VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mount Merapi erupted again and released a hot cloud burst on Saturday night (02/03/2019) with a sliding distance of 1.3 kilometers. The Center for Investigation and Development of Geological Disaster Technology (BPPTKG) recorded 9 times hot clouds and avalanches coming out of Mt. Merapi located in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java. Mt. Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. Since 1548, this mountain has erupted 68 times. According to the records, Mt. Merapi erupts every two to five years and bigger eruptions occur around 10-15 years. The eruption in 1872 was considered the strongest one in the record of the modern era of geology. The big eruption in 2010 was estimated to also have the same power. The eruption in 1930, which destroyed thirteen villages and killed around 1.400 people, was the biggest eruption so far. In October 2010, Mt. Merapi erupted with hot cloud and hard boom. This was the biggest eruption in the last 100 years and resulted in 337casualties, dozens of villages damaged and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. Until now, the Geological Disaster Research and Development Center still maintains the status of Mt. Merapi at Level II or Alert. Nevertheless, for the time being, the local residents are encouraged not to carry out activities within a three kilometer radius of the Mt. Merapi. In addition, hiking activities are suspended temporarily except for the purposes of investigation and research related to disaster mitigation. For information, there are 4 volcano statuses, namely Normal or basic level, which means that the volcano does not experience visual, seismic, and volcanic events. Then, Alert or Level II indicates an increase in volcanic activity. At this level, seismic and volcanic activity begins to emerge, and activity increases above the normal level. Furthermore, Alert or Level III indicates that the volcano has intensified seismic activity. There are visual changes in crater activity that can progress to eruptions. The last, Beware or Level IV indicates that the volcano is to immediately erupt and in a critical condition. This situation can cause disaster. The opening eruption starts with ash and steam, and has the opportunity to continue in approximately 24 hours. Of course, the eruption of Mt. Merapi is a natural process that cannot be avoided, as happened in 2010. The local residents are expected to improve awareness of the dangers of lava rain, especially when there is rain around the peak of Mt. Merapi. In addition, they must also obey the appeals and warnings submitted by the regional government and disaster mitigation agencies. Vigilance is very important to minimize the unexpected risk.

Danish Travel Show-Ferie for Alle, the most visited tourism exhibition in Scandinavian region was held on February 22^nd  to 23^rd  in Herning City, Denmark.   Indonesian Embassy in Copenhagen takes part in the exhibition annually to promote Indonesia in Scandinavia region, especially Denmark. In the exhibition, the Indonesian booth promoted alternative tourism destinations besides Bali. The promotion wass managed into natural and cultural tourism packages. Visitors who came were also served with Indonesian food, such as Uduk rice, meat stews, chicken curry, dumplings, taro chips and green bean porridge. A number of dances, such as Selayang Pandang, Merak, Jaipong, Mask Bapang Malang, Ngapotek, Lancang Kuning, Gantar and Enggang were also performed for the visitors. From a number of traditional dances performed at the Danish Travel Show-Ferie for Alle, we  introduce one of them,  Gantar dance. Gantar dance is a social dance of young people from  Benuaq Dayak tribe and Tanjung Dayak in East Kalimantan. In  the Gantar dance, the dancers use a stick and short bamboo. This dance illustrates the expression of  joy of the dancers and also  hospitality of the Dayak people in welcoming guests. This dance is also meant to welcome guests or tourists who attend the traditional East Kalimantan event. In the show, Gantar dance is usually performed by female dancers. The dancers are dressed in traditional attire of the Dayak tribe. Besides, they also wear various accessories, such as bracelets and headbands necklaces. In the performance, Gantar dance is also accompanied with traditional Dayak ethnic music. Gantar dance is divided into three types, namely Gantar Rayatn, Gantar Busai and Gantar Senak and Kusak. Gantar Rayatn dance only uses one tool, namely a long stick which  is decorated with a skull wrapped with cloth. In the dance, the people dance, sing and wave hands in accordance with  the rhythm. The Gantar Busai dance uses only a piece of bamboo. When dancing, the dancers wave gracefully and play bamboo based on the rhythm.The bamboo used is given 12 bracelets to make it sound when moved. The last is Gantar Senak and Kusak. Senak in this dance is a stick held with left hand. While Kusak is a bamboo that is held with right hand.The bamboo used in this type is filled with seeds so that the sound produces loud sound. In the Gantar dance, the dancers play a long stick and stomps and follow the sound of the bamboo by swinging it.

Chili becomes an important commodity in Indonesian culture. Various traditional and modern culinary uses chili in the cooking. In fulfilling the need for chili, students of the Faculty of Engineering and Agriculture at Brawijaya University Malang, East Java created Agrowbot. Agrowbot is an environmentally friendly agricultural robot created by students in collaboration between 2 faculties. Candra Sabdana Nugroho, one of the students, explained that Agrowbot was created because the availability of red chili in Indonesia is still lacking while the needs are quite high. The lack of red chili production in Indonesia is caused by pest attacks or disease. Through this Agrowbot innovation, five students won the Silver Medal at the 2019 Bangkok International Intellectual Property, Invention, Innovation and Technology Exposition in Thailand Inventor's Day at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center, Thailand, in early February. Candra explained that for the working system, the robot can generate electromagnetic fields on the soil which can trigger immunity or endurance of chili plants so that they are more resistant to disease and can trigger acceleration of photosynthesis. In addition, the robot can also monitor temperature, humidity and light intensity. Robots run automatically in agricultural areas and landowners can monitor them remotely for example via mobile phones. With Agrowbot, it is expected to be able to meet the consumption needs of red chili in Indonesia and become an environmentally friendly cultivation technique solution. According to the official statement from the Faculty of Engineering, Brawijaya University, Agrowbot can be used once week during the red chili planting period. To get optimal results can be used as many as 10 to 12 times during the planting period with exposure time of 90 minutes per use. If Agrowbot is applied on a small or large scale, it is expected to help reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides and increase crop yields.

The attention of the international community towards a summit between the President of the United States, Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was directed at a meeting which ended sooner than scheduled. For a while, high expectations for the results of the two leaders' meetings did not materialize. The meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam ended without agreement. President Trump and Leader Kim Jong-un did not sign any agreement.The meeting in the communist-leaning country like North Korea was a follow-up to Trump and Kim's historic meeting on the date. June 12, 2018 in Singapore. Unlike the statement made after the meeting in Singapore, the meeting in Hanoi was marked by a reflection of the lack of trust from the President of the United States over the goodwill of the North Korean leader. Trump's optimism which was stated before the meeting ended with the statement that Kim could not meet the expectations of the United States of America. In his statement, President Donald Trump said that Kim requested that all sanctions be revoked, but without full commitment to carry out denuclearization. President Trump also stressed that the United States had not given up on Kim's demands. 'UM YET GIVE UP' is really interesting to observe. In terms of negotiations, the word 'Not yet' can imply a possibility of a problem to be renegotiated. By using the word 'Not yet', there are two things that can be stated.First is the possibility of further talks, and the two North Koreans can actually feel that they have a strong bargaining position. North Korea has shown its existence to the world.Through the stages of the meeting with Donald Trump, Kim has shown himself and his country to have become a big country calculation, such as the United States. In the end, North Korea will reap more benefits from the next meeting with the United States, besides depending on North Korea itself. Of course it can also be seen from the extent to which large countries such as China will show their support for Leader Kim Jong-un. Because it is recognized or not, so far China is a country that has close relations with North Korea.