VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Visitors line a corridor in the Daniel K Inouye International Airport as they enter the state on Oct 15, 2020, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) - 

Hawaii Gov David Ige said Friday (Jun 4) that the state will drop its quarantine and COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers once 70 per cent of the state's population has been vaccinated against the disease. 

Hawaii will also lift its requirement that people wear masks indoors once that level has been reached, he said.

The state Department of Health website said 59 per cent of Hawaii's population has had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 52 per cent finished their dosing regimen.

The state is using its figures, and not those provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to calculate thresholds for lifting restrictions. 

Health Department Director Dr Libby Char said that's because Hawaii's numbers are more accurate. She said it appears the CDC has been counting some of Hawaii's doses twice.

Right now, travelers arriving from out of state must spend 10 days in quarantine or, to bypass that quarantine, they must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken before departure for the islands.

Once 60 per cent of Hawaii's population is vaccinated, Ige said, the state will allow travelers to bypass a quarantine requirement as long as they can prove they were vaccinated in the US.

Restrictions on travel between the islands will open up before that.

To encourage more people to get vaccinated, the state announced it launched a website HIGotVaccinated.com where vaccinated people can enter to win prizes and learn about discounts at local retailers and restaurants.

Among the deals: A US$3 bag of Zippy's chili for those who show their vaccination card. Among the prizes are 100,000 frequent flyer miles from Hawaiian Airlines.

So many people went to the website after the state announced its existence that the site crashed. Health Department spokesman Brooks Baehr said 500 people signed up for prizes in the first hour//CNA

Candles are seen lit in the windows of the US consulate in Hong Kong to mark the 32nd anniversary of Beijing's deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 AFP/Peter PARKS - 

China on Saturday (Jun 5) berated the US and EU consulates in Hong Kong for displaying candles to commemorate the June Tiananmen crackdown, slamming it as a "clumsy political show" to destabilise the city.

Candles were seen lit in the windows of the US consulate building, which is next to the residence of Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader Carrie Lam, and the European Union's office on Friday night.

The missions also posted photographs of their candlelit Tiananmen memorials on social media.

"Any attempt to exploit Hong Kong to carry out infiltration or sabotage activities against the mainland crosses the red line ... is absolutely intolerable," a spokesperson for the Hong Kong office of China's foreign ministry said.

"We again urge the organs of relevant countries in Hong Kong to immediately ... stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs at large, and avoid playing with fire."

For three decades in Hong Kong, huge crowds, often tens of thousands strong, have held candlelit vigils on Jun 4 for those killed in 1989 when tanks and troops crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing.

Crowds have swelled in recent years as Hong Kongers chafe under Beijing's increasingly assertive rule.

However this year's vigil was banned at a time when Hong Kong authorities are carrying out a sweeping clampdown on dissent following huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago.

Flashes of defiance still flickered across the city Friday night as residents simultaneously turned their mobile phone lights or lit candles in multiple districts across the city to mark the date.

Public commemorations of Jun 4 are forbidden in mainland China and, until recently, semi-autonomous Hong Kong was the one place in China where large scale remembrance was still tolerated//CNA

Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment Optimizes Drone Technology for Forest Conservation - 

The government continues to promote reforestation and forest conservation in Indonesia. Various collaborative efforts continue to be launched to achieve this goal.

The Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment through the Deputy for Environmental Management and Forestry conducted technical coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, West Java Provincial Government, Perhutani, APHI in order to optimize the use of drone technology in forest conservation efforts on 3-4 June 2021 .

Drone technology has been widely used in various sectors. Good for agriculture, plantations, military needs, also for forest rehabilitation. For reforestation, several countries have started using drones to do aerial seeding in locations that are difficult for human intervention to do.

Drones can also be used for mapping, maintenance, and monitoring of areas being rehabilitated. However, the use of drones for forest conservation in Indonesia is still not optimal.

The Deputy Team for Environmental and Forestry Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment made a working visit to Aeroterrascan Bandung to review drone technology to be prepared for trials on upland and coastal areas (mangroves).

"The Coordinating Ministry for Marves continues to support innovation and the use of technology in forest conservation, for that we need to collaborate with all parties to realize this common mission," said Head of Forest Control, Utilization and Conservation, Fatma Puspitasari at the coordination meeting. According to him, space and support are needed for innovation by the nation's children. 

The use of technology will have a significant impact on environmental conservation.

"Drones are tools that are used to make people's lives easier. It makes mapping the area easier, helping with maintenance and monitoring. For example, in areas that require restoration but are difficult to access, drones can be utilized," he said.

"There are various types of drone technology, from consumer, prosumer, industrial to military classes. The drone being tested is an industrial class drone. It is being prepared for trial planting," explained Heru Gunawan, program manager for agriculture, plantation and forestry applications.

This nursery drone from Bandung is controlled automatically using Artificial Intelligence (AI). In this meeting and field visit, the team carried out drone trials in the sector area of ​​​​23 Citarum Fragrant, to see the consistency and ability of the equipment in conducting nurseries//Release - VOI

Indonesian Tourism  and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno - 

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy / Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno invites tourism and creative economy business actors to maximize the 2021 Government Incentive Assistance (BIP) program which was re-launched by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy with the official registration opening starting today, Friday (4 /6) until July 4, 2021.

"Today we are socializing the BIP which we believe is a policy that favors creative economy and tourism businesses, especially MSMEs that really need a touch from the government," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno while attending the 2021 BIP socialization event at Lumbini Park, Borobudur Temple Complex, Magelang, Central Java, Friday (4/6/2021) afternoon.

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy explained that the distribution of BIP is also expected to help creative economy and tourism business actors to survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also provide opportunities for them to become winners by increasing their business scale.

"Especially the digitalization aspect so that they not only sell their products or services online, but also create creative content to improve and transform their business," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga.

BIP is an annual program since 2017 which was previously run by the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and has been distributed to tourism and creative economy business actors throughout Indonesia to provide additional working capital and/or investment in fixed assets to increase business capacity.

In 2020, the budgeted distribution of BIP is Rp. 24 billion and this year it has been increased three times to Rp. 60 billion.

Unlike last year, the 2021 BIP is divided into two categories, namely the regular BIP and the Business Safety Net BIP (BIP JPU). BIP is also not the same as the tourism grant program which is also being prepared by the government.

Regular BIP is government incentive assistance intended to increase working capital and/or investment in fixed assets in the context of increasing business capacity and/or production of tourism and creative business actors//Release - VOI