VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim. (ANTARA/Indriani/am/FR) - 

Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim has emphasized the importance of collaboration between nations for designing culture-based solutions to realize a sustainable recovery.

"It is time for us all to meet today and encourage collective action for the recovery of the culture sector,” Makarim told delegates during the 1st Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of G20 Culture on Friday.

"I want to emphasize that we are not here to look for short-term solutions, but long-term solutions that turn culture as the driver of sustainable development," he added.

Culture is part of Indonesians' DNA and the leadership of Makarim's ministry of G20 Culture is an opportunity to prove that Indonesia is a cultural powerhouse, he remarked.

It is also an opportunity to show that Indonesia, as the G20 President, is capable of inviting the world to work together to realize a cultural recovery, he added.

The meeting is expected to produce concrete results.

Moreover, it has been said that a variety of solutions for recovery can be gleaned from cultural traditions and expressions that have been inherited for generations.

These cultural artifacts have proven to be successful in preserving harmony between humans and nature, as well as humans and other humans.

"We have a local food system that respects the dignity of living beings, sustainable fashion practices that support natural materials utilization, and knowledge and technology that supports eco-friendly lifestyles," Makarim said.

"That is what we can offer to the world," he added.

The senior officials’ meeting will discuss several challenges and potentials related to the sustainable global recovery agenda, which aligns with the theme of ‘Culture for Sustainable Living.’

"Later, if we agree to it, we will officially unveil the Global Arts and Culture Recovery Fund proposed by the ministry leadership during Indonesia’s G20 Presidency," he informed.

"Only through global collaboration can we recover together and revive from these challenging times," he added.

With support from G20 member nations, special invite nations, and UNESCO, the Global Arts and Culture Recovery Fund can support the recovery of the cultural economic sector, especially in developing nations.

The eve of the G20 Culture Ministers Meeting will be held at the Borobudur Temple, Magelang, Central Java, on September 12 and 13, 2022//ANT

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin planting a tree during his visit to Air Force Academy in Yogyakarta on Friday (April 22, 2022). ANTARA/Rangga Pandu Asmara Jingga - 

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin visited the Indonesian Air Force Academy (AAU) in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, on Friday, to plant trees and inscribe messages to Air Force Academy cadets.

The vice president visited the academy after performing the congregational Friday prayers at Baiturrahman Mosque in Gunungkidul Cultural Park.

Upon arrival at the Air Force Academy, Amin was welcomed by Air Force Academy cadets and directly escorted to the location of the Adisakti Statue within the academy complex to inscribe his message to the cadets.

"Be a brilliant cadet ready to serve the country and the nation," the vice president inscribed as a message to the Air Force Academy cadets during his visit.

Amin's message conveyed the meaning that the Air Force Academy cadets, as the future generation of the nation, are expected to become advanced human resources that will bring pride to the nation wherever they are.

After inscribing his message, the vice president planted a rose apple tree (Syzygium malaccense) and participated in a photo session with the Air Force Academy governor and officials.

The rose apple tree, locally known as jambu bol, symbolizes affection for one another and conveys the message that a leader must be an example of unity and harmony for his or her subordinates.

Air Force Academy Governor Rear Marshal Eko D. Indarto and the academy's Deputy Governor Air Commodore Palito Sitorus accompanied Amin during his visit to the academy.

The vice president's visit to the Air Force Academy concluded his two-day working visit to Central Java and Yogyakarta.

During his working visit to the provinces, Amin, accompanied by Second Lady Wury Ma'ruf Amin and other officials, observed the readiness of the Borobudur Temple Tourism Park (TWC) destination in Magelang, Central Java, Thursday, in welcoming the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Apart from visiting the Borobudur Temple, the vice president also visited the Karangrejo Village Economy Hall to hand over entrepreneurs' assistance benefits and, before visiting the academy on Friday, the National Research and Innovation Agency's (BRIN's) food technology and process research centre in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta//ANT

Passengers arrive at the international airport in Hong Kong. (Photo: AFP/Dale De La Rey) - 

Hong Kong will allow non-residents to enter the financial hub from May for the first time in more than two years, a small step in unwinding stringent coronavirus restrictions which have turned the city into one of the world's most isolated places.

Hong Kong's rules for airlines that carry infected COVID-19 patients will also be eased slightly, the government said in a statement on Friday (Apr 22), with the threshold for suspending incoming flights rising to five infected passengers from three currently.

A ban on individual airline routes will be shortened to five days from seven.

Foreign travellers will be subjected to the same procedure as residents, the government said.

The announcement comes with daily infections less than 1000 for more than a week from a peak of more than 70,000 on Mar 3.

Hong Kong's borders have essentially been closed since early 2020 with very few flights and weeks long quarantine for arrivals.

Most flights currently landing in Hong Kong, which prides itself as the east-meets-west gateway, are from China and a few other Asian cities.

Eleven flight routes were banned this week from airlines including Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, and KLM, according to government records. There have been more than 70 flight bans so far this year.

The former British colony lifted a ban on flights arriving from nine countries including the US and Britain on Apr 1 and cut quarantine for residents to seven days from 14, but the still stringent criteria mean that few flights can operate in what was once one of the world's busiest transit hubs.

Hong Kong has followed China in implementing a "dynamic zero" coronavirus policy which aims to curb all outbreaks.

Thousands of residents trying to return to Hong Kong have been impacted by last minute cancellations, leaving them scrambling to find alternative routes while ensuring they can secure their quarantine hotel room amid tight supply.

Hong Kong reopened gyms, beauty parlours, theme parks and cinemas on Thursday for the first time in more than four months//CNA

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to an expanded security partnership. (Photo: AFP/Prakash SINGH) - 

Britain and India agreed a "new and expanded" defence and security partnership on Friday (Apr 22), under-fire British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on a visit to New Delhi.

Johnson travelled to India as he faces criticism at home and the embarrassing prospect of a probe into whether he lied to parliament over the lockdown-breaking "Partygate" scandal.

New Delhi is part of the Quad grouping with the United States, Japan and Australia that is seen as a bulwark against an increasingly assertive China.

But India also has a long Cold War history of cooperation with Moscow, still its biggest military supplier, and has refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

"The threats of autocratic coercion have grown even further," Johnson said alongside his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, in an apparent reference to Beijing.

"And it's therefore vital that we deepen our cooperation, including our shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free."

The new partnership was "a decades-long commitment", he added, hailing the relationship between "one of the oldest democracies, and India, certainly the largest democracy".

But relations between Britain and India have long been coloured by the legacy of colonial rule - when London saw the world's second-most populous nation as the jewel in the crown of its empire but hundreds of millions of Indians chafed under its authority.

Modi's Hindu nationalist government regularly emphasises the independence struggle as a vital component of India's national identity.

It has built giant statues of key independence leaders and created a museum to one of them in Delhi's world heritage-listed Red Fort.

It was "historic" that Johnson's visit to India came in the 75th year of its independence, Modi said.

"We discussed several regional and international developments and stressed a free, open, inclusive and rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific," he added.

Exact details of the security partnership were not immediately available.

But Johnson said the two had agreed to work together in defence procurement "to meet threats across land, sea and air, space and cyber, including partnering on new fighter jet technology, maritime technologies to detect and respond to threats in the oceans".

New Delhi has long sought to bolster its domestic military manufacturing capacity, partly to reduce its dependence on Moscow and partly as a contribution to its "Make in India" campaign.

The two countries are also in talks on a post-Brexit trade deal, but Modi's government is keen to secure more visas for Indians to work or study in the UK//CNA