VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: This year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin performed Eid al-Fitr worship at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta on Wednesday (10/4/2024). Indonesian First Lady, Iriana and Second Lady, Wury were seen accompanying the two. The mosque, which can accommodate up to more than 200,000, is the largest in the country.

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)