VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing held a meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to promote the marketing of Indonesian electric motorcycles and aluminium in Sri Lanka. The Indonesian Embassy in Colombo in its statement received in Jakarta on Thursday (3/1) stated that at the meeting attended by Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka -Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Ambassador Dewi Gustina and Prime Minister Mahinda discussed the increasing of economic  cooperation, including  trade, investment and tourism. On the occasion, Ambassador Dewi Gustina also promoted Indonesian aluminum products to Sri Lanka. In 2021, Sri Lanka's aluminium imports achieved US$427 million.

Besides being a market, Ambassador Dewi Gustina has also noted that Sri Lanka also wants to be part of having mutually beneficial cooperation with Indonesia so that the cooperation of both countries will be developed in the form of partnerships or joint ventures in the future.  Indonesia can explore the potential owned by Sri Lanka as a hub of activity and part of free trade agreement in South and Central Asia. Moreover, Ambassador Dewi conveyed Indonesia's readiness to boost cooperation in the field of plantation commodities, including the fulfillment of vegetable oil needs.

During the meeting, Ambassador Dewi has also pointed out that Indonesia is ready to discuss and share knowledge and experiences for sustainable agriculture and plantation development. The trade value between Indonesia and Sri Lanka until November 2021 was recorded worth US$411 million. The value of Indonesia's exports to Sri Lanka in the period reached US $364 million and the import value from Sri Lanka reached US$47.7 million.

The Indonesian Ambassador and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka also talked about the commitment of both governments to strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly by taking advantage of the momentum of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

A team of students from the Sumatra Institute of Technology (ITERA) initiated a detergent reactor as a way to prevent environmental pollution. This idea succeeded in bringing them a gold medal in the international invention and innovation festival which was announced on January 31, 2022. The international competition was organized by the Indonesian Young Scientist Association (IYSA) through the Khayyam International Invention & Innovation Festival (KIIIF) 2022. This competition was attended by student participants, and general researchers from various countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, China, Philippines, Poland, Kazakhstan, USA, Canada, Turkey, Qatar, Croatia, and Vietnam.

Guided by an Environmental Engineering lecturer, Andika Munandar, the student team put these ideas into a work entitled Detergent Reactor Integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as Detergent Waste Treatment to Create Eco Laundry. Team leader, Radisya Ikhsan said that the discoveries and innovations initiated by his team emerged from concerns about detergent waste produced by the laundry industry. He revealed that there has been no significant processing related to detergent waste so that he and his team took the initiative to create technology capable of processing detergent waste so that it is environmentally friendly.

Radisya also explained that the detergent reactor that has been designed has several advantages, including being economical and efficient because it is integrated with an artificial intelligence (AI) system. The detergent reactor technology works by reacting the detergent waste flowing from the washing machine. Then, the output from the detergent reactor is a compound of carbon dioxide and water with a relatively small pH of 9 chemical oxygen demand (COD), and a relatively small surfactant content so that it is safe for the environment. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) systems play a role in opening the valves of the input and output pipes, as well as processing.

The Indonesian government officially reopened the coal export in February (1/2). This decision was made after the government previously issued the coal export ban for one month - on January 1 until 31 2022. 

Director General for Mineral and Coal Ridwan at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry,  Djamaluddin in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday (1/2) said that the coal supply and stock at coal power plants have been improving. However, the coal export is still limited to companies that have fulfilled the domestic market obligation. These companies must also submit an affidavit of payment for fine or compensation for the DMO deficit in 2021.  

Ridwan further remarked that during the coal export ban, the government, state-owned power company PT PLN, Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA), and coal suppliers have worked hard to ensure the coal supply to coal power plants in a bid to fulfill the coal need in January 2022.

Meanwhile, President Director of PT PLN, Darmawan Prasodjo previously claimed he would take firm action towards coal miners who neglected or violated the 25 percent coal DMO from the coal production plan, which was made by PT PLN for a year.

Darmawan added that his side will terminate the contracts and blacklist the violating suppliers so that they cannot do export.

Smart City and Community Innovation Center at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung, West Java released research about Indonesian Digital Transformation and Smart City Rating 2021. Based on the research, five cities rank the highest in the City Caring for Climate Change category.

Head of the Smart City and Community Innovation Center, Prof. Suhono Harso Supangkat in a written statement in Bandung, Tuesday (1/2) said that the five cities are Semarang, Surabaya, Bogor, Bandung, and Tangerang. He further explained that a smart city is a city that is able to manage various resources effectively and efficiently to solve various urban challenges by using a smart solution. They must provide city infrastructure, facility and service that can improve their people's life quality. There is a special assessment for this category to find a city's support in facing climate change that affects the earth surface's temperature resulting from the increasing carbon dioxide.

The indicators for it include the use of renewable energy, vehicle reduction, and environment management. These indicators also discuss more detail about energy substitution, energy-saving vehicle implementation, public transport use, and green open space increase.

Prof. Suhono also stated that along with urbanization, issues in the cities also grow. Population density with an uncontrolled carbon condition can threaten the world's climate change.

Meanwhile, according to the City Transition Coalition, cities are responsible for 75 percent of global carbon emission. Some cities in Indonesia have been aware of the importance of focusing on reducing the impact of global climate change.