VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government continues to anticipate the increase in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron BA4 and BA5 subvariants.

Spokesman for the Covid-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said the emergence of the Omicron subvariant must be watched out for because it causes a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in several countries. Such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore.

"It is important to learn from the causes of the increase in cases in other countries. So that we can reflect on it and prevent as much as possible this potential from happening in Indonesia," said Wiku as quoted from a press release, Friday (5/8/2022)

Based on data as of July 31, the number of cases in Japan exceeded 1 million cases, while South Korea recorded more than 500 thousand cases, followed by Australia with nearly 300 thousand cases, and Singapore reaching 54 thousand cases in 1 week.

According to him, the reason for the increase in cases in Japan occurred because it was entering the summer period which made people's mobility for recreation and travel both international and domestic increase. The BA5 and BA2 subvariants spread widely as public activity resumes.

Meanwhile in South Korea, said Wiku, this was due to the opening of international travel which was accompanied by the abolition of most social distancing regulations, so that they only relied on the use of masks.

As for Australia, continued Wiku, due to the widespread BA5 subvariance, it was exacerbated by the simultaneous spike in influenza cases. In Singapore, the increase was also due to the BA4 and BA5 Subvariants.

Meanwhile, the condition of the increase in weekly cases in Indonesia was the lowest compared to the 4 countries.

"This fact should not be taken lightly by the people of Indonesia. This confirms that this subvariant of Covid-19 has become a threat," said Wiku.

Although currently in Indonesia the impact is not like other countries, it still needs to be watched out for. Because, the possibility of a spike in cases is still there.

"We need to minimize the potential for a spike in cases by learning from these countries," he said. (RRI)

The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, said that the use of marine space and small islands that did not comply with the regulations still occurred.

He explained that in 2022 there were 6 cases of reclamation violations, 8 cases of violations of marine structures, 2 cases of violations of marine cables, mining, pollution and up to 2 cases of violations of the use of protected fish species.

"The challenge in sustainable management of coastal and small islands is that there are still a number of violations against the use of marine space in 2022," he said at the Jakarta KKP office, Friday (5/8/2022).

Sakti said to prevent the recurrence of such violations, the KKP has prepared a number of policies for active management of coastal and small islands based on sustainability. Such as implementing a comprehensive Marine Spatial Plan on the coast and on small islands.

Then, requires all activities that utilize marine space in accordance with the allocation of sea space, carrying capacity, and impact mitigation. Including the obligation to have an Approval for the Suitability of Marine Space Utilization Activities (PKKPRL) in every implementation of marine space.

"All activities that utilize marine space must be in accordance with the allocation of sea space, carrying capacity and prevention of its impacts," he explained.

Sakti believes that this policy will prevent damage to the coastal marine ecosystem and small islands from the economic activities carried out. Because every utilization carried out on marine space on the coast and small islands must meet these requirements.

"Setting up marine space for the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems," he said. (RRI)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that the world was currently in a concerning condition due to declining economic conditions coupled with worsening inflation that had led to an increase in commodity prices.

The president delivered the statement during the National Gathering of the National Retired Army Association 2022 in Sentul, West Java, on Friday.

"The economic growth declined, yet the inflation kept increasing, and the prices of items and everything increased. This is a condition, which (is why) I may say, the world is in a scary situation," the president noted as quoted from a video uploaded on the Association's YouTube channel on Friday.

He explained that the IMF and World Bank estimated that 66 countries will witness a downfall in their economic conditions on account of the war and food crisis.

Of the 66 countries, the economic situation of nine countries had been gradually declining, followed by 25, and then 42 countries, he stated.

The president highlighted that currently, 320 million people in the world were experiencing extreme hunger. A large section of them were in a state of hunger, as the economic conditions had deteriorated.

Inevitably, Europe, the European Union, Australia, and the United States also experienced a decline in economic growth.

The increase in global oil prices also contributed to the high rate of inflation, which in turn caused the prices of other commodities to skyrocket.

“America, which usually has its price increase or inflation at one percent, today, was at the 9.1-percent mark. Oil (price) is twofold and so is (the case with) Europe,” Jokowi pointed out.

The government has also raised the price of Pertalite to Rp7,650 per liter, or 10 percent of the earlier price. In fact, the price should be set at Rp17,100 per liter, given the current global oil prices bite.

Thus, the government was still allocating a budget of up to Rp502 trillion to subsidize fuels.

"Just an increase of 10 percent in price, and it has led to a demonstration, which I remember was lasting for three months. If it went up 100 percent, then the demonstration would last several months. This is what the government is now controlling through subsidies. (It is) because once the price of gasoline goes up, the price of things will automatically rise as well," he concluded. (Antaranews)

The Jammu and Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India is recognized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a researcher from Strategic Vision Institute (SVI)-Islamabad, Muhamad Hanif, has said.

Both countries fought their first war over the accession of the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947–48, when India managed to occupy a major chunk of Jammu and Kashmir through military intervention, Hanif observed in a statement received on Friday.

When the Pakistani army countered the Indian military offensive, on January 1, 1948, under Article 35 of the UN Charter, India referred the Kashmir dispute to the UN Security Council.

On January 20, 1948, the UNSC passed Resolution 39, calling for an urgent investigation into the dispute by the newly established UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to prevent a major war.

On April 21, 1948, the UNSC adopted Resolution 47, calling for a ceasefire and deciding that the accession of the state to Pakistan or India would be done through a free and impartial plebiscite, which both Pakistan and India agreed to.

The resolution also instructed the UNCIP to visit the subcontinent and mediate and help the two countries to hold a plebiscite, Hanif said.

However, in later years, India foiled all UNSC and UNCIP efforts to hold the plebiscite on one pretext or the other, as India knew that if an impartial plebiscite was held, then the Muslim majority population of Jammu and Kashmir would vote for accession to Pakistan.

In response to India’s long intransigence, since 1989, Hanif noted that the people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have launched a peaceful freedom struggle, with India deploying more than 700 thousand security troops to crush it. The security forces have committed human rights violations in Kashmir Valley with full impunity under the protection of draconian laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).

As per Kashmir Media Service (KMS), since 1989, around 100 thousand Kashmiris have been killed by Indian forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Of them, more than 7,120 have been killed in Indian custody. Further, 109,200 structures have been destroyed, 22,896 women have been widowed, 107,754 children have been orphaned, and more than 11,110 women have been raped by Indian forces.

As of January 2019, 8,500 Kashmiri youth have been injured by pellet gunshots. Of these, 207 have been blinded in one eye, while 130 have been gone completely blind.

Crossing all limits, on August 5, 2019, the Narendra Modi government abrogated Articles 35-A and 370 of India’s Constitution and took away the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, dividing the state into two union territories.

India has converted a UNSC-declared disputed territory between Pakistan and India into its integral part, which is in total violation of UNSC resolutions on Kashmir.

To pre-empt Kashmiris’ reaction, India has increased its security forces from 700 thousand to more than 1.1 million and imposed a curfew in the Kashmir Valley, which has remained in place. Internet services in Kashmir have also been blocked and all Kashmiri leaders/youth have been jailed.

When Pakistan referred the matter to the UNSC in August–September 2019, except for China, other members holding the veto power did not even condemn Indian actions, though they asked India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute bilaterally.

The UNSC also could not agree on adopting a binding resolution to restrict India from unilaterally changing the status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir by dividing it into two union territories and ending restrictions and violations in Kashmir, he said.

In view of the situation prevailing in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to draw the attention of the international community and UNSC veto members toward India’s barbarism, as announced by the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiris living on both sides of the LoC (line of control) and across the world will observe Black Day on August 5, 2022, by organizing protest processions and programs against the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and the violations committed in Kashmir Valley.

In this context, he said, the Azad Jammu Kashmir PM will lead the protest procession in Muzaffarabad and present a protest memorandum to a UN observer mission to draw the attention of the UNSC toward the genocide being committed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

The protest procession will also urge UNSC members to adopt a fresh binding resolution on Kashmir and ask India to lift restrictions, end violations in Kashmir, and reverse the steps it took on August 5, 2019.

India should also be bound to either prepare for holding a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir or a dialogue with Pakistan without any preconditions to resolve the Kashmir dispute within the next five years at the most. (Antaranews)