VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

People watch from behind fences at the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on April 25, 2021 as the state government limits numbers of people able to attend. (Photo: AFP/William West) - 

Thousands of Australians and New Zealanders attended Anzac Day dawn services Sunday (Apr 25) to honour their armed forces, a year after marking the solemn occasion from the isolation of their driveways.

Both countries largely returned to in-person services after the cancellation of marches and ceremonies in 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions led many to observe the annual memorial day at home.

Anzac Day marks the 1915 landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, in what is now Turkey, during World War I to face the German-backed Ottoman forces.

While most nations commemorate military victories, New Zealand and Australia focus on the ill-fated, eight-month campaign that cost the young nations more than 11,000 lives.

At a gathering at the War Memorial Museum in Auckland early Sunday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern highlighted the sacrifices of women in war.

The commemorations now extend to every conflict the countries have joined in the ensuing decades, including wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this year a "chapter in our history is coming to a close" after the announcement last week the country would withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan in line with the US timetable to leave by September.

Speaking at an official memorial in Canberra, Morrison said Australia's longest war had come at "great cost" to the nation.

"Forty-one Australian lives lost in Afghanistan, whom we especially remember and honour this morning," he said.

"More than 39,000 Australians have served on operations in support of Australia's mission in Afghanistan, many carrying the wounds and scars of war, seen and unseen."

The two nations' success in containing the spread of COVID-19 allowed many public remembrance services and parades to go ahead, though with limited crowds in Australia and ceremonies cancelled in the locked-down city of Perth//CNA

A person walks past funeral fires of those who died from COVID-19 at a crematorium in New Delhi, India Apr 24, 2021. (Photo:Reuters/Adnan Abidi) - 

India on Sunday (Apr 25) set a new global record of the most number of coronavirus infections in a day, as the United States said it was racing to send help to the country.

India's number of cases surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks, and hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen and beds.

Our hearts go out to the Indian people in the midst of the horrific COVID-19 outbreak. We are working closely with our partners in the Indian government, and we will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India's health care heroes," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Twitter.

The United States has faced criticism in India for its export controls on raw materials for vaccines put in place via the defense production act and an associated export embargo in February.

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, this month urged US President Joe Biden to lift the embargo on US exports of raw materials that is hurting its production of AstraZeneca shots.Others such as US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the Biden administration to release unused vaccines to India. "When people in India and elsewhere desperately need help, we can't let vaccines sit in a warehouse, we need to get them where they'll save lives," he said.

India's total tally of infections stands at 16.96 million and deaths 192,311 after 2,767 more died overnight, health ministry data showed.

In the last month alone, daily cases have gone up eight times and deaths by ten times. Health experts say the death count is probably far higher.

The surge is expected to peak in mid-May with the daily count of infections reaching half a million, the Indian Express said citing an internal government assessment.

V K Paul, a COVID-task force leader, made the presentation during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers and said that the health infrastructure in heavily populated states is not adequate enough to cope, according to the newspaper.

Paul did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Experts said India became complacent in the winter, when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control. Authorities lifted restrictions, allowing for the resumption of big gatherings//CNA

A sport stadium for PON XX in Papua. (Photo: PUPR Ministry) - 

Papua Province braces for the convening of PON National Games in October this year in the midst of security threats posed by armed Papuan criminals in several districts.

Top brass of Indonesia's National Police highlighted that Papua remains conducive ahead of the province's PON National Games to be convened in October this year.

"The national games will be held as scheduled," National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono stated in Jakarta on Tuesday (April 20, 2021).

Hartono noted that armed Papuan criminals continue to disrupt law and security in several areas, but the police and army personnel had ably handled their acts of violence.

The security personnel stationed in Papua, including those from the Nemangkawi Task Force, strive to maintain security to ensure that conditions in the province remain conducive, he remarked.

The Indonesian Defence Forces and National Police are readying a security plan to ensure that the Papua PON National Games that will be participated in by selected athletes and officials from all over Indonesia are held as scheduled from Oct 2 to Oct 15, 2021.

The Indonesian police and TNI personnel stationed in Papua will never retreat even a single step in enforcing the law against the notorious armed criminals in their endeavors to make the convening of Papua PON National Games successful//ANT

Ahmad Sahroni, Deputy Chairman of the Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) - 

Ahmad Sahroni, Deputy Chairman of the Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), has lauded a move by the Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, to suspend entry of travellers from India.

"The move by the immigration (directorate general) is right and fast. This is owing to the number of COVID-19 cases on an upsurge in the country," Sahroni said in a statement here on Sunday.

Sahroni believed that Indonesia's policy is very reasonable because the handling of COVID-19 in the country is still ongoing, so it would be very risky to admit citizens from countries with very high rates of pandemic transmission."The handling of the pandemic in the country is currently still ongoing, so it is only natural that Indonesia first bans the entry of travellers from countries with high number of COVID-19 cases," he said.

The politician from the National Democratic (NasDem) Party also reminded immigration to always monitor and update information regarding the condition of COVID-19 abroad, so that they can make policies quickly and precisely.

The Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights has officially issued an entry ban for travelers from India to Indonesia.

"Besides the entry ban, we also temporarily suspend the issuance of visas for Indian citizens," the ministry's Director General of Immigration Jhoni Ginting said in a statement here on Saturday (24/4).The regulation is issued by the Indonesian government in response to the latest drastic spike in daily COVID-19 cases in India.

The ban is also applied to every foreigner who has a travel history from Indian within 14 days before entering Indonesia//ANT