funeral was held.
Along the way, crowds of people chanted “Lee Kuan Yew,” snapped photos with smartphones and waved Singapore’s flag. Four howitzers were fired in a nearby field, air force fighter jets streaked over the island, with one peeling off in a “missing man” formation, and navy patrol ships blasted horns.
“To those who seek Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s monument, Singa-poreans can reply proudly: Look around you,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in the first of 10 eulogies at the funeral, which was attended by more than 2,000
people, including schoolchildren, Singapore’s elite, world leaders and royalty.
Occasionally drawing tears and laughter, Lee said an important part of his father’s legacy is that “Singapore’s voice is heard and we enjoy far more influence on the international stage than we have any reason to expect.” As the service neared its conclusion, civil defense sirens blared across the island to signal a minute’s silence. The government had asked trains and buses to stand still. People flocked to a crematorium where a private cremation will be held for a final glimpse of the cortege.
During a week of national mourning that began last Monday after Lee’s death at age 91, some 450,000 people lined up for hours to briefly view the statesman’s cof-fin at Parliament House. A million people visited tribute sites at com-munity centers around the city.
The expansive show of emotion is a rare event for Singapore and
its 5.5 million people. The island nation, about four times the size of Washington, D.C., is known around the world as a wealthy trade and finance center with a strict social order that includes a ban on chewing gum and caning for some crimes.
Lee was Singapore’s prime min-ister for more than three decades, ruling with an iron grip until 1990. He is regarded by Singaporeans as the architect of their nation’s prosperity and harmonious relations among ethnic Chinese, Malay and Indian populations. But his authori-tarian rule and crushing of dissent has also left a legacy of restrictions on free speech, a tame media and a stunted democracy.
“He did everything for us Singa-poreans regardless of race, language or religion,” said Jennie Yeo, a teacher who arrived at 7 a.m. to stake out front row positions with two friends. “Education, housing, everything you can think of, he’s taken care of for us.”(ap)
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran may accept new con-straints to its uranium enrichment program at nuclear talks but is pushing back on how long it must accept limits on technology it could use to make nuclear arms, Western officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The officials spoke less than four days ahead of Tuesday’s target date for a preliminary agreement. That accord is meant to set the stage for a further round of negotiations toward a comprehensive deal aimed at imposing long-term curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
Foreign ministers and other representatives of Iran and the six powers it is negotiating with have said that despite significant obstacles, the talks have a chance of succeeding by Tuesday. The two officials demanded anonymity in exchange for out-lining the state of the talks because they are not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The sides are advancing on limits to aspects of Iran’s uranium enrichment program — which can be used to make the core of a nuclear warhead, they said. Iran over the past weeks moved from demanding it be allowed to keep 10,000 centrifuges en-riching uranium, to agreeing to 6,000. The officials said Sunday that it now may be ready to accept even less.
Tehran also is ready to ship out all of the enriched uranium it produces to Russia — a change from previous demands that it be allowed to keep a small amount in stock, the officials said. One of them however cautioned that Iran had previously agreed to this but changed its mind.
Uranium enrichment has been the key concern in over more than a decade of international attempts to cap Iran’s nuclear programs. Tehran says it wants to enrich only for energy, sci-ence, industry and medicine, but many nations fear it could use the technology to make weapons-grade uranium.
The United States and its allies are seeking a deal that stretches the time Iran would need to make a nuclear weapon from the present two to three months to at least a year.
The officials said differences on the length of an agreement remains one of the main disputes. Iran, they say, wants a total lifting of all caps on its activities after 10 years, whereas the U.S. and others at the talks — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — insist on progressive removal after a decade of pervasive limits.
One official said the two sides may give differing interpreta-tions of any deal — the Iranians insisting that they are free to do what they want after 10 years, the others listing areas where restrictions remain. (ap)
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
Pallbearers adjust the national flag of Singapore covering the coffin of the late Lee Kuan Yew during a state funeral held at the University Cultural Center, Sunday, March 29, 2015, in Sin-gapore.
Lee Kuan Yew eulogized at funeral as architect
of SingaporeSINGAPORE — Singaporeans bid farewell to longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew on Sunday
with an elaborate procession and a three-hour state funeral at which his son, the current prime minister, eulogized the statesman and declared that the wealthy city-state he helped build is his monument.AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, left, US Under Secre-tary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, 2nd left, French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, right, and others wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at an hotel in Lausanne Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Officials: Iran nuke talks solving some issues, not others
The enormous potential of bam-boo crafts to become an economi-cally viable option for the villagers has encouraged local residents - es-pecially housewives, to be creative in producing high- quality goods. Thanks to these efforts, many are able to provide for their daily needs. Nevertheless, sales of the craft products still often experiences ups and downs.
The bamboo craft currently de-veloping in this region is the sokasi (offering baskets), trays and cake container. One of the sokasi craft-ers at Bangklet hamlet, Kayubihi village, I Wayan Widiana, said that the sokasi business that he runs is doing quite well.
The high demand for sokasi within the local community means that this craft business has been able to survive. The average monthly turnover reaches as much as IDR 30 million. “The business survives to this day and we still have many consumers” he said.
The sokasi on sale come in a variety of motifs and sizes, includ-ing the floral ornamental style and regular motifs in both gold leaf and regular paint. The price per basket ranges from IDR 30,000 to IDR 200,000, depending on the motif, size and quality of the sokasi, that are all made by lo-cal residents. So far, there are no significant obstacles hindering the production and sale of the sokasi. Widiana explained that there is never a shortage of raw material because the area of Bangklet is rich in bamboo.
He also revealed that this busi-ness, that he has been involved in since 2004, only really faces constraints in terms of marketing,
that cause the ups and downs of the business. Over the last three months, sales have begun to decline however; this business is still grow-ing relatively rapidly. “Our only real constraint is the instability of sales,” he said.
A few sokasi artisans and en-trepreneurs in the area, sometimes have problems regarding capital. However, this has not been expe-rienced by Widiana himself. So far, he has been able to deal with managing the finances of the busi-ness without having to rely on an outside partner. “Fortunately, I have no capital constraints -so far every-thing is okay. The only issue is the ups and downs of sales,” he said.
Similar opinions were also dis-closed by another sokasi craftsman named Ketut Sulatri, from Tangga-han Peken hamlet, Sulahan village, Susut. Until now, the production of different sized sokasi used in wor-ship, has remained stable thanks to her 21 member organization called Sokasi Luh Luwih (SL2). The handicraft products are sold throughout Bali, with most cus-tomers coming from Singaraja and Ubud.
Sulatri’s colleague, Ni Ketut Widiasih, shared these views but added the she has marketed her products overseas to France and Switzerland. Every year they have orders plead through the Sokasi Banten Foundation in Switzerland. Typically the orders are for small 13 cm sized sokasi used as gift boxing and for gandek that resemble a bag. Widiasih never faces problems of capital, because her products are paid for directly and because of the assistance of the cooperative. (kmb45)
SINGARAJA - Some re-searchers and internship students from the Netherlands are inter-ested in observing the interaction of mute students in their daily school setting. Two students named Iris Mosterd and Nicole Welleweerd from the Netherlands have been staying in Bengkala
village for nearly four months, to learn about the culture of the mute in this village.
When interviewed, Monsterd said she was really inspired by the ability and willingness of mute children in Bengkala village to learn just like the other kids. She observed the needs and pro-
cedures of communication using sign language.
“It’s a nice experience because the deaf and mute students in this village can learn together with the other children. I have been at this village for almost four months to learn more about the communication and the lives
of mute children in Bengkala village,” she said on Saturday (Mar. 28).
Nicole meanwhile said that she was deeply impressed by the way these children learn at school. Although constrained by language, the mute students can still receive lessons, which
is quite unique. Despite using simple learning tools l ike a blackboard and special stickers of pictures of sign language, the students can still learn by seeing the image directly. “The children learn vivaciously and they are very friendly with us,” she said. (kmb34)
Dutch guests learn unique teaching system at SDN 2 BengkalaIBP/Sosiawan
The bamboo crafster is working in her house
Sales of sokasi go through ups
and downsBANGLI - Kayubihi village is not only famous for its sustain-
able customs such as the prohibition on local residents selling their land to residents from outside Kayubihi village. The village is also well-known as a center for bamboo craftsmen.
Bali News Monday, March 30, 2015 5InternationalMonday, March 30, 201512 International
BUSINESS
CAN THO, Vietnam - Rice farmer Nguyen Hien Thien is so busy grow-ing his crops that he has never even visited Can Tho, a town only a few miles from his farm in the southern Mekong Delta.
“When I was a child, we grew one crop of rice per year -- now it’s three. It’s a lot of work,” 60-year-old Thien, who has been farming since he was a child, told AFP on the edge of his small paddy field.
Experts say Vietnam’s drive to become one of the world’s leading rice exporters is pushing farmers in the fertile delta region to the brink, with mounting costs to the environment.
The communist country is already the world’s second largest exporter of the staple grain. But intensive rice cultivation, particularly the shift to producing three crops per year, is taking its toll on farmers and the ecosystem.
“Politicians want to be the world’s number one or two rice exporter. As a scientist, I want to see more being done to protect farmers and the envi-ronment,” said Vietnamese rice expert Vo Tong Xuan.
A major famine in 1945 and food shortages in the post-war years led to the government adopting a “rice first” policy. This now generates far more of the crop than needed to feed Vietnam’s 90 million population and has cataly-sed a thriving export industry.
Rice yields have nearly quadrupled since the 1970s, official figures show, thanks to high-yield strains and the construction of a network of dykes that today allow farmers to grow up to three crops per year.
The amount of land under cultiva-tion in the Mekong Delta has also expanded and quotas are in place to prevent farmers from switching to other crops. But experts are question-ing who really benefits.
According to Xuan, farmers don’t reap the rewards of the three crop sys-tem -- the rice is low quality and they spend more on pesticides and fertilis-
ers, which become less effective year by year. He argues the delta would be better off if farmers cultivated a more diverse range of crops, from coconuts to prawns, with just the most suitable land used to grow rice.
The country should consider aban-doning the third crop and focus on improving quality and branding to sell Vietnamese rice at higher prices, he said. Currently, the bulk of Vietnam’s rice is exported at cut-price costs on government-to-government contracts through large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like the Southern Food Corpo-ration, known as Vinafood 2.
“Over the last five years, the trend is towards lower-quality rice,” ad-mitted Le Huu Trang, deputy office manager at the firm.
Some argue that such SOEs have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo as they earn lucrative kick-backs from the huge contracts.
But even as salt water intrusion, drought and flooding increase in the delta -- to say nothing of agricultural chemical pollution -- it is also hard to convince farmers to change.
“The prevailing mindset is to grow three crops... we have to explain two crops is better,” said Nguyen Tuan Hiep from the Co Do Agriculture company. Over the last 20 years, Co Do -- which is state-run but a flag-ship model of how the industry could evolve -- has identified the best rice-growing land in the delta and helped farmers expand their farms.
They now work with 2,500 fami-lies on 5,900 hectares (14,600 acres) of land, enough for each family to make a living -- typically the average rice farm in the delta spans less than one hectare. The firm invests heavily in high-quality seeds and improving irrigation, while also advising farmers on the best chemicals to use.
“Two crops is more sustainable long term -- the soil is not degraded, the environment isn’t polluted, and value of the rice increases,” Hiep said. (afp)
The Control and Operations Divi-sion Head of the Badung Municipal Police, Dewa Nyoman Oka, with permission from the Chief of Sat-pol PP Badung, I Ketut Martha, explained the breakdown of the billboard dismantling that took place in the various subdistricts as follows; Megwi had 23 billboards and 12 ban-ners taken down, Abiansemal had 20 billboards and 7 banners, Kuta had 14 billboards and 4 banners taken
down while in North Kuta, they took down 6 billboards and 6 banners, and 12 billboards and 7 banners were dismantled in South Kuta and Petang subdistrict had 7 billboards and 8 banners taken down.
“In total there was a total of 142 signs that were taken down last Saturday: 85 billboards, 50 banners and seven pamphlets,” he specified.
The regulation enforcement
personnel are scheduled to continue combing the streets for Nyepi sig-nage until Saturday (Mar. 28). The Nyepi signs that are still up now -in-cluding large sized ones, are those that have escaped the monitoring of the officers but many owners of these signs have already been con-tacted by the dismantling team.
“We have contacted the owners asking them to take down their own billboards and banners. The dead-
line for dismantling should have fallen on Thursday, but we have extended the deadline slightly to give time to contact those respon-sible,” he said.
According to Martha, if the owners of the Nyepi billboards or banners of Nyepi do not heed our warnings the Municipal Police will not hesitate to take firm action. “Yes ... if they do not take their own signs, we will hire laborers to dismantle them,” he said.
The Badung Municipal Police, had restricted the installation of billboards with Nyepi greetings until
three days after the celebration in order to avoid chaotic appearances.
Decisive action will be taken to forcibly dismantle the outdated billboards if the owners do not do so themselves. A number of municipal police personnel are also on standby for security.
“With the judiciary team we have dismantled a number of bill-boards along the South Kuta, Kuta and then combed the whole length of the highway all the way to the toll road,” said the Chief of the Badung Municipal Police, I Ketut Martha. (kmb27)
DENPASAR - The on-going Festival of India in Indonesia - which began on the historic date of 26 January on India’s Republic Day and would run till June 2015 - with the slogan ‘Sahabat India’, seeks to strengthen and deepen people-to-people connectivity be-tween the two civilizational coun-tries, which are youthful nations, emerging economies, democratic countries with pluralistic societies. The Festival focuses not only on showcasing the rich cultural heri-tage of India but also in promoting enhanced flow of tourists from Indonesia to India and vice versa, with the aim of connecting the friendly people of both countries.
Inspired by the grand vision and huge participation and appreciation of the Festival of India, the captains of the tourism industry in India, comprising more than 500 members of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), decided to lend their support and hold its annual India Travel Congress 2015 and exposi-tion for three days on 26-28 March 2015 in the island of Bali, the tour-ism gateway of Indonesia.
TAAI, one of the largest and oldest travel associations in India since 1951, is keen to substantially enhance two-way tourism between India and Indonesia. With this objective, TAAI decided to hold its 62nd Annual Convention and Exhibition in Bali, gateway of tourism to Indonesia.
The Indian Travel Congress 2015 provides greater impetus and synergy to the efforts by the Embassy of India in Jakarta and its Consulates in Bali and Medan to connect Indonesian youth and members of all other walks of life in this archipelagic nation with India, in celebration of their more than 2,000-year old steadfast and loyal friendship and brotherhood.
The Ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, His Excellency Mr. Gurjit Singh, vis-ited the India Travel Trade Expo
and interacted with its participants. He spoke with the visiting Indian travel agents and addressed the Indian media, elaborating on the imperative need for increasing the tourism flow between the two countries while bridging the gap between Indian in-bound travelers into Indonesia and Indonesian out-bound to India.
Later, during the Namaste India welcoming dinner, Ambassador Gurjit Singh complimented the TAAI in bringing the event to Bali and elaborated on the efforts made by the Indian side in sensi-tizing all tourism stakeholders in both the countries on concerted efforts necessitated to strengthen and enlarge the people-to-people connectivity. While noting that the absence of direct flights may be a somewhat hindering factor for increased tourists exchanges, the Ambassador stated that all regula-tory framework and approvals are in place for the airlines to fly to each other’s country and the con-cerned airlines are now expected to proceed ahead and finalize their business plans.
The Ambassador narrated, in greater detail, the concerted ef-forts made by the Embassy and its Consulates in Indonesia to carry India to every corner of this archipelagic nation through the ‘Sahabat India’ Festival and other related initiatives. He apprised the audience on the extensive use of social media in promoting Sahabat India Festival, while highlighting the pivotal contributions made by the Indonesian celebrities and bloggers, among others, in deepen-ing our brotherly ties.
The Namaste India dinner event was attended by Ibu Esthy Reko Astuti, Director General for Tour-ism Marketing, Tjokorda Gede Putra Sukawati (Cok Putra) and Cokorda Ngurah Suyadnya (Cok Wah) from Puri Ubud, Consul General of India in Bali, A.S. Takhi, besides the travel and tour
operators, hoteliers & others from India and Indonesia.
The Indian Travel Congress was inaugurated on 26 March 2015 by the Vice Governor of the Province of Bali, His Excellency Mr. I Ketut Sudikerta, along with Dr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, Chairman, Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) as well as the Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Ho-tels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) and the Consul General of India in Bali, A.S. Takhi.
The The Vice Governor un-derlined the close historical & cultural ties between India and Bali in particular and welcomed the members of TAAI while ap-preciating their role in enhancing
tourism exchanges with Indone-sia. He lauded the efforts and the outreach activities, including the on-going Sahabat India Festival, of the Consulate General of India in Bali, in reinforcing brotherly ties between Indian and Balinese people. He expressed their keen-ness to develop sister-city/state relations with India, focusing par-ticularly in the fields of tourism/spirituality as well as agriculture/agro-food processing industry.
Noting that the current level of tourists flow between the two countries is much less than its potential, the Consul General exhorted the tourism stakehold-ers from both India and Indonesia to exchange information and
ideas and work closely with each other to attract tourists to visit each other’s country. He invited more Indonesians to visit and explore the contemporary India. He also spoke on the recent initiatives of the Government of India, including those pertaining to promotion of ancient art of Yoga and Ayurverda as well as upcoming International Yoga Day on June 21.
Earlier, the Consul General inaugurated the India Travel Trade Expo at the Bali International Con-vention Centre in Nusa Dua, which is being participated by nearly 50 local travel agents, hotels, spa centres, restaurants, tourist attrac-tions, airlines, travel insurance companies and others. (r)
Nyepi Billboards and banners dismantledMANGUPURA - Although it has been slow, the Badung Municipal Police (Satpol PP) have
finally dismantles hundreds of “happy Nyepi” billboards installed on main roads by groups, organizations and customary village youth clubs, across six subdisctricts.
IBP/Courtesy of India Consulate
Annual India Travel Congress 2015 and exposition held for three days on 26-28 March 2015 in the island of Bali, the tourism gateway of Indonesia.
Festival of India in Indonesia promotes, strengthens bilateral tourism
China and 20 other countries signed a memorandum of under-standing last October to establish the Beijing-headquartered US$50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) bank.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia have also announced plans to join, despite scepticism about the AIIB in Washington and Tokyo.
South Korea on Thursday became the latest country with close ties to the US to say it would also seek membership.
“Good progress has been made on the bank’s design, governance and transparency over the past few months, but we still have issues that we will address through ongoing consultations,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Treasurer Joe Hockey and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said
in a joint statement.“Key matters to be resolved before
Australia considers joining the AIIB include the bank’s board of directors having authority over key investment decisions, and that no one country control the bank.”
The government said it would sign a memorandum of understanding which will allow Australia to take part in negotiations as a prospec-tive founding member to set up the bank.
The ministers added that the AIIB “has the potential to play a valuable role in addressing infrastructure needs and boosting economic growth in the region with potential benefits for Australia”.
The new multinational lender is seen as a threat to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank,
two institutions under strong US influence.
The United States has voiced concern about whether the bank would meet international governance, environmental and social standards, with President Barack Obama’s administration waging an intense but low-profile lobbying campaign against the new institution.
China’s President Xi Jinping said on Saturday his nation’s new Asian investment schemes, including the AIIB, were not meant to displace ex-isting regional programmes, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China is expected to foot the bulk of the initial money needed to get the bank started, with donations from other members set to increase the size of the overall fund to more than US$100 billion. (afp)
WASHINGTON — Federal Re-serve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that continued improvement in the U.S. economy means an increase in the Fed’s key interest rate could come later this year.
But Yellen stressed that any rate in-creases would likely be very gradual.
The Fed has kept its benchmark rate at a record low near zero for more than six years. Yellen said in a speech in San Francisco that the time to start
raising the rate could occur “sometime this year,” though she said the time hasn’t yet arrived.
In her speech, Yellen said that the Fed’s first move would depend on how the economy performs. She said that when the Fed does start raising rates, policymakers expect the increases to be “rather gradual” for the next few years.
Yellen said Japan’s experience over the past 20 years argues for a cautious approach. Over that time, Japan has
struggled with anemic economic growth as well as deflation — a period of falling prices that’s been hard for its policymakers to overcome.
Yellen said a key reason for a gradual approach to higher rates is that the danger of raising them too fast is greater than the risk of doing so too slowly. If the Fed were to tighten loan rates too quickly, the economy could stall and, with rates still relatively low, the Fed would have little room
to cut them. But she did say that tak-ing a “gradualist approach” to raising rates carries its own risks. One is the possibility that it might undermine the Fed’s credibility as an inflation fighter and could risk instability in financial markets by allowing an excessive buildup in borrowing.
“At this point, the evidence indi-cates that such vulnerabilities do not pose a significant threat, but the (Fed) is carefully monitoring developments
in this area,” she said.Yellen’s comments offered an
elaboration on signals the Fed sent after its latest policy meeting last week. It said then that it was content to move slowly to raise rates because it wanted to see further improvement in the job market and an increase in inflation levels.
Inflation recently has fallen further below the Fed’s 2 percent target for annual price increases. (ap)
Yellen: A rate increase may be warranted later this year
Vietnam rice boom heaping pressure on farmers, environment
AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
A family member walks by a board showing foreign currencies in front of the head office of the Korea Exchange Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 27, 2015. Following South Korea steps, Australia announced Sunday it will join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB.
Australia moves towards joining China-led bank
SYDNEY - Australia said Sunday it will sign an agreement to become a prospective founding member of a China-backed infrastructure bank, but stressed that no one nation should control the institution.
Monday, March 30, 2015 Monday, March 30, 2015 6 11International International
INDONESIAW RLD
JAKARTA - Celebrating National Film Day which falls on Monday, OLX Indone-sia in cooperation with the Indonesian Film Society and also KPFIJ (Indonesian Old Movie Lovers Community) held #Biosko-pKlasik. This event is an appreciation from OLX to Indonesian films fans to better ap-preciate the work of national artists.
According to CMO OLX Indonesia, Alif
Priyono, this activity is a form of apprecia-tion to the national cinema. “The quality of our old films is unquestionable, although not as sophisticated technology used today. We greatly appreciate the work of national art-ists and would like to invite all community and movie lovers to gather together in the event #BioskopKlasik,” said Alif.
The event itself is a series of Filartc 2015
Many are migrant workers aban-doned by their boat captains after the government passed a moratorium on foreign fishing five months ago, ac-cording to the International Organiza-tion for Migration, which released the figure Friday. However, others have been trapped on the islands for years, after being dumped by fishing boats or escaping into the jungle.
“This is the worst moment in our life right now,” one former slave told the AP, which is not releasing the names of the men for their safety. “It is even worse than being in hell. We have to work every day to survive. ... There is no hope for us anymore.”
The AP reported earlier this week that slaves — some of them beaten and locked in cages — are forced to fish, and their catch ends up in the supply chains of American supermarkets and
restaurants. The migration agency said Friday that the report follows several years of close work with Indonesian authorities to rescue hundreds of fisherman identified as victims of trafficking.
Many of the stranded are men from Myanmar who went to neighboring Thailand in search of work. They were taken by boat to Indonesia, which has some of the world’s richest fishing grounds. Others left behind on the islands are Cambodian and a few from the poorer parts of Thailand.
Steve Hamilton, IOM’s deputy chief of mission in Indonesia, said for every man they’ve already rescued, many more now need help. With the fishing ban, boats have docked or fled, ditching their crews. “It is reasonable to expect many are victims of traffick-ing, if not outright slavery,” he said.
About a quarter of the men are in Benjina, a town that straddles two islands in the Maluku chain, accord-ing to an Indonesian official who recently visited the area. These men, some abandoned five, 10, even 20 years ago, load and unload fish off boats for food and pocket money, or cut and sell logs in the forest of sur-rounding areas.
When the AP showed up, asking the men to share their stories, only a few emerged at first out of fear. Then, more and more filtered in, until a group of around 30 formed. “Our body is here but our mind is at home,” one dockworker said. “If it was possible to walk back home, we would do it right away.”
Another wiped tears as he spoke, his voice quivering.
“Our lives have no more value than
JAKARTA - Twitter chief Dick Costolo said Thursday the microblogging site planned to work with Indonesian authori-ties to warn people about natural disasters that regularly hit the archipelago, from earthquakes to volcanic eruptions.
During a visit to Jakarta, where Twitter opened an office this month, Costolo told reporters that he and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had discussions about “government and Twitter working together in times of emergency to make sure in events like flooding, that people can be alerted right away”.
He also hailed Indonesia as “one of our largest growth op-portunities”.
Information Technology Minister Rudiantara, who goes by one name, said he planned to discuss the possibility of using Twitter to warn people about natural disasters at a meeting with Costolo later Thursday.
Rudiantara was previously cited on state-run news agency Antara as saying that he wants Twitter to come up with disaster information systems that could provide regular updates in the event of emergencies.
Twitter is hugely popular in social media-crazy Indonesia, with 13.6 million users in 2014, according to data from online ad researcher eMarketer. The group predicts that the number of users will rise to 32 million by 2018.
Indonesia is meanwhile one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world.
It sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. It is also hit by severe flooding in the months-long rainy season that forces many people out of their homes.
Twitter also opened an office in Hong Kong earlier this month, despite the San Francisco-based service being banned in mainland China. (afp)
Twitter chief vows to help Indonesia fight disasters
About 4,000 fishermen stranded on Indonesian islandsJAKARTA — The number of foreign fishermen stranded on several remote eastern Indone-
sian islands has spiraled to 4,000, including some revealed in an Associated Press investigation to have been enslaved.
a dog,” he said, adding no one cared if they lived or died.
The moratorium was declared by Indonesia’s new Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti to determine which ships are not properly licensed and crack down on illegal foreign boats. Poaching drains billions of dollars from the country, and Pudjiastuti said Friday that stamping it out is key to addressing labor abuses. She added she was horrified knowing fishermen are being enslaved in her country.
“We are not letting this happen,” she said. “In the past, it’s been a normal practice. Not now. I’m not allowing it.”
The Indonesian government has pledged to take legal measures to ad-dress what is happening in Benjina and other islands. Thai Prime Minister Pr-ayuth Chan-ocha also acknowledged the AP story and said his government was stepping up efforts to prosecute those responsible.
The U.S. State Department last
year blacklisted Thailand for its han-dling of labor abuses, putting it on par with countries including North Korea and Iran. The Thai government says it is cleaning up the problem and has laid out a plan, including new laws that mandate wages, sick leave and shifts of no more than 14 hours.
In the meantime, Ngwe Thein, 42, is one of the thousands of men who are waiting. Thein has been living on an island near Benjina for three years, after being forced to work long hours on a fishing trawler with inadequate food and little or no pay.
He said he left Myanmar, other-wise known as Burma, eight years ago when his country was still under military rule. He did not know about the political and economic changes that began sweeping his country in 2011 or that the oppressive and brutal junta was gone. He asked if Nobel prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest. (ap)
IBP/Courtesy of OLX
Celebrating National Film Day which falls on Monday, OLX Indonesia in cooperation with the Indonesian Film Society and also KPFIJ (In-donesian Old Movie Lovers Community) held #BioskopKlasik. This event is an appreciation from OLX to Indonesian films fans to better appreciate the work of national artists.
National Film Day BioskopKlasik held for movie lovers
(Film and Art Celebration) which was held for three consecutive days at the Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, begun on Friday, March 27th.
In these events, not only films are shown each day, but there were also performances of music, dance, talent and exciting game.
OLX known as online classified ads urge people to supporting the Indonesian film industry, with the support of the event #Bio-skopKlasik. Alif expected it could foster public awareness of home-grown films.
“We hope that the presence of an event like this can make our society to love Indo-nesia film and also can find new seedlings in the film industry. We support this event and also to support the community to continue to grow, not only the community of movie lovers, but other communities in Indonesia,” added Alif.
Chairman of the committee #Bioskop-Klasik, Suyoto Ahmadi, appreciate OLX step. “This is a concrete support from OLX to community. Hopefully OLX can continue to provide support for communi-ties,” he said.
The same expression also revealed by Yessy Gusman. The actress said #Bioskop-Klasik is the real form to support Indonesian film maker. Fans and lover of Indonesian film can view and discuss the old and classic movies created by Indonesian film maker. (kmb18)
Chaieb is believed a prominent militant in al-Qaida’s North African arm, and suspected of leading or helping lead the March 18 attack on the National Bardo Museum. Twenty-two people, mainly foreign-ers, and two gunmen were killed in the March 18 attack on the National Bardo Museum.
French President Francois Hol-lande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and several foreign ministers and legislators from other countries are joining an anti-terrorism ceremony in Tunis after the march. The Tunisian
government called on all major politi-cal parties to join the march from the seat of government at Bab Es-Saadoun to the museum.
The international visitors are show-ing solidarity with Tunisia, whose fragile new democracy was deeply shaken by the museum attack, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
Tunisian protesters unleashed re-volts across the region known as the Arab Spring, and Tunisia is the only country to have built a democratic system as a result.
Authorities are struggling with scattered extremist violence linked to various radical Islamic groups, largely linked to neighboring countries Alge-ria or Libya.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Aroui said Sunday that nine suspected “terrorists” were killed when security forces clashed with the suspects in the southwest region of Sidi Aich, near the Algerian border. He said several extremists were wounded in another clash in the northwest region of Kef, as part of security operations around the country ahead of the march. (ap)
ABUJA, Nigeria — Voting in Nigeria’s elections continued in cer-tain areas on Sunday after technical problems prevented some people from casting their ballots on Saturday. More than 40 people were killed in election-related violence Saturday, though millions were able to cast ballots in a presidential election that analysts say is too close to call.
Voting was extended in about 300 of the country’s 150,000 polling sta-tions, including some areas of Lagos, Nigeria’s megacity of 20 million on the Atlantic coast, according to the country’s electoral commission. The extended voting was necessary because new voting equipment failed to confirm voters’ identities. A second day of voting That
Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, and scared hundreds of people from poll-ing stations in the northeastern Nigeria. In electoral violence elsewhere, three people including a soldier were shot and killed in southern Rivers state and police said two car bombs exploded at polling stations in the southeast but no one was injured.
Nearly 60 million Nigerians have cards to vote and for the first time there is a possibility that a challenger can defeat a sitting president in the high-stakes contest to govern Africa’s richest and most populous nation.
The front-runners among 14 can-didates are President Goodluck Jona-than, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and former military dictator
Muhammadu Buhari, 72, from the predominantly Muslim north.
Voters also are electing 360 legisla-tors to the House of Assembly, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan’s party. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers, electoral officials said.
Nigeria’s political landscape was transformed two years ago when the main opposition parties formed a coalition and for the first time united behind one candidate, Buhari. Dozens of legislators defected from Jonathan’s party.
Even the president was affected by the technical hitches on Saturday. Three newly imported card readers failed to recognize the fingerprints of Jonathan and his wife. Biometric cards and readers are being used for the first time to discourage the kind of fraud that has marred previous votes.
Afterward, Jonathan wiped sweat from his brow and urged people to be patient as he had been, telling Chan-nels TV: “I appeal to all Nigerians to be patient no matter the pains it takes as long as if, as a nation, we can conduct free and fair elections that the whole world will accept.”
Most Nigerians exercised extraor-dinary restraint, waiting hours in heat that rose to 100 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) in some places. Many re-mained for more hours after voting ended to witness the ballot count, determined to do their part to try to keep the elections honest. (ap)
CONAKRY, Guinea — In a re-newed effort to eradicate Ebola, Guinea’s president announced new restrictions on burials and warned of possible lockdowns in the country’s western region. In an address on state television Saturday night, President Alpha Conde lamented that vigilance had flagged in the fight against Ebola and said emergency steps would be
“reinforced” in five districts: Fore-cariah Coyah, Dubreka, Boffa and Kindia.
“I regret to note that there is an increasing abandon ... of the precau-tions necessary to save the lives of our people,” Conde said. West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people since it began more than a year ago. Most of the dead are
from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Libe-ria. The outbreak began in Guinea, where more than 2,200 people have died, according to the World Health Organization. A nationwide health emergency was declared last August.
There were 45 new cases in Guinea in the latest weekly report. During the 45-day period, all burials in the affected areas will need to be secured
by Red Cross or security forces, and all dead bodies will be systematically tested, Conde said. Mourning ceremo-nies will be restricted to close family. The president also said lockdown measures could be implemented as needed, though he did not provide specifics.
Neighboring Sierra Leone was expected to end its second three-day
lockdown on Sunday, an effort of-ficials said could help the country get “total control” over Ebola.
Residents of southwest Guinea have complained that a large influx of Sierra Leoneans crossed the border to evade the lockdown, prompting Guinea to deploy police to the region to secure the area and stave off vio-lence. (ap)
AP Photo/Hassene Dridi
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo museum are evacuated in Tunis, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Tunis, Tunisia. Gunmen opened fire at a leading museum in Tunisia’s capital, killing 19 people including 17 tourists, the Tunisian Prime Minister said.
Leading suspect in Tunisia museum attack killed
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia’s prime minister said Sunday a leading suspect in a deadly museum attack on foreign tourists has been killed in anti-terrorist operations, as tens of thousands of Tunisians marched through the capital to denounce extremist violence. State news agency TAP cites Prime Minister Habib Essid as saying that Khaled Chaieb, also known as Abou Sakhr Lokman, was killed overnight in an operation in the Gafsa region near the Algerian border.
AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Nigerian election officials tally the ballots received from polling stations in Kaduna, Nigeria Sunday, March 29, 2015. Nigerians are going to the polls to vote in presidential elections.
Nigerians continue voting after violence, technical hitches
Guinea president reinforces emergency Ebola measures
Monday, March 30, 2015 7SportsMonday, March 30, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination
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GIANYAR - Alas Tiyingan (bamboo forest) is the name given to the natural tourist attraction lo-cated at Tiyingan hamlet, Bukihan village, Payangan subdistrict, Gi-anyar. Despite its name, this forest that spreads over an area of about
20 hectares is not entirely made up of bamboo. In fatc it is mostly made up of rare plants that are used in ceremonies and upakara for the Hindu community in Bali.
The forest, which is interspersed with village settlements, has a very
cool micro-cimate. In the east are Subak Lebah and Ulapan villages, in the west is Ulapan hamlet and in the south is the Tangkup hamlet. The forest is full of springs. Other than being overgrown with large plants, the forest also retains an old bathing place and a pool. Bukihan village is about 32 km from Den-pasar, 12 km from Ubud and 20 km from the town of Gianyar.
The land of Alas Tiyingan is
owned by Payangan Palace, which was used by the royal family as a place to relax. In addition to be filled with rare plants, the forest area is also filled with logs that can be used to sit on.
Although it has not been de-signed as a tourist attraction, many foreign travelers from various countries have walked in this forest. Travelers are cycling tours often drop by the forest area. Some trav-
elers stroll through the forest, while others just admire it from afar. Visi-tors are accompanied by tour guides or sometimes by travel agents.
Bukihan village, said one entre-preneur, is often used as a cycling or trekking route by travel agencies. Guests start off in Kintamani and go through Bukihan village to the town of Payangan. Today there is the added option of horseback rid-ing around the village.
Alas Tiyingan
IBP/kmb
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Kemba Walker scored 21 points and the Charlotte Hornets beat an Atlanta Hawks team missing all five starters, 115-100 in the NBA on Saturday night. Gerald Hender-son scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and Mo Williams hit four 3-pointers and had 18 points as the Hornets ended its three-game los-ing streak.
Marvin Williams chipped in with 17 points for Charlotte, which moved back within a game of eighth place in the tight Eastern Conference. Kent Bazemore scored 20 points and Dennis Schroder had 17 points and 11 assists for the Hawks, who sat all five starters one night after clinching the top seed in the East playoffs.
DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver, Al Horford and Paul Millsap were given a night to rest, while Jeff Teague sat out with a sprained ankle for Atlanta. Bazemore, Mike Mus-cala, John Jenkins and Elton Brand started alongside Schroder.
The Hornets built a 57-52 half-time lead behind 10 points off the bench from rookie P.J. Hairston, who was 4 of 4 from the field be-fore the break, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Charlotte pushed the lead to 14 behind nine points from Walker in the third quarter, including scores on three straight possessions, and kept Atlanta from making a mean-
ingful run in the fourth to win for only the third time in the last 11 games. Nikola Mirotic scored 24 points, Pau Gasol added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls handed the Knicks their fran-chise-record 60th loss, beating New York 111-80.
The rookie Mirotic had another strong game, finishing five points shy of his career high. Gasol re-corded his league-leading 48th double-double as Chicago won for the fifth time in six games. Jimmy Butler scored 18 for Chicago.
The Bulls, who led by 20 at half-time, fell four points short of their most lopsided victory of the season. They pulled within two games of Central Division leader Cleveland and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of fourth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference. Andrea Bargnani led New York with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Stephen Curry scored 25 points, and the Golden State Warriors clinched the top seed in the Western Conference by pulling away in the second half of a 108-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Klay Thompson added 21 for Golden State, which also set a fran-chise record with its 60th victory of the season. The Warriors hold a 10-game lead over second-place Memphis in the West with nine games left in the regular season. (ap)
It proved to be the wrong call for the world champion team as neither Hamilton nor Rosberg had the pace, tyre longevity or enough laps to catch and pass Vettel in the final stint. It was Ferrari’s first victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, and Vettel’s first since that year’s season finale in Brazil. Hamilton retained the championship lead on 43 points, with Vettel three points adrift and Rosberg, who finished third, seven further back.
After a dominant performance from Mercedes in Australia, F1 received a massive boost as Fer-rari provided a sterner challenge to the reigning world champion team. Vettel held onto second at the start, behind Hamilton, and chose to stay out when the safety car was called into action follow-ing Marcus Ericsson’s spin into the Turn 1 gravel on lap four, while Hamilton and Rosberg, in third, pitted for hards.
Vettel pitted at the end of lap 17 and fitted the medium tyres before chasing down and passing both Rosberg and Hamilton on their older rubber.
The Mercedes had needed to fight back through traffic as several midfield cars followed Vettel’s strat-egy and Rosberg was delayed in the pits queuing behind Hamilton. Mercedes then split strategies when it pitted Hamilton and Rosberg for the second time, with Hamilton taking the mediums and Rosberg the hards.
Vettel only made his final pit-stops with 14 laps to go after a long middle stint, taking on the hards and crucially rejoining ahead of Rosberg in second. The Ferrari driver then regained the lead when Hamilton pitted and had hard tyres fitted a lap later.
The world champion was unhap-py with the choice, with the Briton saying on team radio: “This is the
wrong tyre, man,” but being told Mercedes only had used mediums as an alternative. While Mercedes assured him that he would be in a position to catch and pass Vettel for the win, it soon became clear that that wasn’t the case, with Hamilton unable to close on Vettel.
Kimi Raikkonen recovered to a strong fourth in the second Ferrari having dropped to the back of the field following a puncture sustained in contact with Felipe Nasr’s Sauber on the first lap.
Valtteri Bottas passed Williams team-mate Felipe Massa with a bril-liant late move around the outside at Turn 5 to finish fifth, with the duo followed by Max Verstappen, who passed Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz late on.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, who recovered from a spin having made contact with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, completed the top 10.
Action Images via Reuters / Hoch Zwei Livepic
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the race
Vettel and Ferrari defeat Mercedes
SEbASTIAN VETTEL ended his and Ferrari’s Formula 1 win droughts as he beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to victory in a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The German chose to stay out during an early safety car period and assumed the lead. Vettel then made a two-stop strategy work while Mercedes did three stops with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
AP Photo/Chuck Burton
Charlotte Hornets’ Jeff Taylor, left, loses the ball as he drives against Atlanta Hawks’ Elton Brand, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Hornets beat Hawks backups 115-100
98 InternationalMonday, March 30, 2015 International Monday, March 30, 2015
Sp rt
Although Croatia ripped their rivals apart with crisp passing and slick movement after Brozovic struck on the half-hour, Kovac scorned them for a lack of guile in the first half. “It’s a great result but I am not entirely satisfied because we were not aggres-sive enough in the first half,” he told Croatia’s state HRT television.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan, pulled out of 50-50 tackles too often and lacked discipline. “We still have a lot of work to do and beating Italy in our next (qualifying) game will require a higher level.” The result, which stretched Croatia’s unbeaten home record in Euro qualifiers to 29 matches, left the home side top with 13 points from five games, three more than second-placed Italy who were playing Bulgaria in Sofia later on Saturday.
Kovac fielded his favourite 4-3-2-1
formation with Brozovic, who re-placed injured Inter Milan team mate Mateo Kovacic, enjoying a superb afternoon.
The 22-year-old central midfielder pulled the strings alongside playmaker Luka Modric and came close in the 20th minute, when Norway goal-keeper Orjan Nyland tipped over his rasping shot from outside the penalty box.
CURLING SHOT
However, Nyland was powerless when Modric exchanged a lovely one-two with Perisic before passing to Olic who teed up Brozovic with the latter unleashing a curling shot from 25 metres. Norway’s 16-year-old forward Martin Odegaard, who became the youngest player to start a Euro qualifier, made little impact
in the opening period with the visi-tors reduced to sporadic raids down either flank.
Perisic doubled the lead in the 54th minute with a scorching low shot from the edge of the penalty area after carving out space thanks to a dazzling exchange with Ivan Rakitic. The Croatians continued to press forward relentlessly and Olic bundled in the third from close range midway through the second half after a deep cross from the left.
Tarik Elyounoussi missed a penalty for the visitors several minutes before Croatia had central defender Vedran Corluka sent off for hauling down the Norway striker who was through on goal.
The Norwegians briefly took advantage with midfielder Tettey pull-ing one back with a crisp finish from inside the penalty area after a flowing
HAIFA, Israel - Gareth Bale forgot all about his recent troubles at Real Madrid when scoring twice in a superb Wales victory over Is-rael on Saturday that kept them on course for next year’s Euro 2016 finals in France. The 3-0 win, which lifted Wales to the top of qualifying Group B, was not just down to the world’s most expensive footballer but he certainly had a lot to do with it with a typically energetic and dynamic performance.
It was exactly the sort of display that persuaded Real to buy him from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record fee of 85.3 million pounds ($126.88 million) in August 2013 and provided convincing evidence there is little wrong with his game -- no matter what some Real fans think. Despite his decisive goal in last season’s Champions League fi-nal when Real beat Atletico Madrid in Lisbon and his significant part in three other trophies in his first 18 months in Madrid, some Real fans have it in for the 25-year-old.
They have made Bale the scape-goat for Real’s recent lack of form, aiming punches and kicks at his car as he left training with thousands calling for him to be dropped after last week’s defeat to Barcelona in
La Liga.The unrest at Real has prompted
headlines back in England, where he started at Southampton before moving to Spurs, speculating that he could be on his way back to the Premier League with Manchester United who are reportedly inter-ested in signing him.
Bale has largely remained above the debate, which to most outsiders, seems utterly illogical, and he gave the Spanish detractors plenty to think about with the way he played in Haifa.
He helped set up the first Welsh goal with a cushioned header which allowed Aaron Ramsey to head home. He then scored the second with a direct free-kick and nailed the points by sweeping home their third. “We were buzzing in the second half, and we showed what a good team we are,” he told Sky Sports afterwards.
Unlike Real Madrid, Wales have not gorged on endless success over the decades, but they do have a re-alistic chance of reaching their first finals since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Even if they were to fail, one thing seems certain: the Welsh will not turn on Bale like some Madrid fans have done. (rtr)
MILAN - Italy hope the focus will again turn to football after a
turbulent 48 hours in Bulgaria that had coach Antonio Con-
te reportedly contem-plating resignation.
W h i l e
the I tal ians gained an important Euro 2016 qualifying point from Saturday’s 2-2 draw in Sofia, the result was almost an afterthought compared to the row which blew up over an injury to Claudio Marchisio and fresh debate about the use of foreign-born players.
Conte, who is still unbeaten since taking over after the World Cup, hit his first obstacle in February when a planned train-ing camp had to be postponed because clubs would not agree to release players. But that was nothing compared to the crisis that erupted on Friday after the Italian federation (FIGC) an-nounced Juventus midfielder
Marchisio had suffered a knee injury in training.
Conte was reported to have received death threats via the Internet from angry fans who blamed his training methods for the injury which was
initially believed to have ruled
Marchisio out for the rest of the season.
Marchisio was sent home to Turin where further examina-tions led Juventus to announce that he could be back in action within days. By a twist of fate, Italy’s next match is against England at the Juventus sta-dium. “I think the controversy around Marchisio was basically invented, because Conte’s train-ing sessions are absolutely nor-mal,” defender Andrea Barzagli, another Juventus player, told Italian media.
“Claudio’s injury could have
happened at any point in time.” He did not think Conte will face a hostile reception at Juventus. “I expect a relaxed atmosphere. We must remember the past and I am certain the coach will be welcomed in the best way,” he said. Juventus team mate and de-fender Giorgio Chiellini appealed for support.
“We hope to get an enthusi-astic reception in Turin and the appeal I make to everyone is to think of the common good and that of Italian football, which at club level is returning to a high level,” he told RAI. “This is the moment to give support to the national side.”
Italy’s late equaliser on Satur-day was scored by Brazilian-born debutant Eder, who became the latest foreign-born player of Ital-ian heritage to play for the four-times world champions.
“The controversy surrounding foreign-born players is point-less,” the 28-year-old told RAI, responding to suggestions he chose Italy after being over-looked by Brazil. “This shirt is not a second choice.” (rtr)
WASHINGTON — Ever Banega scored on a deflected shot, Federico Man-cuello added a late goal and Argentina beat El Salvador 2-0 in a friendly match Saturday.
Argentina was lackluster without its star Lionel Messi, who stayed on the bench with a bruise on his right foot. The Barcelona star took a knock last Sunday in the Spanish league ‘clasico’ against Real Madrid, and missed several training ses-sions this week with the national team.
Messi had tests done on Tuesday, which revealed no serious injury. Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said he decided to not play Messi after a practice Friday, in which the striker was still showing lingering pain.
“If the player is not ready, there is not a
need to put him at risk,” Mart ino sa id . B a n e g a scored with a 54th m i n u t e shot that deflected o f f d e -fender Nestor Ren- d e r o s and beat goalkeeper D e r b y Carrillo. Mancuello s e a l e d the win with a free- k i c k from a tight angle in the 88th.
Martino started Carlos Tevez for the f i r s t time since taking over the team last year, but the Juventus forward was ineffective in attack with Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria. Argentina faces Ecuador on Tuesday at New Jersey, in its last warm-up match before Copa America in June. (ap)
PODGORICA - A 25-year old Montenegro fan suspected of hitting Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev on the head with a flare during Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier has turned himself in, Mon-tenegrin police said on Saturday.
“The fan, whose initials are L.L and had been sought by the Podgorica security centre since (Friday) evening, turned himself in (on Saturday) at 17.45 local time (15.45 GMT) accompanied by his defence counselor,” the Montenegrin interior ministry said on its official website (www.mup.gov.me).
“L.L has been suspected of throwing a flare in the first minute of the soccer match between Montenegro and Russia, hitting the Russian goalkeeper in the back of his neck. “He was identified last night on the basis of video footage of the event.”
The match was abandoned midway through the second half after a second outburst of vio-lence, when a still unidentified fan hit Russia midfielder Dmitri Kombarov with a missile
from the terraces following a scuffle among the players.
Akinfeev was wheeled off the pitch on a stretcher and taken to hospital after the flare inci-dent which forced a 33-minute delay as German referee Deniz Aytekin ordered the players back into the dressing rooms. More trouble erupted at halftime when rivals fans clashed and forced an 18-minute delay to the start of the second half.
Despite repeated warnings by the stadium announcer that the match would be abandoned if there was any more crowd trouble, the game was abandoned amid chaotic scenes in the Mon-tenegrin capital.
Soccer’s European governing body UEFA said it would wait to receive reports from the match delegate and referee before opening dis-ciplinary proceedings.
Montenegro and Russia are level on five points from four games in Group G behind lead-ers Austria who have 13 points from five games and Sweden who are on nine from five. (rtr)
Argentina, without Messi, beats El Salvador 2-0
Italy hope to put Bulgaria turbulence behind them
REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Eder of Italy (L) celebrates his goal against Bulgaria with coach Antonio Conte (R) during their Euro 2016 qualifying soccer match in Sofia March 28, 2015.
Action Images via Reuters / Matthew Childs
Wales’ Gareth Bale in action
Bale forgets about Real woes as Wales set course for finalsREUTERS/Antonio Bronic
Marcelo Brozovic of Croatia celebrates his goal against
Norway during their Euro 2016 qualifying soccer
match in Zagreb March 28, 2015.
Croatia rout Norway 5-1 but Kovac wants more
ZAGREB - Croatia edged towards the Euro 2016 finals with a 5-1 home win over Norway in their Group H qualifier on Saturday but coach Niko Kovac was still not totally happy with the performance. Midfielder Marcelo Brozovic fired the hosts ahead in the first half while Ivan Perisic, Ivica Olic, Gordon Schildenfeld and Danijel Pranjic scored after the break, with Alexander Tettey netting a consolation for the visitors.
attack down the right.But any Norway hopes of a come-
back were extinguished when Croatia moved up a gear as central defender Schildenfeld and left back Pranjic scored in the dying minutes.
Schildenfeld headed home a corner at the near post before Pranjic blasted in a deflected shot from 10 metres after Nyland had parried his initial attempt.
“It was a difficult opening 25 minutes but in the second half we showed that we’re the best team in the group,” said Pranjic. “We will continue to take it one step at a time, although this result is a big step towards next year’s tournament in France.” (rtr)
Flare-throwing Montenegro fan turns himself in say police
98 InternationalMonday, March 30, 2015 International Monday, March 30, 2015
Sp rt
Although Croatia ripped their rivals apart with crisp passing and slick movement after Brozovic struck on the half-hour, Kovac scorned them for a lack of guile in the first half. “It’s a great result but I am not entirely satisfied because we were not aggres-sive enough in the first half,” he told Croatia’s state HRT television.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan, pulled out of 50-50 tackles too often and lacked discipline. “We still have a lot of work to do and beating Italy in our next (qualifying) game will require a higher level.” The result, which stretched Croatia’s unbeaten home record in Euro qualifiers to 29 matches, left the home side top with 13 points from five games, three more than second-placed Italy who were playing Bulgaria in Sofia later on Saturday.
Kovac fielded his favourite 4-3-2-1
formation with Brozovic, who re-placed injured Inter Milan team mate Mateo Kovacic, enjoying a superb afternoon.
The 22-year-old central midfielder pulled the strings alongside playmaker Luka Modric and came close in the 20th minute, when Norway goal-keeper Orjan Nyland tipped over his rasping shot from outside the penalty box.
CURLING SHOT
However, Nyland was powerless when Modric exchanged a lovely one-two with Perisic before passing to Olic who teed up Brozovic with the latter unleashing a curling shot from 25 metres. Norway’s 16-year-old forward Martin Odegaard, who became the youngest player to start a Euro qualifier, made little impact
in the opening period with the visi-tors reduced to sporadic raids down either flank.
Perisic doubled the lead in the 54th minute with a scorching low shot from the edge of the penalty area after carving out space thanks to a dazzling exchange with Ivan Rakitic. The Croatians continued to press forward relentlessly and Olic bundled in the third from close range midway through the second half after a deep cross from the left.
Tarik Elyounoussi missed a penalty for the visitors several minutes before Croatia had central defender Vedran Corluka sent off for hauling down the Norway striker who was through on goal.
The Norwegians briefly took advantage with midfielder Tettey pull-ing one back with a crisp finish from inside the penalty area after a flowing
HAIFA, Israel - Gareth Bale forgot all about his recent troubles at Real Madrid when scoring twice in a superb Wales victory over Is-rael on Saturday that kept them on course for next year’s Euro 2016 finals in France. The 3-0 win, which lifted Wales to the top of qualifying Group B, was not just down to the world’s most expensive footballer but he certainly had a lot to do with it with a typically energetic and dynamic performance.
It was exactly the sort of display that persuaded Real to buy him from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record fee of 85.3 million pounds ($126.88 million) in August 2013 and provided convincing evidence there is little wrong with his game -- no matter what some Real fans think. Despite his decisive goal in last season’s Champions League fi-nal when Real beat Atletico Madrid in Lisbon and his significant part in three other trophies in his first 18 months in Madrid, some Real fans have it in for the 25-year-old.
They have made Bale the scape-goat for Real’s recent lack of form, aiming punches and kicks at his car as he left training with thousands calling for him to be dropped after last week’s defeat to Barcelona in
La Liga.The unrest at Real has prompted
headlines back in England, where he started at Southampton before moving to Spurs, speculating that he could be on his way back to the Premier League with Manchester United who are reportedly inter-ested in signing him.
Bale has largely remained above the debate, which to most outsiders, seems utterly illogical, and he gave the Spanish detractors plenty to think about with the way he played in Haifa.
He helped set up the first Welsh goal with a cushioned header which allowed Aaron Ramsey to head home. He then scored the second with a direct free-kick and nailed the points by sweeping home their third. “We were buzzing in the second half, and we showed what a good team we are,” he told Sky Sports afterwards.
Unlike Real Madrid, Wales have not gorged on endless success over the decades, but they do have a re-alistic chance of reaching their first finals since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Even if they were to fail, one thing seems certain: the Welsh will not turn on Bale like some Madrid fans have done. (rtr)
MILAN - Italy hope the focus will again turn to football after a
turbulent 48 hours in Bulgaria that had coach Antonio Con-
te reportedly contem-plating resignation.
W h i l e
the I tal ians gained an important Euro 2016 qualifying point from Saturday’s 2-2 draw in Sofia, the result was almost an afterthought compared to the row which blew up over an injury to Claudio Marchisio and fresh debate about the use of foreign-born players.
Conte, who is still unbeaten since taking over after the World Cup, hit his first obstacle in February when a planned train-ing camp had to be postponed because clubs would not agree to release players. But that was nothing compared to the crisis that erupted on Friday after the Italian federation (FIGC) an-nounced Juventus midfielder
Marchisio had suffered a knee injury in training.
Conte was reported to have received death threats via the Internet from angry fans who blamed his training methods for the injury which was
initially believed to have ruled
Marchisio out for the rest of the season.
Marchisio was sent home to Turin where further examina-tions led Juventus to announce that he could be back in action within days. By a twist of fate, Italy’s next match is against England at the Juventus sta-dium. “I think the controversy around Marchisio was basically invented, because Conte’s train-ing sessions are absolutely nor-mal,” defender Andrea Barzagli, another Juventus player, told Italian media.
“Claudio’s injury could have
happened at any point in time.” He did not think Conte will face a hostile reception at Juventus. “I expect a relaxed atmosphere. We must remember the past and I am certain the coach will be welcomed in the best way,” he said. Juventus team mate and de-fender Giorgio Chiellini appealed for support.
“We hope to get an enthusi-astic reception in Turin and the appeal I make to everyone is to think of the common good and that of Italian football, which at club level is returning to a high level,” he told RAI. “This is the moment to give support to the national side.”
Italy’s late equaliser on Satur-day was scored by Brazilian-born debutant Eder, who became the latest foreign-born player of Ital-ian heritage to play for the four-times world champions.
“The controversy surrounding foreign-born players is point-less,” the 28-year-old told RAI, responding to suggestions he chose Italy after being over-looked by Brazil. “This shirt is not a second choice.” (rtr)
WASHINGTON — Ever Banega scored on a deflected shot, Federico Man-cuello added a late goal and Argentina beat El Salvador 2-0 in a friendly match Saturday.
Argentina was lackluster without its star Lionel Messi, who stayed on the bench with a bruise on his right foot. The Barcelona star took a knock last Sunday in the Spanish league ‘clasico’ against Real Madrid, and missed several training ses-sions this week with the national team.
Messi had tests done on Tuesday, which revealed no serious injury. Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said he decided to not play Messi after a practice Friday, in which the striker was still showing lingering pain.
“If the player is not ready, there is not a
need to put him at risk,” Mart ino sa id . B a n e g a scored with a 54th m i n u t e shot that deflected o f f d e -fender Nestor Ren- d e r o s and beat goalkeeper D e r b y Carrillo. Mancuello s e a l e d the win with a free- k i c k from a tight angle in the 88th.
Martino started Carlos Tevez for the f i r s t time since taking over the team last year, but the Juventus forward was ineffective in attack with Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria. Argentina faces Ecuador on Tuesday at New Jersey, in its last warm-up match before Copa America in June. (ap)
PODGORICA - A 25-year old Montenegro fan suspected of hitting Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev on the head with a flare during Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier has turned himself in, Mon-tenegrin police said on Saturday.
“The fan, whose initials are L.L and had been sought by the Podgorica security centre since (Friday) evening, turned himself in (on Saturday) at 17.45 local time (15.45 GMT) accompanied by his defence counselor,” the Montenegrin interior ministry said on its official website (www.mup.gov.me).
“L.L has been suspected of throwing a flare in the first minute of the soccer match between Montenegro and Russia, hitting the Russian goalkeeper in the back of his neck. “He was identified last night on the basis of video footage of the event.”
The match was abandoned midway through the second half after a second outburst of vio-lence, when a still unidentified fan hit Russia midfielder Dmitri Kombarov with a missile
from the terraces following a scuffle among the players.
Akinfeev was wheeled off the pitch on a stretcher and taken to hospital after the flare inci-dent which forced a 33-minute delay as German referee Deniz Aytekin ordered the players back into the dressing rooms. More trouble erupted at halftime when rivals fans clashed and forced an 18-minute delay to the start of the second half.
Despite repeated warnings by the stadium announcer that the match would be abandoned if there was any more crowd trouble, the game was abandoned amid chaotic scenes in the Mon-tenegrin capital.
Soccer’s European governing body UEFA said it would wait to receive reports from the match delegate and referee before opening dis-ciplinary proceedings.
Montenegro and Russia are level on five points from four games in Group G behind lead-ers Austria who have 13 points from five games and Sweden who are on nine from five. (rtr)
Argentina, without Messi, beats El Salvador 2-0
Italy hope to put Bulgaria turbulence behind them
REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Eder of Italy (L) celebrates his goal against Bulgaria with coach Antonio Conte (R) during their Euro 2016 qualifying soccer match in Sofia March 28, 2015.
Action Images via Reuters / Matthew Childs
Wales’ Gareth Bale in action
Bale forgets about Real woes as Wales set course for finalsREUTERS/Antonio Bronic
Marcelo Brozovic of Croatia celebrates his goal against
Norway during their Euro 2016 qualifying soccer
match in Zagreb March 28, 2015.
Croatia rout Norway 5-1 but Kovac wants more
ZAGREB - Croatia edged towards the Euro 2016 finals with a 5-1 home win over Norway in their Group H qualifier on Saturday but coach Niko Kovac was still not totally happy with the performance. Midfielder Marcelo Brozovic fired the hosts ahead in the first half while Ivan Perisic, Ivica Olic, Gordon Schildenfeld and Danijel Pranjic scored after the break, with Alexander Tettey netting a consolation for the visitors.
attack down the right.But any Norway hopes of a come-
back were extinguished when Croatia moved up a gear as central defender Schildenfeld and left back Pranjic scored in the dying minutes.
Schildenfeld headed home a corner at the near post before Pranjic blasted in a deflected shot from 10 metres after Nyland had parried his initial attempt.
“It was a difficult opening 25 minutes but in the second half we showed that we’re the best team in the group,” said Pranjic. “We will continue to take it one step at a time, although this result is a big step towards next year’s tournament in France.” (rtr)
Flare-throwing Montenegro fan turns himself in say police
Monday, March 30, 2015 7SportsMonday, March 30, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination
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GIANYAR - Alas Tiyingan (bamboo forest) is the name given to the natural tourist attraction lo-cated at Tiyingan hamlet, Bukihan village, Payangan subdistrict, Gi-anyar. Despite its name, this forest that spreads over an area of about
20 hectares is not entirely made up of bamboo. In fatc it is mostly made up of rare plants that are used in ceremonies and upakara for the Hindu community in Bali.
The forest, which is interspersed with village settlements, has a very
cool micro-cimate. In the east are Subak Lebah and Ulapan villages, in the west is Ulapan hamlet and in the south is the Tangkup hamlet. The forest is full of springs. Other than being overgrown with large plants, the forest also retains an old bathing place and a pool. Bukihan village is about 32 km from Den-pasar, 12 km from Ubud and 20 km from the town of Gianyar.
The land of Alas Tiyingan is
owned by Payangan Palace, which was used by the royal family as a place to relax. In addition to be filled with rare plants, the forest area is also filled with logs that can be used to sit on.
Although it has not been de-signed as a tourist attraction, many foreign travelers from various countries have walked in this forest. Travelers are cycling tours often drop by the forest area. Some trav-
elers stroll through the forest, while others just admire it from afar. Visi-tors are accompanied by tour guides or sometimes by travel agents.
Bukihan village, said one entre-preneur, is often used as a cycling or trekking route by travel agencies. Guests start off in Kintamani and go through Bukihan village to the town of Payangan. Today there is the added option of horseback rid-ing around the village.
Alas Tiyingan
IBP/kmb
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Kemba Walker scored 21 points and the Charlotte Hornets beat an Atlanta Hawks team missing all five starters, 115-100 in the NBA on Saturday night. Gerald Hender-son scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and Mo Williams hit four 3-pointers and had 18 points as the Hornets ended its three-game los-ing streak.
Marvin Williams chipped in with 17 points for Charlotte, which moved back within a game of eighth place in the tight Eastern Conference. Kent Bazemore scored 20 points and Dennis Schroder had 17 points and 11 assists for the Hawks, who sat all five starters one night after clinching the top seed in the East playoffs.
DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver, Al Horford and Paul Millsap were given a night to rest, while Jeff Teague sat out with a sprained ankle for Atlanta. Bazemore, Mike Mus-cala, John Jenkins and Elton Brand started alongside Schroder.
The Hornets built a 57-52 half-time lead behind 10 points off the bench from rookie P.J. Hairston, who was 4 of 4 from the field be-fore the break, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Charlotte pushed the lead to 14 behind nine points from Walker in the third quarter, including scores on three straight possessions, and kept Atlanta from making a mean-
ingful run in the fourth to win for only the third time in the last 11 games. Nikola Mirotic scored 24 points, Pau Gasol added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls handed the Knicks their fran-chise-record 60th loss, beating New York 111-80.
The rookie Mirotic had another strong game, finishing five points shy of his career high. Gasol re-corded his league-leading 48th double-double as Chicago won for the fifth time in six games. Jimmy Butler scored 18 for Chicago.
The Bulls, who led by 20 at half-time, fell four points short of their most lopsided victory of the season. They pulled within two games of Central Division leader Cleveland and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of fourth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference. Andrea Bargnani led New York with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Stephen Curry scored 25 points, and the Golden State Warriors clinched the top seed in the Western Conference by pulling away in the second half of a 108-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Klay Thompson added 21 for Golden State, which also set a fran-chise record with its 60th victory of the season. The Warriors hold a 10-game lead over second-place Memphis in the West with nine games left in the regular season. (ap)
It proved to be the wrong call for the world champion team as neither Hamilton nor Rosberg had the pace, tyre longevity or enough laps to catch and pass Vettel in the final stint. It was Ferrari’s first victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, and Vettel’s first since that year’s season finale in Brazil. Hamilton retained the championship lead on 43 points, with Vettel three points adrift and Rosberg, who finished third, seven further back.
After a dominant performance from Mercedes in Australia, F1 received a massive boost as Fer-rari provided a sterner challenge to the reigning world champion team. Vettel held onto second at the start, behind Hamilton, and chose to stay out when the safety car was called into action follow-ing Marcus Ericsson’s spin into the Turn 1 gravel on lap four, while Hamilton and Rosberg, in third, pitted for hards.
Vettel pitted at the end of lap 17 and fitted the medium tyres before chasing down and passing both Rosberg and Hamilton on their older rubber.
The Mercedes had needed to fight back through traffic as several midfield cars followed Vettel’s strat-egy and Rosberg was delayed in the pits queuing behind Hamilton. Mercedes then split strategies when it pitted Hamilton and Rosberg for the second time, with Hamilton taking the mediums and Rosberg the hards.
Vettel only made his final pit-stops with 14 laps to go after a long middle stint, taking on the hards and crucially rejoining ahead of Rosberg in second. The Ferrari driver then regained the lead when Hamilton pitted and had hard tyres fitted a lap later.
The world champion was unhap-py with the choice, with the Briton saying on team radio: “This is the
wrong tyre, man,” but being told Mercedes only had used mediums as an alternative. While Mercedes assured him that he would be in a position to catch and pass Vettel for the win, it soon became clear that that wasn’t the case, with Hamilton unable to close on Vettel.
Kimi Raikkonen recovered to a strong fourth in the second Ferrari having dropped to the back of the field following a puncture sustained in contact with Felipe Nasr’s Sauber on the first lap.
Valtteri Bottas passed Williams team-mate Felipe Massa with a bril-liant late move around the outside at Turn 5 to finish fifth, with the duo followed by Max Verstappen, who passed Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz late on.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, who recovered from a spin having made contact with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, completed the top 10.
Action Images via Reuters / Hoch Zwei Livepic
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the race
Vettel and Ferrari defeat Mercedes
SEbASTIAN VETTEL ended his and Ferrari’s Formula 1 win droughts as he beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to victory in a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The German chose to stay out during an early safety car period and assumed the lead. Vettel then made a two-stop strategy work while Mercedes did three stops with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
AP Photo/Chuck Burton
Charlotte Hornets’ Jeff Taylor, left, loses the ball as he drives against Atlanta Hawks’ Elton Brand, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Hornets beat Hawks backups 115-100
Monday, March 30, 2015 Monday, March 30, 2015 6 11International International
INDONESIAW RLD
JAKARTA - Celebrating National Film Day which falls on Monday, OLX Indone-sia in cooperation with the Indonesian Film Society and also KPFIJ (Indonesian Old Movie Lovers Community) held #Biosko-pKlasik. This event is an appreciation from OLX to Indonesian films fans to better ap-preciate the work of national artists.
According to CMO OLX Indonesia, Alif
Priyono, this activity is a form of apprecia-tion to the national cinema. “The quality of our old films is unquestionable, although not as sophisticated technology used today. We greatly appreciate the work of national art-ists and would like to invite all community and movie lovers to gather together in the event #BioskopKlasik,” said Alif.
The event itself is a series of Filartc 2015
Many are migrant workers aban-doned by their boat captains after the government passed a moratorium on foreign fishing five months ago, ac-cording to the International Organiza-tion for Migration, which released the figure Friday. However, others have been trapped on the islands for years, after being dumped by fishing boats or escaping into the jungle.
“This is the worst moment in our life right now,” one former slave told the AP, which is not releasing the names of the men for their safety. “It is even worse than being in hell. We have to work every day to survive. ... There is no hope for us anymore.”
The AP reported earlier this week that slaves — some of them beaten and locked in cages — are forced to fish, and their catch ends up in the supply chains of American supermarkets and
restaurants. The migration agency said Friday that the report follows several years of close work with Indonesian authorities to rescue hundreds of fisherman identified as victims of trafficking.
Many of the stranded are men from Myanmar who went to neighboring Thailand in search of work. They were taken by boat to Indonesia, which has some of the world’s richest fishing grounds. Others left behind on the islands are Cambodian and a few from the poorer parts of Thailand.
Steve Hamilton, IOM’s deputy chief of mission in Indonesia, said for every man they’ve already rescued, many more now need help. With the fishing ban, boats have docked or fled, ditching their crews. “It is reasonable to expect many are victims of traffick-ing, if not outright slavery,” he said.
About a quarter of the men are in Benjina, a town that straddles two islands in the Maluku chain, accord-ing to an Indonesian official who recently visited the area. These men, some abandoned five, 10, even 20 years ago, load and unload fish off boats for food and pocket money, or cut and sell logs in the forest of sur-rounding areas.
When the AP showed up, asking the men to share their stories, only a few emerged at first out of fear. Then, more and more filtered in, until a group of around 30 formed. “Our body is here but our mind is at home,” one dockworker said. “If it was possible to walk back home, we would do it right away.”
Another wiped tears as he spoke, his voice quivering.
“Our lives have no more value than
JAKARTA - Twitter chief Dick Costolo said Thursday the microblogging site planned to work with Indonesian authori-ties to warn people about natural disasters that regularly hit the archipelago, from earthquakes to volcanic eruptions.
During a visit to Jakarta, where Twitter opened an office this month, Costolo told reporters that he and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had discussions about “government and Twitter working together in times of emergency to make sure in events like flooding, that people can be alerted right away”.
He also hailed Indonesia as “one of our largest growth op-portunities”.
Information Technology Minister Rudiantara, who goes by one name, said he planned to discuss the possibility of using Twitter to warn people about natural disasters at a meeting with Costolo later Thursday.
Rudiantara was previously cited on state-run news agency Antara as saying that he wants Twitter to come up with disaster information systems that could provide regular updates in the event of emergencies.
Twitter is hugely popular in social media-crazy Indonesia, with 13.6 million users in 2014, according to data from online ad researcher eMarketer. The group predicts that the number of users will rise to 32 million by 2018.
Indonesia is meanwhile one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world.
It sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. It is also hit by severe flooding in the months-long rainy season that forces many people out of their homes.
Twitter also opened an office in Hong Kong earlier this month, despite the San Francisco-based service being banned in mainland China. (afp)
Twitter chief vows to help Indonesia fight disasters
About 4,000 fishermen stranded on Indonesian islandsJAKARTA — The number of foreign fishermen stranded on several remote eastern Indone-
sian islands has spiraled to 4,000, including some revealed in an Associated Press investigation to have been enslaved.
a dog,” he said, adding no one cared if they lived or died.
The moratorium was declared by Indonesia’s new Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti to determine which ships are not properly licensed and crack down on illegal foreign boats. Poaching drains billions of dollars from the country, and Pudjiastuti said Friday that stamping it out is key to addressing labor abuses. She added she was horrified knowing fishermen are being enslaved in her country.
“We are not letting this happen,” she said. “In the past, it’s been a normal practice. Not now. I’m not allowing it.”
The Indonesian government has pledged to take legal measures to ad-dress what is happening in Benjina and other islands. Thai Prime Minister Pr-ayuth Chan-ocha also acknowledged the AP story and said his government was stepping up efforts to prosecute those responsible.
The U.S. State Department last
year blacklisted Thailand for its han-dling of labor abuses, putting it on par with countries including North Korea and Iran. The Thai government says it is cleaning up the problem and has laid out a plan, including new laws that mandate wages, sick leave and shifts of no more than 14 hours.
In the meantime, Ngwe Thein, 42, is one of the thousands of men who are waiting. Thein has been living on an island near Benjina for three years, after being forced to work long hours on a fishing trawler with inadequate food and little or no pay.
He said he left Myanmar, other-wise known as Burma, eight years ago when his country was still under military rule. He did not know about the political and economic changes that began sweeping his country in 2011 or that the oppressive and brutal junta was gone. He asked if Nobel prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest. (ap)
IBP/Courtesy of OLX
Celebrating National Film Day which falls on Monday, OLX Indonesia in cooperation with the Indonesian Film Society and also KPFIJ (In-donesian Old Movie Lovers Community) held #BioskopKlasik. This event is an appreciation from OLX to Indonesian films fans to better appreciate the work of national artists.
National Film Day BioskopKlasik held for movie lovers
(Film and Art Celebration) which was held for three consecutive days at the Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, begun on Friday, March 27th.
In these events, not only films are shown each day, but there were also performances of music, dance, talent and exciting game.
OLX known as online classified ads urge people to supporting the Indonesian film industry, with the support of the event #Bio-skopKlasik. Alif expected it could foster public awareness of home-grown films.
“We hope that the presence of an event like this can make our society to love Indo-nesia film and also can find new seedlings in the film industry. We support this event and also to support the community to continue to grow, not only the community of movie lovers, but other communities in Indonesia,” added Alif.
Chairman of the committee #Bioskop-Klasik, Suyoto Ahmadi, appreciate OLX step. “This is a concrete support from OLX to community. Hopefully OLX can continue to provide support for communi-ties,” he said.
The same expression also revealed by Yessy Gusman. The actress said #Bioskop-Klasik is the real form to support Indonesian film maker. Fans and lover of Indonesian film can view and discuss the old and classic movies created by Indonesian film maker. (kmb18)
Chaieb is believed a prominent militant in al-Qaida’s North African arm, and suspected of leading or helping lead the March 18 attack on the National Bardo Museum. Twenty-two people, mainly foreign-ers, and two gunmen were killed in the March 18 attack on the National Bardo Museum.
French President Francois Hol-lande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and several foreign ministers and legislators from other countries are joining an anti-terrorism ceremony in Tunis after the march. The Tunisian
government called on all major politi-cal parties to join the march from the seat of government at Bab Es-Saadoun to the museum.
The international visitors are show-ing solidarity with Tunisia, whose fragile new democracy was deeply shaken by the museum attack, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
Tunisian protesters unleashed re-volts across the region known as the Arab Spring, and Tunisia is the only country to have built a democratic system as a result.
Authorities are struggling with scattered extremist violence linked to various radical Islamic groups, largely linked to neighboring countries Alge-ria or Libya.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Aroui said Sunday that nine suspected “terrorists” were killed when security forces clashed with the suspects in the southwest region of Sidi Aich, near the Algerian border. He said several extremists were wounded in another clash in the northwest region of Kef, as part of security operations around the country ahead of the march. (ap)
ABUJA, Nigeria — Voting in Nigeria’s elections continued in cer-tain areas on Sunday after technical problems prevented some people from casting their ballots on Saturday. More than 40 people were killed in election-related violence Saturday, though millions were able to cast ballots in a presidential election that analysts say is too close to call.
Voting was extended in about 300 of the country’s 150,000 polling sta-tions, including some areas of Lagos, Nigeria’s megacity of 20 million on the Atlantic coast, according to the country’s electoral commission. The extended voting was necessary because new voting equipment failed to confirm voters’ identities. A second day of voting That
Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, and scared hundreds of people from poll-ing stations in the northeastern Nigeria. In electoral violence elsewhere, three people including a soldier were shot and killed in southern Rivers state and police said two car bombs exploded at polling stations in the southeast but no one was injured.
Nearly 60 million Nigerians have cards to vote and for the first time there is a possibility that a challenger can defeat a sitting president in the high-stakes contest to govern Africa’s richest and most populous nation.
The front-runners among 14 can-didates are President Goodluck Jona-than, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and former military dictator
Muhammadu Buhari, 72, from the predominantly Muslim north.
Voters also are electing 360 legisla-tors to the House of Assembly, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan’s party. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers, electoral officials said.
Nigeria’s political landscape was transformed two years ago when the main opposition parties formed a coalition and for the first time united behind one candidate, Buhari. Dozens of legislators defected from Jonathan’s party.
Even the president was affected by the technical hitches on Saturday. Three newly imported card readers failed to recognize the fingerprints of Jonathan and his wife. Biometric cards and readers are being used for the first time to discourage the kind of fraud that has marred previous votes.
Afterward, Jonathan wiped sweat from his brow and urged people to be patient as he had been, telling Chan-nels TV: “I appeal to all Nigerians to be patient no matter the pains it takes as long as if, as a nation, we can conduct free and fair elections that the whole world will accept.”
Most Nigerians exercised extraor-dinary restraint, waiting hours in heat that rose to 100 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) in some places. Many re-mained for more hours after voting ended to witness the ballot count, determined to do their part to try to keep the elections honest. (ap)
CONAKRY, Guinea — In a re-newed effort to eradicate Ebola, Guinea’s president announced new restrictions on burials and warned of possible lockdowns in the country’s western region. In an address on state television Saturday night, President Alpha Conde lamented that vigilance had flagged in the fight against Ebola and said emergency steps would be
“reinforced” in five districts: Fore-cariah Coyah, Dubreka, Boffa and Kindia.
“I regret to note that there is an increasing abandon ... of the precau-tions necessary to save the lives of our people,” Conde said. West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people since it began more than a year ago. Most of the dead are
from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Libe-ria. The outbreak began in Guinea, where more than 2,200 people have died, according to the World Health Organization. A nationwide health emergency was declared last August.
There were 45 new cases in Guinea in the latest weekly report. During the 45-day period, all burials in the affected areas will need to be secured
by Red Cross or security forces, and all dead bodies will be systematically tested, Conde said. Mourning ceremo-nies will be restricted to close family. The president also said lockdown measures could be implemented as needed, though he did not provide specifics.
Neighboring Sierra Leone was expected to end its second three-day
lockdown on Sunday, an effort of-ficials said could help the country get “total control” over Ebola.
Residents of southwest Guinea have complained that a large influx of Sierra Leoneans crossed the border to evade the lockdown, prompting Guinea to deploy police to the region to secure the area and stave off vio-lence. (ap)
AP Photo/Hassene Dridi
Tourists and visitors from the Bardo museum are evacuated in Tunis, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Tunis, Tunisia. Gunmen opened fire at a leading museum in Tunisia’s capital, killing 19 people including 17 tourists, the Tunisian Prime Minister said.
Leading suspect in Tunisia museum attack killed
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia’s prime minister said Sunday a leading suspect in a deadly museum attack on foreign tourists has been killed in anti-terrorist operations, as tens of thousands of Tunisians marched through the capital to denounce extremist violence. State news agency TAP cites Prime Minister Habib Essid as saying that Khaled Chaieb, also known as Abou Sakhr Lokman, was killed overnight in an operation in the Gafsa region near the Algerian border.
AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Nigerian election officials tally the ballots received from polling stations in Kaduna, Nigeria Sunday, March 29, 2015. Nigerians are going to the polls to vote in presidential elections.
Nigerians continue voting after violence, technical hitches
Guinea president reinforces emergency Ebola measures
Bali News Monday, March 30, 2015 5InternationalMonday, March 30, 201512 International
BUSINESS
CAN THO, Vietnam - Rice farmer Nguyen Hien Thien is so busy grow-ing his crops that he has never even visited Can Tho, a town only a few miles from his farm in the southern Mekong Delta.
“When I was a child, we grew one crop of rice per year -- now it’s three. It’s a lot of work,” 60-year-old Thien, who has been farming since he was a child, told AFP on the edge of his small paddy field.
Experts say Vietnam’s drive to become one of the world’s leading rice exporters is pushing farmers in the fertile delta region to the brink, with mounting costs to the environment.
The communist country is already the world’s second largest exporter of the staple grain. But intensive rice cultivation, particularly the shift to producing three crops per year, is taking its toll on farmers and the ecosystem.
“Politicians want to be the world’s number one or two rice exporter. As a scientist, I want to see more being done to protect farmers and the envi-ronment,” said Vietnamese rice expert Vo Tong Xuan.
A major famine in 1945 and food shortages in the post-war years led to the government adopting a “rice first” policy. This now generates far more of the crop than needed to feed Vietnam’s 90 million population and has cataly-sed a thriving export industry.
Rice yields have nearly quadrupled since the 1970s, official figures show, thanks to high-yield strains and the construction of a network of dykes that today allow farmers to grow up to three crops per year.
The amount of land under cultiva-tion in the Mekong Delta has also expanded and quotas are in place to prevent farmers from switching to other crops. But experts are question-ing who really benefits.
According to Xuan, farmers don’t reap the rewards of the three crop sys-tem -- the rice is low quality and they spend more on pesticides and fertilis-
ers, which become less effective year by year. He argues the delta would be better off if farmers cultivated a more diverse range of crops, from coconuts to prawns, with just the most suitable land used to grow rice.
The country should consider aban-doning the third crop and focus on improving quality and branding to sell Vietnamese rice at higher prices, he said. Currently, the bulk of Vietnam’s rice is exported at cut-price costs on government-to-government contracts through large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like the Southern Food Corpo-ration, known as Vinafood 2.
“Over the last five years, the trend is towards lower-quality rice,” ad-mitted Le Huu Trang, deputy office manager at the firm.
Some argue that such SOEs have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo as they earn lucrative kick-backs from the huge contracts.
But even as salt water intrusion, drought and flooding increase in the delta -- to say nothing of agricultural chemical pollution -- it is also hard to convince farmers to change.
“The prevailing mindset is to grow three crops... we have to explain two crops is better,” said Nguyen Tuan Hiep from the Co Do Agriculture company. Over the last 20 years, Co Do -- which is state-run but a flag-ship model of how the industry could evolve -- has identified the best rice-growing land in the delta and helped farmers expand their farms.
They now work with 2,500 fami-lies on 5,900 hectares (14,600 acres) of land, enough for each family to make a living -- typically the average rice farm in the delta spans less than one hectare. The firm invests heavily in high-quality seeds and improving irrigation, while also advising farmers on the best chemicals to use.
“Two crops is more sustainable long term -- the soil is not degraded, the environment isn’t polluted, and value of the rice increases,” Hiep said. (afp)
The Control and Operations Divi-sion Head of the Badung Municipal Police, Dewa Nyoman Oka, with permission from the Chief of Sat-pol PP Badung, I Ketut Martha, explained the breakdown of the billboard dismantling that took place in the various subdistricts as follows; Megwi had 23 billboards and 12 ban-ners taken down, Abiansemal had 20 billboards and 7 banners, Kuta had 14 billboards and 4 banners taken
down while in North Kuta, they took down 6 billboards and 6 banners, and 12 billboards and 7 banners were dismantled in South Kuta and Petang subdistrict had 7 billboards and 8 banners taken down.
“In total there was a total of 142 signs that were taken down last Saturday: 85 billboards, 50 banners and seven pamphlets,” he specified.
The regulation enforcement
personnel are scheduled to continue combing the streets for Nyepi sig-nage until Saturday (Mar. 28). The Nyepi signs that are still up now -in-cluding large sized ones, are those that have escaped the monitoring of the officers but many owners of these signs have already been con-tacted by the dismantling team.
“We have contacted the owners asking them to take down their own billboards and banners. The dead-
line for dismantling should have fallen on Thursday, but we have extended the deadline slightly to give time to contact those respon-sible,” he said.
According to Martha, if the owners of the Nyepi billboards or banners of Nyepi do not heed our warnings the Municipal Police will not hesitate to take firm action. “Yes ... if they do not take their own signs, we will hire laborers to dismantle them,” he said.
The Badung Municipal Police, had restricted the installation of billboards with Nyepi greetings until
three days after the celebration in order to avoid chaotic appearances.
Decisive action will be taken to forcibly dismantle the outdated billboards if the owners do not do so themselves. A number of municipal police personnel are also on standby for security.
“With the judiciary team we have dismantled a number of bill-boards along the South Kuta, Kuta and then combed the whole length of the highway all the way to the toll road,” said the Chief of the Badung Municipal Police, I Ketut Martha. (kmb27)
DENPASAR - The on-going Festival of India in Indonesia - which began on the historic date of 26 January on India’s Republic Day and would run till June 2015 - with the slogan ‘Sahabat India’, seeks to strengthen and deepen people-to-people connectivity be-tween the two civilizational coun-tries, which are youthful nations, emerging economies, democratic countries with pluralistic societies. The Festival focuses not only on showcasing the rich cultural heri-tage of India but also in promoting enhanced flow of tourists from Indonesia to India and vice versa, with the aim of connecting the friendly people of both countries.
Inspired by the grand vision and huge participation and appreciation of the Festival of India, the captains of the tourism industry in India, comprising more than 500 members of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), decided to lend their support and hold its annual India Travel Congress 2015 and exposi-tion for three days on 26-28 March 2015 in the island of Bali, the tour-ism gateway of Indonesia.
TAAI, one of the largest and oldest travel associations in India since 1951, is keen to substantially enhance two-way tourism between India and Indonesia. With this objective, TAAI decided to hold its 62nd Annual Convention and Exhibition in Bali, gateway of tourism to Indonesia.
The Indian Travel Congress 2015 provides greater impetus and synergy to the efforts by the Embassy of India in Jakarta and its Consulates in Bali and Medan to connect Indonesian youth and members of all other walks of life in this archipelagic nation with India, in celebration of their more than 2,000-year old steadfast and loyal friendship and brotherhood.
The Ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, His Excellency Mr. Gurjit Singh, vis-ited the India Travel Trade Expo
and interacted with its participants. He spoke with the visiting Indian travel agents and addressed the Indian media, elaborating on the imperative need for increasing the tourism flow between the two countries while bridging the gap between Indian in-bound travelers into Indonesia and Indonesian out-bound to India.
Later, during the Namaste India welcoming dinner, Ambassador Gurjit Singh complimented the TAAI in bringing the event to Bali and elaborated on the efforts made by the Indian side in sensi-tizing all tourism stakeholders in both the countries on concerted efforts necessitated to strengthen and enlarge the people-to-people connectivity. While noting that the absence of direct flights may be a somewhat hindering factor for increased tourists exchanges, the Ambassador stated that all regula-tory framework and approvals are in place for the airlines to fly to each other’s country and the con-cerned airlines are now expected to proceed ahead and finalize their business plans.
The Ambassador narrated, in greater detail, the concerted ef-forts made by the Embassy and its Consulates in Indonesia to carry India to every corner of this archipelagic nation through the ‘Sahabat India’ Festival and other related initiatives. He apprised the audience on the extensive use of social media in promoting Sahabat India Festival, while highlighting the pivotal contributions made by the Indonesian celebrities and bloggers, among others, in deepen-ing our brotherly ties.
The Namaste India dinner event was attended by Ibu Esthy Reko Astuti, Director General for Tour-ism Marketing, Tjokorda Gede Putra Sukawati (Cok Putra) and Cokorda Ngurah Suyadnya (Cok Wah) from Puri Ubud, Consul General of India in Bali, A.S. Takhi, besides the travel and tour
operators, hoteliers & others from India and Indonesia.
The Indian Travel Congress was inaugurated on 26 March 2015 by the Vice Governor of the Province of Bali, His Excellency Mr. I Ketut Sudikerta, along with Dr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, Chairman, Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) as well as the Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Ho-tels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) and the Consul General of India in Bali, A.S. Takhi.
The The Vice Governor un-derlined the close historical & cultural ties between India and Bali in particular and welcomed the members of TAAI while ap-preciating their role in enhancing
tourism exchanges with Indone-sia. He lauded the efforts and the outreach activities, including the on-going Sahabat India Festival, of the Consulate General of India in Bali, in reinforcing brotherly ties between Indian and Balinese people. He expressed their keen-ness to develop sister-city/state relations with India, focusing par-ticularly in the fields of tourism/spirituality as well as agriculture/agro-food processing industry.
Noting that the current level of tourists flow between the two countries is much less than its potential, the Consul General exhorted the tourism stakehold-ers from both India and Indonesia to exchange information and
ideas and work closely with each other to attract tourists to visit each other’s country. He invited more Indonesians to visit and explore the contemporary India. He also spoke on the recent initiatives of the Government of India, including those pertaining to promotion of ancient art of Yoga and Ayurverda as well as upcoming International Yoga Day on June 21.
Earlier, the Consul General inaugurated the India Travel Trade Expo at the Bali International Con-vention Centre in Nusa Dua, which is being participated by nearly 50 local travel agents, hotels, spa centres, restaurants, tourist attrac-tions, airlines, travel insurance companies and others. (r)
Nyepi Billboards and banners dismantledMANGUPURA - Although it has been slow, the Badung Municipal Police (Satpol PP) have
finally dismantles hundreds of “happy Nyepi” billboards installed on main roads by groups, organizations and customary village youth clubs, across six subdisctricts.
IBP/Courtesy of India Consulate
Annual India Travel Congress 2015 and exposition held for three days on 26-28 March 2015 in the island of Bali, the tourism gateway of Indonesia.
Festival of India in Indonesia promotes, strengthens bilateral tourism
China and 20 other countries signed a memorandum of under-standing last October to establish the Beijing-headquartered US$50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) bank.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia have also announced plans to join, despite scepticism about the AIIB in Washington and Tokyo.
South Korea on Thursday became the latest country with close ties to the US to say it would also seek membership.
“Good progress has been made on the bank’s design, governance and transparency over the past few months, but we still have issues that we will address through ongoing consultations,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Treasurer Joe Hockey and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said
in a joint statement.“Key matters to be resolved before
Australia considers joining the AIIB include the bank’s board of directors having authority over key investment decisions, and that no one country control the bank.”
The government said it would sign a memorandum of understanding which will allow Australia to take part in negotiations as a prospec-tive founding member to set up the bank.
The ministers added that the AIIB “has the potential to play a valuable role in addressing infrastructure needs and boosting economic growth in the region with potential benefits for Australia”.
The new multinational lender is seen as a threat to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank,
two institutions under strong US influence.
The United States has voiced concern about whether the bank would meet international governance, environmental and social standards, with President Barack Obama’s administration waging an intense but low-profile lobbying campaign against the new institution.
China’s President Xi Jinping said on Saturday his nation’s new Asian investment schemes, including the AIIB, were not meant to displace ex-isting regional programmes, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China is expected to foot the bulk of the initial money needed to get the bank started, with donations from other members set to increase the size of the overall fund to more than US$100 billion. (afp)
WASHINGTON — Federal Re-serve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that continued improvement in the U.S. economy means an increase in the Fed’s key interest rate could come later this year.
But Yellen stressed that any rate in-creases would likely be very gradual.
The Fed has kept its benchmark rate at a record low near zero for more than six years. Yellen said in a speech in San Francisco that the time to start
raising the rate could occur “sometime this year,” though she said the time hasn’t yet arrived.
In her speech, Yellen said that the Fed’s first move would depend on how the economy performs. She said that when the Fed does start raising rates, policymakers expect the increases to be “rather gradual” for the next few years.
Yellen said Japan’s experience over the past 20 years argues for a cautious approach. Over that time, Japan has
struggled with anemic economic growth as well as deflation — a period of falling prices that’s been hard for its policymakers to overcome.
Yellen said a key reason for a gradual approach to higher rates is that the danger of raising them too fast is greater than the risk of doing so too slowly. If the Fed were to tighten loan rates too quickly, the economy could stall and, with rates still relatively low, the Fed would have little room
to cut them. But she did say that tak-ing a “gradualist approach” to raising rates carries its own risks. One is the possibility that it might undermine the Fed’s credibility as an inflation fighter and could risk instability in financial markets by allowing an excessive buildup in borrowing.
“At this point, the evidence indi-cates that such vulnerabilities do not pose a significant threat, but the (Fed) is carefully monitoring developments
in this area,” she said.Yellen’s comments offered an
elaboration on signals the Fed sent after its latest policy meeting last week. It said then that it was content to move slowly to raise rates because it wanted to see further improvement in the job market and an increase in inflation levels.
Inflation recently has fallen further below the Fed’s 2 percent target for annual price increases. (ap)
Yellen: A rate increase may be warranted later this year
Vietnam rice boom heaping pressure on farmers, environment
AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon
A family member walks by a board showing foreign currencies in front of the head office of the Korea Exchange Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 27, 2015. Following South Korea steps, Australia announced Sunday it will join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB.
Australia moves towards joining China-led bank
SYDNEY - Australia said Sunday it will sign an agreement to become a prospective founding member of a China-backed infrastructure bank, but stressed that no one nation should control the institution.
International4 Monday, March 30, 2015 Monday, March 30, 2015 13InternationalBali News
Undeterred by heavy rain, tens of thousands of people lined a 15-kilometer (9-mile) route through the city to catch a glimpse of the funeral cortege. Lee’s coffin, draped in Singapore’s red and white flag and protected from the downpour by a glass casing, lay atop a ceremonial gun carriage that was solemnly led past city landmarks from Parlia-ment to a cultural center where the state funeral was held.
Along the way, crowds of people chanted “Lee Kuan Yew,” snapped photos with smartphones and waved Singapore’s flag. Four howitzers were fired in a nearby field, air force fighter jets streaked over the island, with one peeling off in a “missing man” formation, and navy patrol ships blasted horns.
“To those who seek Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s monument, Singa-poreans can reply proudly: Look around you,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in the first of 10 eulogies at the funeral, which was attended by more than 2,000
people, including schoolchildren, Singapore’s elite, world leaders and royalty.
Occasionally drawing tears and laughter, Lee said an important part of his father’s legacy is that “Singapore’s voice is heard and we enjoy far more influence on the international stage than we have any reason to expect.” As the service neared its conclusion, civil defense sirens blared across the island to signal a minute’s silence. The government had asked trains and buses to stand still. People flocked to a crematorium where a private cremation will be held for a final glimpse of the cortege.
During a week of national mourning that began last Monday after Lee’s death at age 91, some 450,000 people lined up for hours to briefly view the statesman’s cof-fin at Parliament House. A million people visited tribute sites at com-munity centers around the city.
The expansive show of emotion is a rare event for Singapore and
its 5.5 million people. The island nation, about four times the size of Washington, D.C., is known around the world as a wealthy trade and finance center with a strict social order that includes a ban on chewing gum and caning for some crimes.
Lee was Singapore’s prime min-ister for more than three decades, ruling with an iron grip until 1990. He is regarded by Singaporeans as the architect of their nation’s prosperity and harmonious relations among ethnic Chinese, Malay and Indian populations. But his authori-tarian rule and crushing of dissent has also left a legacy of restrictions on free speech, a tame media and a stunted democracy.
“He did everything for us Singa-poreans regardless of race, language or religion,” said Jennie Yeo, a teacher who arrived at 7 a.m. to stake out front row positions with two friends. “Education, housing, everything you can think of, he’s taken care of for us.”(ap)
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran may accept new con-straints to its uranium enrichment program at nuclear talks but is pushing back on how long it must accept limits on technology it could use to make nuclear arms, Western officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The officials spoke less than four days ahead of Tuesday’s target date for a preliminary agreement. That accord is meant to set the stage for a further round of negotiations toward a comprehensive deal aimed at imposing long-term curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
Foreign ministers and other representatives of Iran and the six powers it is negotiating with have said that despite significant obstacles, the talks have a chance of succeeding by Tuesday. The two officials demanded anonymity in exchange for out-lining the state of the talks because they are not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The sides are advancing on limits to aspects of Iran’s uranium enrichment program — which can be used to make the core of a nuclear warhead, they said. Iran over the past weeks moved from demanding it be allowed to keep 10,000 centrifuges en-riching uranium, to agreeing to 6,000. The officials said Sunday that it now may be ready to accept even less.
Tehran also is ready to ship out all of the enriched uranium it produces to Russia — a change from previous demands that it be allowed to keep a small amount in stock, the officials said. One of them however cautioned that Iran had previously agreed to this but changed its mind.
Uranium enrichment has been the key concern in over more than a decade of international attempts to cap Iran’s nuclear programs. Tehran says it wants to enrich only for energy, sci-ence, industry and medicine, but many nations fear it could use the technology to make weapons-grade uranium.
The United States and its allies are seeking a deal that stretches the time Iran would need to make a nuclear weapon from the present two to three months to at least a year.
The officials said differences on the length of an agreement remains one of the main disputes. Iran, they say, wants a total lifting of all caps on its activities after 10 years, whereas the U.S. and others at the talks — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — insist on progressive removal after a decade of pervasive limits.
One official said the two sides may give differing interpreta-tions of any deal — the Iranians insisting that they are free to do what they want after 10 years, the others listing areas where restrictions remain. (ap)
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
Pallbearers adjust the national flag of Singapore covering the coffin of the late Lee Kuan Yew during a state funeral held at the University Cultural Center, Sunday, March 29, 2015, in Sin-gapore.
Lee Kuan Yew eulogized at funeral as architect
of SingaporeSINGAPORE — Singaporeans bid farewell to longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew on Sunday
with an elaborate procession and a three-hour state funeral at which his son, the current prime minister, eulogized the statesman and declared that the wealthy city-state he helped build is his monument.AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, left, US Under Secre-tary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, 2nd left, French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, right, and others wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at an hotel in Lausanne Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Officials: Iran nuke talks solving some issues, not others
The enormous potential of bam-boo crafts to become an economi-cally viable option for the villagers has encouraged local residents - es-pecially housewives, to be creative in producing high- quality goods. Thanks to these efforts, many are able to provide for their daily needs. Nevertheless, sales of the craft products still often experiences ups and downs.
The bamboo craft currently de-veloping in this region is the sokasi (offering baskets), trays and cake container. One of the sokasi craft-ers at Bangklet hamlet, Kayubihi village, I Wayan Widiana, said that the sokasi business that he runs is doing quite well.
The high demand for sokasi within the local community means that this craft business has been able to survive. The average monthly turnover reaches as much as IDR 30 million. “The business survives to this day and we still have many consumers” he said.
The sokasi on sale come in a variety of motifs and sizes, includ-ing the floral ornamental style and regular motifs in both gold leaf and regular paint. The price per basket ranges from IDR 30,000 to IDR 200,000, depending on the motif, size and quality of the sokasi, that are all made by lo-cal residents. So far, there are no significant obstacles hindering the production and sale of the sokasi. Widiana explained that there is never a shortage of raw material because the area of Bangklet is rich in bamboo.
He also revealed that this busi-ness, that he has been involved in since 2004, only really faces constraints in terms of marketing,
that cause the ups and downs of the business. Over the last three months, sales have begun to decline however; this business is still grow-ing relatively rapidly. “Our only real constraint is the instability of sales,” he said.
A few sokasi artisans and en-trepreneurs in the area, sometimes have problems regarding capital. However, this has not been expe-rienced by Widiana himself. So far, he has been able to deal with managing the finances of the busi-ness without having to rely on an outside partner. “Fortunately, I have no capital constraints -so far every-thing is okay. The only issue is the ups and downs of sales,” he said.
Similar opinions were also dis-closed by another sokasi craftsman named Ketut Sulatri, from Tangga-han Peken hamlet, Sulahan village, Susut. Until now, the production of different sized sokasi used in wor-ship, has remained stable thanks to her 21 member organization called Sokasi Luh Luwih (SL2). The handicraft products are sold throughout Bali, with most cus-tomers coming from Singaraja and Ubud.
Sulatri’s colleague, Ni Ketut Widiasih, shared these views but added the she has marketed her products overseas to France and Switzerland. Every year they have orders plead through the Sokasi Banten Foundation in Switzerland. Typically the orders are for small 13 cm sized sokasi used as gift boxing and for gandek that resemble a bag. Widiasih never faces problems of capital, because her products are paid for directly and because of the assistance of the cooperative. (kmb45)
SINGARAJA - Some re-searchers and internship students from the Netherlands are inter-ested in observing the interaction of mute students in their daily school setting. Two students named Iris Mosterd and Nicole Welleweerd from the Netherlands have been staying in Bengkala
village for nearly four months, to learn about the culture of the mute in this village.
When interviewed, Monsterd said she was really inspired by the ability and willingness of mute children in Bengkala village to learn just like the other kids. She observed the needs and pro-
cedures of communication using sign language.
“It’s a nice experience because the deaf and mute students in this village can learn together with the other children. I have been at this village for almost four months to learn more about the communication and the lives
of mute children in Bengkala village,” she said on Saturday (Mar. 28).
Nicole meanwhile said that she was deeply impressed by the way these children learn at school. Although constrained by language, the mute students can still receive lessons, which
is quite unique. Despite using simple learning tools l ike a blackboard and special stickers of pictures of sign language, the students can still learn by seeing the image directly. “The children learn vivaciously and they are very friendly with us,” she said. (kmb34)
Dutch guests learn unique teaching system at SDN 2 BengkalaIBP/Sosiawan
The bamboo crafster is working in her house
Sales of sokasi go through ups
and downsBANGLI - Kayubihi village is not only famous for its sustain-
able customs such as the prohibition on local residents selling their land to residents from outside Kayubihi village. The village is also well-known as a center for bamboo craftsmen.
3Monday, March 30, 2015 14 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTraveling Monday, March 30, 2015
But for something a little offbeat, or a fun outing with colleagues, con-sider an evening on Manhattan’s Ko-rea Way, also known as Koreatown or K-town, just steps from the Herald Square shopping district and Macy’s on 34th Street. The main drag, 32nd Street between Fifth and Broadway, is lined with Korean restaurants and karaoke bars. And while it might sound intimidating to make your own Korean barbecue or belt out “Livin’ on a Prayer” with office-
mates, both experiences are fun and easier than you might imagine.
First, the food. The neighbor-hood’s Korean fried chicken places are cheap and yummy. Bonchon Chicken, around the corner from 32nd Street on Fifth Avenue, offers soy garlic or spicy wings, strips and drumsticks starting at $9 for six pieces. Another fried chicken foodie fave on Fifth Avenue is Kyochon.
For more upscale dining, head
to Gaonnuri, which offers stunning views of Manhattan from a pent-house near 32nd and Broadway. The middle of the Empire State Building is practically in your face, and it’s magical to see the lights of Times Square begin to glow as darkness falls. The restaurant’s well-known guests have included Jack Ma, the China-based founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Don’t miss the table barbecue, which you can order with beef,
LONDON — If you’ve ever wanted to see coral reefs but don’t fancy getting wet then London’s Natural History Museum may be the place for you.
The museum’s new show plunges into the underwater world, featuring a “virtual dive” that provides a 180-degree view of five coral reefs controlled by a joystick, including one vista with a manta ray in Komodo Island, Indonesia.
“We know more about outer space than we do about the oceans,” said Miranda Lowe, the museum’s collections man-ager for marine invertebrates. She said the patchy health of coral reefs globally could have dramatic consequences for the thousands of species of marine life that depend on them, and added the recent cyclone in Vanuatu could spark a massive bleaching of corals if water temperatures rise substantially.
The exhibit also includes six corals col-lected by Charles Darwin demonstrating his first-ever scientific theory about how
coral reefs are formed. Hint: It involves volcanos.
Other specimens include a parrotfish and hawksbill turtle, which both feed on coral, helping it to regenerate. That isn’t the case for the crown-of-thorns starfish, which is an increasing threat to reef stability.
In addition to marine species living in coral reefs, the show also features those that just come by to hunt, including the jaw of a tiger shark. The usually solitary sharks often swim thousands of miles to Raine Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to feast on weak and injured turtles during nesting season, using their razor-sharp teeth to bite through turtle shells.
Lowe said the exhibit aims to increase understanding of the human impact on the oceans, noting that how we dispose of waste affects turtles, fish and other animals.
“Most people in London won’t be able to go diving so this is the next best way for them to see a coral reef,” she said. (ap)
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This March 25, 2015 photo shows West 32nd Street in Manhattan, also known as Korea Way or Koreatown.
The enclave is home to numerous Asian businesses, including Korean restaurants
and karaoke bars.
Korean barbecue, karaoke for biz travelers to NYC
NEW YORK — New York City is a 24/7 kind of place. That makes it easy for business travelers to squeeze a little sightseeing in after a day of meetings. Take in a Broadway show and late din-ner, or a nighttime view from Top of the Rock, the Empire State Building or Times Square. The Staten Island Ferry glides past the Statue of Liberty 24 hours a day, the 9/11 memorial is open until 9 p.m. and the High Line, a park built on an elevated rail line, stays open until 10 p.m.
duck, pork, chicken or shrimp, $28-$45. Resist the temptation to ask your server to cook the meat for you. If you’ve ever fried anything at home or on a grill, you’re more than capable of handling this. Just put the raw meat on the heated griddle in the middle of the table, searing and turning the pieces with chopsticks until done to your preference.
Gaonnuri’s bar menu has small plates and the cocktail menu in-cludes creations like ginger poire (Grey Goose, St. Germain, fresh gin-ger and lime juice) and The Oriental, made with soju, the classic Korean liquor strong enough to knock your socks off. Appetizers start around $8, with a share platter for three at
$44. Bibimbap — rice mixed with vegetables and/or meat or fish — is $12 or $20.
Karaoke options on the block include 5 Bar Karaoke Lounge a few doors down from Gaonnuri. Private rooms at 5 Bar include a bell for summoning another round of Cosmos. And the song system is easy to navigate: Look up your favorite song in a thick, dog-eared book, type the number in and lyrics appear on-screen. Too shy to solo? Pick an anthem or oldie and invite the gang to sing along. Room rentals are $10 per person, per hour, for four or more people. You’ll be belting out “New York, New York” in no time. (ap)
Take a dive at Natural History Museum, manta ray includedAP Photo/Alastair Grant
A Pacific lipstick tang -Naso Lituratus- swims in an aquarium as it appears to look at Vikki a
member of staff at the Natural History Museum during a media preview of ‘Coral Reef - Secret Cities of the Sea’ exhibition at the museum in
London, Wednesday, March, 25, 2015.
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
This Feb. 26, 2015 photo shows meat being cooked on a tableside Korean barbecue grill at Gaonnuri restaurant in New York. Gaonnuri is located on the 39th floor in
the penthouse of a building on West 32nd Street, known as Korea Way.
“Denpasar, Badung and Tabanan are still the major con-tributor to the economic growth of Bali,” said Dewi during the Roadshow on the Dissemination of Results of the Regional Financial Economic Studies (KEKR) for the Province of Bali in the fourth quarter of 2014.
She went on to say that the highest economic growth oc-curred in Denpasar with a rate of 6.77 percent, followed by Badung (6.75 percent) and Tabanan (6.35 percent). The tourism and hotel and restaurant (PHR) sector provides major contribu-tions, especially in Badung and Denpasar.
“Inflation in Bali, for early 2015 showed a decreasing trend in the past two months with deflation reaching -0.21 percent on the island,” said Setyowati.
She also expressed the Bank of Indonesia’s appreciation of the Bali Inflation Control Team (TPID) which worked to control inflation. One method used was market value operations and encouraging a low price for rice, while the price of rice soared in many places.
Head of the Bali Logistics Agency (Bulog), Wayan Budita, admitted that the market operations held at 42 locations over the past month have had significant impacts. A total of 98 tons of rice have been distributed to the poor in need, which also inspires a gradual decrease of the price of rice in the market. “This morning (Saturday—Ed) the rice price has dropped to IDR 8,900 per kg,” said Budita.
This year, the Bali Logistics Agancy also allocated rice for the poor (raskin) amounting to 2,278 tons per month to 712 villages in Bali. (kmb32)
TABANAN - Strengthening of the US dollar against the exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah has apparently not had a positive impact on the price of Pupuan mangosteen -one of the export commodities from Ta-banan. The price of mangosteen dubbed ‘the Queen of Fruit’ dropped at the level of farmers. The price drop on the Asian mar-ket made the Pupuan mangosteen business sluggish.
Suardika, Chief of the Na-tional Farmers Contact (KTNA) of Pupuan, who is himself a mangosteen farmer, revealed that the slumping price of mangosteen started happening last month. At the same time there has been the strengthening of the US dollar that should affect the export price for the better. But in reality, the price of mangosteen in Pupuan has not gone up but has declined, rang-ing from IDR 2,200 per kg for standard quality, to IDR 3,000 per kg for superior quality. Accord-ing to Suardika, declining prices hit Pupuan farmers first. Usually
farmers can profit by selling man-gosteen for export. “Last year, farmers were able to benefit from selling their their mangosteen for the export market,” he said.
By comparing figures from 2014 to figures for 2015, we see that there is a big difference in the selling price of mangosteen at harvest. Last year, farmers were selling their mangosteen for IDR 10,000 per kg. “Although it was the harvest season and the fruit’s price was at its lowest point, the harvest price didn’t go below IDR 10,000 per kg,” said Suardika.
The low selling price this year means mangosteen farmers are suffering great losses as they cannot even cover their harvest-ing costs. According to Suardika, to harvest one kg of mangosteen, farmers have to pay IDR 1,000. So, with present prices, farmers in Pupuan are reluctant to bother harvesting their mangosteen crops. Suardika could not con-firm the exact cause of the drop in price for mangosteen. “Why the price drops I do not know
IBP/Net
Inflation in Bali, for early 2015 showed a decreasing trend in the past two months with deflation reach-ing -0.21 percent. One method used to control inflation was market value operations and encouraging a low price for rice, while the price of rice soared in many places.
IBP/Net
Strengthening of the US dollar against the exchange rate of rupiah apparently does not have a positive impact on man-gosteen of Pupuan that becomes one of the export commodi-ties in Tabanan. The price of fruit dubbed as the Queen of Fruit drops at the level of farmers.
Bali’s economy grew 6.72 percent during 2014
DENPASAR - Chief Representative of the of Bank Indonesia for the Province of Bali, Dewi Setyowati, said that Bali’s economy is still stronger than the national average. Bali’s economy grew 6.72 percent in 2014, compared to the national growth rate of 6.69 percent.
Price of Pupuan mangosteen slumps in export market for sure. We even have a quite high demand, but farmers in Pupuan cannot afford to harvest
their crops under present market conditions,” explained Suardika. (kmb24)
International2 Monday, March 30, 2015 15International Activities
Bali News
EvEry Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.
The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is con-sidered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.
The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.
In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.
Balinese Temple Ceremony
Monday, March 30, 2015
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp.
(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield began her career with Archipelago International creating and developing the group’s entire centralised ecommerce, online marketing and reservation divisions as their Corpo-rate Ecommerce Director. Her team has lead the industry in sales online, gaining awards for the highest production in the country. Her eye for detail and creative visions will keep Archipelago at the fore-front while the sectors between the online and offline sales and marketing worlds merge into the technology driven hands of the future.
Ms. Tenaiya will be replacing Mr. Norbert Vas who after spearheading Archi-pelago International’s Sales & Marketing effort for 7 years has been appointed to the new role of Vice President of Business Development & Operations overseeing hotel operations in Malaysia, Sumatra and Western Java and driving the companies future international expansion.
During the Archipelago International Fair Trade Show the company will also proudly announce its 100th hotel opening at the beginning of 2015 with another 80 in the pipeline through 2016. The group
continues to be the preferred hotel man-agement company in Indonesia with its wide range of brands to meet a variety of market needs.
The newest hotel set to open is under the Aston brand, located in the heart of TB Simatupang’s business district in South Jakarta. Aston Priority Simatupang Hotel & Conference Center will open its doors to guests in mid April, with 296 rooms and suites, 12 state of the art meeting rooms, and a ballroom for up to 800 delegates. Visit www.Aston-International.com for more information
Any work done without spirit is boring. Working in the tourism sector, spirit is very important in providing appropri-ate services and also helps to strengthen the work ethic of a team. Sometimes providing an example is necessary when the spirit of employees is lacking. Yayat Hidayat, General Manager (GM) of the Inna Grand Bali Beach recently ex-pressed his believe in this principle.
This calm man born in Bandung on February 3, 1963 said that with spirit, everyone works in accordance to their functions and responsibilities. Most importantly, everyone must provide sincere and selfless services to customers, so that guests will want to return again. “By providing sincere service, customers will definitely want to stay at the Inna Grand Bali Beach again” he said.
Yayat Hidayat who completed his studies at the Center for Tourism Education and Training (BPLP) Bandung in 1985, is very familiar with serving guests. He started his career in the tourism industry from the position of receptionist at the Hotel Wisata Indonesia (1989-1992). Because he worked well, he was promoted to Sales Executive and Executive Secretary (1996-1998).
Husband of Titi Arini and father of Rakha Nugraha Hi-dayat and Demas Nugraha Hidayat, Yayat served as Market-ing Manager for the Inna Samudra Beach Hotel, Pelabuhan
Ratu, West Java, until 2003 and Executive Assistant Manager at the same hotel.
Yayat whose hobbies include fishing and singing is also a reliable analystprooven by the fact that he was given the position in the PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (Persero) as Manager of Administration, Subdivi-sion Head of Administration as well as Sales and Marketing Manager Analyst until 2008.
With the wealth of experi-ence and formal education that Yayat Hidayat possesses, he is a most suitable person to fill in the position of Gen-eral Manager of the Inna Samudra Beach (2009) and General Manager of the Inna Garuda, Yog-yakarta (2011). “Starting from September 1, 2014, I was the General Manager of the Inna Grand Bali Beach, Sanur” he said. (kmb) IBP/kmb
IBP/Courtesy of Archipelago International
Archipelago International annouces new VP of Sales and Marketing
JAKArTA - On March 24th, during the celebrated annual “Archipelago Fair Trade Show”, previously known as the “Aston Fair Trade Show”, a tourism industry business to business event that brings together hundreds of representatives of Jakarta’s Travel Trade Industry, Media Communities and Archipelago Hotels from far and beyond Indonesia and Malaysia, Archipelago International, the leading Indonesian Hotel operator, took the opportunity to announce the group’s future development plans and introduce their new Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield.
“This is a very exciting time for hotel growth in Indonesia as well as development and changes within the industry. I am thrilled to head up such a hard working and dynamic team in our corporate offices working hand in hand with over 13,000 employees within our hotel units. We are always looking for the best and brightest in the industry to join our growing family,” Said Ms. Tenaiya Brookfield, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Archipelago International.
Profile
Yayat HidayatWorking spirit is important
AMLAPURA - When presenting the strategic recommenda-tions of the Karangasem House in the end of the term report at the office of I Wayan Geredeg, Regent of Karangasem, on Friday (Mar. 27), a number of useless pond projects were pointed out during the plenary session.
Legislator, Ketut Badra, who read the strategic recommen-dations, said that the ponds projects were bound to fail due to pour planning. The House requested that the useless ponds be managed better so that the water can be utilized by people during the dry season. “The ponds, having been built, must be used,” he said.
According to observations, the pond projects have not func-tioned since they were built, including one located at Puragae, Pempatan village, Rendang. Regent I Wayan Geredeg said the Puragae pond was constructed with the Bali Regional Budget a few years ago. He said that the planning of the Puragae pond project was assessed to be wrong because it just streams di-rectly from the watershed. As a result, dirty water comes into the pond that is lined with a plastic carpet or the geo-membrane. Since the dirty water from the river also runs in, brings in litter and twigs, the plastic carpet has torn and the pod is leaking.
The pond in Daya Ban, Kubu, is also not utilized by the local community because the water is dirty and smelly. The water from this pond project that was financed by the Bali Regional Budget for use during dry season is only taken advantage by a few cattle breeders in the surrounding area for their livestock to drink from.
Regent Geredeg had previously pointed out that the ponds at Muntig are not well managed by the surrounding communities. Awareness on the part of the community is required to maintain village infrastructure. If people are aware, the pipeline that runs from Mount Agung will not become clogged by rubbish during the rainy season as it would be repaired periodically. According to information from the community near the ponds at Bantas hamlet, Baturinggit village, the water of the pond at the foothills to the east of Mount Agung is only used by about 30 families. This pond with a budget of more than IDR 4 billion only has the capacity to provide water for these 30 families in this arid region. As a result many more families are left without clean water during the dry season.
Regent Geredeg said that the pond construction projects could in fact be very beneficial for people in the barren moun-tain areas. The water in these ponds is cheap because it comes directly from the clean water flowing from the massive stone on the mountain, with little to no sedimentation. Proper pond management is what is required.
Geredeg is going to build a pond near Kunyit Temple at Batudawa Kaja, Kubu. This project has long been coveted by residents around the area of Bejug, Batudawa Kaja, who still routinely face clean water crisis. The regent hopes that water from this pond can be used to meet the consumption needs of the local people as well as provide drink for their cattle. It is being suggested that the dung from these cows be used to make organic fertilizer for beans that have the potential to be developed into a viable crop for the village of Tulamben.
“Aside from building ponds, opening and paving roads to Bejug, Batudawa Kaja, is also important so that rangers can have access to the area so that they can prevent and manage fires in the protected forest on the slopes of Mount Agung. In addition, it is also important to maintain the infrastructure of roads so as to facilitate and support the economic activities of communities in the region,” said Geredeg. (013)
Measures being taken by immi-gration start with having applicants interviewed and considerations are made regarding the applicants country of destination. These and other such measures are being taken in anticipation of potential ISIS members trying to take advan-tage of the negligence of immigra-tion officers when they apply for passports to fl to Middle Eastern countries. All documents, including the reasons for departure overseas are being strictly checked.
Hanif, Head of the Class II Immigration Office in Singaraja,
has appealed to his entire staff his to conduct careful inspection of suspicious passport applicants, in-cluding using common sense. Such efforts are meant to promote safety and prevent ISIS radicalism from evolving and poisoning the minds of the citizens of Indonesia. “Upon finding anything suspicious, we’ll take action based on the monitor-ing stage set forth in the circular from the director of investigation and immigration. This monitor-ing is applied starting from the interview process and also consid-ers the country of destination of
passport applicants,” said Hanif recently.
If there is an indicat ion or suspicion of the applicant being involved in ISIS, immigration will immediately report this to police authorities and to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). “So far we have yet to issue passports to anyone destined for any coun-try in the Middle East, either to Iraq, Syria, Turkey or any other. Hopefully, Buleleng will remain safe and no applicants will show indications involved with ISIS,” he stated. (kmb34)
Karangasem House scorns useless pond projects
IBP/File
The pasport making process will be tighten due to the spread of ISIS in Indonesia
Passport issuance tightens amid ISIS’ cases
SINGArAJA - The proliferation of the radical group known as ISIS has made the Class II Immigration Office in Singaraja tighten its supervision of Indonesian citizens wishing to ap-ply for passports as a security measure. The more stringent procedures are meant to prevent Indonesian citizens from joining radical groups that could lead to violence and anarchism.
Page 13
Lee Kuan Yew eulogized at funeral as architect of Singapore
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MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, Massachusetts — Lights, camera, action: Manchester-by-the-Sea is the backdrop for a new Matt Damon movie.
Damon is producing the in-dependent film with the work-ing title “Manchester-by-the-Sea.” Scenes are being shot in the Massachusetts town as well as in nearby Beverly, Gloucester and Salem.
The Salem News reports that the movie tells the story of the working-class Chandler family.
Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler, who gains legal guardianship of his nephew following the sudden death of his brother.
Filming got underway in the coastal communities north of Bos-ton last week and is expected to run into April. (ap)
LONDON - James Bond legend Roger Moore insisted Saturday he had said nothing racist about fellow British actor Idris Elba -- tipped to play the superspy next -- in a French magazine interview.
The 87-year-old star, who played the suave British agent in seven films from 1973 to 1985, insisted his meaning had been lost in translation.
“An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba. That is simply untrue,” Moore wrote on Twitter, using the hashtag “Lost in
translation”.He added: “When a journalist
asks if ‘Bond should be English’ and you agree, then quotes you saying it about Idris Elba it’s out of context.”
Reproductions of the interview have led to Moore being blasted by Twitter users.
In the interview, Moore was talking about the different actors who have played agent 007 on screen.
In the 23 official Bond films to date, the title role has been played in turn by Sean Connery, George
Lazenby, Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, who is currently shooting “Spec-tre”, due out in November.
In a translation of the quotes printed in French in Paris Match, Moore told the magazine: “Though James has been played by a Scot, a Welshman, an Irishman, I think he should be English-English. It’s nonetheless an interesting idea, but unrealistic.
“Some years ago, I said that Cuba Gooding Jr would make an excellent Bond but it was a joke!” (afp)
LOS ANGELES — Sam Tay-lor-Johnson will not be returning to direct the sequels to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” she announced Wednes-day night.
“Directing ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ has been an intense and incredible journey for which I am hugely grateful,” she said in a statement to industry site Deadline in which she thanked Universal Pictures.
Taylor-Johnson’s $40 million adaptation of author E L James’ erotic novel has grossed a stag-gering $558 million worldwide in just six weeks in theaters, but even before the film debuted, rumors cir-culated that she would not likely be the person ushering “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed” to the big screen.
Stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are expected to return for both sequels, which have yet to be officially announced.
While it is nothing new for direc-
tors to exit franchises after the first film — “Twilight,” ‘’The Hunger Games,” and “Divergent” all made directing changes between their first and second installments — Taylor-Johnson and James’ fraught on-set relationship was widely reported.
Earlier this year, James, also a producer on the film, alluded to their conflicts, telling The Associ-ated Press that she “had to fight for a lot of things really hard,” which included a disagreement over the last line of the film.
Still, in her statement, Taylor-Johnson made sure to note the “close and lasting relationships” she formed with the cast, produc-ers, crew and “most especially, with Dakota and Jamie.”
She added: “I wish nothing but success to whosoever takes on the exciting challenges of films two and three.”
A representative for Universal Pictures had no comment. (ap)
‘Fifty Shades’ director Taylor-Johnson bows
out of franchise
New Matt Damon film shooting in Massachusetts
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Moore denies racism in comments on next Bond
Malik quit the group this week, saying he wanted “to be a normal 22-year-old.” He had earlier pulled out of One Direc-tion’s world tour, citing stress.
He told Friday’s edition of Britain’s Sun newspaper that “I did try to do something that I wasn’t happy doing for a while” to keep fans happy.
“I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them,” he said.
He said he felt upset that “I may have let them down in some sort of way.”
“It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I can’t do that anymore because it’s not real to me,” he said.
And he said his bandmates had been “really supportive” of his decision.
One Direction formed in 2010 after
five teenagers — Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Malik — audi-tioned individually for the British TV talent show “The X Factor.” Simon Cowell had the idea of putting them together as a boy band.
They didn’t win the competi-tion, but they went on to top charts and win young hearts around the world.
The four remaining members say they will carry on as One Direction.
“They still want to do it for a while,” Malik said. “I think they’re going to be cool.” (ap)
LONDON — Zayn Malik says he worries that he’s let One Direction fans down by leaving the world-conquering boy band, but couldn’t carry on in a role that made him unhappy.
“Advanced countries have since the beginning done this (award subsidies) to protect their farmers. Indonesia should also do that,” Prof. Dr Wayan Windia, the head of the Subak Research Center of the Denpasar-based University of Udayana, said.
He said the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) has offered and even urged Indonesia to award sub-sidies to protect its people, mainly by imposing import taxes and en-forcing export subsidy policies.
The import tax policy is intended to boost the prices of imported goods, thus making them expensive at home.
Such a policy is expected to boost domestic production, while the export subsidy is aimed at expe-diting the growth of exports.
Given this situation, less de-veloped countries, which are usu-ally weak, will be forced to import goods whose prices in the global
market are relatively lower. The prices are lower as a result of the export subsidy.
Windia said the prices of import-ed and cheap goods in Indonesia were usually lower than domestic products in the same categories.
This was also prevalent in the agricultural sector and had resulted in disadvantages for local farmers.
Even in Bali, which is an inter-national tourist resort province, the need for food products that are dominated by foreign goods was high, Prof. Windia remarked.
An official from the Agriculture Ministry said in Riau province re-cently that around 500,000 Indone-sian farming families changed their livelihood every year for a number of reasons.
Among the reasons was high production costs, the Head of Ag-ricultural Extension and Human Resource Development at the Agri-culture Ministry, Momon Resmono,
pointed out.“That is one of the problems
identified by the ministry,” he said, adding that during his three months in office he had visited 22 of the country’s provinces.
“We identified five problems that are potentially hampering the program and keeping us from achieving self-sufficiency in food,” Resmono said.
One of the five problems was damaged infrastructure, with 52 percent of the irrigation systems being out of order, he said while addressing a meeting of the As-sociation of Agriculture Extension (Perhiptani).
Many of the both primary and secondary irrigation systems had long been left untended, he said, adding, that therefore, the repair of irrigation systems had to be priori-tized during budgeting.
“The ministry has set targets for making irrigation systems function
and service 3 million hectares of farm land. Meanwhile, the Public Works Ministry will also support the repairs of 49 water reservoirs, including primary and secondary irrigation systems, with a budget of Rp4 trillion in 2015,” he said.
The second problem was a short-age of seeds in 2014, with only 20 percent of the seed budget allocated by the government being used, he said.
“Just imagine, 80 percent of the budget provided by the government for seeds failed to reach the farm-ers,” he said.
The third problem was fertilizer supply. In a number of areas in Central Java, farmers, who were entitled to subsidized fertilizers, were forced to buy non-subsidized fertilizers, he said.
The ministry had reported the case to the military and police and the perpetrators had been arrested.
The fourth problem was related to labor. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of farm workers had nar-rowed from 31 million in 2003 to
26.5 million in 2013 or around 500 farm families had changed their livelihood every year.
As a result there was always a shortage of labor during the harvest and planting time and an optimiza-tion of existing laborers was needed by equipping them with more farm-ing equipment and tools, he said.
The minister also found fault with Perhiptani’s role, adding that the program for agricultural exten-sion had not been as efficiently executed as expected.
“We hope that Perhiptani would enhance its role in the program of agricultural extension to support it in general,” he said. (ant)
IBP/Wawan
Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said.
Indonesia needs to protect its agricultureDENPASAR - Indonesia, which is prioritizing agricultural development to achieve food
self-sufficiency by 2017, should not nurse doubts about extending protection and subsidy to its agricultural sector, a chief researcher said.
News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http://globalfmbali.listen2my-
radio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.
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