VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Homecoming culture that has always been done by Indonesian people to celebrate Idul Fitri triggers Indonesian Tourism Ministry to stabilize the number of Indonesian tourists. Since the beginning of Ramadan, the Ministry has launched several programs; one of them is Pesona Mudik 2018. This was stated by Minister of Tourism, Arif Yahya at his welcoming speech of Pesona Mudik 2018 Launch at Jimbaran Ayana Midplaza, in Jakarta on Wednesday( June 6^th 2018).

“When Ramadan comes, low season occurs in Indonesia. The number of domestic tourists usually recorded at 20 million drops drastically to only 10 million people. But at the end of Ramadan and Lebaran Eid ul Fitr festivity, the number of business movement records 20 million. So, the total number of domestic tourists in average is 20 million, especially for Ramadan and Lebaran which increase to 30 million. So, Pesona Mudik 2018 will accompany Genpi to inform things that you want to know most about a region such as one of the top-ten culinaries in each city, and top-ten destinations. When Lebaran comes, where you want to go, we will inform. The third one is top-ten events in each city,” Arief Yahya said.

Minister Arif Yahya added that the decreasing number of foreign tourist visit reaching as many as 50 percent will be overcome with interesting programs launched by the Tourism Ministry. The Hot Deal program for foreign tourists who wants to visit Indonesia during Ramadan and Lebaran has been launched. (VOI/NK/RHM)

Terrorism acts have been worrying and fearful for people in general. Thus, the government of Indonesia must be able to overcome the root of the problem of the terrorism deadly acts. This was affirmed by terrorism observer, Noor Huda  to RRI World Service-Voice of Indonesia via telephone on Thursday afternoon (07/6). He said that the handling of terrorism is not easy. So, it needs to involve related elements and institutions.

“The country must not be alone in handling the terrorism . It must involve civilians, especially religious big  organizations, such as Nahdhotul Ulama or Muhammadiyah and other certain institutions that can have ownership and sense of belonging to the issue,” Noor Huda said.

Noor Huda also expected Indonesian government to be more creative in finding out new ways in overcoming terrorism. Besides, the soft approach can be more effective by prioritizing narration that invites people not to harm themselves or others. (VOI/AF/RHM)

The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) will have eight squadrons of fighter jets by 2024, according to the Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshal Yuyu Sutisna.

To face the increasingly complex duties in the future, the TNI AU would continue to develop and improve its strength, he told students of the Air Force Unit Command School (Sekkau) Jakarta on Thursday.

The ongoing 20-year plan to develop the TNI AU's strength between 2005 and 2024 included the building up of eight squadrons of fighter jets, he said.

"Based on the plan for material strength, we expect to have eight squadrons of fighter jets. The squadrons will each have 16 fighter jets, with their preparedness averaging 80 per cent," he said.

The TNI AU would also build six squadrons of light, medium and heavy duty transport planes, each with 16 aircraft, Marshal Yuyu Sutisna said. These squadrons were aimed at supporting the mobility of troops and logistics in trouble spots, he added.

"When it comes to transport planes, the TNI AU will replace its C-1308s with IL-76/A-400/C-17, and has replaced F-27 Fokker/CN-235 with CN-295/C-27 Spartan," he said. (ANTARA)

The University of Indonesia (UI) is ranked 292 in the world along with two other universities -- the National Yang-Ming University (Taipei) and Beijing Normal University -- in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking of World Universities for 2018-2019.

UI’s Rector, Prof. Muhammad Anis, said in Depok on Thursday that from year to year UI was able to compete with the best universities in the world. The ranking was evidence that UI had been recognised by the world and was able to hold its own with other universities in the Asia-Pacific and Europe.

The QS World University Ranking assessed 1,233 universities in 151 countries worldwide. The result was published on Wednesday (June 6) on its website https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2019.

UI succeeded in maintaining its position as the best university in Indonesia for seven consecutive years. The QS University Ranking is used as a reference by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia to measure the quality of the universities in the country.

Prof Anis said one of the efforts made by UI was to meet the indicators used by QS. This ranking reaffirms UI's expertise in the fields of humanities, health, and science and technology.

Prof. Anis said that in 2018 UI would constantly improve the quality and quantity of research and community service. "In addition, we want to increase the participation of the UI academic community in responding to problems faced by people through cutting-edge and innovative research," he said.

The QS team felt that UI had significantly increased its International Faculty, he said. Currently, UI has 617 foreign lecturers and researchers, mostly from Australia, Philippines, Japan and Malaysia.

The other improvement was in employer reputation. This indicator reflected an the increase in satisfaction of companies` leaders in the performance of UI graduates in their organisations. (ANTARA)