VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) has established cooperation in the field of science and technology with the Finnish Embassy in Indonesia.

"This collaboration is to achieve ITS’ goal of becoming a world-class university. It is truly an honor to be able to work with many great people," ITS rector Prof. Mochamad Ashari said during a meeting with the Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia Pekka Kaihilahti here on Monday.

Director for global partnerships at ITS Prof. Maria Anityasari said that the cooperation is a follow-up to a previous one.

The cooperation program covers the continuation of the collaboration between the ITS Directorate of Global Partnerships and JAMK University of Applied Sciences in conducting research and test-beds for the DIRECT project and short-term training in digital rehabilitation, she informed.

"This project is planned to be funded by HETI-ABD," Anityasari said.

UN Pulse Finland is still considering contributing to the first program, she added. She then expressed the hope that Finland would contribute so that the program could be realized fully.

In addition, ITS, together with Business Finland, Nokia, KONE, Betolar, and Wapice, is planning to initiate the Creativity and Innovation Day.

The event will feature workshops, trainings, and hackathons for students. A capacity-building program for staff will also be organized during the event.

"The event is planned to be held next year," she said.

Further, ITS is also collaborating with the University of Oulu for offering double-degree programs.

"Namely the '2+2 program' at undergraduate-level Telecommunications Engineering and the '1+1 program' in Electrical Engineering, Informatics, and Information Systems," she said.

Meanwhile, Kaihilahti, said that, as a representative of his country, he felt honored to support and work with ITS.

He highlighted that the innovations from the collaboration must be useful and have a positive impact on the wider community. (Antaranews)

The provincial government of West Java launched a digital public service mall (MPP) in Bandung city on Monday to provide easier access to services to the community.



The services can be accessed through the mppdigital.jabarprov.go.id website.



"So far, not all regions in West Java have a physical MPP. Thus, the presence of this digital MPP is to facilitate services to the community, especially in regions that have not owned MPP or only have physical MPP," head of the West Java Investment and One-Stop Integrated Service Office (DPMPTSP), Noneng Komara, said after the launch of the digital MPP here on Monday.



She expressed the hope that the integration of services through the digital MPP will make it easier for the community to access public services anywhere and anytime.



According to her, several other provinces have expressed their willingness to replicate the digital MPP of the West Java government.



The Ministry of State Apparatus and Bureaucracy Reform chose West Java as the pilot site for digital MPP development, she said.



Meanwhile, West Java regional secretary Setiawan Wangsaatmaja said that the launch of the digital MPP reflects West Java's strong commitment to making the public service mall more simple, fast, and more affordable.



He noted that so far, 12 districts and cities in West Java have launched a physical MPP, while the other 15 districts and cities have not.



The digital MPP has several benefits, for instance, it provides easier access to services to the community, which are also faster in terms of time, and it is also more affordable, he said.



“So, if we look at the average (cost of) construction of physical public service malls in West Java, the average figure is Rp9–10 billion per district and city. Yet, with digital public service malls, our costs will be cheaper; maybe Rp300–500 million for 27 districts/cities," the regional secretary informed. (Antaranews)

U.S. sanctions on two senior Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Tibet were illegal and seriously harmed Sino-U.S. ties, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

China rejects accusations that it has used harsh policies to quell ethnic dissent and control religious activities in the rugged Himalayan region of Tibet.

The comments came after the U.S. Treasury department said on Friday it imposed sanctions on Wu Yingjie, the chief of the ruling Communist Party in Tibet between 2016 and 2021, and Zhang Hongbo, a senior public security official in the region.

Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the steps were a gross interference in China's internal affairs and a violation of basic norms of international relations.

"We urge the U.S. side to immediately withdraw the so-called sanctions," he told a regular briefing.

They did serious damage to Sino-U.S. relations, Wang said, adding that China would safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

"The United States has no right to impose sanctions on other countries at every turn and is not qualified to play the world police," Wang added.

Wang also criticised comments on Saturday by Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, as being "full of lies and prejudice".

Burns had said the United States remained "deeply concerned" over what it saw as China's failure to live up to its international commitment to protect rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in areas such as Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang.

"We urge the U.S. side to stop using human rights issues to smear China, to stop using human rights issues to interfere in China's internal affairs and to undermine China's stability," Wang added. (Reuters)

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Monday said Britain would continue to respond with sanctions against Iran when its actions are unacceptable in an effort to steer the Islamic Republic in a better direction.

"Our priority is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but in parallel to that we will continue to act, to respond when Iran's actions are unacceptable," Cleverly said in answer to a question following a speech in London, giving the example of the supply of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.

"We've sanctioned those involved with that, we've sanctioned those involved with the brutal suppression of protesters in Iran and we will continue to try and steer Iran into a better direction." (Reuters)