VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Sangkulirang Mangkalihat Karst is located in East Kalimantan, precisely in East Kutai Regency. Like the karst area, the Sangkulirang Mangkalihat location is also surrounded by steep walls, underground caves with exotic natural carvings, and green hills. The beauty of this giant karst group stretches from East Kutai Regency to Berau Regency. 

The Sangkulirang Mangkalihat area has an area of 1.8 million hectares. According to the results of research, this karst area provides information about traces of ancient humans which can be seen from hand paintings, pictures of boats, and paintings of various types of animals that are clearly depicted on the walls of the cave. It is said that traces of this ancient human existed around 10,000 years BC. Bones, crocks made of clay, and tools made of stone were also found here. It is also estimated that the spread of early Austronesian humans began in the Sangkulirang karst mountains. This means that the Sangkulirang Mangkalihat Karst is the starting point for the emergence of ancient humans in Indonesia. 

In this place there are valuable sites, such as for palaeontology, archaeology, fossil sites, geological-mineral structures, lithology, as well as a variety of endemic flora and fauna. The existence of caves, underwater rivers, limestone reserves and cement materials are quite abundant so they are very suitable as natural tourism spots. With these natural tourism spots, visitors can carry out activities such as hiking, rock climbing, cave exploring, flora and fauna exploration, or exploration of ancient human remains when visiting this tourist spot. 

East Kutai Regency can be reached for 4 – 5 hours by road from Samarinda City by four-wheeled vehicle. You can also rent a car at a rental place for around IDR 400,000 – IDR 500,000. After arriving in East Kutai Regency, the journey continues to Sangkulirang District. Even though this natural tourist attraction has been recognized by the world, this tourist destination is still considered very natural. There are only a few facilities provided, for example at the Tewet Post which was deliberately built as a resting place for visitors. 

Indonesian Ambassador to Moldova, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, said bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Republic of Moldova, which have been running for three decades, need to be improved. Increasing cooperation in the fields of economics, social, culture, education and the protection of Indonesian citizens were topics discussed in a meeting with the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu, which took place after the ceremony of handing over Letters of Credence at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday (23 /1/2024).

Moldova's support for Indonesia in the Human Rights Council for the period 2024 – 2026 as well as members of the UNESCO Executive Board for the period 2023 – 2027 and Indonesia's support for Moldova in the nomination for the Human Rights Council for the period 2027 – 2029, emphasize the importance of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Both parties agreed to increase economic cooperation, especially two-way trade. In this regard, it is very important to restore Indonesia's trade trend to a surplus, so that there is a balanced trade balance.

In the last two years, the trade balance between Indonesia and Moldova has still shown a negative trend with a deficit on the Indonesian side.
For Indonesia, Moldova is a partner in the Eastern European region which can be an alternative partner for exporting Indonesia's superior commodities, including palm oil. The Indonesian Ambassador hopes for Moldova's support regarding the continued down streaming of Indonesia's superior export commodities, which can contribute to achieving a positive trade balance for Indonesia.

The Indonesian Ambassador also emphasized the need to increase cooperation in the tourism sector. Diversification of tourism destinations in Indonesia needs to be promoted intensively, so that Moldovan citizens do not only visit Bali. For this reason, in 2024, various tourism and cultural promotion activities will be carried out in Moldova to increase awareness about Indonesia and to open up opportunities for cooperation between tour operators and travel agents from the two countries.

In the field of education and culture, the Indonesian government provides scholarships to Moldovan citizens consistently to introduce Indonesia from an academic and social perspective. The Indonesian Ambassador's mission is to increase the number of scholarships for Moldovan students and explore opportunities for collaboration between universities in the two countries for joint research and student exchanges to increase people-to-people contact.
Regarding the protection of Indonesian citizens, the Ambassador paid attention to Indonesian citizens living in Moldova. Until now, though not many, all Indonesian citizens live well in Moldova.

Indonesian students from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya, East Java province have made another achievement. The ITS student team succeeded in innovating used aluminum into a renewable energy source. Through the Exact Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-RE), the ITS team conducted research to see the effect of pre-treatment on aluminum metal on the amount of electrical power produced. According to the Head of the ITS research team, M Rizki Akbar, his research was motivated by concerns regarding used cans and aluminum foil around campus laboratories. Based on this concern, the students from the ITS Engineering Physics Department conducted research entitled The Effect of Pre-Treating Aluminum Waste Using HCl/Na2MoO4 Solution on Increasing the Rate of Hydrolysis in Hydrogen Production for Fuel Cell Applications to overcome the problem of waste cans and the like which are highly polluting the environment. This research, carried out at the ITS Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, examined the effect of pre-treatment of aluminum using hydrochloric acid and sodium molybdate on the rate of hydrogen production. In the process, the hydrolysis reaction that occurs in aluminum produces hydrogen gas. Then, the gas is broken down into electrical energy using a device called Proton-exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. This pre-treatment stage has proven useful in producing aluminum metal that is clean from dirt. With pre-treatment for 60 seconds, it is known that 0.5 grams of aluminum cans can produce 233.93 milliwatts of electrical power. This electrical power is much greater than aluminum cans without going through the pre-treatment stage, which only produces 29.78 milliwatts. Accompanied by a supervisor from the ITS Engineering Physics Department, Dr Ing Doty Dewi Risanti ST MT, the ITS research team succeeded in lighting a small lamp for 40 minutes using a 4 gram aluminum can. The research team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology concluded that their discovery has the potential to become a renewable energy source in the future. This is, of course, with better processing and free from dangerous chemicals. Thanks to the studies carried out, the research team from ITS succeeded in winning the 36th National Student Science Week (Pimnas) which was held in November 2023. They managed to bring home two medals at once, namely a silver medal for the poster category and a bronze medal for the presentation category. This success is a matter of pride for the team, because it succeeded in making the name of the alma mater proud on the national stage. This research carried out by the ITS research team is an example of innovation that can be used to reduce waste. In addition, this innovation has also succeeded in developing new and renewable energy sources. It is hoped that this breakthrough can be a solution to overcome environmental and energy problems in Indonesia.

The culinary texture of Gresik's typical Nasi Romo is quite unique and different   from other typical Indonesian foods. The orange porridge layer appears to cover the top. So, it doesn't show the shape of the rice. Powder as a complement is added and chili sauce and crackers can make the culinary increasingly tempting. That's the description of Nasi Romo or Sego Romo, which is a culinary dish from Gresik district, East Java.Nasi Romo or lontong Rumo contains rice or lontong which is placed in a pincuk, which is a food dish made from banana leaves, then topped with boiled vegetables and crushed crackers. Afterwards, it is  coated with rumo porridge, which is a smooth orange colored one that is spiced with jangkep spices, namely shallots, garlic, large chilies, galangal and turmeric, coriander, galangal and cumin. Afterwards, it is given chili sauce and a sprinkling of koya made from grated fried coconut, so that when we eat Romo's rice, our tongues will taste the savory and slightly sweet porridge, plus steamed or boiled savory leaves, for example spinach or vegetables made from cassava leaves. This way of eating Rumo rice uses a spoon made from banana leaves called ‘Suru’. Time after time, now many people enjoy Romo's food, and Nasi Rumo is usually a breakfast menu for Gresik people.Nasi Rumo, whose name is taken from its origin, namely Roomo village, Manyar, Gresik, East Java, is usually sold at pocket-friendly prices. Now, although this food paired with crackers is starting to become hard to find, it can still be found in certain places, for example  in several traditional markets.