VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta, VOI News :  Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Hadi Tjahjanto, has asked the chief of Air Force Staff (KSAU), Marshal Mohamad Tonny Harjono, to prepare the necessary defense equipment for carrying out weather modification.

"The Java and East Nusa Tenggara Islands will continue to experience the dry season followed by La Nina until September. La Nina is not finished yet, so the Air Force needs to immediately prepare the defense equipment for weather modification," the minister said at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base on Friday.

He explained that the defense equipment that would need to be deployed are airplanes belonging to the Air Force that have been modified with a weather control device.

Weather modification will be carried out to prevent extreme drought that could potentially trigger forest fires in some areas, the minister said.

He added that it could also reduce excessively heavy rainfall.

However, he did not provide further details on the tools and the number of aircraft that would be deployed to modify the weather.

He expressed the hope that the effort would directly minimize natural disaster impacts due to weather dynamics.

Weather modification involves spreading salt in large quantities in the air.

The Indonesian Air Force also applied this technology in early 2023. At the time, it used the CN-295 aircraft from the Weather Modification Technology Post at Adisoemarmo Air Force Base, Solo, Central Java, to spread 13,530 kilograms of salt.

On a separate occasion, chairperson of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Bambang Soesatyo, asked the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to be ready to provide assistance to East Nusa Tenggara province.

The region has a high potential to experience five-meter high waves until April 8, 2024, as forecast by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). (ANTARA)

Jakarta, VOI News : Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta,  Indonesia represented by Religious Attaché,  Syaikh Ahmad Isya Al Hazimi  visited the head office of RRI on Friday (5/4)  to attend the prize giving ceremony Umrah for the winners of the 54th RRI Quran Tilawatil Week  2024 of  the disability category.

In his speech, Shaykh Ahmad Isya Al Hazimi felt honored to be able to contribute to the 54th RRI Quran Tilawatil Week  activities by providing Umrah package prizes for 4 winners from the male and female categories. The Umrah trip prize is sponsored by two philanthropic foundations in Saudi Arabia, namely the Hambali Social Foundation and the Masith Aris Foundation.

“The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Religion, represented by  the Religious Attaché of the Saudi Arabian Embassy, is pleased with the opportunity given  to contribute to this extraordinary musabaqah event  in which  the participants are people we really care about, namely those who are blind. The event is  supported by 2 social foundations in Saudi Arabia,  namely the Hambali Foundation and the Masith Aris Foundation that  provided donations for Umrah departures for 4 winners  through the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Religion in Riyadh which is  represented by the Religious Attaché Embassy,” Syaikh Ahmad Isya conveyed.

Moreover, four participants at the the 54th RRI Quran Tilawatil Week  2024 for  the disability category who received Umrah prizes from the Saudi Arabian Embassy are 1st and 2nd place in the men's category,  Ahmad Yasir from Denpasar Bali and Gusnanda from Pekanbaru Riau Province. The 1st and 2nd place in the women's category are Andini Putri Melati from Palembang South Sumatra and Shinta Wulan from Medan North Sumatra. (Daniel/nrl/AF/Rahmana)

VOInews Jakarta: The Istiqlal Mosque which is situated in Central Jakarta represents Islam in Indonesia. Under the leadership of Grand Imam Prof. Dr. KH. Nasaruddin Umar, M.A., the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, has received a number of international awards. In an interview with the Mutiara Ramadhan program which was broadcast on Thursday (04/04/2024) in the Voice of Indonesia- Radio Republik Indonesia channel, Nasaruddin Umar conveyed a number of achievements achieved by the mosque which can accommodate 200,000 worshipers.

Firstly, the Istiqlal Mosque became the first house of worship to obtain a Green Building Certificate. "The neatest, most beautiful, greenest house of worship is Istiqlal, which means it beats all other houses of worship. "And this is the first time a house of worship has received this EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies, ed.) certificate," said Nasaruddin Umar to Voice of Indonesia.

Secondly, the Istiqlal Mosque is considered successful in gathering and promoting universal brotherhood by the United Nations. "I was recently invited to the United Nations, where I was given appreciation for the success of the Istiqlal Mosque in becoming a melting point not only across religions, but also across ethnicities, across nationalities, and also across sects." continued the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque.

Thirdly, the Istiqlal Mosque is often invited to represent Indonesian Muslims in world forums. "Alhamdulillah, we also have world trust, representation of Muslims in Indonesia. "Istiqlal is often involved, like yesterday at the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the American Department, then China, and in several countries, Istiqlal was asked to be involved as a representative of Indonesian Muslims," explained Nasaruddin Umar.

Fourthly, the Istiqlal Mosque received a World Bank award as the only mosque free of Covid-19, and received the title of cleanest house of worship in the world. "We have also received an international award for being the only public space that has zero resistance to the corona virus" said the Deputy Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia in 2011-2014.

Currently, the Istiqlal Mosque is building a hallway that connects the mosque which was inaugurated in 1978 with The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, well known as the Cathedral. Nasaruddin Umar expressed his joy over the construction of the tunnel, which he interpreted as a symbol of tolerance between people. "What we will build is not (just) a corridor that connects Istiqlal and the Cathedral, but what we will build is a symbol. the symbol of tolerance," said Nasaruddin Umar to Voice of Indonesia. (Daniel)

VOInews, Jakarta: The Java-1 Steam Gas Power Plant (PLTGU) with a capacity of 1760 MW will soon start operating after a series of plant reliability run and net dependent capacity tests which were carried out at the end of March 2024.

PLTGU Jawa-1 is operated by PT Jawa Satu Power, which is a joint company owned by energy companies Pertamina NRE, Marubeni and Sojitz. Pertamina, through a press release, claims that PLTGU Jawa-1 is the largest integrated power plant in Southeast Asia which is equipped with a regasification system.

John Anis, CEO of Pertamina NRE, appreciated the management and officers of JSP for their loyalty and hard work in realizing this mega project.

"I congratulate and express my highest appreciation to JSP management and officers who showed extraordinary patience, persistence, and determination in facing challenges until finally being able to realize this very crucial moment," said John, as quoted on the Pertamina website, Saturday (3/30/2024).

"Support from all parties continues to be expected so that PLTGU Jawa-1 can demonstrate operational excellence and can bring optimal benefits to Pertamina and the Republic of Indonesia," he added.

John said, with all the uniqueness of its installation, PLTGU Jawa-1 could become one of the pillars of the energy transition that would be the pride of Pertamina and Indonesia.

Later, in distributing electricity to the community, PT Jawa Satu Power (JSP) will partner with National Electric Company (PLN).

PLTGU Jawa-1 is a power plant that integrates a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a power generating unit with a capacity of 1760 MW consisting of 2 generating units with a capacity of 880 MW each.

Previously, Unit 2 has been operating since December 2023. This project connects the availability of gas supplies in Papua with electricity needs on the islands of Java and Bali.

According to Pertamina, this project has a number of advantages, including being more efficient because it uses the latest generation of single shaft combined cycle gas turbine technology, so that electricity selling prices are competitive.

From an operational perspective, this plant has black start capability technology so that it can self-start up when imported power is not available on the grid for plant start-up purposes.

By using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel source, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions are said to be lower than coal or fuel-based power plants.

This is in line with efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the electricity sector. In addition, this plant uses closed loop cooling tower system technology which increases reliability in reducing the volume of sea water used to support plant operations.

Pertamina said the operation of PLTGU Jawa-1 would be an important milestone for the company as well as adding to its portfolio of clean energy utilization in its business.

According to Pertamina, natural gas plays a very strategic role in the energy transition period and will help support national energy security, and its low emissions place it in the clean energy category.

John said, with the latest technology, PLTGU Jawa-1 is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 3.3 million tco2e per year.

He said this figure was very significant for contributing to net zero emissions.

"This is one of the important milestones created by the strategic synergy of BUMN, namely Pertamina and PLN, and the private sector Marubeni and Sojitz and other parties who have a high commitment to jointly realizing the transition to clean energy in Indonesia. Thanks for the best support from all parties ," he explained.