VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has established a cooperation with the Central Sulawesi provincial government to develop transportation and its supporting elements in the province.

"This cooperation shows the real role of Kadin in the field of transportation in developing regions across Indonesia," Kadin's Deputy Chairperson for Transportation Denon Prawiraatmadja stated in a written statement here on Sunday.

According to him, the cooperation is a form of Kadin's effort to develop transportation and build infrastructure across the country.

"We also planned a visit to Central Sulawesi to see the potential of the transportation industry and make the most of the business opportunities in the region," he remarked.

Kadin Chairperson Arsjad Rasjid said the agreement between his party and the Central Sulawesi government is part of the four pillars of Kadin's work program, specifically the regional economy pillar.

The main objective of the cooperation is to jointly develop the economy in the region, starting from the lower level, namely the village level, to the district and province levels.

"It is known that the most important part of the economic development of a region is the supply chain. With this system, there is a network between companies and their suppliers to produce and distribute certain products to final buyers," he said.

In addition, Rasjid noted that the cooperation is expected to stimulate the birth of entrepreneurs in the region so that entrepreneurs will not only be born in the capital and Java Island but also in regions like Central Sulawesi.

Central Sulawesi Governor Rusdy Mastura said the province would require adequate means of transportation, given that it has become one major supplier of goods to almost all provincial governments in Kalimantan Island.

"We see that what is important now is air transportation because aircraft will speed up the delivery of natural products and superior products from our region, both to domestic and export markets," he said.

Central Sulawesi, he said, has an abundant natural resource such as gas, nickel, gold, copper, galena, and gravel. To this end, Central Sulawesi needs support from Kadin in readying sea transportation in the form of barges and other supports. (Antaranews)

The sasando musical instrument is now recognized worldwide as an intellectual property belonging to NTT and Indonesia. Evidence of this recognition is issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the World Patent organization.

This explanation was conveyed by the Deputy Governor (Wagub) of NTT Josef Nae Soi in a press conference at the NTT Governor's Office, Friday (16/9/2022). Nae Soi explained, with this recognition, no other country in the world could claim sasando.

“Indeed there are countries that also claim Sasando as their own. However, after we convinced WIPO, they finally recognized this sasando as belonging to NTT," said Nae Soi in a written statement.

"On November 9, I will go to Geneva to collect the certificate issued by WIPO that the Sasando is legally recognized internationally as belonging to NTT and Indonesia. So there is no possibility for another country to claim it as its own because WIPO has recognized this as ours. ," he said again.

Quoting Wikipedia, Sasandu (Rote language) or sasando (Kupang language) is a stringed musical instrument. This tool is played by plucking using the fingers.

Sasando shape is similar to other stringed instruments such as guitar, violin and harp. According to the origin of the word in the Rote language, sasandu, means a tool that vibrates or sounds.

Besides Sasando, the Deputy Governor also appealed to districts and cities in NTT to register woven fabrics and other traditional cultural expressions. They are expected to register it with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) as communal intellectual property.

"Later, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights will register it with WIPO. Because the one that represents Indonesia to the international world from patents, the geographical indication brand is the Ministry of Law and Human Rights," said Nae Soi. (RRI)

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts the potential for heavy rain to occur in some areas in Indonesia. Quoted from the BMKG page in a weather early warning on Sunday (18/9/2022), heavy rains overshadowed the areas of Aceh, West Sumatra, and Riau.

Then Bengkulu, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bangka Belitung Islands, Lampung, and West Java. Meanwhile, other provinces with the potential for heavy rain are West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi and West Sulawesi.

Likewise, Southeast Sulawesi, North Maluku, Maluku, and Papua. Lower intensity rain fell in the Riau Islands, DKI Jakarta, East Java, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi.

Meanwhile, BMKG also warned of the potential for strong winds in West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. Several large cities are forecasted to experience rain accompanied by lightning.

Among other things, Pontianak in West Kalimantan and Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan this afternoon. Bengkulu City in Bengkulu Province and Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka Belitung Islands are also forecasted to experience thunderstorms in the early hours of the morning.

Especially for the DKI Jakarta area, light rain has the potential to fall in South Jakarta and East Jakarta this afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, light rain may fall in West and central Jakarta at night.

The BMKG warned that two provinces were included in the alert category for the impact of heavy rains such as floods, namely Central Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi. Today's alert category is also given to West Sumatra, South Sumatra and Bengkulu.

In addition, there are Lampung, Bangka Belitung Islands, and West Kalimantan. Lastly, South Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, and Papua. (RRI)

Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant's latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete.

The two therapies - which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus' ability to infect cells - were some of the first medicines developed early in the pandemic.

The virus has since evolved, and mounting evidence from lab tests suggests the two therapies - sotrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab - have limited clinical activity against the latest iterations of the virus. As a result, they have also fallen out of favour with the U.S. health regulator.

On Thursday, WHO experts said they strongly advised against the use of the two therapies in patients with COVID-19, reversing previous conditional recommendations endorsing them, as part of a suite of recommendations published in the British Medical Journal.

The virus has since evolved, and mounting evidence from lab tests suggests the two therapies - sotrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab - have limited clinical activity against the latest iterations of the virus. As a result, they have also fallen out of favour with the U.S. health regulator.

On Thursday, WHO experts said they strongly advised against the use of the two therapies in patients with COVID-19, reversing previous conditional recommendations endorsing them, as part of a suite of recommendations published in the British Medical Journal.

Given the United States had begun to question sotrovimab's clinical effectiveness against Omicron as early as February, the WHO's realisation is coming a little late, said Penny Ward, visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King's College London.

"Now WHO has issued this recommendation, it will be interesting to see how many other countries align with it," she said.

Regeneron and partner Roche's (ROG.S) antibody cocktail casirivimab-imdevimab has also generated billions in sales and was one of the U.S. drugmaker's top sellers last year.

Back in January, the FDA revised its stance on the treatment, limiting its use to a smaller group of patients, citing its diminished potency against the Omicron variant.

Both therapies continue to be recommended for use by the European drugs regulator.

Another COVID therapy that emerged early in pandemic was Gilead's (GILD.O) antiviral remdesivir. The WHO expanded its conditional recommendation for the drug, advising that it can be used in patients with severe COVID as well as non-severe COVID patients at the highest risk of hospitalization.

There are a handful of existing COVID therapeutics that remain useful in the fight against the virus, and others in development that are expected to also benefit patients. (Reuters)