VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 January 4

1948 Myanmar was granted independence.

Myanmar officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and formerly known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Its capital is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon). Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -ASEAN since 1997.

In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century, Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence in 1948, as a democratic nation. Following a coup d'état in 1962, it became a military dictatorship.

In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions. There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains a powerful force in politics.

1999 European zone united in the unity of currency "Euro."

Eleven members of the European Union -EU, namely Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, hope one currency will improve European integration and improve the economy. On its inaugural day, the Euro closed with a strong enough value of US $ 1.17.

By design, the currency is decorated with images and symbols of European unity and completed with motives representing member states. But on January 1, 2002, the Euro consisting of eight coins and seven banknotes, officially circulated.

However, one currency is not without controversy. There is a concern that this change process will cause chaos, costly, and lead to inflation. Even, it can make a country lose its economic policy control.
It makes United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark choose not to use the Euro currency.

2004Spirit landed on Mars.

Spirit, also known as MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover –A) or MER-2, was a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity(MER-B) landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication on Earth was sent on March 22, 2010.

 RRI VOI with Today's event in History January 2

1942 

Manila is  controlled by Japan.
In the Second World War, Japan launched an offensive attack into the Philippines, the US colony on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor. The initial aerial bombardment was followed by a landing of ground troops in the  north and south of Manila. The troops of the Philippines and the United States under the command of General Douglas MacArthur tried to hold the ground. However, as their troops lost to the Japanese, the  US and Philippine defense forces retreated to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. Manila fell into the hands of Japanese troops on January 2, 1942. On May 6, 1942, all the Philippines fell into the hands of Japanese troops.

1959, USSR Launches Luna-1 Unmanned Airplane to the Moon.

After successfully launching its  first spacecraft, Sputnik,  the Soviet space agency on January 2, 1959 launched the Luna-1 unmanned aircraft aimed at researching the moon. The aircraft carried radio transmitters, telemetry systems and a number of detection systems. According to the plan, after the aircraft completed a series of detection of space during flight, the plane was then directed to hit the surface of the moon. But, there was  failure of the control system so that the plane failed to reach the moon and finally into the orbiting position of the sun, thus making it as the first manmade object that orbited the sun at the position between Earth and Mars.

1962, Mandala Command for the liberation of West Irian was formed.

Mandala Command is a command formed by President Soekarno as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia on January 2, 1962. The Mandala Command was based in Makassar, South Sulawesi with Major-General Suharto as Commander-in-Chief. Mandala's command duties were to plan, prepare, and conduct military operation to return West Papua to Indonesia, which was still controlled by the Dutch.

On January 12, 1962, Mandala Command mission was started. Thanks to the Mandala Command, Ellsworth Bunker, United States representative for the United Nations proposed the  Dutch-Indonesian problem to be brought to the negotiating table. On 15 August 1962, negotiations between Indonesia and the Netherlands were held at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Problems were  solved with West Irian back to Indonesian hands.

This is RRI World Service Voice of Indonesia with Mosaic of Indonesia. In today’s edition, we will present news about regional government of Bali encouraging farmer to use high quality paddy seed, Breksi cliff Prambanan as favorite destination and the news on cooperation between Bener Meriah and Yogyakarta in the field of education.

The provincial government of Bali increases the use of high quality rice massively to increase agricultural production. It was stated by deputy governor of Bali, Ketut Sudikerta in his written speech read by Head of Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantations Office of Bali, Ida Bagus Wisnuardhana in the harvest of M400 rice variety at Subak Dangin Umah, Batuyang village, Sukawati sub-district, Gianyar, on Saturday (6/1). He also stated that adequate food availability with good quality must be provided to fulfill basic rights of people, either in adequate food availability, distribution, or accessibility. Ida Bagus Wisnuardhana said the use of high quality rice massively will be able to increase productivity. In the future, the use of the high quality rice must be planted continuously to increase productivity.

During Christmas and New Year holiday season 2018 Breksi cliff tourist destination at Sambirejo village, Prambanan, Sleman, Yogyakarta still becomes a attraction for tourists until Sunday (7/1/). Head of Sambirejo village, Wajimin said, that during Christmas and New Year Holiday season 2018, the number of visitors of the tourism object increased until three times compared to the weekdays. Wajimin said the increase of the visitors is around 300 percent because the tourism object has become a favorite destination. In fact in the evening, a lot of tourists come only to witness sunset. Wajimin said to RRI, on Sunday, the more tourists come to Breksi cliff, the better the welfare of local food vendors is. He admitted that his village, thanks to many tourists, gets assistance from Sleman Tourism Office and the governor of Yogyakarta to build infrastructure.

We end Mosaic of Indonesia for today with the news on cooperation between Bener Meriah regency and Yogyakarta in the field of education.

The regional government of Bener Meriah regency and Yogyakarta signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the field of education. The MoU was signed by Head of Educational Office of the two regions after commemoration of the 14th Bener Meriah anniversary in Bener Meriah regency, in Aceh province on Sunday (7/1). According to the Head of Educational Office of Bener Meriah regency, Rayendra, the cooperation is an effort in implementing quality and competitive education. Rayendra also said that Yogyakarta has the best education, so that it can be used as reference in building quality education. The cooperation will be held in various forms, including the improvement of teacher capacity.