Edisi 12 Agustus 2010 | International Bali Post

16 Pages Number 153 2st Year

Little hope for more survivors of China floods

Price: Rp 3.000,-

PAGE 6 I

N

T

E

R

N

A

T

I

Thursday, August 12, 2010

O

N

A

L

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Tourist visit to Sangeh drops by 50 percent PAGE 8

Taint of war-crimes trial won’t stick on Campbell PAGE 12

The re-elected mayor of Denpasar inaugurated on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by Bali’s Governor Made Mangku Pastika.

Denpasar Mayor must serious in handling flood Denpasar (Bali Post) – If in the previous inauguration, Denpasar’s elected Mayor I.B.Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra was asked to solve eight major problems in Denpasar, in the second inauguration which was held on Wednesday, August 11th 2010, he was asked to finish the unfinished programs.

WEATHER FORECAST

One of those programs is the flood management. The statement was said

by Bali’s Governor, Made Mangku Pastika, during the inauguration ceremony of I.B.Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra and IGN Jaya Negara as the Mayor and vice mayor of Denpasar

for 2010 – 2015 period.

Denpasar as the center of governing and economy in Bali has special characteristics that can not be found in other regencies. The urbanization is very high and it could give complex problems. The

CITY

TEMPERATURE OC

DENPASAR

23 - 31

JAKARTA

24 - 33

Search for foreigners after Indian Himalayan floods

BANDUNG

19 - 29

Agence France Presse

YOGYAKARTA

22 - 31

SURABAYA

24 - 33

SRINAGAR, India – Indian search teams tried to locate foreign tourists in the remote Himalayan region of Ladakh on Wednesday after five Europeans were declared to be among the 185 people killed in floods. Sudden rain storms on Friday triggered flash floods that swept away buildings, roads and power cables in the town of Leh, and stranded many tourists in the mountains.

Thousands of visitors from In-

SUNNY

BRIGHT/CLOUDY

RAIN

HOTLINE

For placing advertisment, please contact: Eka Wahyuni

0361-225764

dia and elsewhere travel to Ladakh each year during July and August for trekking and rafting expeditions and to experience the area’s ancient Buddhist culture. About 400 local people are still missing after rivers of mud and rock poured down valleys and swamped villages.

Among the dead were three French nationals, a Spaniard and an Italian, Indian officials told AFP. Other foreigners who died included 16 Nepali labourers and a Tibetan refugee.

Continued on page 6

economics condition which is supported by tourism, commerce and service must be developed simultaneously. However, the problems such as flood, garbage, and inhabitants administration must be handle properly and using the correct pro-

gram,” the governor said.

He also ordered the mayor to carry out the promises that they give during the campaign. The vision and mission given to their supporters must become the priority in making the work program in the next five years.

The mayor must realize that the job is a duty which has great responsibility to the people. The mayor must act based on the rules and regulation of the state.

Continued on page 6

AFP/Manan Vatsyayana

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel return after taking part in rescue operations at Choglamsar village in Leh on August 10. Indian search teams tried to locate foreign tourists in the remote Himalayan region of Ladakh on Wednesday after five Europeans were declared to be among the 185 people killed in floods.

2

International

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Bali News Padang food stall Twenty damaged schools Aburns down at Sempidi still wait for repair Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Damages to school in Denpasar are in fact still quite a lot. Such condition was revealed by the Denpasar Education Agency (Disdikpora) where it recorded there were 20 schools waiting for repairs. Unfortunately, due to limited funds, the Denpasar Municipality could not have renovated those damaged school buildings.

This matter was disclosed by the Head of Denpasar Education Agency, I Gusti Lanang Jelantik, when met in Denpasar, last Tuesday (Aug 10). According to him, Denpasar had some 20 schools requiring immediate repair at the moment. Those schools spread throughout the city of Denpasar.

Lanang said the damage to schools was only categorized into light damage. The repairs were still waiting for the special allocation fund (DAK) that would be issued in the upcoming 2011. “Based on our data, these schools only go through minor damage and we can

not fix them right now because there is no allocation of funds to repair them,” he explained.

In addition to damaged schools, Lanang said many schools also lacked for class rooms and consequently had an impact on the learning activities. “There are many schools lacking for classroom, but we can not provide the data on the exact number of those schools,” he said.

Furthermore, he explained that for the addition of new classroom the Education Agency also encountered some constraints. Among them, there was problem related to school land

that was relatively narrow. Today, the existence of land in Denpasar was increasingly difficult. Therefore, additional classrooms became an obstacle, because they should be built vertically. “To build new classrooms, schools must be made in storied buildings because the land is difficult,” he said.

However, not all schools could be built in multi-story because of classical reason namely the funding.

“For the construction of new classrooms, schools having narrow land should build their classroom in multi-story, but this solution is costly,” he explained. (kmb12)

Among them, there were fridge, cigarettes, Honda Vario motorcycle and other items. In the midst of local residents removing a number of goods, the flames kept on rampaging. Then, the flames were getting bigger and bigger. “The fire was promptly reported to Fire Department,” said one of the residents at the scene last Tuesday.

Not long after, four units of fire vehicles arrived on the scene. The officers of Fire Department immediately sprayed water to the fires.

Half an hour later, the fire managed to be extinguished. “Four units of fire vehicles involved consisted of two units from the Denpasar Municipality and two others from the Badung Regency,” he said.

Police officers are now still investigating the cause of fire. However, initial allegation led to electrical short circuiting as the cause. Meanwhile, due to the incident the victim claimed to experience material losses amounting to tens of million of rupiahs. (kmb21)

Arranging frontier landscaping garden:

Balinese women:

In devotional services through the arts Beauty can stop everyone’s eyes flickering. Beauty of the kid song can lullaby a baby. Similarly, beauty also can toss the imagination, soothe the mind and draw people to get near. Bali has many sources of that beauty offering the charm of nature, culture or adventure.

By maintaining traditions inspired by Hinduism, Balinese people go on running in harmony with the time. In other words, they do not feel inferior because of inheriting those traditions. Beauty in the form of various dance movements has been introduced since early ages. On seeing a dance staged, a toddler may watch it attentively or its fingers move and move as if imitating the movement of the dance.

Virtually all customary villages in Bali have gamelan troupe. This troupe plays important role in expressing their entertainment arts and accompanying every ritual activity.

This existence gives opportunity to villagers from child to adult to express their artistic talent especially in dance, drama and gamelan arts.

Young girls under twelve or elementary school age have a chance to participate in performing Rejang Dance. By wearing white and yellow costumes and floral decoration

The route of Jalan Raya Sempidi, Mengwi, Badung, last Tuesday (Aug 10) afternoon, went through congestion. It was caused by a Padang food stall owned by Mrs. Rini burned down. Fortunately, the incident did not kill any life. Allegedly, the source of fire was caused by electrical short circuit.

Information on the scene told that the fire began to blaze at 5:30 pm Local Time. Previously, the food stall serving the Padangese food specialty opened as usual. Well, suddenly the electricity in the place went out. A few seconds after the power failure, owner of the food stall saw a puff of smoke.

The smokes accompanied with a spark were seen on the roof of the stall. Surrounding residents began to panic and called out for help. Immediately, many local residents in the vicinity were made to flock to the scene. They also provided first aid.

On that occasion, a number of items were removed to be saved.

on head, they dance beautifully accompanied by gamelan music.

Rejang Dance is one of the sacred dances performed in relation to the organization of temple anniversary or odalan. Other than putting a basic love to their tradition, they also show devotional service or ngatur ayah through the arts.

When they grow older, right on entering secondary school, they join customary village youth club or Sekaa Taruna. Here, with their male friends and their brothers and sisters start to learn about organization.

Many things can be learned through this organization. Since it has affiliation to customary village, they can learn about the making of some simple oblation under guidance of senior oblation maker and various traditional arts. In Bali, this youth club actually play important role in preparing young generation to maintain their valuable cultural heritages or to prepare themselves for inheriting customary responsibility.

With their male counterpart, here the young girls also learn to play drama or more complex traditional arts. Popular genres of performance showed are pure entertainment and the one in combination with sacred dance. The latter usually features Calonarang. This magical drama in-

volves a combination of male and female players. In essence, this Calonarang drama highlights the endless fight between truth and untruth symbolizing by sanctified effigies or tapakan like Rangda and Barong. By and large, it is also associated with ritual events at local temple.

In the following stage, when woman gets married she will enter the new organization, namely customary village. Having learned much about ritual works, it is now the time to practice them in wider social life. They should attend some socio-religious activities when the events engage the members of customary village. At this stage, household mother can remain to show her devotional service through the arts other than social works. Through the arts, they may join the drama or individual psalmodic singing or pasantian.

How is about their private life? It is normal as others. They also have opportunity to build career in their profession. In modern life with heterogeneous professions as today, woman also works as men do. Traditions do not impede them to reach outstanding achievement in self-employee or office job. If they work at daytime, some social works will be held at the evening. (BTN/punia)

DKP prepares a budget worth IDR 300 million Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Appearance of the landscaping garden located at the frontier of DenpasarBadung at Suwung Kauh is still considered barren. Therefore, Denpasar Landscaping and Sanitation Services (DKP) have designed the landscaping arrangement for the frontier garden equipped with Dwarapala and Kayonan statue. Implementation of this arrangement will be carried out at the end of this year. It was revealed by Division Head of Landscaping Services, Agus Prihantara, accompanied by Section Head of Landscaping IB Ekajayana when met on the sidelines of the inauguration rehearsal of Denpasar Mayor at Denpasar Art Centre, last Tuesday (Aug 10). The arrangement had been allocated with a fund amounting to IDR 300 million.

Arrangement of the frontier landscaping garden would carried out to provide a beautiful impression when entering the Denpasar area. All this time, the frontier area was not well organized yet so that it gave impression there was no specific signs at the frontier. “Other than performing rejuvenation to the existing plants, variety of the plants will also be adjusted,” said Ekajayana last Tuesday.

It was said the arrangement of the

frontier landscaping garden was not only carried out by the circle of DKP. His party would also make coordination with the Spatial Layout and Housing Services (DTRP) so the result of arrangement would be much more perfect. “Related to the installation of sculpture at the entrance from the south of Denpasar City had been coordinated with DTRP,” explained Ekajayana.

Meanwhile, regarding to the choice of plants, Ekajayana admitted to have not determined yet. According to him, quite a lot of options could be used to provide other vibrant ambience at the frontier area. “Obviously, we will apply tropical plants because the area is relatively little hot. This tropical variety can moderately survive in such a condition,” he said.

Agus Prihantara also added, aside from the arrangement of the frontier landscaping garden, a number of landscaping within the city of Denpasar would also be repaired. Not only gardens, garden equipment such as children’s playground, would also be prepared. One of the locations that would be provided with children playground was the vacant land belonging to Bali Provincial Government right in front of the Bank BI Building on Jalan Tantular. (kmb12)

z Founder : K.Nadha, z General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti z Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Wirya, Yudi Winanto zDenpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subagiadnya, Subrata, Suentra, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan, Tabanan: Surpi. Jakarta: Nikson,Hardianto,Ade Irawan . NTB: Agus Talino, Syamsudin Karim, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani, Nur Haedin, Suyadnya. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. z Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. z Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

Bali News

International

Unemployment in Bali dominated by SMA/SMK graduates Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Head of Department of Manpower, Transmigration and Demography of Bali Province, I Made Artadana, asserted that government was impossible to cut off the rate of unemployment in Bali to the position of zero percent. Based on latest data available (as of February 2010) Bali remained to have around 75,635 unemployed people where the majority belongs to open unemployment from high school/vocational high school (SMA/SMK) graduates.

In details, said Artadana, the number of unemployment of SMA graduates was 21,482 people and SMK graduates amounted to 17,032 people. If converted into percentage, the unemployment of high school/vocational high school graduates reached 50.92 percent of total unemployment in Bali. Meanwhile, unemployment belonging to the university graduates reached 11,718 people (15.49 percent), college/diploma graduates 7,079 (9.36 percent), junior high school graduates 9,080 (12 percent) and elementary school graduates under 9,244 people (12.22 percent). “Based on the latest data available, the map of unemployment in Bali is still dominated by the graduate of senior high/vocational high school,” said Artadana in the midst of a discussion on Poverty and Unemployment Reduction Efforts held by Bali Post, last Tuesday (Aug 10).

Furthermore, Artadana added, it was something impossible to eliminate the unemployment. The rea-

son was the growth rate of job seekers always exceeded the vacancy formation available. Each year, there were thousands of prospective workers finishing their education at all levels. Some of them would certainly be eliminated in the competition for the existing job opportunities.

Nevertheless, his party claimed to persistently suppress the percentage of unemployment to as low as possible through three strategic measures. Firstly, it was resolved through training program where the prospective workers were given special skills according to their interests, talents and abilities so they had the spirit of entrepreneurship.

As a result, they were expected to open a job opportunity, at least for him. The second strategy was by sending the well-educated workers overseas. Meanwhile, the third strategy was taken by organizing an annual Job Fair in order to confront the job seekers to employment user/ company. “It is the solution we can

offer to cut off the number of unemployment in Bali,” he explained.

According to Artadana, there were at least six fundamental issues faced by Bali Provincial Government to alleviate the unemployment. The problems included the availability of workforce having inappropriate competencies with the requirement expected by the business world, low competitiveness of human resources and the low interest of prospective workers to enter the informal job opportunities. In addition, the low interest among the younger generation to work in the agricultural sector and the tendency to look for the position as civil servant also denoted a classical problem needing an immediate solution. “No less important are the problem on the low entrepreneurial ability among the younger generations and the limitedness of ability to access information on the employment opportunities that should also immediately be resolved,” he added. (kmb13)

Monitor the Tigers, Two Officers BKSDA hall in the Forest Siong Tabanan (Bali Post) -

Many tasks must be done to monitor and ensure Siong Forest tiger truth, after combing the two locations attack tigers in the vicinity of protected forests in Banjar Dauh Siong and Banjar Nagasari, Nagasari Indigenous Village, Lumbung kauh village, west Selemadeg District. For that, two officers of Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) in Bali, Made Sudarma and Nyoman Raka, had to close boarding Siong forests, especially in the village.

“We were assigned to monitor the surrounding hamlet Dauh Siong. On early stage, any research we’ve done, especially against possibility of the tiger trail around this place, “said Nyoman Raka when found at the scene, Tuesday (10 / 8) yesterday. The presence of officers from the NRCA and Forestry to the surrounding protected forest since the week (8 / 8) and then it was

justified Kelihan Dinas Banjar DauhSiong, Ketut Suciadi. It is said, officers had photographed evidence of trail of an alleged tiger tracks in the Banjar Dauh Siong. “In addition trace it around the site also has been fitted with a sign wooden sticks, “he said.

Suciadi any convincing if the existence of tigers in the region during this has several times seen citizens. So far, the beast not to disrupt or attack farm animals owned by residents, as happened recently. “Initially we believed the tiger previously often visits residents of this village is a tiger duwe Pura Pucak maintain Rangda. But the tiger that appears in this week attacking cattle instead of people, so we suspect It is true tiger, “he said.

There is also a suspect if the tiger appeared and was attacked cattle owned by local residents because they felt disturbed habitat,

and the possibility of starvation and had to be hunted of prey animals in the forest - proved experience some time ago could have come out and the deer forest into the local forest near the township residents.

While members of the forestry police, IGA Sukariawan, revealed presence in the area of protected forests Banjar Dauh Siong and BanjarNagasari is resot region of Tabanan in western forests Selemadeg. The extent of 1860.30 hectares. “As long served in the region around these forests, I’ve never seen a tiger in protected forests . What I know about the Bali tiger becameextinct around 1937 ago, whereas I know in this forest there are only monkeys, deer, and animals struggling, “he explained. (Gap) - there’s a picture: A residents, Tuesday (10 / 8) yesterday, when it shows signs of suspected as a trace of a tiger that had appeared in the Forest Siong, west Selemadeg .

Thursday, August 12, 2010

3

Office Pawnshop Robbery Case

Check Seven Witnesses, Police Still Puzzled Singaraja (Bali Post) -

Buleleng district police ranks still seem confused uncover a robbery that occurred in the Office of Public Corporation in the area Hardys wholesale at Ngurah Rai street, Singaraja. Although already examined seven witnesses, police have yet to find a bright spot to uncover the perpetrators of these robberies.

Buleleng Police AKBP Yudi Hartanto, Tuesday (10 / 8) yesterday, explaining the party is still doing the investigation by examining a number of witnesses to uncover the perpetrators of the robbery case. Until yesterday it was examining seven witnesses, but no one witness who gave any clear indication about the perpetrators of these robberies. Yet, we still check the witnesses, he said.

In addition to examining the witness, continued police chief, it also still waiting for test results and the results of medical examinations labfor against Mirza Resti Nirmala (24), a robbery victim who is now her condition is still critical in Sanglah Hospital. Because, the police doubted the existence of such shootings in the event of a robbery. Who says the shootings, he said.

Police confirmed the two holes in victim’s head Mirza that had allegedly because she was shot with a firearm. However, the results of further investigation, police doubted the existence of these shots. Police estimate that there are wounds on the victim’s head was a result of blunt. Allegedly beaten with a blunt object. There was bleeding in the head section right and left which is predicted to hit a projectile. But until now we’ve got to find a projectile or bullet marks on the wall, he explained.

Besides the difficulty the police find the perpetrators of the robbery because the CCTV was in Hardys Wholesale, particularly at the front was not working. So that none of the perpetrators actions were recorded on sophisticated equipment. To know the robber’s face-men-

tioned amount to two people, men and women, it relies on the results of departure police CCTV footage in the Branch Office Pawnshop in Jalan A Yani. Because prior to its action in the office in Hardys Pawnshop, robbery perpetrators had also entered the office Pawnshop in Jalan A Yani that CCTV cameras had recorded.

According to the police chief, to find the robber’s face, his side also looking for artists to sketch faces. Later sketches shown to face the possibility of the witnesses who saw the robbers enter to the Hardys area . westill sketching faces, hopefully can help uncover the perpetrators, ? police chief said.

On the other side of the Buleleng district police ranks are also investigating the possibility of a motive other than robbery in the case. Because, when the robbers did not take all the money and gold jewelry that was in the office Pawnshop.

From the explanation of the Branch Head Pawnshop Singaraja Dewa Made Wira mentioned that the robbers only took the money Rp 16.35 million. Though there is money in the safe Rp 21.35 million. This means robber still leaves RP 15 million. In addition, in the office there are also 109 bags containing the gold. But the robbers only took one bag containing two rings of gold plates weighing 2.4 grams carving, flower carving two heavy bracelets 25.4 growled and four assorted bracelets carved with a weight of 102 grams.

Regarding the possibility of another motive, police chief admitted Yudi Hartanto also will look into it. Yes, chances are we investigate the possibility of other motives in the case, he said.

As reported, Pawnshop Branch Office located at an area Hardys Wholesale at Ngurah Rai Street , Singaraja, a victim of a robbery in broad daylight, Monday (9 / 8) yesterday. In that event, an employee of the Office of Pawn Shops, Mirza Resti Nirmala (24), the resident Street Orchid Gardens, suffered a gunshot wound in the head. (Kmb15)

4

News

Thursday, August 12, 2010

International

Explosions, gunmen kill 11 people north of Baghdad Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – Gunmen burst into a house north of Baghdad early Wednesday, killing three people and sending the surviving children to an Iraqi army checkpoint to lure soldiers to the residence. As the troops arrived at the booby-trapped house, it blew up, leaving eight soldiers dead.

The pre-dawn incident in the volatile Diyala province underlines the unrelenting dangers that members of Iraq’s security forces still face as American forces prepare to reduce their numbers by the end of the month and end all combat operations.

It also highlights the constantly evolving and sophisticated tactics of insurgents that American and Iraqi officials say have been seriously debilitated since the deaths of their top leaders last spring.

Wednesday’s incident occurred about 1 a.m. in the town of Sadiyah, 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

A top town official, Sheik Ahmed Al-Zarqushi, told The Associated Press that gunmen broke into the house, and killed a man and two women inside. Then they sent the two children in the house to the

Iraqi army checkpoint to get help.

“When the Iraqi army forces arrived and broke into the house, the house blew up and killed eight soldiers and wounded four others,” he said.

He did not say if the gunmen had gotten away before the troops arrived. Al-Zarqushi added that groups linked to al-Qaida are very active in the area. Earlier reports indicated that gunmen in the house had opened fire on the checkpoint, but the sheik said that was incorrect. The checkpoint was about 380 yards (300 meters) from the house, he said. The death toll and account was confirmed by Capt. Qais Ahmed, from the Iraqi army in Sadiyah.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, gunmen broke into the house of a senior female doctor and killed her, Iraq’s health minister and a police official said. The minister, Saleh alHasnawi, said the gunmen broke into the house of Dr. Intissar alTuwaijri at about 6:00 a.m., tied up her husband and killed her.

Al-Hasnawi said he believed the killing of the physician he described as one of the best doctors in the country was a criminal incident, and that his ministry was waiting for the results of a police investigation.

AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal

A demonstrator holds a shoe up to to a manipulated photograph of President Zardari of Pakistan outside of the International Convention Centre in central Birmingham on August 7, 2010 as the Zardari speaks to supporters during a visit to England.

Pakistan’s Zardari rejects criticism of foreign trip Reuters

SINGAPORE – Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has defended his decision to travel abroad while the country battled the worst floods in decades, saying he had helped focus international attention on the plight of the victims.

REUTERS/Saad Shalash

A policeman directs traffic in central Baghdad August 9, 2010. Iraq is arming some of its traffic police in the capital with AK-47 assault rifles after two dozen of the “easy targets” have been killed and wounded recently in militant assaults, authorities said.

Zardari has faced the brunt of public anger as the administration struggles to help an estimated 14 million people hit by the floods, compounding the misery of a nation tackling a deadly Islamist militancy and a failing economy.

But in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, the embattled widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said he had used his trip to France and Britain to mobilize foreign assistance, money and food for the flood victims.

“Some have criticized my decision, saying it represented aloofness, but I felt that I had to choose

substance over symbolism,” he said.

The British government had pledged $24 million in aid, following his meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, the Pakistani leader said. He had also been in touch with the U.S. government, which had promised $35 million in relief funds.

The floods triggered by heavy monsoon rain over the upper reaches of the Indus river basin have plowed a swathe of destruction more than 1,000 km (600 miles) long from northern Pakistan to the southern province of Sindh. More than 1,600 people have died.

The United Nations says the di-

saster is the biggest the country has ever faced and it would cost billions of dollars to rehabilitate the victims and rebuild ruined infrastructure.

“As I return to Pakistan, I bring back tangible results that will help the flood victims in the short run and lay the foundations for national recovery in the long run,” Zardari said. “I might have benefited personally from the political symbolism of being in the country at the time of natural disaster.

But hungry people can’t eat symbols.

The situation demanded action, and I acted to mobilize the world.”

Even before the floods struck, Zardari’s approval ratings had been falling. Only one in five Pakistanis viewed him positively, a poll by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center released late last month showed. His prime rival, ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had a 71 percent favorability rating, according to the poll.

Thai Supreme Court rejects Thaksin’s asset appeal Agence France Presse

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family against the seizure of 1.4 billion dollars of their assets.

Thaksin, who was stripped of more than half his fortune in February for abuse of power, did not provide any new evidence to support his case, the court found after almost two hours of deliberation by no fewer than 119 judges. “The legal process is over. There is nothing we

can do,” said Thaksin’s lawyer, Chatthip Tantaprasart.

Thai courts have issued a series of warrants for Thaksin for charges including terrorism — an accusation linked to violent street protests in April and May by his supporters within the anti-government “Red Shirt” movement. The former telecoms tycoon was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a prison jail imposed in absentia for corruption.

The decision in February to confiscate 60 percent of Thaksin’s 2.3

billion dollars of frozen assets angered his red-shirted supporters, who staged two months of opposition rallies in the heart of Bangkok from mid-March. The protests descended into several bouts of bloodshed that left at least 90 people dead and some 1,900 injured in a series of clashes between armed troops and demonstrators.

The Red Shirts, largely from Thailand’s impoverished north and northeast, love Thaksin for his populist policies, and accuse the current government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of being an

unelected elite.

The tycoon’s opponents in the Bangkok-based circles around the palace, military and bureaucracy accuse Thaksin of being corrupt, dictatorial and a threat to Thailand’s widely revered monarchy.

(FILES) In a file picture taken on April 26, 2010 former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, on the run from corruption charges, leaves a bank in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

AFP PHOTO / Savo PRELEVIC

Hotel Activities

International

Thursday, August 12, 2010

5

Ayana launches extension of Rock Bar IBP

Courtesy of Ayana Resort and Spa Bali

IMIGRATION Australian Consulate General Jalan Tantular 32 Renon Denpasar Phone: +62 361 241118 Fax: +62 361 221195 (General) +62 361 241120 (Immigration)

Honorary Consulate of Spain Komplek Istana Kuta Galleria Blok Vallet 2 No 11. Jalan Patih Jelantik Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.769 286 USA Consulate Agency Jalan Hayam Wuruk No. 188 Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.222 426

Royal Danish & Norwegian Mimpi Resort Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 070

Consulate General of Japan Jalan Raya Puputan No. 170 Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.227 628

The Czech Republic Jalan Pengembak No. 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.286 465

Honorary Consulate of British Jalan Tirta Nadi No. 20 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.270 601

France Consulate Agency Jalan Merta Sari Gang II No. 8 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.285 485

Swiss and Austria Consulate Jalan Patih Jelantik, Komplek Pertokoan Istana Galleria Phone +62.361.751 735

The Federal Republic of Germany Jalan Pantai Karang No 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.288 535 The Republic of Hungary Jalan By Pass No 219 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.287 701 Italian Consulate Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 005 Honorary Consulate of Mexico Jalan Mohamad Yamin 1 A, Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.223 266 Honorary Consulate of The Netherlands Jalan Raya Kuta 127, Bali Phone +62.361.761 506

JIMBARAN - Ayana Resort and Spa Bali has launched an extension of the successful Rock Bar, to meet demand both from guests staying at the resort and those visiting from outside to experience the iconic venue’s breathtaking views and world-class entertainment.

The launch coincided with the Rock Bar’s 1st Anniversary party on 5 August, when American alternative rock band Third Eye Blind headlined a night of jamming on the rocks.

The extension includes new ocean-front viewing platforms which add another 75 seats to the venue, alongside a second service bar and expanded kitchen and bathroom facilities. The resort is also upgrading the inclinator, to enable increased capacity for the short trip down the cliff-face to the bar and nearby Kisik seafood restaurant.

It has also added a new Rock Bar Merchandise Boutique to meet demand for signature Rock Bar branded attire and accessories. ‘’We are very grateful for the support of our guests and partners, which has seen the Rock Bar achieve such success since it opened one year ago,’’ said Ayana’s General Manager Charles de Foucault. ‘’We were lucky soon after the bar’s opening in August 2009 to welcome Third Eye Blind to AYANA, and have Stephan Jenkins give an impromptu performance ‘on the rocks’, so it was very fitting that they headlined the event this year. It is this highest caliber of world-class entertainment that sets the Rock Bar apart, and complements the stunning design and picture-perfect views.’’

According to Foucault the extension reflects the same minimalist design as the original bar, created by Japan ’s Yasuhiro Koichi to emphasize the natural beauty and layout of the rocky outcrop on Ayana’s Kisik Beach.

All seats and day-beds provide uninterrupted views of the ocean and coastline, while a new DJ booth provides an elevated position for performances from international and local artists. Regular performers include DJ Martin East, Flamenco guitarist Tah RiQ, and DJ Yuki. *

HOSPITAL Denpasar There are 4 major hospitals usually used by foreigners Denpasar General Hospital (RSUP Sanglah), Kasih Ibu Hospital, Rumah Sakit Wongaya and Rumah Sakit Dharma Husada.

RSUP Sanglah is the main provincial public hospital. Its facilities have improved since the emergency ward had been built in 1991. Difficult/critical cases would not become a problem anymore since it has complete equipments. It is located on Jl. Kesehatan Selatan 1 Sanglah Denpasar with : Phone : 227 911 – 15 Fax : 226 363

Honorary Consulate of Brazil Jalan Legian No. 186, Bali Phone +62.361.757 775

Kasih Ibu Hospital is a private hospital which caters for less serious cases such as diarrhea, intestinal disorders, anemia, asthma and minor accidents. Kasih Ibu is also equipped to care for pregnant women. This hospital is located on Jl. Teuku Umar 120 Denpasar.

Phone : 223 036 Fax : 268 690.

Honorary Consulate of Thailand Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 81, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.263 310

Rumah Sakit Wongaya (Public Hospital; Psychiatric Unit) Jl. Kartini, Denpasar.

Phone : 222 142.

Embassy of India Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 42-44, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.241 978 Honorary Consulate of Sweden anf Finland Segara Village Hotel, Jalan Segara Ayu, Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.282 223 Honorary Consulate of Malaysia Alam Kulkul Boutique Resort, Jalan Pantai Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.752 520

TAXIS Praja Taxi : (0361) 289090 Bali Taxi : (0361) 701111 Ngurah Rai Taxi : (0361) 724724 Pan Wirthi Taxi : (0361) 723366 Komotra Taxi : (0361) 758855

6

Thursday, August 12, 2010

News Russian wildfires raise Chernobyl radiation fears Agence France Presse

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

An elderly Chinese man stands on the debris while rescue operation go on after a mudslide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China’s Gansu province, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010.

Little hope for more survivors of China floods Agence France Presse

ZHOUQU, China – Heavy rains Wednesday lashed a remote section of northwestern China where weekend flooding killed at least 702 people, as hopes of finding more survivors faded and crews worked to stave off outbreaks of disease. More than 1,000 people were still listed as missing in the disaster, with mud, stones and debris covering many houses.

With the chances of finding more survivors falling by the hour, troops and rescue teams joined by traumatized survivors turned to recovering bodies and seeing to the needs of the living. Clean drinking water was a primary concern, with most local sources destroyed or too polluted to use.

Rain was expected to grow heavier in coming days, with up to 3 1/2 inches (90 millimeters) forecast for Friday, the National Meteorological Center reported. The chance of more landslides was “relatively large,” it said.

Entire communities in Gansu province’s Zhouqu district were swallowed up when the debris-choked Bailong River jumped its banks Sunday, releasing wave after wave of mud and rubble-strewn water. While torrential rains were the direct cause, tree cutting that left the dry hills exposed and the weakening of cliff faces by a massive 2008 earthquake were seen as contributing factors.

Buildings were torn from their foundations, their lower floors blown out by the force of the debris-laden water. Three villages comprising hun-

dreds of households were entirely buried and much of the county seat left submerged.

Crews using explosives and excavators rushed Wednesday to drain an unstable lake on the Bailong upriver of Zhouqu, fearing more rain could cause a massive breach bringing more misery to the town.

Disinfectant crews in protective suits sprayed chemicals across the ground and over machinery, the smell of death heavy in the air. State media reported numerous cases of dysentery, while infected injuries, a lack of sanitation, clean drinking water and accumulating garbage increased the risk of typhoid, cholera and other diseases.

Rescue crews have been largely reliant on hand tools, with heavy equipment either unable to traverse the difficult terrain or mired in mud up to several yards (meters) deep. But roads reopened Wednesday, allowing heavy earth-moving equipment and supplies to flow in.

At least 45,000 people have evacuated their homes, and the Civil Affairs Ministry reported the delivery of 7,000 tents and 21,400 blankets to the area,

with thousands more on the way.

Zhouqu has a population of 134,000, but it wasn’t clear how many needed emergency shelter.

Shen Si, a member of the Tibetan ethnic group native to the area, watched forlornly as troops dug to reach the bodies of her relatives inside their buried home. “My mother and father in their 60s and my younger brother, all three of them, are buried here in our house still,” she said.

Throughout the area, bodies were seen wrapped in blankets and tied to sticks or placed on planks and left on the shattered streets for pickup.

China’s leadership has ordered teams to continue the search for survivors, and the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee met Tuesday to discuss rescue and relief work.

“It is now a critical time ... we must give the highest prominence to the protection of people’s lives and properties,” it said in a statement.

Flooding in China has killed about 1,800 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.

MOSCOW – Russian emergency workers have increased forest patrols in a western region previously contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, trying to prevent wildfires from spreading harmful radiation, officials said Wednesday.

At least six wildfires were spotted in the Bryansk region this week — the part of Russia that suffered the most from the Chernobyl catastrophe in what was then Soviet Ukraine — and fire crews quickly extinguished all of them, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Irina Yegorushkina said.

Her agency also had reported sporadic wildfires last week, saying all had been put out. Radiation experts from Moscow conducted a thorough check of the Bryansk area, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, and concluded there has been no increase in radiation levels, she said.

Large forested areas in Bryansk were contaminated when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s Reactor No. 4 exploded during a pre-dawn test on April 26, 1986, spewing radioactive clouds over much of the western Soviet Union and northern Europe.

Radioactive particles settled into the soil, and environmentalists have warned that they could be thrown up into the air once again by wildfires and

blown into other areas by the wind.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged the danger last week, and his department says they are taking all precautions.

“We had several fires, but the situation here is not as difficult as in the areas around Moscow,” Yegorushkina told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The chief of the Bryansk forest protection service said his agency had increased patrols around the forests, particularly in the southwest section affected by Chernobyl. “There is a danger, but we are controlling the situation,” agency chief Vladimir Rozinkevich told the AP. Wildfires have engulfed about 3,900 hectares (9,633 acres) in Bryansk and several other regions of Russia hit by the Chernobyl fallout, the Interfax news agency quoted the state forest protection service as saying. Greenpeace and other environmental groups say radioactive dust from the Chernobyl disaster could be harmful even though doses will likely be small.

In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had no comment on the radioactive dangers posed by the wildfires. Hundreds of wildfires sparked by the hottest summer ever recorded in Russia have engulfed large areas around Moscow and other parts of western Russia, cloaking the Russian capital in suffocating smog for a week.

Denpasar...

From page 1 In response to those problems, Rai Mantra said that the problems in Denpasar can not be solved only by the government. There is a need to coordinate with other area such as to solve the flood problem. Denpasar govern-

ment is planning to create retarding basin with Badung government to solve the flood problem. Denpasar Government will make e-id program starting next year.

There is great hope that the programs will solve most of the problems face by the capital city of Bali. (kmb12)

Search...

From page 1 “Today our helicopters evacuated around 35 tourists including two children stranded near a Buddhist monastery situated at an altitude of 14,000 feet (4,240 metres),” Indian Air Force spokeswoman Priya Joshi told AFP. “Most of them were Europeans. We carried out more than 40 helicopter sorties today to bring out these people and operations are continuing.”

Naseema Lanker, the senior civilian administrator in Indian Kashmir, told AFP that 185 people were confirmed dead and around 400 people were missing.

“There are roads where people are stranded and on Monday we rescued 81 trapped foreigners,” she told AFP in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. Lanker said a major military effort was under way to clear roads into Leh from Srinagar and Manali.

“Ladakh has many trekking routes and some tourists are continuing with their trekking in groups,” she added.

The Kashmir government said it was still trying to establish the exact number and location of tourists via embassies and travel agencies.

Among those feared dead are 26

Indian soldiers stationed at a small army post on the de facto border with Pakistan. Many people are feared buried in the village of Choglamsar on the outskirts of Leh. Sniffer dogs have been trying to locate bodies, but progress has been slow.

Telephone networks have been severely affected, while Leh has suffered major electrical supply problems.

Heavy overnight rain caused panic in the town as residents fled their houses for higher ground fearing further floods, but little extra damage was reported.

The United States embassy in New Delhi said it had sent a team to Ladakh to check on its nationals. “Roughly a hundred Americans have been affected by the floods in India,” US state department spokesmen P.J. Crowley said in a statement. “We have no reported deaths or injuries at this time.”

Ladakh is a highly militarised area because of sensitive border disputes with both Pakistan and China. The area is often described as an arid mountain desert as it receives virtually no rainfall all year.

The floods came as neighbouring Pakistan suffered the worst flooding in its history with at least 1,600 people dead.

International

Indonesia Today

Thursday, August 12, 2010

7

Radical Indonesia preacher could face death penalty Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesian police said Tuesday top radical Islamist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir could face the death penalty over his alleged role in terror plots with Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

AFP PHOTO/ADEK BERRY

An Indonesian woman reads a copy of the Koran next to a young boy on the first day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan in Jakarta on August 11, 2010. Muslims observe Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar and one of the five pillars of Islam, by abstaining from food, drink and sex from dawn until sunset. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.

State never bow to criminal, terrorists: President Antara

JAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the state would never bow or give in to criminals, including terrorists.

“I have indeed heard that some people are planning to attack us while we are commemorating the independence anniversary. It is not impossible that some people might have such an intention of conducting an inappropriate activity like that,” he said at a cabinet meeting here on Tuesday.

He said he hoped the threat would not reduce the spirit to commemorate the independence anniversary

on August 17.

“What is important is the police (and) the TNI (military) increase security measures and we raise our alertness. After that let everything run as usual because the state must not give in to criminals,” he said.

President Yudhoyono said terrorism is a sensitive issue in Indonesia.

“We know in our country this is a sensitive issue because some of us often misunderstand with regard to law enforcers’ action about it,” he said.

In view of that, he said, efforts to deal with terrorism must be taken in a correct and professional way and clarified to the public.

President Yudhoyono in the meeting asked the National Police chief to explain about the recent terrorism case. Ahead of his visit to Bandung, West Java, over the weekend President Yudhoyono disclosed about certain parties having bad intention.

However he said that terrorism would never prevail.

The police on Saturday arrested some terrorist suspects in several places in West Java including Bandung.

Early on Monday morning they also arrested Islamic cleric Abubakar Baasyir in Banjar, Ciamis, West Java, for his alleged involvement in terrorism.

RI, UN build strategic development cooperation Antara

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) and Indonesia agreed to develop a strategic cooperation in supporting a plan of the Indonesian government to attain the millennium development goals.

According to the National Development Plan Ministry’s press release received here Tuesday, the agreement was reached in Jakarta and witnessed

by Minister Armida S. Alisyahbana, and her deputy Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwa, and the UN Resident Coordinator to Indonesia El Mostafa B. The offcial document of the United Nations Partnership Development Framework 2010-2014 was strategically made in line with the

national development’s main priority which listed in the 2010-2014 Medium Term Development Plan and for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) attainment.

Its main focus was to strengthen equality in accessing resources, public services and economic opportunities that promote effective participation and protection of the rights of the poor, and strengthen national and local resilience to climate change, crises and disasters.

A new framework was made jointly by the Indonesian Government and the UN has accommodated Indonesia’s status as a middle-income country with national ownership and leadership in multilateral development programs in accor-

dance with the advantages and specific expertise of each UN agency.

The cooperation also delivers the UN system shift in Indonesia which was previously a development assistance model and by this strategic partnership reduces national disparity, pro-poor strengthening policies and measurable pro MDGs results to the public. The United Nations has been eager to improve the effectiveness of funding in line with the Paris Declaration and the Jakarta Commitment through increased coordination among agencies and programs funded under the United Nations, with this strategy.

“Our main strength is to be better in everything that we do,” said UN Resident Coordinator, El Mustafa.

Bashir, who was arrested on Monday, is accused of funding and training extremists who were planning a wave of attacks in Jakarta.

“Our investigators found evidence that Abu Bakar Bashir had been actively involved in terror plots and activities including the training,” National police spokesman Edward Aritonang said.

Police have arrested 102 terror suspects, of whom 66 were detained, in a series of raids nationwide since discovering the training facility in Aceh, northern Sumatra island.

Aritonang said they found that several Islamic groups from regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) had also chosen Bashir as the leader for a new terror cell dubbed “Al-Qaeda in Aceh”.

The cell had planned a series of attacks, including using car bombs, on at least two embassies, several international hotels and the police headquarters in the capital.

The police discovered “AlQaeda in Aceh” in February and killed its leader Dulmatin, a JI militant, in March.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the police and

military to increase security over an apparent plot against the president and officials at the August 17 independence day ceremony.

“I heard that this is not the first time that there is a threat when we are celebrating our independence,” said Yudhoyono.

He said “the police, with the assistance of the military, must increase security because our principle is we must not be defeated by crime”.

In raids in West Java on Saturday, police arrested five suspects, seized explosive materials at a bomb factory as well as a vehicle belonging to a French national which they suspected could be used as a car bomb.

Bashir, who is known for his hardline rhetoric, founded JAT in 2008 as a legitimate — although radical — group with which to continue agitating for Islamic law and militant jihad.

He served almost 26 months for conspiracy over the 2002 attacks by JI on Bali nightspots that killed 202 people, before being cleared and released in 2006. The cleric was jailed by the Suharto regime from 1978 to 1982 for inciting people to reject the secular national ideology in favour of an Islamic state.

No need for BI to force bank credit expansion Antara

JAKARTA - Economic observer Fauzi Ichsan said that Bank Indonesia (BI/the central bank) should not necessarily use its minimum reserves requirement (GWM) and load to deposit ratio (LDR) instruments to force banks to expand their credits.

“BI has no need to link its LDR with GWM because credit growth is already high (about 19 percent) and the LDR already reached 75 percent,” Ichsan said here on Tuesday.

Bank Indonesia director of research and banking regulations Wimboh Santoso said last week that Bank Indonesia was still preparing a regulation linking the GWM and LDR to push banks to extend loans. The regulation will require banks to keep their LDR at 75 to 105 percent and those who fail to meet it will get a penalty and have to add more GWM con-

tributions to Bank Indonesia.

Ichsan said that with the BI rate had begun to go down the central bank did not need to force banks to expand loans by linking it to banks’ SWM. After all, he said, there were factors which posed difficulties to banks to lower their interest rates, namely the upward trend of inflation and the increasing interest rates in neighboring nations.

“BI’s flexibility to lower interest is increasingly difficult. It has since the beginning promised to lower bank’s interest rates,” he said.

Ichsan, who is Standard Chartered Bank economist, said that there were two factors that should first be improved, namely the infrastructure and legal certainties.

“If the infrastructure is good foreign investors would come so that credits would expand. The same is true to the legal certainties which would boost corporate credits and investments,” he said.

8

Internationa

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Bali Today Bio diversity research center built in Bali Antara

http://supradnyana.xtgem.com

Photo shows monkeys at Sangeh. Atmosphere at some tourist destinations in Bali on entering the Ramadhan holy month look so deserted. The area of Sangeh ecotourism object, for instance, goes through this condition.

Tourist visit to Sangeh drops by 50 percent Bali Post

MANGUPURA - Atmosphere at some tourist destinations in Bali on entering the Ramadhan holy month look so deserted. The area of Sangeh ecotourism object, for instance, goes through this condition. Thousands of visitors, especially domestic tourists that usually dominated the visit to the area have now dropped by 50 percent.

Manager of the Sangeh ecotourism object, Made Sumohon, said that within the past few weeks the arrival of domestic tourists from several regions such as Central Java, Yogyakarta, Semarang and some other regions dropped drastically.

“By and large, the number of domestic tourists dominated the arrivals. Now, the situation has reversed where out of 50 visitors coming to Sangeh only five people belonged to domestic tourists, while the rest consists of foreigners from Europe such as Spain and Russia,” explained Sumohon, last Tuesday (Aug 10).

Lacking of visitor to Sangeh ecotourism object situated on Jalan Raya Sangeh, Abiansemal subdistrict, Badung, was recognized by Sumohon to have declined more than 50 percent from an average of 400 visitors per day.

“Every day the number of travelers continues to decline, but we estimate the visit will soon turn normal by three days after

Idul Fitri celebration until the following two weeks,” he said. Similar conditions were also observable in the area of Kuta Beach.

When entering the Ramadhan month, the activity of domestic tourists tended to be deserted.

“More foreign tourists such as those from Australia, Japan and Europe are seen to throng the area of tourist object than tourists from Java Island,” said Ketut Ipel, a local lifeguard officer (Balawista).

According to him, the number of foreign tourist visits to Kuta Beach continued to increase if compared to the previous days.

They had been seen to crowd Kuta Beach area from early morning.

In the meantime, the slowing down of domestic arrivals to Bali also affected a variety of transactions on souvenir products at Kuta Art Market. Many vendors of souvenir, clothing or other products occupying dozens of shops looked deserted from domestic visitors.

Wayan Jun, one of those traders, also observed that his art

kiosk opened from the morning was only visited by five to nine guests. “Ordinarily, our turnover reached IDR 500 thousand to one million more per day, but now such amount of turnover may not be achieved if this conditions persist,” he said.

Jun also recognized that the price of the art products offered in the Kuta Art Market was more expensive. Actually the local traders had tried to reduce the prices of goods from the previous prices.

“Mushrooming numbers of souvenir markets also make our business sluggish. Many tourists prefer to shop there rather than to the art markets. Because, other than being cheaper, those shops are more convenient,” he complained.

Meanwhile, dozens of buses with initial license plate B, H, AD and L originating in outside Bali were previously seen to fill the Central Parking Lot and a number of tourism areas in Kuta, Badung and Denpasar are now suddenly turning quiet. (par)

DENPASAR - As many as 60 people consisting of students, researchers and participants from the United States will conduct a study on bio diversity in Indonesia, said an Udayana University Rector Prof Dr Made Bakta.

“The study will be held at the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC), the Udayana University veterinary medicine faculty Laboratory,” he said here Tuesday.

On the Biodiversity Research Center launching in Bali, he said that the research center was built under cooperation between the United Sates and Indonesia.

The cooperation involved the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Old Dominion University Virginia, USA, University of Papua, Manokwari (UNIPA), Diponegoro University, Semarang (UNDIP) and Udayana University (UNUD).

“The research center is also supported by the Smithsonian Institute of Natural Museum, and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2012,” Prof. Bakta said.

The center’s establishment in Indonesia was strategic because the country is known to have a megabiodiversity, but lack of researchers and publications on marine collections.

“The marine biodiversity is very abundant since Indonesia is a Coral Triangle which is a center of world marine biodiversity,” he said.

According to professor Bakta, IBRC is using molecular genetics technology to understand how biodiversity is created, because the information is very important as a solid foundation for more effective conservation. Therefore, the ecosystem of the center of the world marine biodiversity can be conserved.

“Biodiversity related agencies cooperation is considered to be very productive in the future, and also in line with the University’s mission as a world class university,” he said.

IBRC collaborator and initiator Prof. Dr. I Gusti Ngurah Mahardika said that this institution is a magnet to attract Indonesian and international researchers to conduct studies on biodiversity.

“The center will accommodate research, training, specimen testing services and collection of species,” said Prof. Mahardika.

A joint research is also very important in saving biodiversity, said Dr Paul H Barber of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California in Los Angeles, as the principal investigator in the project.

Indonesian capacity to study its biodiversity is extraordinary, Paul said.

The signing of a cooperation charter between the Rector of the University of Papua, Rector of the University Diponegoro, representative from UCLA, and Rector of Udayana University marked launching of the IBRC. A 2009 marine biodiversity research was also presented by the Indonesian and American researchers

FOTO ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana

Two researchers from Indonesia and America doing somet test at Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC) on Denpasar, Bali on Wednesday, August 11. As many as 60 people consisting of students, researchers and participants from the United States will conduct a study on bio diversity in Indonesia, said an Udayana University Rector Prof Dr Made Bakta.

al

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Balinese Culture Independence Day:

Heroism Dissolves in Scenting Colorful Flowers In this August Bali will enters into a season of celebration, namely that of Independence Day. Many social and cultural activities are held and its pinnacle is devotional visit to Pancaka Tirta memorial graveyard and Margarana Memorial Monument equally located in Tabanan.

Various colorful flowers are sprinkled onto the graveyard’s pedestal. As if the flowers represented the sincere respect and wholehearted appreciation of young generation to the national heroes. Scenting fragrance of colorful flowers and fighting spirit have coalesced into the ambience of heroism. Flying flags on the celebration may also be attended by the soul of Indonesian great heroes.

Almost everyone knows about the bitter struggle of the young hero Ngurah Rai and colleagues in maintaining the freedom of Bali in the past. However, maybe few people know if there are so many veterans living close to their home. Celebration is merely related to ceremonial norms, while the real ones should also be reflected through appreciation to the living veterans.

Government has provided benefits and free medical care to them. At least, they could live their life end peacefully and happily with family. It is a sweet fruit of their bitter fight in seizing and maintaining the independence of

Indonesia. What they have done even by risking their life should be made into a paragon. And now, it is time for us to pay attention as well.

Young generation should appreciate their fight by taking positive values they had extended to this beloved nation. Those values were willingness to sacrifice, loving the fatherland, and spirit of the unity or nationalism. Other than learning through the subject of history at school, the heroic spirits above had also been inherited to veteran’s children coalesced into Panca Marga Youth (PPM). This organization was intended to continue the aspiration of proclamation and maintain the patriotism.

Besides, local government also establishes a regular activity for the elders. By doing so, they can share with others about their experience and problem. At least, they can remain active by the end of their life.

With the motto tan hana dharma mangrwa meaning ‘single devotion to the nation’ PPM keeps on devoting their body and soul for the nation together with other youths. Meanwhile, the veterans themselves live together harmoniously with families and community. Some of them also took part in devotion services within the community like by serving as temple priest or traditional healers striving to lend a hand.

No matter what role they take in day-to-day life, they should re-

main to get attention and be treated as other members of community. In general, young generation may less get in touch with them because they consider old generations do not know about the trends of young people. As a matter of fact, keeping in touch with old generation is one of the keys to give spirit to them.

Simply ask them about their tragic or pleasant experience during the struggles. Sometimes, they had to leave their family for days in undertaking the nation’s tasks or took refuge to distant place from home.

When talked to, they will be very glad to tell the ‘true story’ vivaciously on a small sequel of the Indonesian struggle for reaching the independence. Even, they would keep on talking as if there were abundant story to tell. Listening patiently and enthusiastically is the key to get more stories. More importantly, it poses a simple way to forward the history of past struggle to younger generations.

In essence, the celebration of Independence Day should not only be marked with lively celebration or solemn flying flags. Most importantly, momentous attention should also be paid to veterans during the rest of their life and continue their heroism and patriotism.

Then, fill the independence accordingly by keeping away from practice of corruption. As a result, they could also feel the yield of their struggle. Long live Indonesia, August 17, 2010! (BTN/punia)

Guling Celeng (Suckling Pig) OVERVIEW: If there’s just one dish that people remember after a visit to Bali, it’s this famous delicacy, usually known by its Indonesian name, Babi Guling.

INGREDIENTS: 1 suckling pig, weighing about 6-8kg 1½ tbsp salt 200 shallots, peeled and sliced 100 gr cloves garlic, peeled and sliced 50 gr ginger, peeled & chopped 300 gr candlenuts, chopped 350 gr fresh turmeric, peeled &chopped 3 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 80 gr laos, finely chopped 120 gr bird’s-eye chilies, sliced 10 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced 1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed 1 tsp dried shrimp paste, roasted 5 fragrant lime leaves, finely shredded 2 salam leaves 2½ tbsp oil 4 tbsp turmeric water PREPARATION: Ensure inside of suckling pig is completely cleaned out. Season inside and outside with salt. Combine all other ingredients, except turmeric water, and mix thoroughly. Fill inside of suckling with mixture, close belly with string or thin satay skewer. Rub the outside of the pig with turmeric water until the skin is shiny yellow.

Place suckling pig on roasting rack and roast in hot oven (220°C / 425°F) for approximately 1 hour. Rest for 10 minutes in warm place before serving. When serving, first remove the crisp skin with a strong carving knife, then loosen meat from the bones and cut into even dice or slices. Place a heaped tablespoon of stuffing on each serving plate, and then top with meat and skin.

Traditionally this dish is eaten with Jukut Nangka Mekuah and steamed rice.

Helpful hint: If you have a large barbeque with rotisserie or constantly turning spit, you can cook the pig over charcoal for an authentic Balinese flavor. (www.baliguide.com/balifood)

C.045 ibp

9

10

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Destinations

International

Nusa Dua Bali IBP

http://www.thgholidays.co.uk

International Bali Post Classifieds BALI CENTRAL CANOPY

g

... gets maximum benefits with minimum charge Denpasar : +62 361 22-5764 Jakarta : +62 21 535-6271

Contact us

Mengerjakan : Atap Canopy Polycarbonat & Jual Bahan Spesial merk atap: Solarlate dan Crystal-late

www.solo-cctv.com

Rekam 24 jam Non Stop - Internet on line Apapun kebutuhan CCTV Anda, ada di sini!

Harga Termurah Kwalitas Terjamin Jln. Buana Raya 88X, Padangsambian - Denpasar

Telp./Fax : (0361) 8600043, 7429952, 485041 C.513069-bkl

C.492607-rpa

Nusa Dua is an elite resort area with international five star hotels and resorts existing on the costal side in south part of Bali.

It is located in Badung Regency and about 25 minutes drive from Bali’s International airport. Nusa Dua with 350 ha size is the sample luxury resort area and one of best tourism places in the world. In fact, the name of Nusa Dua is coming from two small islands located in the south part of Bali Island (Nusa mean the island and Dua mean two) that is dissociated with the white sand.

Nusa Dua Area is start built in year 1974,as a result from study of French consultant, SCETO ( Societe Centrale pour l’equpeent Touristique Ouetre-Mer) in the year 1970 and also feasibility study conducted by PCI (Pacific Consultants International) year 1971-1973 for financing of World Bank aid. The Indonesian Government has delivered this area management to PT. BTDC (Bali Tourism Development Corporation) which existing under the law and regulation of Republic Indonesia Government no.27 year 1972, on 12 November 1972.

Tourist Places in Bali This area owns the most complete tourism facilities in Bali and Indonesia like five star hotels, luxury accommodations, villas, convention hall, shopping center and beautiful beaches. The five star hotels exist in this area are Club Med, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, The Westin Resort, The Laguna Resort, Melia Bali Villas and Spa, Inna Putri Bali Hotel, The Ayodya Resort, Kayu Manis Villa, Nikko Bali Resort and Spa, The Bale Villas and Novotel Nusa Dua. There are also the sports activities are available in this are like tennis court, squash and golf course. Each hotel is completed by five star restaurant facilities, bar, pub and beach activities.

Garansi Barang & Jasa... PASTI ! !

Dengan tenaga berpengalaman, instalasi dijamin rapi Hubungi:

Jln. Buluh Indah No. 23 Denpasar Telp. (0361) 2764411-088802911054 C.492248-elk

Jl. Kepundung 67 A, e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id Jl. Palmerah Barat 21 F

Thursday, August 12, 2010

11

BUSINESS A woman is seen waiting to enter a jobcentreplus in Westminster, central London on August 11, 2010. The number of unemployed people in Britain has fallen by the largest amount for three years, official data showed on Wednesday, in a sign that the nation’s economic recovery is strengthening.

AFP PHOTO/ BEN STANSALL

British unemployment shows biggest drop for three years Agence France-Presse

LONDON - The number of unemployed people in Britain has fallen by the largest amount for three years, official data showed on Wednesday, in a sign that the nation’s economic recovery is strengthening.

The jobless total sank by 49,000 in the three months to June to reach 2.457 million people, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

That was the biggest quarterly drop since June 2007.

The ONS added that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 7.8 percent in the three months to the end of June,

unchanged from 7.8 percent in the three months to May. “For now at least, unemployment continues to fall in reaction to the economy’s ongoing growth since the fourth quarter of last year,” said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.

Britain’s economy expanded by

1.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, the strongest pace since 2006 as the recovery took hold, recent official data showed.

The GDP figure was almost double forecasts for 0.6-percent growth in the April-June period, and built on the economy’s modest emergence from a record-length recession in late 2009.

EA raises oil demand outlook, but warns of growth doubts Agence France-Presse

PARIS - Economic recovery is pushing up estimates of oil demand this year and next, but dangers to growth in advanced and some emerging countries are on the prowl, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

There is a “significant” risk to the latest upgraded forecast for oil demand, which in any case means that the new estimate of demand in advanced countries points to a slight net fall in 2011, the IEA said.

It raised its estimate for demand for oil around the world this year by 80,000 barrels per day, and for next year

by 50,000 barrels per day.

This was on the basis that the global economy would grow by 4.5 percent this year but by 4.3 percent in 2011.

Total demand for oil this year would rise by 1.8 million barrels per day from demand last year or by 2.2 percent to 86.6 mbd. It would then rise by 1.3 mbd or 1.5 percent to 87.9 mbd next year “However, concerns that the global economic recovery may falter from the second half of 2010 pose a significant downward risk to the forecast.”

The agency also edged up demand for oil in advanced countries in the OECD by 30,000 bd for this year

and next.

This would mean an 80,000-bpd or 0.2-percent increase this year to 45.5 mbd, but followed by a 200,000-bpd or 0.4-percent fall next year to 45.3 mbd.

For both global, and OECD demand, if global growth were one-third lower than expected, oil consumption would be curtailed significantly and the fall in OECD countries in 2011 would be “steeper.”

The outlook for oil prices was also therefore “uncertain,” the IEA, the oil strategy and monitoring arm of the 31-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said.

China’s economic rise over Japan brings challenges China is poised to overtake Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, underlining its growing global clout but also highlighting the pressing need for a profound structural overhaul, experts say.

Japan has been number two behind the US economy for more than 40 years but China looks on course to supplant it as early as 2010, after claiming the titles of world’s biggest exporter, auto market and steelmaker in recent years.

“China is approaching a crossroads,” Patrick Chovanec, a professor at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management in Beijing, told AFP. “It has reached a stage where the growth model that took it to here is no longer sustainable and it faces the same question that Japan did in the 1980s — will it adapt or will it persist with the export-driven model.”

In just three decades since opening its doors to foreign investment, China has leapfrogged Britain, France and Germany to become the world’s third largest economy and, along the way, won developing countries a bigger say in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

But China’s climb up the economic rankings has produced stark contradictions, most notably the widening wealth gap between the rich minority who can afford luxury cars and the hundreds of millions of poor, some of whom live on less than 50 cents a day.

So the export-reliant country urgently needs to find new avenues of growth by boosting its domestic demand, and help rebalance a dangerously skewed world economy, analysts said.

China came close to overtaking Japan in 2009 when its gross domestic product reached 4.98 trillion dollars — just behind Japan’s 5.07 trillion dollars.

Japan is due to release its first-half GDP figures on Monday.

But according to one official in Beijing, China has already achieved the economic milestone.

“China is actually now already the world’s second-largest economy,” Yi Gang, a vice-governor of the central bank and head of the foreign exchange regulator, said recently without elaborating.

However, the yen’s recent strength against a dollar beset by doubts about the US economy may have helped Japan stay above China in the first half of 2010 on a nominal basis, say some analysts.

Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at Nomura Securities

Co. in Tokyo, estimates Japan’s nominal first-half GDP to stand at 2.647 trillion dollars, using an average dollar exchange rate that saw the yen appreciate strongly towards the end of the JanuaryJune period.

This compares to China’s first-half GDP of 2.53 trillion dollars, calculated from government data and average monthly exchange rates given by the People’s Bank of China.

The passing of the baton to China is inevitable, said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of the Dragonomics consultancy in Beijing — but the far more important issue is the quality of its economic growth.

Policymakers need to take a stand against a growth-at-any-cost mentality that, according to Kroeber, “is still very alive throughout the government bureaucracy”.

“In fact, insisting on that high growth rate (above eight percent) may introduce more distortions into the economy and we really need to focus on how we improve the quality of growth,” said Kroeber.

China has recorded doubledigit growth rates for the past three quarters, but most economists expect a slowdown in the second half of the year.

Its resilience during the global financial crisis was underpinned by a four-trillion-yuan (586-billion-dollar) stimulus package and a record 9.6 trillion yuan in bank lending, which policymakers have been winding back this year amid fears of overheating.

While claiming the title of number two economy may lift China’s stature, the role also entails greater responsibility on the global stage, said Chovanec, noting its enormous trade surpluses over the United States and Europe.

“Once you become the second-largest economy in the world, those imbalances start to be very large in the global economy and can’t be absorbed year after year,” he said.

But the political will to make potentially painful decisions — such as letting the yuan appreciate against the dollar — has so far been wanting in Beijing, Chovanec said.

“China has succeeded so well that it may not recognise the need to change and adapt to the new circumstances created by its own success.” (Agence France-Presse)

12

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Entertainment

International

Taint of war-crimes trial won’t stick on Campbell Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – Naomi Campbell’s swagger is what powers her runway strut, and it’s unlikely another few uncomfortable days of attention over her testimony in the Charles Taylor war-crimes trial will change that.

She has shaken off arrests, bad press, phone-throwing and airport tantrums — and continues to work, most recently as the face of socialite designer Dennis Basso. In fact, at age 40, she’s still very much in demand.

That’s because no one rocks a runway like Campbell. When she steps on a catwalk, the audience is mesmerized, not only by her striking beauty but also a confidence without chink. People can’t take their eyes off the woman, who has posed on the cover of Vogue seven times, represented Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton, and donned Victoria’s Secret wings.

But can the industry that props up her supermodel status turn a blind eye to the “blood diamond” allegation made at the former Liberian president’s Hague trial, where he’s accused of trading in tainted gems used to finance wars in exchange for

supporting rebels in Sierra Leone in a bloody 11-year civil war that ended in 2002.

Both Campbell’s former agent, Carole White, who is separately suing Campbell for breach of contract, and actress and activist Mia Farrow claimed in court that Taylor gave at least one diamond to the model.

Reluctantly, Campbell appeared last week as a witness under subpoena. She said she did receive a package of “very small, dirty-looking stones” after a dinner at Nelson Mandela’s presidential mansion in 1997, but that she didn’t know the nature or value of the stones, nor who was sending her the gift. Ultimately, the diamonds were donated to Mandela’s children’s charity.

Campbell issued a statement Tuesday: “I’ve no motive here. Nothing to gain. I am a black woman who has and will always support good causes especially relating to Africa. I’ve

never taken any of the jobs offered to me, over my 25 years as a model, from companies that were for apartheid in South Africa.”

Campbell also stressed that the incident happened 13 years ago and that her version of events varied only slightly from Farrow.

“She (Campbell) was not on trial in the Hague and was as helpful towards the court as she could be,” added the statement released by her public relations agency.

Whether the allegations prove true or not, the mere suggestion that Campbell handled a conflict diamond likely makes her poison to the fine jewelry industry, said Sally Morrison, the director of the Diamond Information Center, an umbrella trade organization.

“I think this time it’s different because whatever controversy Naomi Campbell has had — allegedly throwing a cell phone at an assistants’ head or whatever — have been `misdemeanors.’ ... The allegations around Charles Taylor involve such abuse of human rights, cruelty, violence and elicit war, it’s just another level, another magnitude,” Morrison said.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File

FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, British model Naomi Campbell arrives for the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit, during the 63rd Cannes international film festival, in Cap d’Antibes, France.

Waters: Band can rewrite Pink Floyd song as anthem

Manager says Fantasia hospitalized after overdose

tance of schoolchildren in South Africa to that repressive and brutal regime,” he said, “and NEW YORK – Pink also applaud and supFloyd founder Roger port the resistance of Waters has no qualms Palestinian children in about giving a CanaGaza and the West dian band permission to Bank to the repressive tinker with his band’s and brutal occupation classic “Another Brick they endure.” in the Wall” for use as The Blurred Vision an anthem for young brothers — 28-yearIranians. old Sepp and 35-yearToronto-based band old Sohl — hope the Blurred Vision, fronted song will show solidarby two exiled Iranian ity for Iranians fighting brothers, has reworked for freedom. The broththe lyrics to express the ers do not make their resentment felt by last name public beyoung people toward cause of concern for the government of Iran, the well-being of famwhere it’s illegal to play AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File ily members in Iran. rock music. One wellThe video for the known verse was FILE - In this May 27, 2010 file photo, changed to “Hey, Aya- British musician Roger Waters, who song includes footage tollah, leave those kids is one of the founding members of from the 2009 Iranian ‘Pink Floyd’, poses for photographs presidential election. alone!”

Waters said he en- backdropped by Hyde Park before Many Iranians feel the speaking about his forthcoming courages artists to use ‘The Wall’ European tour at a news footage was altered for television by the the song to resist all conference in London. government’s cleric forms of oppression. He leadership. The video, said in a statement that directed by acclaimed filmmaker Babak he sees the band as playing a vital part in “the resistance to a regime that is both re- Payami, has been seen by more than pressive and brutal.” Waters took time from 235,000 viewers on YouTube. Waters berehearsing for his upcoming world tour to gins his tour of “The Wall” in Toronto on Sept. 15. “Another Brick in the Wall” is address the issue.

“I applauded and supported the resis- from that classic 1979 album.

After reading the filing from Paula Cook, Dickens said “there is plenty (Fantasia) does NEW YORK – Fantasia is in stable condi- not know” and added that she’s heartbroken tion at a North Carolina hospital after taking over “any pain she may have caused.”

Fantasia, who won the “American Idol” an overdose of “aspirin and a sleep aid,” according to the manager for the former “Ameri- crown in 2004, is due to release her third alcan Idol” champ. The overdose came days af- bum, “Back to Me,” on Aug. 24. She was supter the singer was named in court documents posed to do promotion for the album this week;

by Paula Cook, who accused Fantasia of hav- a Wednesday interview with The Associated ing an affair with her husband, Antwaun Cook. Press was canceled earlier Tuesday.

Dickens noted the album release in his stateBrian Dickens, Fantasia’s manager, said in a statement Tuesday that winner was “over- ment and also referred to one of the album’s whelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention.” songs “I’m Here,” which talks about being thankful for easy and hard times.

“Last night, Fantasia “Fantasia sends her praise to was hospitalized. She took God and her eternal gratitude an overdose of aspirin and to her fans, friends, and fama sleep aid. Her injuries are ily,” Dickens said. not life threatening. She Since winning “Idol,” the was dehydrated and exNorth Carolina resident has hausted at the time,” he endured success as well as said. His statement did not difficult times. While she’s specify where she was had both platinum and gold taken and he did not immealbums and starred on diately return a call seeking Broadway in “The Color comment Purple,” she fell into legal In the statement, Dickens troubles that almost forced acknowledged that Fantasia her to lose her home in 2008. had a relationship with A VH1 reality show, Cook for 11 months, but “Fantasia For Real,” debuted said that Fantasia believed earlier this year, chronicling Cook when he said “he was her struggles as a single not happy in his marriage mother trying to support her and his heart was not in it. family, as well as her atShe believed him when he AP Photo/Jeff Christensen, file told her he and Mrs. Cook FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2010 file photo, tempts to jump-start her cawere separated late in the recording artist Fantasia Barrino reer, which has sagged in recent years. summer of 2009.” poses for a portrait in New York.

Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Writer

Life Style

International

Thursday, August 12, 2010

13

Macau casino makes a showy splash, but will punters come?

Agence France Presse

AFP PHOTO / FILES / Indranil MUKHERJEE

(FILES) In this photograph taken on August 19, 2009, an Indian Zoroastrian or Parsi woman walks by figures of ‘knights’ at a fire temple after offering prayers on Parsi New Year ‘Navroze’ in Mumbai.

Racing against time to preserve India’s Parsi past Agence France Presse

MACAU - A Macau casino is making a splash with a watery new entertainment spectacle — but the jury is still out on whether punters come to the betting-mad Chinese territory for anything other than gambling.

A media preview Wednesday of a new aquatic acrobatics show at the City of Dreams casino featured a dizzying mix of gymnastics, martial arts, dance, swordplay and stunts. With gambling all but banned in China, visitors from the mainland and Hong Kong spend most of their time in Macau at its myriad casinos, enabling the former Portuguese colony to outpace Las Vegas in gambling revenues.

But Macau has bigger ambitions, aiming to join the Nevada city and Singapore to the south as a hub for all-round entertainment with gambling thrown in. In one of many stunts in the vast “House of Dancing Water” show, men plunge from the top of a purpose-built arena into pools holding 3.7 million gallons (14 million litres) of water, enough to fill five Olympic swimming pools.

Billed as the world’s largest water-based show, it features evil queens, a heroine wearing a soaking white negligee, beefy bodyguards, and a hunchback with

pointy shoes splashing around in multi-tiered pools of water.

But past attempts to reinvent Macau as a venue for something more than gambling have made little impact, leaving questions as to whether this latest extravaganza costing 260 million US dollars will also find itself becalmed. Last year, Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson complained that ticket sales for the Cirque de Soleil show ZAIA at his Venetian hotel in Macau were “disappointing”.

The world-renowned act, which usually plays to capacity crowds, was the linchpin in the attempted reinvention of Macau. “Showbiz in Macau is in its infancy,” Davis Fong, director of the University of Macau’s Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming, told AFP. A key hurdle is that Macau’s 23 million annual visitors stay an average of 1.5 days, less than the average three to four night stay in Las Vegas.

However, Fong said more recent data suggest that visitors are beginning to stay longer, more like two days. “One show — Cirque de Soleil — was not enough to arouse attention from customers. But with two shows, Macau is becoming a more significant entertainment hub,” he said.

MUMBAI - High in the hills of western India, Homi Dhalla looks around the Bharot Caves complex, pointing out the cracked and crumbling stone in the roughly-hewn rocks. “If we wish to save these caves, the world community has to stand up and do something about it now before it’s too late,” he says, as the web video fades to a still image of two Parsi priests worshipping in one of the stark grey vaults.

Time and neglect have left the ancient caves in a dangerous state of disrepair that now threatens them as a place of pilgrimage for India’s fire-worshipping Parsi community.

In the 14th century, their ancestors fled to the caves with the sacred fire of their Zoroastrian religion to escape a Mughal invasion. According to legend, the “Iranshah” — the first fire to be consecrated in India — stayed lit throughout the 12 long years they were there.

So far, 3,000 people have signed a petition on the www.zoroastrians.net portal — where Dhalla’s video is shown —

which will be sent to the Archaeological Survey of India, urging it to repair the protected caves.

“If we have 7,000 to 8,000 (signatories) I will be happy,” Dhalla, the founder-president of the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, told AFP at his home in Mumbai.

“There is an urgent need to conserve the caves for posterity without delay or else this sacred heritage will be lost forever.”

Whether the caves near Sanjan, close to the state border of Maharashtra and Gujarat, survive or collapse further into the hillside is not just dependent on funding. The

project — and others like it — more than anything depends on people.

Zoroastrians, who follow the prophet Zarathustra and worship Ahura Maza as the creator of the universe, fled persecution in ancient Iran and arrived in India in the 10th century. They have risen to prominence over the centuries as industrialists, philanthropists, teachers, musicians, artists and writers in India and abroad.

Famous Parsis include the Tata family, which owns one of India’s most successful business houses, the conductor Zubin Mehta and the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury.

AFP PHOTO / QUITTERIE LEHMANN

Performers take part in a press preview of The House of Dancing Water, at the City of Dreams in Macau on August 11, 2010.

Observing Ramadan? There’s an app for that Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Rich Schultz

Jim Otun of Fairfield, N.J. uses his IPad to read the Quran at Zinnur Books in Paterson, N.J.,Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. Many Muslims across the country are using new technologies to help them in their islamic beliefs.

PATERSON, N.J. – The most ancient traditions of Islam are going high-tech, with a slew of modern offerings for those observing the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week. Cell phone applications such as “iPray” or “iQuran” offer a beeping reminder of requisite prayer times, while the “Find Mecca” and “mosque finder” programs help the Muslim traveler in an unfamiliar city find the nearest place to pray.

“When I saw these applications for the first time, I thought: this is amazing,” said James Otun, who has several Islamic applications on his Apple iPhone and iPad. “Whoever came up

with this idea: God bless him or her.”

The applications aren’t just for Ramadan; there are Islamic-themed programs that help users find the nearest Costco offering foods prepared according to Islamic dietary rules, learn the correct Arabic pronunciations in a daily prayer, or count how many pages of the Quran they’ve read that day — all on a mobile phone.

There also are applications, or apps, for the holy books of several other religions, from the Catholic Holy Bible to the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture.

The first time Sumeyye Kalyoncu heard the Adhan — or call to prayer — through surround-sound speakers on her iPhone dock, she was overcome

with nostalgia for her native Turkey.

Such applications are especially popular in the U.S., Kalyoncu said, as U.S. mosques do not broadcast daily calls to prayer from external loudspeakers, as they do in Muslim countries.

“These are traditions and these have been in our lives for ages, like almost 15 centuries, so they seem very old,” Kalyoncu said. “I think this is like combining together the technology and the things that we do daily.”

Kalyoncu uses an iPhone app called iPray Lite, keeping track of requisite daily prayers with a program that simulates the clicking sound of prayer beads or the turning wheel of a handheld metal counter Muslims use to keep count of prayer repetitions.

14

Sport

Thursday, August 12, 2010

International

Mixed reaction to Prandelli’s new-look Italy Agence France Presse

ROME - There was a mixed reaction from the Italian press on Wednesday to the new-look Italy of Cesare Prandelli the morning after the 2006 world champions lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast in London. Some newspapers were harsh but in general there was an element of perspective towards the team Prandelli sent out onto the Upton Park field, with five debutants.

“Little Italy,” said La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Prandelli beaten on his debut but there was a new spirit.

“Italy needs to grow, from (Marcello) Lippi to Prandelli we’ve been beaten again. “Still no wins in 2010 but the coach asked for order and spirit from the team and he got it.”

Gazzetta was also kind to the two men most in the spotlight, Inter Milan’s Mario Balotelli, whom they described as Italy’s best player, and Antonio Cassano of Sampdoria. It praised both for their efforts to create and score and claimed the rest of the team was behind the two players considered their country’s best talents, neither of which made Lippi’s squad to the World Cup in South Africa.

Corriere dello Sport was also sympathetic to the national team saying: “Courage, Italy. Prandelli lost on his debut, Cassano tried some things and Balotelli fought, but that wasn’t enough for the azzurri.”

And there was a sobering thought, echoed also by La Reppublica: “The

road is long,” although the left-wing paper did describe Italy as fragile.

However, Il Giornale, La Stampa and Corriere della Sera were not so gentle in their assessment, each proclaiming a theme along the lines of, nothing has changed. “Italy, everything is as it was before,” said Corriere della Sera. “Prandelli starts badly, Ivory Coast won in London.

Good intentions don’t make miracles.”

And Il Giornale added: “Everything about the Italy team has changed, but the results haven’t.

Prandelli’s debut didn’t transform the national team, a seventh match in a row without a win and three defeats in 2010.

“Cassano and Balotelli, the two major World Cup omissions, did well but the team still needs to be invented. The defence failed as a block.” And from La Stampa: “Prandelli hit the wrong note on his debut despite the revolution in attack.

“The new Italy lost like the old one.”

AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNIS

The Ivory Coast’s Gervinho (top) jumps over a tackle from Italy’s Marco Motta (bottom) during the international friendly football match against at the Boleyn Ground in London on August 10, 2010.

Neymar, Pato lead new-look Brazil over US 2-0 Carvalho set to sign Associated Press Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Neymar scored in his national team debut, Alexandre Pato added a goal late in the first half and new-look Brazil rolled over the United States 2-0 Tuesday night in the first match for both nations since a disappointing World Cup. Neymar, the 18-year-old Santos sensation, had just switched with Robinho and moved from the left flank to the center. Andre Santos came down the left side and crossed, and Neymar beat Jonathan Bornstein and sent a header inside Tim Howard’s left post in the 29th minute.

Pato doubled the lead in firsthalf injury time when Ramires’ through ball split Bornstein and Carlos Bocanegra, and the 20year-old AC Milan forward came in alone on Howard for the easy goal, his second in nine appear-

ances and first since his debut against Sweden in March 2008.

Both were overlooked by Dunga for his World Cup roster despite public clamor for their selection in Brazil. Dunga was fired after the 2-1 quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands last month and replaced by Mano Menezes, who promised to restore “Jogo Bonito (Beautiful Game)” as Brazil prepares to host the World Cup in 2014.

A near-sellout crowd of 77,223 attended the high-profile homecoming for a U.S. team that drew record television ratings during the World Cup. With young, swift players, Brazil showed glimpses of the renowned ball movement that was displaced in South Africa by a dour, defensive game. Brazil won for the 15th time in 16 matches against the U.S. and has outscored the Americans 31-10.

In a one-sided game that featured little U.S. offense, Brazil’s

AFP PHOTO/Stan Honda

Alexandre Pato (L) of Brazil runs past goalkeeper Tim Howard (R) of the US for Brazil’s second goal of the first half during a friendly match August 10, 2010 at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

youngsters outclassed the American veterans. Each team had a goal called off. Pato scored on a header in the 32nd minute but plowed into Howard. Michael Bradley beat goalkeeper Victor on a short header in the 57th off a cross from Sacha Kljestan following Landon Donovan’s short corner kick, but Bradley was offsides.

The five-time world champions used a 4-3-3 attack-minded formation. Robinho, one of four holdovers from the World Cup roster, slid the ball past backup goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 53rd minute but it clanked off the far post. Guzan made a nice stop on Neymar’s angled shot in the 61st and another diving stop on Neymar in the 70th, two minutes before the forward departed.

Paulo Henrique Ganso hit a post from just outside the arc in the 78th, and Guzan made a diving stop with his right hand on Carlos Eduardo in the 83rd.

Ganso, Victor and defender David Luiz also made their international debuts for Brazil, along with subs Andre, Ederson and Jucilei.

For both nations, rebuilding began in the swamps of New Jersey, in a gleaming $1.6 billion stadium set for its first official NFL games next month.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley may have been coaching his finale — his contract expires in December.

two-year Real deal Agence France Presse

MADRID - Chelsea’s Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho is set to sign a twoyear deal with Real Madrid, the Spanish club said on Wednesday. The English Premier League champions earlier confirmed they have agreed a fee with Real Madrid for the sale of the 32-year-old Portuguese defender.

“The player will be bound to Real Madrid for the next two seasons,” Real Madrid said in a statement without giving details of the transfer fee which Spanish media have reported will be in the region of eight million euros.

Carvalho will join compatriot Jose Mourinho, his manager at both Porto and Chelsea, at Spanish giants Real, having won the Champions League IBP/ist with Porto in 2004 when Ricardo Carvalho Mourinho coached the club.

He joined Mourinho at Chelsea that year for a fee of around 20 million euros but last year he fell down the pecking order at the west London club In total he made 210 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 11 goals, and during his time at Stamford Bridge, helped the team win three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two English League Cups. A regular for most of his time at Chelsea, he made just 18 appearances last season - which he has called “the worst year of my life” - as injuries caused him to fall out of the starting line-up.

Sport

International

Thursday, August 12, 2010

15

More British, French gold as Alshammar proves class Agence France Presse

BUDAPEST - Britain and France - landing their second titles - joined Norway, Spain and Sweden in picking off gold medals on the second day of the European championships in Budapest on Tuesday. British world number one Elizabeth Simmonds landed the 200m backstroke title, edging out compatriot Gemma Spofforth and Spain’s Duane Da Rocha Marce as British fans celebrated another win after Hannah Miley took Monday’s 400m individual medley.

Women’s 2007 world champion Therese Alshammar won the women’s 50m butterfly for Sweden, seeing off Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen and Melanie Henique of France while Alexander Dale Oen bagged gold for Norway in the men’s 100m breaststroke, touching just ahead of Frenchman Hugues Duboscq and Italy’s Fabio Scozzoli.

Dale Oen’s time of 59.20sec was a championship record while Alshammer proved her ongoing class in winning in 25.63sec despite being almost twice the age of 17-year-old rival Henique.

Her win bolstered a Swedish contingent whose own young bright hope, 16-year-old Sarah Sjoestroem, ran out of steam having just competed in the freestyle semis. There was more teenage angst for naturalised Briton AjuluBushell, the Kenyan-born 16-year-old coming last in her 100m breaststroke heat - though her main target is the

Commonwealth Games later this year in Delhi.

There was a French one-two in the men’s 100m backstroke won by Camille Lacourt in a European record time of 52.11 while Jeremy Stravius took the silver ahead of Briton Liam Tancock.

Tancock initially did not even qualify for the final but was moved up a place after the withdrawal of Austria’s Markus Rogan, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and reigning continental champion. “Fate was on my side when Markus Rogan pulled out. I jumped at the chance and sometimes you have to, even though I’m not fully prepared to be racing fast here,” Tancock said.

Lacourt’s showing gave France their second gold of the championships after teen star Yannick Agnel triumphed in Monday’s 400m freestyle. Rafael Munoz, the Spanish world record holder, won gold in the men’s 50m butterfly in 23.17sec, seeing off Frederick

Bousquet of France and Russia’s Yevgeny Korotyshkin.

Munoz was recently embroiled in controversy as the International Swimming Federation (FINA) came close to handing him a two-month suspension for not informing the world body that he was taking a break amid reports he was suffering from depression.

“After an anxious few weeks I am delighted everything has turned out fine,” 22-year-old Munoz said. “And above all I have confirmed in a normal costume my showings in last year’s bodysuits,” the ultra-fast suits banned as from this year after a welter of recent world record.

Munoz had been in hot water for not being in touch with the sport’s authorities over a period of months. He did not answer calls and did not fill in a ‘whereabouts’ doping form in line with doping regulations regarding availability for testing.

AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS XAVIER MARIT

A picture taken with an underwater camera shows Sweden’s Therese Alshammar competing during the women’s 50m butterfly qualifications at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest on August, 9, 2010.

Heat will be on James on December 2 Sharapova beats Kuznetsova in Cincy debut Agence France Presse

NEW YORK - LeBron James, whose free agency defection to Miami broke the hearts of Cavaliers fans, will return to Cleveland to face his old club for the first time on December 2, the NBA announced Tuesday. The fixture was announced as the league unveiled its full schedule for the 2010-11 season.

Cleveland comes to Miami on December 15 and January 31. The Heat also visit the Cavaliers on March 29. A few key dates had been released last week. Miami’s first game will be on October 26 at Boston and the star-studded Heat team will take on the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. The Lakers and Celtics will meet for the first time since game seven of the NBA finals on January 30 in Los Angeles. The rematch in Boston comes on February 10.

Chris Bosh, who like James went to Miami via free agency to form a superstar trio with Dwyane Wade, will face his old fans for the

first time when Miami visit Toronto on February 16. The revamped Heat will play eight of their first 12 games at home, including a sixgame homestand from November 6-19.

The longest road trip the Heat will have is a five-game swing against Milwaukee, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver and Chicago in January. That’s when a circus makes its yearly stop at Miami’s arena.

The Heat have two six-game homestands, the one in November followed by another against Chicago, Portland, the Lakers, Memphis, San Antonio and Oklahoma City in March.

League rules allow a team to be on national television as many as 34 times. The schedule released Tuesday shows Miami on nationwide television 29 times. All four of Miami’s games with Boston and Orlando are planned for national TV broadcasts.

Cleveland, whose games were a national television staple when James led the Cavs, has just three contests scheduled for nationwide broadcast.

(AP Photo/Phil Long)

Miami Heat basketball plyaer LeBron James speaks to the crowd before the start of the LeBron James Family Foundation, King for Kids Bike-a-thon, in Akron, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010.

Agence France Presse

CINCINNATTI - Maria Sharapova survived a second-set lapse and delivered a dominant third set to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the Cincinnati Women’s Open.

While Kuznetsova’s triumph in San Diego on Sunday pushed her ranking to 14, one higher than Sharapova, her fellow Russian had a 31-11 edge in winners to overcome 39 unforced errors to win in her Cincinnati debut.

Sharapova reached the second round, while top seed and defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia followed her on court and booked a thirdround berth with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Russian Vera Dushevina.

Kuznetsova received treatment from a trainer on her back and left knee, and left the court briefly after three games of the third set for treatment. She was unable to convert eight of her 10 break point opportunities.

“It’s definitely tough to have a night flight then come and play the day after a final, but it’s just bad luck, I cannot change it,” Kuznetsova said. “I just need to get my ranking higher and then I can get a bye. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Maria.

She played really well in the third.”

Sharapova said she didn’t press hard enough once she had pocketed the opening set. “I let her off the hook in the beginning of the second set, and she went with it. Against a player with a lot of experience, you can’t do that,” Sharapova said. “I had to earn it. The only way I was going to win was by being aggressive.”

In other second-round action, Akgul Amanmuradova advanced 6-2, 6-0 win over Bojana Jovanovski. Sixteenth-seeded Marion Bartoli also reached the third round, beating Alona Bondarenko 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

Fifteenth-seeded Nadia Petrova tumbled out of the two million-dollar event, retiring with heat-related symptoms while trailing Christina McHale.

America’s McHale had won the first set 7-6 (7/4) and was up 5-3 in the second when the 21st-ranked

(AP Photo/Tony Tribble)

Maria Sharapova of Russia, reacts during a match against Svetlana Kuznetsova, also of Russia, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010.

Russian called it quits.

She became the second player to retire because of the steamy conditions. Olga Govortsova retired against 13th-seeded Shahar Peer on Monday.

“I’m not really sure what happened,” said McHale, whose biggest career win came at Charleston in April when then-number nine Victoria Azarenka retired from their match. “I know she called the trainer, but I wasn’t sure what she called the trainer for. I didn’t try to focus too much on that.

I’m just excited to move on to the next round.”

16

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Sport

Newey expects no Red Bull change Adrian Newey says he doesn’t expect Red Bull will be made to change its front wing despite the fact that new load tests will be used from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards. Stricter loads tests will be used by the FIA at Spa following complaints from rival teams into the legality of the front wing fitted to the RB6, with McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh in particular voicing concern over what he feels is a flexing front wing in use on the car.

Senna optimistic of staying in F1 BRUNO Senna says he is hopeful that he will remain on the F1 grid for 2011 and not drop off the radar after a single season.

Senna has endured a difficult debut campaign with the Hispania Racing team, which was capped by the British Grand Prix at Silverstone where he found himself replaced by Sakon Yamamoto.

Having returned to action in Germany, the Brazilian remains confident of staying in his seat for the remainder of the season and

is also hopeful of ensuring he stays on the grid for 2011 – either with Hispania or elsewhere. “I hope the chance that I will continue in F1 is 100 per cent,” the Brazilian was quoted by the press in his home country. “But unfortunately, it is impossible to say.

“Before the 2009 season, I seemed to have a good chance to race with Honda, but of course it ended up not happening. In F1, foresight doesn’t work - the only thing that does is a signed contract. There are

always talks but nothing official.

“We will have to see. Few teams have guarantees that they will be on the grid. It is not an easy time in F1. It’s not so simple, but HRT are making plans. The best thing would be if I could simply choose the team, because my goal is to stay for many years, not just now.

“But I do have to work to get assurances that I’ll be in F1 next year, either with this team or with another. It will depend on many things.”

Rossi: A good break for the bad break WHILE much of the attention on Valentino Rossi is likely to centre on his movements off the track, the Italian remains focused on the job in hand as he resumes action following the summer break.

Still recovering from the broken leg that effectively ended his chances of challenging for the 2010 MotoGP title, while Rossi completed a remarkable run to the podium last time out at Laguna Seca, he maintains the time away has not left him feeling quite 100 per cent fit yet.

Nonetheless, the reigning champion is well on the way to getting back to his best and is confident of another step forward at Brno.

“I’ve had a good break and it’s helped me a lot to have this time to work on my physical condition. I’m feeling good about my leg and my shoulder and I hope that this weekend I’ll be feeling much stronger. Brno is a great track for me and it’s always special because it’s the first place I ever won at.

“Last year I had a great race, this year will be harder because I’m not completely fit yet but I am looking forward to getting back on the bike. We have half the season still to go and our aim is to have a good second half!” Rossi is anticipated to announce a high-profile switch from Yamaha to Ducati at the end of the race weekend.

Ferrari has also been accused of running a flexing front wing in order to gain an extra advantage, but Newey said he had no concerns that his team would be forced into changes following the summer shutdown.

“We don’t believe so,” he told ITV-F1 when asked if revisions would be needed to pass scrutineering. “It was 50 kilos for 10mm deflection and now the FIA are make sure that if you go to 100 kilos, it’s not more than 20mm. In other words, they are going to ensure the wing is not linear in any way.”

Newey added that complaints from rival teams was simply an indicator that Red Bull has been doing a solid job during the season so far. “If everything is going well then people start having a pop at everything,” he said.

“I guess it’s a compliment.”

Newey was speaking during the BTCC meeting at Snetterton where he was hospitalised following an incident in a Ginetta G50 Championship race, although he was released from hospital with only bruising to his arm after precautionary checks.