Edition Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | International Bali Post

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

16 Pages Number 41 11th year

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Rarer than a Sumatran rhino: a woman composer

PARIS - Camille Pepin is part of a very rare breed. She is a female composer.

Women have conquered space, risen in the military ranks, but some professions remain resolutely and bewilderingly masculine.

When Pepin turned up for her first day at the Paris Conservatoire -- as usual the only woman in a class of men -- an official told her that her name wasn’t on the list.

But when she insisted that she was and that he look again, he cried, “Ah, you’re a woman!”

Camille is also a man’s name in France. “I would never have thought,” he apologised. “There are so many men...”

With so few female composers in the classical music repertoire, it was an easy mistake to make.

Pepin has never let everyday

sexism get her down though, laughing it off like water off a duck’s back.

“One male composer told me I was getting commissions because I was a woman and not too bad looking,” said the 28-year-old, whose first album, “Chamber Music”, is released later this month.

After a concert of one of her more combative pieces, “a man came to tell me my music was ‘very fresh, flowery and sweet’,” she told AFP. “I am a woman so clearly those three words” apply, she said wryly.

Pepin, whose music recalls both Claude Debussy and American minimalist composers like John Adams, said sometimes the sexist stereotypes which persist in the classical music world are hard to take. (afp)

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 In this file photo taken on February 04, 2019, rosa Salazar attends the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” at Westwood Regency Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The cyborgs of ‘Alita’ vanquish rivals in N.American box office

LOS ANGELES - Fox’s new sci-fi spectacle “Alita: Battle Angel” is dominating North American box offices with an estimated $33 million take this four-day holiday weekend, industry trackers said Sunday.

Thomas SAMSON / AFP

French music composer Camille Pepin poses in her studio in Paris on February 11, 2019.

The film, with Rosa Salazar voicing “Alita,” a cyborg almost more human than machine, was set to make $27.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period and an additional $5.2 million for Monday’s President’s Day holiday, Exhibitor Relations reported.

The computer-animated adaptation of a Japanese cyberpunk manga story has big names behind it, directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron.

The project, 20 years in the making, also has a sizable budget: $170 million. The Fox film beat out last weekend’s leader, “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” which

earned Warner Bros an estimated $21.2 million in ticket sales for the first three days of the weekend and $27.3 million when Monday is included.

This fourth “Lego” movie again features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett -- joined this time by Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph -- in a story of love and chaos in a postapocalyptic toyland.

In third was another Warner Bros. film, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, at $14.2 million for three days and $16.5 million for four. Rebel Wilson stars as a rom-com hating New Yorker who, after a blow to

the head, finds herself in her own romantic comedy. Liam Hemsworth also stars.

Fourth place went to Paramount’s “What Men Want.” The gender-switching remake of 2000’s “What Women Want” stars Taraji P. Henson. It had three-day ticket sales of $10.9 million and a fourday total of $12.6 million.

And in fifth was “Happy Death Day 2U” from Universal, at $9.8 million for three days and $11.5 million for four -- already recouping the mere $9 million it cost to make.

Jessica Rothe again plays the role of a young woman living and reliving the day of her murder. (afp)

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A large number of mourners gather on the bank of the Ganges river to attend the funeral procession for Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper Mahesh Kumar Meena Meena at Meja village, some 60 kms from Allahabad on February 16, 2019, following an attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir. Thousands of mourners across several Indian cities on February 16 attended funerals of soldiers killed in a deadly suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir as a round-the-clock curfew remains in force in a part of the restive region.

Pakistan ‘ready to talk’ with India on Kashmir, will retaliate if attacked: PM

Pakistan is ready to help India investigate the deadliest blast in Kashmir in decades, but will retaliate if Delhi attacks, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals soared. “Pakistan won’t just think to retaliate. Pakistan will retaliate,” said Khan in a nationally televised address.

The former cricket hero went on to demand Delhi share proof of Islamabad’s involvement in last week’s suicide blast in Indian-held Kashmir, which killed at least 41 Indian paramilitaries. He spoke days after the attack was claimed

by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, unleashing a war of words between the archrivals and spurring both countries

to recall their respective envoys.

India, whose leader Narendra Modi faces elections in coming weeks, has accused Islamabad of harbouring the militants and vowed “the terrorist groups and their masters... have to pay a heavy price”.

Pakistan has denied involvement.

Khan vowed on Tuesday that if any militant group was using Pakistani soil to launch attacks, “its enmity is

with us. This is against our interest”.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars in connection to the dispute.

Minutes after the address, Khan’s official Instagram account posted a picture of the premier -- scowling and cross-armed -- along with a

message that read: “Don’t mess with my country”. Earlier Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pleaded with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to intervene, saying India was threatening to “use force against Pakistan” and abandon a vital water treaty.

“It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions,” wrote Qureshi in a message shared with journalists. Kashmir is one of the world’s most militarised zones, with some 500,000 Indian troops deployed to fight a rebellion that

broke out in 1989. Scores of armed groups are now involved.

Tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, have died in the conflict.

Violence has spiked since 2016 with almost 600 killed last year, the highest toll in a decade. (afp) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Bali News

International

Nyepi without internet access still being discussed

DENPASAR - Bali Regional Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) together with the Bali provincial government and the House of Representatives signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the appeal not to broadcast and relay broadcasts during Nyepi falling on March 7. The MoU was submitted by Commission I of the Bali House of Representatives along with the Bali Communication, Informatics and Statistics Office (Kominfos) and KPID Bali to the Central KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics in Jakarta, Monday (Feb. 18).

“We appeal to all broadcasting institutions not to broadcast and or relay their broadcasts on Nyepi (Mar. 7) starting at 6:00 in the morning until Friday (Mar. 8) at 6:00 in the morning,” said Chairman of Commission I of the Bali House, I Ketut Tama Tenaya, when confirmed via telephone last Monday.

A c c o r d i n g t o Ta m a , t h e House also cooperated with the Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Center (Balmon) of NTB and East Java so that the broadcasts did not cover the region of Bali on the celebration of Nyepi.

M e a n while, related to cellular data (internet), whether b e i n g turned off like last year or not is still waiting for a circular from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

“Although there were pros and cons last year, the implementation still went well. I hope for the understanding of all parties and stakeholders to respect the catur brata penyepian in Bali for

24 hours,” added this PDI-P politician.

Tama invites that all components of society in Bali to create a quality celebration of Nyepi. Even if the internet is turned off this year, it is limited to cellular data packages. Meanwhile, the internet for vital services such as security, hospitals, airports, and disaster certainly remains in operation.

When confirmed separately, Head of the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Bali Province, I Nyoman Sujaya, said the meeting with the Central KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics had not yet discussed about the internet. However, he only discussed about the termination of TV and radio broadcasts.

“The internet is still being discussed. Today (Monday—Ed) our discussion is related to radio and TV broadcasts. By and large, the ministry invites the providers to meet with us. Just now, the discussion had not touched the matter,” he explained. (kmb32)

Activities

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

SILENT DISCOVERY AT HOTEL NIKKO BALI BENOA BEACH IBP/cubit

Municipal Police of Tabanan dismantled unlicensed banners.

Giving shabby impression

Ads and banners dismantled by municipal police

TABANAN - Municipal Police of Tabanan returned to do the cleaning up. Previously, they targeted around Jalan Gajah Mada, Tabanan, while on Monday (Feb. 18), the officers demolished billboards around the Kediri market. A number of illegal advertisements in the form of unlicensed banners were even immediately dismantled by the enforcement officers of the regional regulation.

“At least there are 22 banners issued by the officers. Other than making slums on the appearance of the town, the banners are classified into advertisements without paying levies,” said Chief of the Tabanan Municipal Police, I Wayan Sarba.

He said the dismantling of advertisements and banners is aimed at maintaining security and order around the town of Tabanan to avoid slum impression. At the same time, it is one of the measures to increase the regionally generated revenue (PAD).

“So, the unlicensed banners are dismantled to enable the installation of licensed advertisements or banners,” he said firmly.

For this reason, he prepared a patrol team to prioritize control in order the look of Tabanan town can be getting clean. And of course the

cleanup against unlicensed banners, advertisement and billboards will continue to be carried out every day so that all road sections are free of them. Unfortunately, the efforts continuously made sometimes still do not cause a deterrent effect on a number of stubborn elements.

“Some parties are very stubborn.

After being dismantled by municipal police, on the next day they are desperate to install it again.

Certainly, this act violates Regional Regulation No.12/2002 on public order. Moreover, they do not pay levies and these violators will be processed with misdemeanor,” he said.

In addition to the Kediri Market, the officers also carried out curbing at the Kediri Square. Two pick-up trucks were detained because they were found selling on the roadside.

“The violators in the Kediri Square will be charged with misdemeanor on February 26. Moreover, due to getting stubborn, two pickup trucks are secured as evidence,” he concluded.

On the other hand, a number of evidences from the curbing in the parking area of the Tabanan Municipal Police office also received direct attention from the Regional Secretary of Tabanan, I Gede Susila, after leading the assembly in the Municipal Police’s office on Monday morning. He immediately came down to take a closer look at the evidence having been secured by the officers because they were proven to violate the regional regulation. (kmb28)

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Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is inviting you to rediscover yourself through the blissful serenity during Nyepi day with Silent Discovery offer from 6-8 March 2019.

Nyepi Day or commonly known as Silent Day in Bali is celebrated annually as the Balinese Hindhu observes silence, fasting, and meditation for the whole day and night. Nyepi is reserved for selfreflection and hence, anything that might interfere with the purpose is restricted.

Some of the main restrictions

are no lighting fires, no working, no entertainment, and no traveling.

It is one magical day in Bali where complete silence is honored and the tranquility is present at all time.

On this special occasion, Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is offering a special 40% mark down from Best Available Rate for you to spend two blissful night at any room categories. Take the time to rediscover your spirit and reconnect with your inner soul, while the courteous team of Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach takes care of your every need. The

night during Nyepi is known to be exceptionally beautiful as the stars shine brightly, allowing you to have a glimpse into the universe at the comfort of your room.

This rare opportunity is best enjoyed from the Oceanfront Rooftop Suites or the Oceanfront Suites that will give you the full, unobstructed view of the starry sky. Not to forget, a further discount of 20% on spa treatments, food, and beverages are also available for One Harmony members.

The Silent Discovery offer is valid for booking immediately

for stay period 6-8 March 2019 and reservations can be made via email to ?info@hotelnikkobalibenoabeach.com or phone call to 62 361 773 577 by mentioning the promo code: NYEPI40.

About Nikko Hotel Bali Benoa Beach

Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is an ideal tropical getaway only steps away from the famed Tanjung Benoa Beach. With a harmonious blend of Japanese traditions and Balinese hospitality, the hotel

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offers 188 spacious guest rooms and suites across nine categories including a rooftop suite facing the Indian Ocean.

For your holiday pleasure, enjoy the four versatile restaurants and three bars serving Western, Asian, Italian, Balinese, and Japanese cuisine, an impressive lagoon pool with a swim-up bar and the spa. The hotel provides function rooms suitable for mid-scale conferences, and the outdoor venues are perfect for celebrations such as weddings, dinner receptions, and group gatherings.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Technology

International

Bali News

International

LIGO will be getting a quantum upgrade

WASHINGTON - Gravitational wave detectors are going quantum. A planned revamp of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, LIGO, relies on finessing quantum techniques, LIGO scientists announced February 14. That $35 million upgrade could let scientists catch a gravitational wave every day, on average. LIGO’s current tally of 11 gravitational wave events could be surpassed in a single week, LIGO researchers said in a news conference at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Starting up in 2024, the revved up detector, known as

Advanced LIGO Plus, will seek to wrangle a quantum rule, the

Heisenberg uncertainty principle, to improve the machine’s

IBP/net

Scientists have been working on upgrades to LIGO (shown). Soon, the gravitational wave detector will begin using quantum techniques.

ability to detect ripples in spacetime. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that it’s impossible to precisely measure certain properties, such as the position and momentum of an object, at the same time.

In LIGO, this translates to a give-and-take in the light scientists monitor to detect gravitational waves. At each of the observatory’s two detectors, located in Livingston, La., and Hanford, Wash., laser light bounces back and forth within two 4-kilometer-long arms arranged in an “L”. To determine whether a gravitational wave is passing through, scientists measure the brightness of the light where the arms meet and the beams recombine.

Due to quantum mechanics, that light fluctuates in two ways: in its phase, the timing of the light wave; and in its amplitude, which de termines the light’s intensity.

This variation muddles LIGO’s measurements, making it more difficult to pick out the subtle signals of a gravitational wave.

So in LIGO’s next round of operation, to begin in April, researchers will for the first time use quantum “squeezed” light, in which the fluctuations in the light’s phase are

decreased. As a result, LIGO will better capture waves of higher frequencies — ripples that would have a higher pitch if converted into sound waves.

“That’s exciting, but it comes with a penalty,” physicist Michael Zucker of Caltech and MIT LIGO Laboratory said in the news conference. Fluctuations in the power of the light are increased, which makes measuring lower frequency gravitational waves more difficult. “It doesn’t excuse you from Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.”

But in Advanced LIGO Plus, scientists will use a system that will make the best of both worlds, squeezing the light one way for lower frequency ripples and another for higher frequency signals, to improve the machine’s performance overall. “That is another step in complexity,” says physicist Hartmut Grote of Cardiff University in Wales. Grote helped pioneer light squeezing techniques in a smaller gravitational wave detector called GEO 600, located near Hannover, Germany.

Another detector in India, called LIGO-India, is also expected to turn on at around the same time as Advanced LIGO Plus, and will employ the same quantum techniques. (afp)

Robots are becoming classroom tutors. But will they make the grade?

BOSTON - Pondering a tablet screen displaying a town scene, a pre-K student tilts her head to the side and taps her lip thoughtfully.

“What are we trying to find?” asks the plush, red and blue robot called Tega that’s perched on the desk beside the girl. The bot resembles a teddy bear–sized Furby.

“We are trying to find lavendercolored stuff,” the girl explains.

Lavender is a new vocabulary word. “OK!” Tega chirps.

The girl uses her forefinger to pan around the scene. She eventually selects an image of a girl — not wearing purple. The game puts a red mark through her choice: wrong.

The girl slumps down in her chair, head dropped to her chest as Tega says, “I’m sure you will do better next time. I believe in you.”

The robot, which MIT researchers are testing with students in a Boston-area public school, tilts toward the girl, who leans in close so that her cheek is right next to Tega’s.

Now it’s the robot’s turn. “Time to perform!” it says. The scene on-screen shifts, as though the bot is telepathically controlling the tablet. “Hmm …”

Tega looks up at its partner, as though seeking confirmation that it’s doing this right, and the girl

cups the bot’s cheeks encouragingly. The robot looks back at the screen. The girl rests her hand in the robot’s soft fur and murmurs, “I believe in you.”

This kind of tight connection is typical of child-robot interactions, says MIT social robotics and human-robot interaction researcher Cynthia Breazeal. Her team is investigating how this turn-taking robot can help students learn. Kids have a “special kind of affinity” with robots, she says.

Although adults might quickly become disenchanted with machines that aren’t very perceptive or don’t speak more than scripted sentences, children are liable to chat with, listen to and otherwise treat even basic robots as sentient, social beings, says Tony Belpaeme, a social roboticist at Ghent University in Belgium. Researchers like Breazeal and Belpaeme are trying to leverage that connection to create robots that engage with kids as tutors and peer learners.

These robots aren’t meant to replace human teachers, says Paul Vogt, a social robotics and language development researcher at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. But customizable, endlessly patient

automatons could provide students with one-on-one attention in crowded classrooms. That extra support may be especially helpful for children with special needs or for students who are learning in a different language than they’re used to, says Belpaeme, who is studying how robots can help immigrant children in Europe pick up a second language.

Robots might also help homeschooled students, proponents say, or teach in areas where human experts are in short supply.

English-speaking robots are slated to enter some 500 Japanese classrooms this year for exactly that purpose. Hundreds of Chinese kindergarten classes also have adopted educational robots. But in Western countries, these devices have yet to invade classrooms.

Just like any expensive educational technology, however, classroom robots may never make it to every classroom. Computer and cognitive scientist Brian Scassellati of Yale University and colleagues have had success with a device named Keepon that looks like two stacked yellow tennis balls with eyes and a nose. “When we produce them in the lab, they’re probably

costing us about $200 total,” he says. But many researchers use the humanoid Nao robot, which costs several thousand dollars a pop, raising the question of how many schools will be able to afford the classroom helpers.

“There’s a lot of hype about robots,” says Goren Gordon, a natural and artificial curiosity researcher at Tel Aviv University. At this point, most testing has been short-term in

small groups of children. So little is known about the potential risks involved when young kids keep close company with automatons. Yet early testing suggests that robots could help students learn new skills and promote good study habits and positive attitudes toward learning.

Researchers still have a lot to figure out about best practices and potential impacts if educational robots are going to achieve tenure. (net)

IBP/net

Educational robots have been designed to help students learn a wide range of topics, from handwriting to mathematics. This robot, named Minnie, supports children on reading assignments.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

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Ahead of Panca Wali Krama, Klotok Beach starts arranging

SEMARAPURA - Heavy equipment was busy removing sand mounds on Klotok Beach, Klungkung, on Sunday (Feb. 17). This is the realization of the beach arrangement for parking area, ahead of the melasti procession of the pralingga or sanctified effigies of Ida Bhatara from Besakih Temple heading for the local beach in early March. In addition, this arrangement is a follow-up to the regional government after stopping the total search for mosaic stones on the local beach, recently.

IBP/rah

The Bali Police won the world record for Bali Gemilang Millennial with the highest number of participants.

Bali Police break world’s record of Bali Gemilang Dance DENPASAR - The Millennial Road Safety Festival (MRSF) held by the Bali Police at Puputan Margarana Square, Renon, on Sunday (Feb. 17) took place successfully.

From this activity, the Bali Police won the world record for Bali Gemilang Millennial with the highest number of participants, namely 80,000 people whereas the initial target was only 50,000 participants.

The award was handed over by MURI representative to the Chief of Bali Police, Dr. Petrus Reinhard Golose.

In his remarks, Golose conveyed the event held starting at 14:00 could be implemented with the cooperation of all parties, especially thanks to the initiation of the Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

“You (millennial generation) live in what is called the borderless world.

You live in a gadget, and you trust more information even though they are fake news,” he said.

Bali Police Chief also revealed that in the last three years 1,561 people from the millennial generation got involved in traffic accidents in Bali and 603 people died.

On that account, President Joko Widodo very much respects to the future of the millennial generation so that this MRSF is held.

“What is it done for? It’s to protect the millennial generation and

to look after the future leaders of the nation. You are candidates for the future leaders. We are ‘colonial’ not millennial any longer,” he said.

As the Chief of Bali Police, he claimed to understand what the millennial generation wants. “Later tonight (Sunday) there will be a lot of noise. Bali will become a model for the world. From Bali, we shake Indonesia and from Bali we shake the world,” said this two-star general on the shoulder.

The MRSF 2019 was commenced with a fun walk followed by thousands of millennial generations, especially pupils and students throughout Bali. The fun walk was released by the Director of Traffic Affairs at Bali Police, Anak Agung Made Sudana, and enlivened by Lion Dance and marching band.

“We hope the participants will enliven the Millennial Road Safety Festival. In essence, we hope in the future the young generations will behave orderly and obey the traffic rules,” said Sudana.

Apart from involving tens of thousands of participants, the MRSF was also enlivened with hundreds of motorbike and car clubs. In addition to displaying big motorbikes, there were also antique motorcycles and cars thronging the north side of the square. (kmb36)

The mounting beach sand toward the edge of the road due to the high tides of seawater makes the local parking area seem to get neglected. So, the heavy equipment of the Klungkung Public Works, Spatial Planning and Settlement Agency returns to push it to the shore. The remaining unused mosaic stones in the small sacks were returned to the shore. Illegal huts built around it are also demolished so as not to give a slum impression.

“Later on when performing melasti, pilgrims are comfortable,” said the Regent of Klungkung, Nyoman Suwirta, while directly reviewing the arrangement.

He also instructed the Acting Head of Public Works Agency, Nyoman Susanta, to immediately make a study regarding the local coastal arrangement. So, it can give a positive impression of the Watuklotok Temple which is clean, comfortable and beautiful.

After this initial arrangement, he requested there are no more huts

or small shops around the beach because it gives a slum impression around the temple. He has planned to make small kiosks on the north side of the highway, working with local residents.

Aside from being a holy place for melasti, Klotok Beach is also thronged by residents to just spend vacation. He acknowledged that previously the condition of the beach was complained by many visitors. Apart from the existence of the mosaic stone mining activities, such condition is also caused by a lot of garbage and it seemed to have been neglected for a long time.

“This is our answer against the protests from a number of visitors. This is just the beginning of the arrangement. After that, the other supporting facilities will be prepared,” he added.

Previously, the search for mosaic stones on the beach was stopped to prevent the increasingly severe abrasion. In addition to saving the

environment, the cessation of the search for mosaic stones being rife around Watuklotok Beach is also to maintain the sanctity of the temple at that location. At that time, the Head of the Klungkung Environment and Land Agency, AA Ngurah Kirana, said that currently there are 160 mosaic stone seekers. In details, 16 people come from Negari village, 56 people from Takmung village, 6 people from Satra village, 53 people from Tojan village, 14 people from Gelgel village, 5 people from Tangkas village and 10 people from Jumpai village.

Regent Suwirta then offered a solution to the mosaic stone seekers to form a group of farmers for raising cows or pigs. After the formation, in 2020 the district government will disburse the assistance. In addition, some of the qualified persons will be appointed as contract workers that will be employed as janitors, gardeners, nursery officers and other officers. (kmb)

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Bali News

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Maintain environmental sustainability

the governor. Considering, plastic waste can pollute the environment.

“At the same time, this activity is to educate children to care for the environment by not throwing plastic trash carelessly and minimizing the use of plastic,” he said.

Furthermore, his organization continued to invite PHRI members to minimize the use of plastic packaging and replace it with ecofriendly materials like the straw is replaced with bamboo straw or paper straw and so forth. Meanwhile, plastic bottle of mineral water is replaced with glass bottles or other packaging.

“Activities like this will continue to run in the future. Later on, coinciding with the Ida Bhatara Turn Kabeh (IBTK) ceremony, the melasti procession will be held on Kelotok Beach, in a series of Panca Wali Krama at Besakih. In this activity, we will collaborate with volunteers caring about the environment,” Kariasa explained. (kmb41)

NUANQUAN - Blacksmith Wang De flings a ladle of molten steel against a cold brick wall, sparking a spectacle of whitehot light in the night sky and keeping alive the flame of a centuries-old Lunar New Year tradition.

IBP/kmb

Regent of Klungkung, I Nyoman Suwirta, admitted that to realize the community complying with KTR is indeed quite hard.

KTR implementation ignores protests of cigarette producers Compliance values exceeds province

SEMARAPURA - The implementation of Non-Smoking Area (KTR) in Klungkung district is quite strict. Moreover, it seems extreme. Installation of any kind of cigarette advertisements from the town to the village is not allowed. Moreover, this way had received protests from cigarette producers and is considered to violate the law. However, the regional government ignored it to realize the value of compliance of the Klungkung community as set forth in Regional Regulation No.1/2014 concerning the KTR occupying above the average in the Bali Province.

IBP/kmb

This effort is carried out to free and maintain environmental sustainability from plastic waste.

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Blacksmiths keep alive the flame of China’s molten steel ‘fireworks’

PHRI Karangasem holds plastic waste cleanup on Candidasa

AMLAPURA - The presence of plastic garbage is now becoming a concern of all parties. At this time, the Indonesia Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) of Karangasem together with Trash Hero, Cleanup Bali, Kindergarten and Elementary School students took action to clean up plastic waste centered on Candidasa Beach. This effort is carried out to free and maintain environmental sustainability from plastic waste.

Chairperson of the PHRI Karangasem, I Wayan Kariasa, revealed the cleanup action involved around 390 people from kindergarten, elementary school students and administrators and members of the PHRI Karangasem. “From the activities we do, we are able to collect 150 kg of plastic waste,” he said.

Kariasa said the activities carried out are to save the environment from plastic waste because currently the community is starting to fight against plastic waste in accordance with the instructions of

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Recognition of the efforts to implement the KTR regulation came from Udayana Center for NCDs, Tobacco Control and Lung Health when coming to Klungkung together with the team from the Bloomberg Initiative USA and The Union Asia Pacific recently.

Coordinator of the Udayana Center for Enforcement and Implementation, Gde Artawan Eka Putra, explained that Klungkung is now an area with the value of KTR community compliance exceeding the average of Bali Province. Based on data from Udayana Center, the value of the Klungkung community’s compliance with KTR has reached 81.7 percent. This figure surpassed the average value of public compliance with KTR in Bali Province amounting to 80 percent.

“There are other areas remaining below it, and Klungkung is categorized to have met the target,” explained Gde Artawan Eka Putra.

Community compliance related to KTR in public spaces such as educational institutions, health institutions, children playgrounds and bus terminal is even said to have reached 100 percent. Meanwhile, in other places such as government agencies, it remains 81.7 percent. Behind this positive achievement, according to him, this is the next homework. In other regions, the level of public compliance with KTR in hotels or restaurants remains low.

Regent of Klungkung, I Nyoman Suwirta, admitted that to realize the community complying with KTR is indeed quite hard. Other than from the community, obstacles also come from cigarette manufacturers. Moreover, one of the cigarette companies, Arga Prihatmoko and Armytanti Hanum Kasmito from PT HM Sampoerna Tbk, when meeting him, told him that what he did had violated the law because

he asked the public not to install or accept cigarette advertisements in any forms. “However, I remain in the initial commitment, namely upholding KTR for the health of our community. I have responsibility for that,” explained Suwirta.

Regarding public compliance with KTR in government agencies, Suwirta admitted that he had not reached 100 percent. He also heard there is an agency whose employees still often smoke in the office.

“I will enter through the back of the office. If there are employees found smoking in the office, I will act firmly,” said Suwirta.

In addition, in order to strengthen dissemination to the village level, the Klungkung district government has also approved anti-smoking cadres to provide understanding for the public regarding the hazards of smoking habits. These cadres are formed at each village by involving its village youth club. (gik)

GREG BAKER / AFP

This photo taken on February 18, 2019 shows Chinese blacksmith carrying a bucket of molten steel as a shower of sparks descends behind them, on the eve of the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Lunar New Year celebrations, in Nuanquan, in China’s northern Hebei province.

Fireworks were invented in China and have been a mainstay of Lunar New Year celebrations, but the remote village of Nuanquan in northern Hebei province has perfected an alternative kind of light show for the past 500 years.

For the performance, known as the Da Shuhua (Beating the Flower Tree), scraps of metal are melted at scorching temperatures and poured into a bucket, where performers like Wang create mesmerising spectacles of light by tossing ladles of the liquid against the wall.

The molten metal -- heated to temperatures of up to 1,600 Celsius (2,900 Fahrenheit) -- creates spectacular effects that fill Wang De with pride.

“When you see it, it’ll affect you profoundly,” the 55-year-old blacksmith, wearing a sheepskin jacket and protective glasses, told AFP. The three-day show is only put on around the Lunar New Year, but is a fast-growing attraction that now draws over a thousand people to each performance.

Its future is not certain, however, as only four blacksmiths remain -- and the youngest is 50-years-old.

Few people are interested in learning the skills -- scars and burns are inevitable -- and the younger generation is anyway tending to leave rural China for a better life in the cities.

“It’s extremely dangerous and it doesn’t make much money,” said Wang, who also farms corn to supplement his blacksmith’s income.

He has passed on the craft to his son, but he has moved to Shanghai to seek a different career. Still, Wang De is hopeful he will return to keep the flame alive.

“When we no longer can pull this off, people can learn from him. I have this confidence that (Da Shuhua) will be passed on.” (afp)

Aussie rodent becomes first ‘climate change extinction’

SYDNEY - Australia officially declared a Great Barrier Reef rodent extinct on Tuesday, making it the first mammal believed to have been killed off by human-induced climate change.

The rat-like Bramble Cay melomys -- whose only known habitat was a small sandy island in far northern Australia -- has not been spotted in a decade.

Researchers from Queensland determined a key factor in its disap-

pearance was “almost certainly” repeated ocean inundation of the cay -- a low-lying island on a coral reef -- over the last decade, which had resulted in dramatic habitat loss.

Australia’s environment ministry on Tuesday said it had officially transferred the animal to the “extinct” list.

The declaration was expected. The researchers completed a wide-ranging survey in 2014 in a bid to track down the species, but found no trace.

Available data on sea-level rise and weather events in the Torres Strait region “point to humaninduced climate change being the root cause of the loss of the Bramble Cay melomys”, a study released in 2016 said.

The Melomys rubicola, considered the Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic mammal species, was first discovered on the cay in 1845 by Europeans who shot the “large rats” for sport. (afp)

IBP/net

The rat-like Bramble Cay melomys -- whose only known habitat was a small sandy island in far northern Australia -- has not been spotted in a decade.

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International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

BUSINESS Amazon’s exit could scare off tech companies from New York

NEW YORK - Amazon jilted New York City on Valentine’s Day, scrapping plans to build a massive headquarters campus in Queens amid fierce opposition from politicians angry about nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and the company’s anti-union stance.

With millions of jobs and a bustling economy, New York can withstand the blow, but experts say the decision by the e-commerce giant to walk away and take with it 25,000 promised jobs could scare off other companies considering moving to or expanding in the city, which wants to be seen as the Silicon Valley of the East Coast.

“One of the real risks here is the message we send to companies that want to come to New York and expand to New York,” said Julie Samuels, the executive director of industry group Tech: NYC. “We’re really playing with fire right now.”

In November, Amazon selected New York City and Crystal City, Virginia, as the winners of a secretive, yearlong process in which more than 230 North American cities bid to become the home of the Seattle-based company’s second headquarters.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo heralded the city’s selection at the time as the biggest boon yet to its burgeoning tech economy and underscored that the deal would generate billions of dollars for improving transit, schools and housing.

Opposition came swiftly though, as details started to emerge.

Critics complained about public subsidies that were offered to Amazon and chafed at some of the conditions of the deal, such as the company’s demand for access to a helipad.

Some pleaded for the deal to be renegotiated or scrapped altogether.

“We knew this was going south from the moment it was announced,” said Thomas Stringer, a site selection adviser for big companies. “If this was done right, all the elected officials would have been out there touting how great it was. When you didn’t see that happen, you knew something was wrong.”

Stringer, a managing director of the consulting firm BDO USA LLP, said city and state officials need to rethink the secrecy with which they approached the negotiations.

Community leaders and potential critics were kept in the dark, only to be blindsided when details became public.

“It’s time to hit the reset button and say, ‘What did we do wrong?’” Stringer said.

“This is fumbling at the 1-yard line.”

Amazon said in a statement Thursday that its commitment to New York City required “positive, collaborative relationships” with

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File

In this Nov. 7, 2018, file photo traffic moves along 44th Drive in Long Island City in the Queens borough of New York.

According to experts analyzing the e-commerce giant’s sudden cancellation of plans to build a massive headquarters in New York City, Amazon’s decision to walk away could scare off other tech companies considering moving to or expanding in the city. state and local officials and that a number of them had “made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward.”

Not that Amazon is blameless, experts say.

Joe Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, said the company’s high-profile bidding process may have stoked the backlash. Companies usually search for new locations quietly, in part to avoid the kind of opposition Amazon received.

“They had this huge competition, and the media covered it really aggressively, and a bunch of cities responded,” Parilla said.

“What did you expect? It gave the opposition a much bigger platform.”

Richard Florida, an urban studies professor and critic of Amazon’s initial search process, said the company should have expected to feel the heat when it selected New York, a

city known for its neighborhood activism.

“At the end of the day, this is going to hurt Amazon,” said Florida, head of the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute. “This is going to embolden people who don’t like corporate welfare across the country.”

Other tech companies have been keeping New York City’s tech economy churning without making much of a fuss.

Google is spending $2.4 billion to build up its Manhattan campus. Cloud-computing company Salesforce has plastered its name on Verizon’s former headquarters in midtown, and music streaming service Spotify is gobbling up space at the World Trade Center complex.

Despite higher costs, New York City remains attractive to tech companies because of its vast, diverse talent pool, world-class educational and cultural institutions and access to other industries, such as Wall Street

capital and Madison Avenue ad dollars.

No other metropolitan area in the U.S. has as many computer-related jobs as New York City, which has 225,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Washington, Boston, Atlanta and Dallas each have a greater concentration of their workers in tech.

In the New York area, the average computer-related job pays roughly $104,000 a year, about $15,000 above the national average.

Still, that’s about $20,000 less than in San Francisco.

Even after cancelling its headquarters project, Amazon still has 5,000 employees in New York City, not counting Whole Foods.

“New York has actually done a really great job of growing and supporting its tech ecosystem, and I’m confident that will continue,” Samuels said. “Today we took a step back, but I would not put the nail in the coffin of tech in New York City.” (ap)

Bali News

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

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Ngrebeg Has Three Meanings, What Are They?

Ngerebeg tradition or better known as makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan (ten days after Galungan) at Munggu customary village, Mengwi, Badung, has the meaning as a tribute to the heroes, repellent of negative things and a means to unite the citizens. This was confirmed by chief of Munggu customary village, I Made Rai Sujana, amid the ngerebeg procession at the local Desa and Puseh Temple of local village, Saturday (Jan. 5).

He explained the meanings of the procession starting from the Mengwi kingdom headquartered at Munggu with the king named Ida Cokorda Nyoman Sakti Munggu.

When defending his territory in Blambangan, East Java, before the Mengwi troops named goak selem or black crow troops left the kingdom, right on the Tumpek Kuningan Day, the king of Mengwi performed a meditation at Dalem Kahyangan Wisesa Temple, Munggu. The king got a revelation from his meditation.

The return of his troops with victory or success in the war was then commemorated with the tradition of ngerebeg. “Therefore, on Tumpek Kuningan, the tradition of ngerebeg continues to be commemorated at Munggu customary village as a tribute to the victory of Mengwi’s royal war, as the respect for the heroes,” he explained.

Related to the tradition as disaster repellent, he told that it was initially carried out with a spear.

Then, during the Dutch colonial period the tradition was banned because it was thought to be a rebellion. As a result, this tradition had not been organized for several times. Then, outbreaks of disease or plague attacked villagers, even many people died.

This condition made some customary and religious leaders negotiate with the Dutch administration

and finally the tradition was allowed to be held again. However, the facilities used are not spears, but replaced with pulet wooden stick. “Since then, the tradition of ngerebeg formerly used spears was replaced with a pulet wooden stick, with the length of 3.5 meters. Based on such belief, the ngerebeg tradition serves as catastrophe repellent or keeps away from negative

things,” he explained.

The third meaning of the tradition is as a means to unite citizens.

This tradition is followed by almost all men aged 14 years and over from 12 hamlets at Munggu customary village. They mutually mingle while carrying wooden sticks and walking around the village area.

When they arrive in several places such as road intersection they

gather and unite the end of the stick to form the pyramid.

Once in a while, a young man will climb up the pile of the sticks.

“So, this tradition is to unite young people from 12 hamlets across the Munggu customary village. By carrying out the ngerebeg tradition, they will definitely do positive things and strengthen the sense of unity among the youth,” he concluded. (kmb)

Gourmet Gelato Ubud, Must Be Different

Wow … it’s good, delicious and affordable. Travelers passing in front of it must stop, and then try to taste the delicacies. They can choose according to their preferences because many choices of flavor are available. After all, enjoying it doesn’t need a special place, and can be done casually or skillfully while walking to see the village atmosphere. “Delicious, this Gourmet Gelato is different,” said Zachary David, a tourist from Europe.

It is the atmosphere of the opening of the new Gourmet Gelato Ubud located on Jalan Suweta, only few minutes from Monkey Forest Road, Ubud. In combination with a beautiful and calm atmosphere

of Ubud, this new outlet offers premium quality gelato and sorbet with a variety of flavors and provides options for vegans. Gelato and sorbet have various choices of flavors made form 100 percent of organic ingredients without filler, colors and artificial flavors. “We have opened more than 10 outlets in Bali,” said the owners of Gourmet Gelato Ubud, Catya and Natasha.

Catya said that Gelato is Italian vocabulary meaning ‘ice cream.’ It utilizes the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but gelato has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and does not use eggs at all. As processed at a slower rate, less air is left over and makes the gelato denser.

“Gelato is served at a slightly warmer temperature, so the texture is smoother and softer. The fat percentage is also lower than ice cream, so it is far more powerful and delicious,” she explained to journalists.

Meanwhile, Natasha admitted the priority is to make gelato and sorbet from high-quality vegetable gelato using local products and fresh ingredients. “Each variant of the gelato flavor is made in small quantities and carefully, resulting in high-quality gelato. Our gelato is also served using a cup and spoon fully biodegradable and eco-friendly,” she said while adding the outlet is opened every day from 09:00 until 22:00. (kmb)

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

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International

RLD

Top Indonesian football official questioned in match-fixing scandal

PARIS - A new map of the night sky published Tuesday charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see.

These jets, previously undetected, can extend over millions of light years.

“With radio observations we can detect radiation from the tenuous medium that exists between galaxies,” said Amanda Wilber, of the University of Hamburg.

“LOFAR allows us to detect many more of these sources and understand what is powering them.”

The discovery of the new light sources may also help scientists better understand the behaviour of one of space’s most enigmatic phenomena.

Black holes -- which have a gravitational pull so strong that no matter can escape them -- emit radiation when they engulf other high-mass objects such as stars and gas clouds.

Tasse said the new observation technique would allow astronomers to compare black holes over time to see how they form and develop.

“If you look at an active black hole, the jets (of radiation) disappear after millions of years, and you won’t see them at a higher frequency (of light),” he said.

“But at a lower frequency they continue to emit these jets for hun-

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

New Universe map unearths 300,000 more galaxies

The international team behind the unprecedented space survey said their discovery literally shed new light on some of the Universe’s deepest secrets, including the physics of black holes and how clusters of galaxies evolve.

“This is a new window on the universe,” Cyril Tasse, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory who was involved in the project, told AFP. “When we saw the first images we were like: ‘What is this?!’ It didn’t look anything at all like what we are used to seeing.”

More than 200 astronomers from 18 countries were involved in the study, which used radio astronomy to look at a segment of sky over the northern hemisphere, and found 300,000 previously unseen light sources thought to be distant galaxies.

Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

The team used the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the Netherlands to pick up traces -- or “jets” -- of ancient radiation produced when galaxies merge.

International

dreds of millions of years, so we can see far older electrons.”

- ‘Universe’s oldest objects’ -

The Hubble telescope has produced images that lead scientists to believe there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the Universe, although many are too old and distant to be observed using traditional detection techniques.

The map created by the LOFAR observations, part of which was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, contains data equivalent to ten million DVDs yet charts just two percent of the sky.

The LOFAR telescope is made up of a Europe-wide network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) diameter satellite dish.

The team plans to create highresolution images of the entire northern sky, which they say will reveal as many as 15 million as-yet undetected radio sources.

“The oldest objects in the Universe are around 11-12 billion light years old,” said Tasse. “So we are going to see lots more of these objects.” (afp)

IBP/net

A new map of the night sky published Tuesday charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see.

VALERY HACHE / AFP

Men play chess in the Szechenyi baths in Budapest on February 13, 2019.

Hungary’s Orban bets on baby boom to boost population

BUDAPEST - Faced with a plummeting population, Hungary’s fiercely anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban has come up with an answer sparking yet another controversy: “We need Hungarian children”.

Earlier this month Orban unveiled a seven-point “family protection action plan” stacked with incentives for young couples to have children.

Opinion is divided however as to whether it will have the desired effect -- and some critics have seen disturbing historical echoes in his plan.

The policies announced by Orban include lifelong tax exemption for women who bear four or more children, and more kindergartens.

It also offers lump-sum, 10-million forint (32,000 euros, $36,000) loans for newly-wed women under 40, cancelled once they have three children.

“This -– not immigration –- is the response of the Hungarian people,” said Orban, a 55-year-old father of five, during a state-ofthe-nation speech that was greeted with rapturous applause.

“With 10 million forints my partner and I can finally think of buying an apartment around here and moving out from my parents’ at last,” said Nora Koszeghy, a 24-year-old teacher outside a supermarket in a Budapest suburb, as her toddler dozed in a pushchair.

“We were planning for a brother or sister for Juli. Maybe she can have two or even three now, who knows,” she told AFP. - A ‘visionary’ plan -

Supporters of Orban’s seven-

point plan -- including Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican -- have hailed his family policies as “visionary”.

Pro-government pundits argue that only such direct action can prop up a population that has been falling since 1981, and which could shrink from its current 9.7 to six million by 2070, according to a recent report by Hungary’s Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Orban’s national-conservative government, in power since 2010, says no EU member has been spending more on family support.

And it insists its approach has already borne fruit.

Incentivised by tax breaks and a subsidised housing scheme for young married couples, marriage rates have been rising since 2010, with abortion and divorce declining.

Hungary’s fertility rate, the lowest in the EU at around 1.25 children per woman in 2010, has risen to near the bloc’s average of 1.6, according to figures published

by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical body.

Orban’s government has set a 2030 target of 2.1, the rate needed to halt population decline.

Some statisticians however remain sceptical that in the long run the government’s measures will shift a stubbornly low birth rate.

“The uptick in fertility was also due to the end of the economic crisis,” said one expert at the KSH who asked not to be named.

“Bigger problems are high emigration –- over a half million since 2010 -- and, crucially, the falling number of women of childbearing age,” he said. (afp)

Indonesia’s top football official, who has been in the job less than a month, was questioned by police Monday over a matchfixing scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian nation’s domestic league.

Joko Driyono became acting president of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) in late January after former chairman Edy Rahmayadi stepped down in the wake of a corruption probe that has seen police identify more than a dozen suspects.

Driyono was questioned Monday over allegations he was involved in destroying evidence of match-fixing, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

“The main focus of today’s examination concerns the problem of destruction, theft and removal of evidence,” Prasetyo told reporters.

Police raided Driyono’s apartment last week and confiscated laptops, flash drives and dozens of documents, including match

and financial records. He has been slapped with a 20-day travel ban but has not yet been arrested.

Indonesian football has recently been rocked by a series of matchfixing allegations. The PSSI and police announced a crackdown on match-fixing in December after an executive member of the association was caught on tape trying to bribe a coach approximately $10,000 to throw a second-division game. He resigned and was handed a three-year ban and fine by a PSSI disciplinary committee.

While it has a low international profile, Indonesia has attracted Premier League players including former Chelsea star Michael Essien and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora.

But Indonesian football has been tarnished on the global stage by a host of problems over the years, including deadly hooliganism and foreign players dying after going unpaid and being unable to afford medical care. (afp)

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ELECTION 2019

ADEK BERRY / AFP

Indonesian incumbent President Joko Widodo (L) who is running for his second term and candidate for president Prabowo Subianto (2nd R) hold up paper slips with questions during the second presidential debate in Jakarta on February 17, 2019. Indonesia will hold general elections on April 17.

Presidential debate fails to mention climate change impacts: Walhi

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has expressed disappointment with Indonesia`s presidential candidates for failing to mention the climate change impacts and forest issue during the second round of the presidential election debate on Sunday evening.

Jessica MARGARETHA / AFP

This picture taken on July 11, 2013 shows Joko Driyono, then secretary-general of Indonesia’s football association, posing in Jakarta. Joko Driyono, who is now Indonesia’s top football official and been in the job less than a month, was questioned by police on February 18, 2019 over a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian nation’s domestic league.

“It is a bit awful because climate change impacts and forest issues were not mentioned,” Yuyun Harmono, campaign manager for climate justice of Walhi, said here on Monday.

The climate change is in fact an issue that covers every aspect, he stated. It is quite scary, from the climate change context, to learn about the optimism of both candidates over oil palm plantation, he noted. Oil palm plantation and coal mining activities are both major contributors to emission, he remarked.

If the two candidates still rely on oil palm and coal, it means they do not see the point of climate change,

he added. They fail to link the economic policy and efforts to control the impacts of climate change, he revealed.

“What worries me is that the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister has asked the Director General for Climate Change Control to review our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), in order to speed up the target to press the Earth`s temperature increase below 1.5 degree Celsius from 2020 to 2019,” he explained.

The ministry has prepared measures for cutting emissions by accelerating mitigation efforts, he noted. The ministry has realized that the major contributors to

emission are plantation and energybased factors, he elaborated.

However, he regretted that the two candidates failed to consider the crucial issue. “No one related their economic policy to climate change issue. This is worrying,” he stated.

Incumbent Joko Widodo and rival Prabowo Subianto faced off during the second round of the presidential election debate themed ?energy, the environment, infrastructure, food, and natural resources,? on Sunday evening (Feb 17). Indonesia will hold the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on April 17, 2019. (ant)

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Destination

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Djokovic and Biles win Laureus sports people of year awards

MONACO - Novak Djokovic’s stupendous comeback from injury last year which saw him win two Grand Slam titles earned him the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award on Monday at a lavish ceremony.

Petitenget Temple An ancient, central landmark in Seminyak

KUTA - Petitenget Temple, referred to as ‘Pura Petitenget’ by locals, is a significant, centuries-old temple in Bali and one of the very few cultural landmarks at the island’s upscale beach resort area of Seminyak.

Somewhat overshadowed by the modern developments of lavish five-star resorts in the area, this temple still remains an important highlight and a must-see while in Seminyak,

especially during its festive 210-day anniversaries and the traditional dance rehearsals regularly held by the locals in a grand pavilion nearby. Red bricks and sandstone make up most of the temple’s architecture, giving it an antique feel. Up the dragon staircase is the temple’s vast courtyard, where a dozen different shrines and small pavilions draped in typical Balinese chequered cloths create

an eerie and hallowed sight. Petitenget forms one of the island’s Dang Kahyangan collection of sea temples that spiritually guard the island’s perimeters, initiated by the legendary Hindu priest Dang Hyang Nirartha on his historical mission from neighbouring island Java in the 16th century.

Beside this main temple is the smaller Masceti Ulun Tanjung Temple, a temple where the local villagers pray for protection – in historical times, against famine and disease.

If you’re lucky and happen to visit Petitenget during its anniversary celebrations, which falls on a ‘Merakih’ Wednesday every 210 days on the Balinese Pawukon calendar, the temple is colourfully adorned with banners and parasols and pilgrims throng for prayers in their best temple attire, naturally making for great photo opportunities.

Despite having a rather secluded location, hidden away behind the rows of glamorous designer boutiques and fine-dining restaurants, getting to Petitenget Temple is easy.

Jalan Petitenget is within a half-hour transfer from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban, and can be accessed from the north via Sunset Road and Jalan Raya Kerobokan, and from the south via Kuta and the main Jalan Raya Seminyak. The temple resides at

the main junction where Petitenget restaurant bears its name clearly across its white picket fence.

Motorists approach through the southern entrance where parking tickets between IDR 2,000-5,000 usually apply, and proceed to the large parking space. The temple is immediately to the right, and if you come on weekend mornings, the grand Bale Agung pavilion across from the temple usually features dance rehearsals featuring young Balinese girls practicing their moves and articulate gestures. The front of the temple is leafy and well-shaded by large old trees, some perhaps matching the age of the temple itself. The popular street and namesake of the temple, Jalan Petitenget, is lined with world-class dining and entertainment venues and connects to Seminyak’s other famous dining streets of Jalan Batubelig, Jalan Kayu Aya and Jalan Laksmana at its southern end. Among the popular venues frequented by visitors and expats here are La Lucciola, Ku De Ta, Potato Head Beach Club, Hu’u and Motel Mexicola that is snugly located on a side street called Jalan Kayu Jati. Only several meters from the temple and over a wooden bridge, is the fine stretch of golden-grey sand of one of the island’s most gorgeous sunset beaches. (IBP/net)

The 31-year-old Serbian -- who added the Australian Open in January to the Wimbledon and US Open crowns he won in 2018 after coming back from elbow surgery -- won the award for a fourth time beating the likes of France’s World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and NBA superstar LeBron James.

Iconic American gymnast Simone Biles won Sportswoman of the Year for a second time on the back of the 21-year-old’s historic achievement last year in adding a fourth all-around world championship to her full to bursting medals cabinet. Djokovic was delighted with his award -- voted on by the 68 members of the Laureus Academy which includes sporting legends such as nine-time singles Grand Slam champion Monica Seles and Britain’s six-time Olympic track cycling gold medalist Chris Hoy. “Last year was an incredible season for me, returning from injury to win Wimbledon and the US Open is something I’ll remember forever,” said Djokovic.

Seles, also born in Serbia although now a naturalised American citizen, presented the award to Djokovic, who admitted it had been a long hard road back mentally as well as physically.

“Reflecting on it standing here now it seems like a fairytale story but it tells me one thing,” he said.

“In those moments of when you are facing adversity and challenged you should always look inside.

“I did not understand that fully before but now I know where I can always find strength and belief and to keep on going.”

Tennis had a golden night as women’s world number one Naomi Osaka -- who like Djokovic added the Australian Open to her breakthrough Grand Slam success the US Open -- became the first Japanese winner of a Laureus award, the 21-year-old taking the World Breakthrough of the Year gong.

American golf great Tiger Woods was rewarded for his return from years in the wilderness due to injury and personal problems to winning the Tour Championship and going close to adding to his 14 major titles in the British Open and the PGA Championship with the Comeback of the Year award.

“There was a long list of people who wrote him off but I was not one of them,” said former NFL star Marcus Allen.

“When you are anointed with such talent as he is there is always a way back.” (afp)

Valery HACHE / AFP

Laureus World Sportsman of The Year 2019 winner Serbia’s tennis player Novak Djokovic poses with his award at the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony at the Sporting Monte-Carlo complex in Monaco on February 18, 2019.

Brexit ‘mother of all messes’ for British F1 teams says Mercedes boss MONTMELO - Toto Wolff, the Mercedes Formula 1 CEO, said on Monday Brexit could do untold damage to the F1 industry in the UK, calling it “the mother of

all messes”.

The Mercedes team is based in Northamptonshire, while Red Bull -- whose their Team Principal Christian Horner on Monday said

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LLUIS GENE / AFP

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton drives during the tests for the new Formula One Grand Prix season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo in the outskirts of Barcelona, on February 19, 2019.

“life ultimately will go on” regardless of how the United Kingdom leaves the European Union -- is based in Milton Keynes.

“Brexit is a major concern for all of us that live in the UK and operate out of the UK,” Wolff said at Montmelo where Formula 1 pre-season testing began on Monday.

“Formula 1 teams travel to races at least 21 times a year, we are moving in and out of the UK, our people move in and out of the UK,” he added, in reference to customs delays that could be incurred by Brexit.

Austrian Wolff, who is a former racing driver, was also concerned about customs for motor parts.

“The way we get parts and services is just in time at the last minute ... taxes would massively damage the Formula 1 industry in the UK,” Wolff said.

Visa and right to work concerns were also high on Wolff’s worry list, thanks to the “26 nationalities in our team”.

Wolff said there were no doubts in his mend that “no-deal Brexit or Brexit” would be “damaging to what for me is one of the outstanding industries in the UK”.

He explained: “Formula 1 feels like very much exposed to the decisions that could be made at a political level and it is a risk for our people and a risk for our industry.”

- Life goes on Meanwhile Red Bull Team Principal Horner played down the drama, insisting that he and his team would adapt to any potential changes.

“Whether there is no deal, any deal, life ultimately will go on. I think it’s important that we get to conclusion sooner rather than later to get rid of all the uncertainty because it is unsettling,” said the 45-year-old Briton.

Horner said that in fact nobody really understood Brexit.

“Every time you turn the television on at the moment you’ve got somebody talking about hard Brexit or soft Brexit, the back stop, whatever it is,” he said before tuning his ire on his rival Wolff.

“You complain to doomsday scenario of Brexit or you can actually maybe see how much it is going to affect our daily lives. I don’t think any of us can actually answer that question,” he said. (afp)

8

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Sarri on the brink as Pogba fires United into FA Cup last eight Paul Pogba drove Manchester United into the FA Cup quarterfinals and pushed Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri closer to the sack as the troubled holders crashed to a 2-0 defeat on Monday. Pogba set up United’s opening goal for Ander Herrera with a majestic cross and the France star added the second himself as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side produced a commanding display at Stamford Bridge.

Adrian DENNIS / AFP

Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring their second goal during the English FA Cup fifth round football match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in London on February 18, 2019.

Chelsea’s lacklustre fifth round exit -- their first FA Cup defeat since the 2017 final -- was another painful blow for Sarri, who is facing a fight to save his job following a dismal debut season.

Chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat for 28 years when they were thrashed 6-0 at Manchester City earlier this month, an indignity that came just weeks after a humiliating 4-0 loss at Bournemouth. Amid claims Sarri has lost the support of his players, the former Napoli boss watched ashen-faced as Chelsea collapsed again for a fifth defeat in their last 10 games.

Sarri was subjected to chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” and “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from frustrated Chelsea fans, who called for their former star Frank Lampard, now in charge of Derby, to replace the Italian.

It was the worst possible start to a defining period for Sarri, whose stubborn tactics and dubious man-management have come under intense scrutiny.

Chelsea, currently outside the Premier League’s top four, return to action against Malmo in the Europa League last 32 second leg holding a 2-1 lead on Thursday.

Assuming he hasn’t been axed by demanding Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich before then, a shock defeat against Malmo would be catastrophic for Sarri ahead of next Sunday’s League Cup Final date with Manchester City.

United are through to the last eight for a fifth consecutive season as they look to win the FA Cup for a record-equalling 13th time and first since 2016.

Ending United’s nine-game winless run at Chelsea was another feather in Solskjaer’s cap as his team bounced back from last week’s Champions League last 16 first leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Solskjaer went unbeaten in his first 11 games and the interim boss showed his tactical skills by out-witting Sarri with his switch to a midfield diamond formation.

- Fatal flaws -

Even Solskjaer’s risky decision to select reserve goalkeeper Sergio Romero in place of David De Gea paid off. In a frantic opening, Romero was called into action when David Luiz drilled a dipping free-kick over the United wall.

Romero kept out Luiz’s effort and scrambled to his feet to save Pedro’s powerful shot from the rebound. Gonzalo Higuain should have opened the scoring from Cesar Azpilicueta’s teasing cross, but the Argentine striker headed wide.

Those misses proved fatal for Chelsea, whose early pressure was rendered irrelevant by another lapse of concentration in the 31st minute. Mata picked out Pogba on the left wing and the United midfielder, unchecked by the slow-to-react Antonio Rudiger, unfurled a sublime cross that looped towards the far post.

Herrera timed his run perfectly to meet Pogba’s delivery in stride and Marcos Alonso fatally lost his man as the Spanish midfielder planted a close-range header past Kepa Arrizabalaga for his first goal since December. Pogba was only just getting warmed up and he single-handedly ripped Chelsea part to double United’s lead on the stroke of half-time.

Playing an incisive pass down the right flank to Rashford, Pogba surged into the Chelsea area and muscled his way above Azpilicueta to meet his team-mate’s pin-point cross with a diving header that Kepa couldn’t keep out.

It was the 15th goal Pogba has been directly involved since Solskjaer took charge, underlined his renaissance since the sacking of his nemesis Jose Mourinho. Nothing was going Sarri’s way and United’s Nemanja Matic, already booked, avoided a red card after tripping N’Golo Kante.

Even Eden Hazard, marked out of the game for long periods, couldn’t rescue the beleaguered Sarri as he found a sliver of space, only to see his shot deflected over by Victor Lindelof as Chelsea succumbed tamely. (afp)

‘It’s like a final’ - Atletico meet Juve in a clash of high stakes

Massimiliano Allegri told Juventus not to be afraid of Atletico Madrid but for one of these teams their worst fears in this season’s Champions League are about to become a reality. Crashing out in the last 16 would be unthinkable for two clubs that were among the favourites when the draw for the knock-out stages was made in December.

“Those that have ambition are not afraid,” Allegri said, after his side were drawn to play Atletico, with the first leg on Wednesday at the Wanda Metropolitano. “It’s like a final, we cannot put a foot wrong,” Atletico boss Diego Simeone said.

Juventus and Atletico Madrid have reached 12 European Cup finals between them, with last season’s game in Kiev the first in five years in which neither had featured.

Atletico went on to win the Europa League instead, proving themselves too strong for Europe’s second-tier competition, while Juventus were dumped out by eventual winners Real Madrid, undone by a controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty in the 98th minute.

It was Ronaldo’s 10th goal in seven games against Juventus, having scored twice in the first leg and twice in the final in 2017 too. Juve beat Real in the semi-finals two

years earlier but even then, Ronaldo managed a goal in each leg.

There was understandable relief, as well as joy, when the Portugese switched sides last summer and now, there is belief. Ronaldo has not finished in single figures for goals in the Champions league since 2011. As Lionel Messi said: “They already had a good team and now they have Cristiano Ronaldo.”

- Juve’s two decade wait -

But with anticipation comes pressure. Juventus are on course to win an eighth consecutive Scudetto but this is the one trophy they crave. Miss out again and it will be 23 years since they last lifted Europe’s premier prize, this time with its most prolific player ever among their ranks.

“We have to be wary of Atletico,” Allegri said. “And we have to find the right moment to score.

It’s crucial that we get a goal there, otherwise qualification will be very difficult,” he added.

Atletico’s own record signing last summer, Thomas Lemar, was not even born when Gianluca Vialli hoisted the trophy in 1996 for the Italians but expectation weighs heavy on them too.

Atleti have the chance to play a final at home this year, at the Wanda Metropolitano, and not only snatch

the cup away from rivals Real but do it in the city they both call their own. “Of course we are inspired by playing a final in our own stadium, in our own city, in front of our own fans,” Simeone said. “But it is pointless only to imagine it. The reality will be what we deserve,” he added.

Simeone extended his contract as Atleti coach until 2022 last week and while few can question the remarkable progress made during his tenure, there are some that believe a ceiling has been reached.

They are out of the Copa del Rey and seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga, where back-to-back defeats earlier this month failed to capitalise on a rare Catalan dip.

Summer signings are yet to fully fire and there is scepticism about the January arrival of Alvaro Morata, not just because of his links to Real. When results waver, questions about Simeone’s style also invariably follow. “It is a style I like, it makes us win,” Antoine Griezmann told UEFA on Monday. Winning a trophy on their own patch would be even better.

“It’s an extra motivation for us and for the fans. The road to get there will be tough but we’ll give it our all,” World Cup winner Griezmann added. (afp)

OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP

Atletico Madrid’s French forward Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish League football match between Rayo Vallecano and Atletico de Madrid at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid on February 16, 2019.

9

Winner of the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award, former Arsenal football team manager Arsene Wenger poses after receiving his award during the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony at the Sporting MonteCarlo complex in Monaco on February 18, 2019.

Arsene Wenger received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award on Monday but it was the glowing tribute from the unlikeliest of sources Jose Mourinho that caught the eye. The 69-year-old Wenger won the award on the back of his revolutionising English football especially in the first part of his over two decades in charge of Arsenal.

The veteran former Gunners boss and Mourinho clashed often on and off the touchline. However, Mourinho -- sacked by Manchester United in December, paid handsome tribute to Wenger via a video.

The volatile Portuguese, who had two spells at Chelsea and then the turbulent one at United, acknowledged there had been moments when they had been at odds with each other.

It boiled over when Wenger pushed Mourinho on the touchline during the latter’s second period in charge of Chelsea and Mourinho made some barbed remarks about the studious Frenchman, commenting he was a “voyeur” and a “specialist in failure”.

“There were some episodes along the road,” said Mourinho. “I can only speak by myself. I really enjoyed the competition. But the real respect is always there. “He (Wenger) made lots of history in that football club. “One of the best football managers in the history of football.”

Wenger, who was virtually unknown but proved an inspirational choice by then Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein when he was hired in 1996, accrued among other trophies three Premier League titles and lifted the FA Cup seven times.

However, perhaps his greatest achievement was the title winning side of the 2003/04 campaign who went through the league season

unbeaten. “The nickname is there -– the Invincibles,” said Mourinho.

“Amazing. A coaching philosophy, the almost perfect team.”

- ‘We want our Mars bars’ -

Wenger, who has been linked with several jobs since leaving Arsenal at the end of last season including the director of football post at Paris SaintGermain, admitted he had been taken aback when he watched the video at the awards ceremony.

“That is a very good question,” he replied as to what was the biggest surprise the award or Mourinho praising him. “It was a surprise yes. We had some good fights at times.” Wenger said what was even more unexpected was that the man on the touchline won an award.

“An even bigger surprise is usually the lifetime achievement award goes to a Pele, a Maradona or a Beckenbauer. “Tonight it is a player from a little village but it is good that coaches are rewarded in our game.”

One of Wenger’s recipes of success involved tearing up the book on the players diet when he arrived at Arsenal and introduced healthy eating habits. He concedes that was not universally accepted.

“I forbid them eating Mars bars,” said the man who still has the “virus” of football in his blood and wakes up every morning wondering what match is on that night. “So at first I was greeted on the team coach with chants of “we want our Mars bars”.

They did not get them.

“Today it shows how much football has changed you would never hear footballers demanding Mars bars.”

Laureus is a global movement that aims to use the power of sport to tackle social challenges in the world. (afp)

8

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Sarri on the brink as Pogba fires United into FA Cup last eight Paul Pogba drove Manchester United into the FA Cup quarterfinals and pushed Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri closer to the sack as the troubled holders crashed to a 2-0 defeat on Monday. Pogba set up United’s opening goal for Ander Herrera with a majestic cross and the France star added the second himself as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side produced a commanding display at Stamford Bridge.

Adrian DENNIS / AFP

Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring their second goal during the English FA Cup fifth round football match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in London on February 18, 2019.

Chelsea’s lacklustre fifth round exit -- their first FA Cup defeat since the 2017 final -- was another painful blow for Sarri, who is facing a fight to save his job following a dismal debut season.

Chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat for 28 years when they were thrashed 6-0 at Manchester City earlier this month, an indignity that came just weeks after a humiliating 4-0 loss at Bournemouth. Amid claims Sarri has lost the support of his players, the former Napoli boss watched ashen-faced as Chelsea collapsed again for a fifth defeat in their last 10 games.

Sarri was subjected to chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” and “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from frustrated Chelsea fans, who called for their former star Frank Lampard, now in charge of Derby, to replace the Italian.

It was the worst possible start to a defining period for Sarri, whose stubborn tactics and dubious man-management have come under intense scrutiny.

Chelsea, currently outside the Premier League’s top four, return to action against Malmo in the Europa League last 32 second leg holding a 2-1 lead on Thursday.

Assuming he hasn’t been axed by demanding Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich before then, a shock defeat against Malmo would be catastrophic for Sarri ahead of next Sunday’s League Cup Final date with Manchester City.

United are through to the last eight for a fifth consecutive season as they look to win the FA Cup for a record-equalling 13th time and first since 2016.

Ending United’s nine-game winless run at Chelsea was another feather in Solskjaer’s cap as his team bounced back from last week’s Champions League last 16 first leg loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Solskjaer went unbeaten in his first 11 games and the interim boss showed his tactical skills by out-witting Sarri with his switch to a midfield diamond formation.

- Fatal flaws -

Even Solskjaer’s risky decision to select reserve goalkeeper Sergio Romero in place of David De Gea paid off. In a frantic opening, Romero was called into action when David Luiz drilled a dipping free-kick over the United wall.

Romero kept out Luiz’s effort and scrambled to his feet to save Pedro’s powerful shot from the rebound. Gonzalo Higuain should have opened the scoring from Cesar Azpilicueta’s teasing cross, but the Argentine striker headed wide.

Those misses proved fatal for Chelsea, whose early pressure was rendered irrelevant by another lapse of concentration in the 31st minute. Mata picked out Pogba on the left wing and the United midfielder, unchecked by the slow-to-react Antonio Rudiger, unfurled a sublime cross that looped towards the far post.

Herrera timed his run perfectly to meet Pogba’s delivery in stride and Marcos Alonso fatally lost his man as the Spanish midfielder planted a close-range header past Kepa Arrizabalaga for his first goal since December. Pogba was only just getting warmed up and he single-handedly ripped Chelsea part to double United’s lead on the stroke of half-time.

Playing an incisive pass down the right flank to Rashford, Pogba surged into the Chelsea area and muscled his way above Azpilicueta to meet his team-mate’s pin-point cross with a diving header that Kepa couldn’t keep out.

It was the 15th goal Pogba has been directly involved since Solskjaer took charge, underlined his renaissance since the sacking of his nemesis Jose Mourinho. Nothing was going Sarri’s way and United’s Nemanja Matic, already booked, avoided a red card after tripping N’Golo Kante.

Even Eden Hazard, marked out of the game for long periods, couldn’t rescue the beleaguered Sarri as he found a sliver of space, only to see his shot deflected over by Victor Lindelof as Chelsea succumbed tamely. (afp)

‘It’s like a final’ - Atletico meet Juve in a clash of high stakes

Massimiliano Allegri told Juventus not to be afraid of Atletico Madrid but for one of these teams their worst fears in this season’s Champions League are about to become a reality. Crashing out in the last 16 would be unthinkable for two clubs that were among the favourites when the draw for the knock-out stages was made in December.

“Those that have ambition are not afraid,” Allegri said, after his side were drawn to play Atletico, with the first leg on Wednesday at the Wanda Metropolitano. “It’s like a final, we cannot put a foot wrong,” Atletico boss Diego Simeone said.

Juventus and Atletico Madrid have reached 12 European Cup finals between them, with last season’s game in Kiev the first in five years in which neither had featured.

Atletico went on to win the Europa League instead, proving themselves too strong for Europe’s second-tier competition, while Juventus were dumped out by eventual winners Real Madrid, undone by a controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty in the 98th minute.

It was Ronaldo’s 10th goal in seven games against Juventus, having scored twice in the first leg and twice in the final in 2017 too. Juve beat Real in the semi-finals two

years earlier but even then, Ronaldo managed a goal in each leg.

There was understandable relief, as well as joy, when the Portugese switched sides last summer and now, there is belief. Ronaldo has not finished in single figures for goals in the Champions league since 2011. As Lionel Messi said: “They already had a good team and now they have Cristiano Ronaldo.”

- Juve’s two decade wait -

But with anticipation comes pressure. Juventus are on course to win an eighth consecutive Scudetto but this is the one trophy they crave. Miss out again and it will be 23 years since they last lifted Europe’s premier prize, this time with its most prolific player ever among their ranks.

“We have to be wary of Atletico,” Allegri said. “And we have to find the right moment to score.

It’s crucial that we get a goal there, otherwise qualification will be very difficult,” he added.

Atletico’s own record signing last summer, Thomas Lemar, was not even born when Gianluca Vialli hoisted the trophy in 1996 for the Italians but expectation weighs heavy on them too.

Atleti have the chance to play a final at home this year, at the Wanda Metropolitano, and not only snatch

the cup away from rivals Real but do it in the city they both call their own. “Of course we are inspired by playing a final in our own stadium, in our own city, in front of our own fans,” Simeone said. “But it is pointless only to imagine it. The reality will be what we deserve,” he added.

Simeone extended his contract as Atleti coach until 2022 last week and while few can question the remarkable progress made during his tenure, there are some that believe a ceiling has been reached.

They are out of the Copa del Rey and seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga, where back-to-back defeats earlier this month failed to capitalise on a rare Catalan dip.

Summer signings are yet to fully fire and there is scepticism about the January arrival of Alvaro Morata, not just because of his links to Real. When results waver, questions about Simeone’s style also invariably follow. “It is a style I like, it makes us win,” Antoine Griezmann told UEFA on Monday. Winning a trophy on their own patch would be even better.

“It’s an extra motivation for us and for the fans. The road to get there will be tough but we’ll give it our all,” World Cup winner Griezmann added. (afp)

OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP

Atletico Madrid’s French forward Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish League football match between Rayo Vallecano and Atletico de Madrid at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid on February 16, 2019.

9

Winner of the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award, former Arsenal football team manager Arsene Wenger poses after receiving his award during the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony at the Sporting MonteCarlo complex in Monaco on February 18, 2019.

Arsene Wenger received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement award on Monday but it was the glowing tribute from the unlikeliest of sources Jose Mourinho that caught the eye. The 69-year-old Wenger won the award on the back of his revolutionising English football especially in the first part of his over two decades in charge of Arsenal.

The veteran former Gunners boss and Mourinho clashed often on and off the touchline. However, Mourinho -- sacked by Manchester United in December, paid handsome tribute to Wenger via a video.

The volatile Portuguese, who had two spells at Chelsea and then the turbulent one at United, acknowledged there had been moments when they had been at odds with each other.

It boiled over when Wenger pushed Mourinho on the touchline during the latter’s second period in charge of Chelsea and Mourinho made some barbed remarks about the studious Frenchman, commenting he was a “voyeur” and a “specialist in failure”.

“There were some episodes along the road,” said Mourinho. “I can only speak by myself. I really enjoyed the competition. But the real respect is always there. “He (Wenger) made lots of history in that football club. “One of the best football managers in the history of football.”

Wenger, who was virtually unknown but proved an inspirational choice by then Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein when he was hired in 1996, accrued among other trophies three Premier League titles and lifted the FA Cup seven times.

However, perhaps his greatest achievement was the title winning side of the 2003/04 campaign who went through the league season

unbeaten. “The nickname is there -– the Invincibles,” said Mourinho.

“Amazing. A coaching philosophy, the almost perfect team.”

- ‘We want our Mars bars’ -

Wenger, who has been linked with several jobs since leaving Arsenal at the end of last season including the director of football post at Paris SaintGermain, admitted he had been taken aback when he watched the video at the awards ceremony.

“That is a very good question,” he replied as to what was the biggest surprise the award or Mourinho praising him. “It was a surprise yes. We had some good fights at times.” Wenger said what was even more unexpected was that the man on the touchline won an award.

“An even bigger surprise is usually the lifetime achievement award goes to a Pele, a Maradona or a Beckenbauer. “Tonight it is a player from a little village but it is good that coaches are rewarded in our game.”

One of Wenger’s recipes of success involved tearing up the book on the players diet when he arrived at Arsenal and introduced healthy eating habits. He concedes that was not universally accepted.

“I forbid them eating Mars bars,” said the man who still has the “virus” of football in his blood and wakes up every morning wondering what match is on that night. “So at first I was greeted on the team coach with chants of “we want our Mars bars”.

They did not get them.

“Today it shows how much football has changed you would never hear footballers demanding Mars bars.”

Laureus is a global movement that aims to use the power of sport to tackle social challenges in the world. (afp)

10

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Destination

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Djokovic and Biles win Laureus sports people of year awards

MONACO - Novak Djokovic’s stupendous comeback from injury last year which saw him win two Grand Slam titles earned him the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award on Monday at a lavish ceremony.

Petitenget Temple An ancient, central landmark in Seminyak

KUTA - Petitenget Temple, referred to as ‘Pura Petitenget’ by locals, is a significant, centuries-old temple in Bali and one of the very few cultural landmarks at the island’s upscale beach resort area of Seminyak.

Somewhat overshadowed by the modern developments of lavish five-star resorts in the area, this temple still remains an important highlight and a must-see while in Seminyak,

especially during its festive 210-day anniversaries and the traditional dance rehearsals regularly held by the locals in a grand pavilion nearby. Red bricks and sandstone make up most of the temple’s architecture, giving it an antique feel. Up the dragon staircase is the temple’s vast courtyard, where a dozen different shrines and small pavilions draped in typical Balinese chequered cloths create

an eerie and hallowed sight. Petitenget forms one of the island’s Dang Kahyangan collection of sea temples that spiritually guard the island’s perimeters, initiated by the legendary Hindu priest Dang Hyang Nirartha on his historical mission from neighbouring island Java in the 16th century.

Beside this main temple is the smaller Masceti Ulun Tanjung Temple, a temple where the local villagers pray for protection – in historical times, against famine and disease.

If you’re lucky and happen to visit Petitenget during its anniversary celebrations, which falls on a ‘Merakih’ Wednesday every 210 days on the Balinese Pawukon calendar, the temple is colourfully adorned with banners and parasols and pilgrims throng for prayers in their best temple attire, naturally making for great photo opportunities.

Despite having a rather secluded location, hidden away behind the rows of glamorous designer boutiques and fine-dining restaurants, getting to Petitenget Temple is easy.

Jalan Petitenget is within a half-hour transfer from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Tuban, and can be accessed from the north via Sunset Road and Jalan Raya Kerobokan, and from the south via Kuta and the main Jalan Raya Seminyak. The temple resides at

the main junction where Petitenget restaurant bears its name clearly across its white picket fence.

Motorists approach through the southern entrance where parking tickets between IDR 2,000-5,000 usually apply, and proceed to the large parking space. The temple is immediately to the right, and if you come on weekend mornings, the grand Bale Agung pavilion across from the temple usually features dance rehearsals featuring young Balinese girls practicing their moves and articulate gestures. The front of the temple is leafy and well-shaded by large old trees, some perhaps matching the age of the temple itself. The popular street and namesake of the temple, Jalan Petitenget, is lined with world-class dining and entertainment venues and connects to Seminyak’s other famous dining streets of Jalan Batubelig, Jalan Kayu Aya and Jalan Laksmana at its southern end. Among the popular venues frequented by visitors and expats here are La Lucciola, Ku De Ta, Potato Head Beach Club, Hu’u and Motel Mexicola that is snugly located on a side street called Jalan Kayu Jati. Only several meters from the temple and over a wooden bridge, is the fine stretch of golden-grey sand of one of the island’s most gorgeous sunset beaches. (IBP/net)

The 31-year-old Serbian -- who added the Australian Open in January to the Wimbledon and US Open crowns he won in 2018 after coming back from elbow surgery -- won the award for a fourth time beating the likes of France’s World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and NBA superstar LeBron James.

Iconic American gymnast Simone Biles won Sportswoman of the Year for a second time on the back of the 21-year-old’s historic achievement last year in adding a fourth all-around world championship to her full to bursting medals cabinet. Djokovic was delighted with his award -- voted on by the 68 members of the Laureus Academy which includes sporting legends such as nine-time singles Grand Slam champion Monica Seles and Britain’s six-time Olympic track cycling gold medalist Chris Hoy. “Last year was an incredible season for me, returning from injury to win Wimbledon and the US Open is something I’ll remember forever,” said Djokovic.

Seles, also born in Serbia although now a naturalised American citizen, presented the award to Djokovic, who admitted it had been a long hard road back mentally as well as physically.

“Reflecting on it standing here now it seems like a fairytale story but it tells me one thing,” he said.

“In those moments of when you are facing adversity and challenged you should always look inside.

“I did not understand that fully before but now I know where I can always find strength and belief and to keep on going.”

Tennis had a golden night as women’s world number one Naomi Osaka -- who like Djokovic added the Australian Open to her breakthrough Grand Slam success the US Open -- became the first Japanese winner of a Laureus award, the 21-year-old taking the World Breakthrough of the Year gong.

American golf great Tiger Woods was rewarded for his return from years in the wilderness due to injury and personal problems to winning the Tour Championship and going close to adding to his 14 major titles in the British Open and the PGA Championship with the Comeback of the Year award.

“There was a long list of people who wrote him off but I was not one of them,” said former NFL star Marcus Allen.

“When you are anointed with such talent as he is there is always a way back.” (afp)

Valery HACHE / AFP

Laureus World Sportsman of The Year 2019 winner Serbia’s tennis player Novak Djokovic poses with his award at the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony at the Sporting Monte-Carlo complex in Monaco on February 18, 2019.

Brexit ‘mother of all messes’ for British F1 teams says Mercedes boss MONTMELO - Toto Wolff, the Mercedes Formula 1 CEO, said on Monday Brexit could do untold damage to the F1 industry in the UK, calling it “the mother of

all messes”.

The Mercedes team is based in Northamptonshire, while Red Bull -- whose their Team Principal Christian Horner on Monday said

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LLUIS GENE / AFP

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton drives during the tests for the new Formula One Grand Prix season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo in the outskirts of Barcelona, on February 19, 2019.

“life ultimately will go on” regardless of how the United Kingdom leaves the European Union -- is based in Milton Keynes.

“Brexit is a major concern for all of us that live in the UK and operate out of the UK,” Wolff said at Montmelo where Formula 1 pre-season testing began on Monday.

“Formula 1 teams travel to races at least 21 times a year, we are moving in and out of the UK, our people move in and out of the UK,” he added, in reference to customs delays that could be incurred by Brexit.

Austrian Wolff, who is a former racing driver, was also concerned about customs for motor parts.

“The way we get parts and services is just in time at the last minute ... taxes would massively damage the Formula 1 industry in the UK,” Wolff said.

Visa and right to work concerns were also high on Wolff’s worry list, thanks to the “26 nationalities in our team”.

Wolff said there were no doubts in his mend that “no-deal Brexit or Brexit” would be “damaging to what for me is one of the outstanding industries in the UK”.

He explained: “Formula 1 feels like very much exposed to the decisions that could be made at a political level and it is a risk for our people and a risk for our industry.”

- Life goes on Meanwhile Red Bull Team Principal Horner played down the drama, insisting that he and his team would adapt to any potential changes.

“Whether there is no deal, any deal, life ultimately will go on. I think it’s important that we get to conclusion sooner rather than later to get rid of all the uncertainty because it is unsettling,” said the 45-year-old Briton.

Horner said that in fact nobody really understood Brexit.

“Every time you turn the television on at the moment you’ve got somebody talking about hard Brexit or soft Brexit, the back stop, whatever it is,” he said before tuning his ire on his rival Wolff.

“You complain to doomsday scenario of Brexit or you can actually maybe see how much it is going to affect our daily lives. I don’t think any of us can actually answer that question,” he said. (afp)

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

W

International

RLD

Top Indonesian football official questioned in match-fixing scandal

PARIS - A new map of the night sky published Tuesday charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see.

These jets, previously undetected, can extend over millions of light years.

“With radio observations we can detect radiation from the tenuous medium that exists between galaxies,” said Amanda Wilber, of the University of Hamburg.

“LOFAR allows us to detect many more of these sources and understand what is powering them.”

The discovery of the new light sources may also help scientists better understand the behaviour of one of space’s most enigmatic phenomena.

Black holes -- which have a gravitational pull so strong that no matter can escape them -- emit radiation when they engulf other high-mass objects such as stars and gas clouds.

Tasse said the new observation technique would allow astronomers to compare black holes over time to see how they form and develop.

“If you look at an active black hole, the jets (of radiation) disappear after millions of years, and you won’t see them at a higher frequency (of light),” he said.

“But at a lower frequency they continue to emit these jets for hun-

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

INDONESIAN INDONESIAN

New Universe map unearths 300,000 more galaxies

The international team behind the unprecedented space survey said their discovery literally shed new light on some of the Universe’s deepest secrets, including the physics of black holes and how clusters of galaxies evolve.

“This is a new window on the universe,” Cyril Tasse, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory who was involved in the project, told AFP. “When we saw the first images we were like: ‘What is this?!’ It didn’t look anything at all like what we are used to seeing.”

More than 200 astronomers from 18 countries were involved in the study, which used radio astronomy to look at a segment of sky over the northern hemisphere, and found 300,000 previously unseen light sources thought to be distant galaxies.

Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact.

The team used the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the Netherlands to pick up traces -- or “jets” -- of ancient radiation produced when galaxies merge.

International

dreds of millions of years, so we can see far older electrons.”

- ‘Universe’s oldest objects’ -

The Hubble telescope has produced images that lead scientists to believe there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the Universe, although many are too old and distant to be observed using traditional detection techniques.

The map created by the LOFAR observations, part of which was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, contains data equivalent to ten million DVDs yet charts just two percent of the sky.

The LOFAR telescope is made up of a Europe-wide network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) diameter satellite dish.

The team plans to create highresolution images of the entire northern sky, which they say will reveal as many as 15 million as-yet undetected radio sources.

“The oldest objects in the Universe are around 11-12 billion light years old,” said Tasse. “So we are going to see lots more of these objects.” (afp)

IBP/net

A new map of the night sky published Tuesday charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see.

VALERY HACHE / AFP

Men play chess in the Szechenyi baths in Budapest on February 13, 2019.

Hungary’s Orban bets on baby boom to boost population

BUDAPEST - Faced with a plummeting population, Hungary’s fiercely anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban has come up with an answer sparking yet another controversy: “We need Hungarian children”.

Earlier this month Orban unveiled a seven-point “family protection action plan” stacked with incentives for young couples to have children.

Opinion is divided however as to whether it will have the desired effect -- and some critics have seen disturbing historical echoes in his plan.

The policies announced by Orban include lifelong tax exemption for women who bear four or more children, and more kindergartens.

It also offers lump-sum, 10-million forint (32,000 euros, $36,000) loans for newly-wed women under 40, cancelled once they have three children.

“This -– not immigration –- is the response of the Hungarian people,” said Orban, a 55-year-old father of five, during a state-ofthe-nation speech that was greeted with rapturous applause.

“With 10 million forints my partner and I can finally think of buying an apartment around here and moving out from my parents’ at last,” said Nora Koszeghy, a 24-year-old teacher outside a supermarket in a Budapest suburb, as her toddler dozed in a pushchair.

“We were planning for a brother or sister for Juli. Maybe she can have two or even three now, who knows,” she told AFP. - A ‘visionary’ plan -

Supporters of Orban’s seven-

point plan -- including Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican -- have hailed his family policies as “visionary”.

Pro-government pundits argue that only such direct action can prop up a population that has been falling since 1981, and which could shrink from its current 9.7 to six million by 2070, according to a recent report by Hungary’s Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Orban’s national-conservative government, in power since 2010, says no EU member has been spending more on family support.

And it insists its approach has already borne fruit.

Incentivised by tax breaks and a subsidised housing scheme for young married couples, marriage rates have been rising since 2010, with abortion and divorce declining.

Hungary’s fertility rate, the lowest in the EU at around 1.25 children per woman in 2010, has risen to near the bloc’s average of 1.6, according to figures published

by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical body.

Orban’s government has set a 2030 target of 2.1, the rate needed to halt population decline.

Some statisticians however remain sceptical that in the long run the government’s measures will shift a stubbornly low birth rate.

“The uptick in fertility was also due to the end of the economic crisis,” said one expert at the KSH who asked not to be named.

“Bigger problems are high emigration –- over a half million since 2010 -- and, crucially, the falling number of women of childbearing age,” he said. (afp)

Indonesia’s top football official, who has been in the job less than a month, was questioned by police Monday over a matchfixing scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian nation’s domestic league.

Joko Driyono became acting president of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) in late January after former chairman Edy Rahmayadi stepped down in the wake of a corruption probe that has seen police identify more than a dozen suspects.

Driyono was questioned Monday over allegations he was involved in destroying evidence of match-fixing, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

“The main focus of today’s examination concerns the problem of destruction, theft and removal of evidence,” Prasetyo told reporters.

Police raided Driyono’s apartment last week and confiscated laptops, flash drives and dozens of documents, including match

and financial records. He has been slapped with a 20-day travel ban but has not yet been arrested.

Indonesian football has recently been rocked by a series of matchfixing allegations. The PSSI and police announced a crackdown on match-fixing in December after an executive member of the association was caught on tape trying to bribe a coach approximately $10,000 to throw a second-division game. He resigned and was handed a three-year ban and fine by a PSSI disciplinary committee.

While it has a low international profile, Indonesia has attracted Premier League players including former Chelsea star Michael Essien and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora.

But Indonesian football has been tarnished on the global stage by a host of problems over the years, including deadly hooliganism and foreign players dying after going unpaid and being unable to afford medical care. (afp)

11

ELECTION 2019

ADEK BERRY / AFP

Indonesian incumbent President Joko Widodo (L) who is running for his second term and candidate for president Prabowo Subianto (2nd R) hold up paper slips with questions during the second presidential debate in Jakarta on February 17, 2019. Indonesia will hold general elections on April 17.

Presidential debate fails to mention climate change impacts: Walhi

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has expressed disappointment with Indonesia`s presidential candidates for failing to mention the climate change impacts and forest issue during the second round of the presidential election debate on Sunday evening.

Jessica MARGARETHA / AFP

This picture taken on July 11, 2013 shows Joko Driyono, then secretary-general of Indonesia’s football association, posing in Jakarta. Joko Driyono, who is now Indonesia’s top football official and been in the job less than a month, was questioned by police on February 18, 2019 over a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian nation’s domestic league.

“It is a bit awful because climate change impacts and forest issues were not mentioned,” Yuyun Harmono, campaign manager for climate justice of Walhi, said here on Monday.

The climate change is in fact an issue that covers every aspect, he stated. It is quite scary, from the climate change context, to learn about the optimism of both candidates over oil palm plantation, he noted. Oil palm plantation and coal mining activities are both major contributors to emission, he remarked.

If the two candidates still rely on oil palm and coal, it means they do not see the point of climate change,

he added. They fail to link the economic policy and efforts to control the impacts of climate change, he revealed.

“What worries me is that the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister has asked the Director General for Climate Change Control to review our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), in order to speed up the target to press the Earth`s temperature increase below 1.5 degree Celsius from 2020 to 2019,” he explained.

The ministry has prepared measures for cutting emissions by accelerating mitigation efforts, he noted. The ministry has realized that the major contributors to

emission are plantation and energybased factors, he elaborated.

However, he regretted that the two candidates failed to consider the crucial issue. “No one related their economic policy to climate change issue. This is worrying,” he stated.

Incumbent Joko Widodo and rival Prabowo Subianto faced off during the second round of the presidential election debate themed ?energy, the environment, infrastructure, food, and natural resources,? on Sunday evening (Feb 17). Indonesia will hold the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on April 17, 2019. (ant)

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International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

BUSINESS Amazon’s exit could scare off tech companies from New York

NEW YORK - Amazon jilted New York City on Valentine’s Day, scrapping plans to build a massive headquarters campus in Queens amid fierce opposition from politicians angry about nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and the company’s anti-union stance.

With millions of jobs and a bustling economy, New York can withstand the blow, but experts say the decision by the e-commerce giant to walk away and take with it 25,000 promised jobs could scare off other companies considering moving to or expanding in the city, which wants to be seen as the Silicon Valley of the East Coast.

“One of the real risks here is the message we send to companies that want to come to New York and expand to New York,” said Julie Samuels, the executive director of industry group Tech: NYC. “We’re really playing with fire right now.”

In November, Amazon selected New York City and Crystal City, Virginia, as the winners of a secretive, yearlong process in which more than 230 North American cities bid to become the home of the Seattle-based company’s second headquarters.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo heralded the city’s selection at the time as the biggest boon yet to its burgeoning tech economy and underscored that the deal would generate billions of dollars for improving transit, schools and housing.

Opposition came swiftly though, as details started to emerge.

Critics complained about public subsidies that were offered to Amazon and chafed at some of the conditions of the deal, such as the company’s demand for access to a helipad.

Some pleaded for the deal to be renegotiated or scrapped altogether.

“We knew this was going south from the moment it was announced,” said Thomas Stringer, a site selection adviser for big companies. “If this was done right, all the elected officials would have been out there touting how great it was. When you didn’t see that happen, you knew something was wrong.”

Stringer, a managing director of the consulting firm BDO USA LLP, said city and state officials need to rethink the secrecy with which they approached the negotiations.

Community leaders and potential critics were kept in the dark, only to be blindsided when details became public.

“It’s time to hit the reset button and say, ‘What did we do wrong?’” Stringer said.

“This is fumbling at the 1-yard line.”

Amazon said in a statement Thursday that its commitment to New York City required “positive, collaborative relationships” with

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File

In this Nov. 7, 2018, file photo traffic moves along 44th Drive in Long Island City in the Queens borough of New York.

According to experts analyzing the e-commerce giant’s sudden cancellation of plans to build a massive headquarters in New York City, Amazon’s decision to walk away could scare off other tech companies considering moving to or expanding in the city. state and local officials and that a number of them had “made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward.”

Not that Amazon is blameless, experts say.

Joe Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, said the company’s high-profile bidding process may have stoked the backlash. Companies usually search for new locations quietly, in part to avoid the kind of opposition Amazon received.

“They had this huge competition, and the media covered it really aggressively, and a bunch of cities responded,” Parilla said.

“What did you expect? It gave the opposition a much bigger platform.”

Richard Florida, an urban studies professor and critic of Amazon’s initial search process, said the company should have expected to feel the heat when it selected New York, a

city known for its neighborhood activism.

“At the end of the day, this is going to hurt Amazon,” said Florida, head of the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute. “This is going to embolden people who don’t like corporate welfare across the country.”

Other tech companies have been keeping New York City’s tech economy churning without making much of a fuss.

Google is spending $2.4 billion to build up its Manhattan campus. Cloud-computing company Salesforce has plastered its name on Verizon’s former headquarters in midtown, and music streaming service Spotify is gobbling up space at the World Trade Center complex.

Despite higher costs, New York City remains attractive to tech companies because of its vast, diverse talent pool, world-class educational and cultural institutions and access to other industries, such as Wall Street

capital and Madison Avenue ad dollars.

No other metropolitan area in the U.S. has as many computer-related jobs as New York City, which has 225,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Washington, Boston, Atlanta and Dallas each have a greater concentration of their workers in tech.

In the New York area, the average computer-related job pays roughly $104,000 a year, about $15,000 above the national average.

Still, that’s about $20,000 less than in San Francisco.

Even after cancelling its headquarters project, Amazon still has 5,000 employees in New York City, not counting Whole Foods.

“New York has actually done a really great job of growing and supporting its tech ecosystem, and I’m confident that will continue,” Samuels said. “Today we took a step back, but I would not put the nail in the coffin of tech in New York City.” (ap)

Bali News

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

5

Ngrebeg Has Three Meanings, What Are They?

Ngerebeg tradition or better known as makotek held every Tumpek Kuningan (ten days after Galungan) at Munggu customary village, Mengwi, Badung, has the meaning as a tribute to the heroes, repellent of negative things and a means to unite the citizens. This was confirmed by chief of Munggu customary village, I Made Rai Sujana, amid the ngerebeg procession at the local Desa and Puseh Temple of local village, Saturday (Jan. 5).

He explained the meanings of the procession starting from the Mengwi kingdom headquartered at Munggu with the king named Ida Cokorda Nyoman Sakti Munggu.

When defending his territory in Blambangan, East Java, before the Mengwi troops named goak selem or black crow troops left the kingdom, right on the Tumpek Kuningan Day, the king of Mengwi performed a meditation at Dalem Kahyangan Wisesa Temple, Munggu. The king got a revelation from his meditation.

The return of his troops with victory or success in the war was then commemorated with the tradition of ngerebeg. “Therefore, on Tumpek Kuningan, the tradition of ngerebeg continues to be commemorated at Munggu customary village as a tribute to the victory of Mengwi’s royal war, as the respect for the heroes,” he explained.

Related to the tradition as disaster repellent, he told that it was initially carried out with a spear.

Then, during the Dutch colonial period the tradition was banned because it was thought to be a rebellion. As a result, this tradition had not been organized for several times. Then, outbreaks of disease or plague attacked villagers, even many people died.

This condition made some customary and religious leaders negotiate with the Dutch administration

and finally the tradition was allowed to be held again. However, the facilities used are not spears, but replaced with pulet wooden stick. “Since then, the tradition of ngerebeg formerly used spears was replaced with a pulet wooden stick, with the length of 3.5 meters. Based on such belief, the ngerebeg tradition serves as catastrophe repellent or keeps away from negative

things,” he explained.

The third meaning of the tradition is as a means to unite citizens.

This tradition is followed by almost all men aged 14 years and over from 12 hamlets at Munggu customary village. They mutually mingle while carrying wooden sticks and walking around the village area.

When they arrive in several places such as road intersection they

gather and unite the end of the stick to form the pyramid.

Once in a while, a young man will climb up the pile of the sticks.

“So, this tradition is to unite young people from 12 hamlets across the Munggu customary village. By carrying out the ngerebeg tradition, they will definitely do positive things and strengthen the sense of unity among the youth,” he concluded. (kmb)

Gourmet Gelato Ubud, Must Be Different

Wow … it’s good, delicious and affordable. Travelers passing in front of it must stop, and then try to taste the delicacies. They can choose according to their preferences because many choices of flavor are available. After all, enjoying it doesn’t need a special place, and can be done casually or skillfully while walking to see the village atmosphere. “Delicious, this Gourmet Gelato is different,” said Zachary David, a tourist from Europe.

It is the atmosphere of the opening of the new Gourmet Gelato Ubud located on Jalan Suweta, only few minutes from Monkey Forest Road, Ubud. In combination with a beautiful and calm atmosphere

of Ubud, this new outlet offers premium quality gelato and sorbet with a variety of flavors and provides options for vegans. Gelato and sorbet have various choices of flavors made form 100 percent of organic ingredients without filler, colors and artificial flavors. “We have opened more than 10 outlets in Bali,” said the owners of Gourmet Gelato Ubud, Catya and Natasha.

Catya said that Gelato is Italian vocabulary meaning ‘ice cream.’ It utilizes the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but gelato has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and does not use eggs at all. As processed at a slower rate, less air is left over and makes the gelato denser.

“Gelato is served at a slightly warmer temperature, so the texture is smoother and softer. The fat percentage is also lower than ice cream, so it is far more powerful and delicious,” she explained to journalists.

Meanwhile, Natasha admitted the priority is to make gelato and sorbet from high-quality vegetable gelato using local products and fresh ingredients. “Each variant of the gelato flavor is made in small quantities and carefully, resulting in high-quality gelato. Our gelato is also served using a cup and spoon fully biodegradable and eco-friendly,” she said while adding the outlet is opened every day from 09:00 until 22:00. (kmb)

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Bali News

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Maintain environmental sustainability

the governor. Considering, plastic waste can pollute the environment.

“At the same time, this activity is to educate children to care for the environment by not throwing plastic trash carelessly and minimizing the use of plastic,” he said.

Furthermore, his organization continued to invite PHRI members to minimize the use of plastic packaging and replace it with ecofriendly materials like the straw is replaced with bamboo straw or paper straw and so forth. Meanwhile, plastic bottle of mineral water is replaced with glass bottles or other packaging.

“Activities like this will continue to run in the future. Later on, coinciding with the Ida Bhatara Turn Kabeh (IBTK) ceremony, the melasti procession will be held on Kelotok Beach, in a series of Panca Wali Krama at Besakih. In this activity, we will collaborate with volunteers caring about the environment,” Kariasa explained. (kmb41)

NUANQUAN - Blacksmith Wang De flings a ladle of molten steel against a cold brick wall, sparking a spectacle of whitehot light in the night sky and keeping alive the flame of a centuries-old Lunar New Year tradition.

IBP/kmb

Regent of Klungkung, I Nyoman Suwirta, admitted that to realize the community complying with KTR is indeed quite hard.

KTR implementation ignores protests of cigarette producers Compliance values exceeds province

SEMARAPURA - The implementation of Non-Smoking Area (KTR) in Klungkung district is quite strict. Moreover, it seems extreme. Installation of any kind of cigarette advertisements from the town to the village is not allowed. Moreover, this way had received protests from cigarette producers and is considered to violate the law. However, the regional government ignored it to realize the value of compliance of the Klungkung community as set forth in Regional Regulation No.1/2014 concerning the KTR occupying above the average in the Bali Province.

IBP/kmb

This effort is carried out to free and maintain environmental sustainability from plastic waste.

13

Blacksmiths keep alive the flame of China’s molten steel ‘fireworks’

PHRI Karangasem holds plastic waste cleanup on Candidasa

AMLAPURA - The presence of plastic garbage is now becoming a concern of all parties. At this time, the Indonesia Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) of Karangasem together with Trash Hero, Cleanup Bali, Kindergarten and Elementary School students took action to clean up plastic waste centered on Candidasa Beach. This effort is carried out to free and maintain environmental sustainability from plastic waste.

Chairperson of the PHRI Karangasem, I Wayan Kariasa, revealed the cleanup action involved around 390 people from kindergarten, elementary school students and administrators and members of the PHRI Karangasem. “From the activities we do, we are able to collect 150 kg of plastic waste,” he said.

Kariasa said the activities carried out are to save the environment from plastic waste because currently the community is starting to fight against plastic waste in accordance with the instructions of

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

International

Recognition of the efforts to implement the KTR regulation came from Udayana Center for NCDs, Tobacco Control and Lung Health when coming to Klungkung together with the team from the Bloomberg Initiative USA and The Union Asia Pacific recently.

Coordinator of the Udayana Center for Enforcement and Implementation, Gde Artawan Eka Putra, explained that Klungkung is now an area with the value of KTR community compliance exceeding the average of Bali Province. Based on data from Udayana Center, the value of the Klungkung community’s compliance with KTR has reached 81.7 percent. This figure surpassed the average value of public compliance with KTR in Bali Province amounting to 80 percent.

“There are other areas remaining below it, and Klungkung is categorized to have met the target,” explained Gde Artawan Eka Putra.

Community compliance related to KTR in public spaces such as educational institutions, health institutions, children playgrounds and bus terminal is even said to have reached 100 percent. Meanwhile, in other places such as government agencies, it remains 81.7 percent. Behind this positive achievement, according to him, this is the next homework. In other regions, the level of public compliance with KTR in hotels or restaurants remains low.

Regent of Klungkung, I Nyoman Suwirta, admitted that to realize the community complying with KTR is indeed quite hard. Other than from the community, obstacles also come from cigarette manufacturers. Moreover, one of the cigarette companies, Arga Prihatmoko and Armytanti Hanum Kasmito from PT HM Sampoerna Tbk, when meeting him, told him that what he did had violated the law because

he asked the public not to install or accept cigarette advertisements in any forms. “However, I remain in the initial commitment, namely upholding KTR for the health of our community. I have responsibility for that,” explained Suwirta.

Regarding public compliance with KTR in government agencies, Suwirta admitted that he had not reached 100 percent. He also heard there is an agency whose employees still often smoke in the office.

“I will enter through the back of the office. If there are employees found smoking in the office, I will act firmly,” said Suwirta.

In addition, in order to strengthen dissemination to the village level, the Klungkung district government has also approved anti-smoking cadres to provide understanding for the public regarding the hazards of smoking habits. These cadres are formed at each village by involving its village youth club. (gik)

GREG BAKER / AFP

This photo taken on February 18, 2019 shows Chinese blacksmith carrying a bucket of molten steel as a shower of sparks descends behind them, on the eve of the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Lunar New Year celebrations, in Nuanquan, in China’s northern Hebei province.

Fireworks were invented in China and have been a mainstay of Lunar New Year celebrations, but the remote village of Nuanquan in northern Hebei province has perfected an alternative kind of light show for the past 500 years.

For the performance, known as the Da Shuhua (Beating the Flower Tree), scraps of metal are melted at scorching temperatures and poured into a bucket, where performers like Wang create mesmerising spectacles of light by tossing ladles of the liquid against the wall.

The molten metal -- heated to temperatures of up to 1,600 Celsius (2,900 Fahrenheit) -- creates spectacular effects that fill Wang De with pride.

“When you see it, it’ll affect you profoundly,” the 55-year-old blacksmith, wearing a sheepskin jacket and protective glasses, told AFP. The three-day show is only put on around the Lunar New Year, but is a fast-growing attraction that now draws over a thousand people to each performance.

Its future is not certain, however, as only four blacksmiths remain -- and the youngest is 50-years-old.

Few people are interested in learning the skills -- scars and burns are inevitable -- and the younger generation is anyway tending to leave rural China for a better life in the cities.

“It’s extremely dangerous and it doesn’t make much money,” said Wang, who also farms corn to supplement his blacksmith’s income.

He has passed on the craft to his son, but he has moved to Shanghai to seek a different career. Still, Wang De is hopeful he will return to keep the flame alive.

“When we no longer can pull this off, people can learn from him. I have this confidence that (Da Shuhua) will be passed on.” (afp)

Aussie rodent becomes first ‘climate change extinction’

SYDNEY - Australia officially declared a Great Barrier Reef rodent extinct on Tuesday, making it the first mammal believed to have been killed off by human-induced climate change.

The rat-like Bramble Cay melomys -- whose only known habitat was a small sandy island in far northern Australia -- has not been spotted in a decade.

Researchers from Queensland determined a key factor in its disap-

pearance was “almost certainly” repeated ocean inundation of the cay -- a low-lying island on a coral reef -- over the last decade, which had resulted in dramatic habitat loss.

Australia’s environment ministry on Tuesday said it had officially transferred the animal to the “extinct” list.

The declaration was expected. The researchers completed a wide-ranging survey in 2014 in a bid to track down the species, but found no trace.

Available data on sea-level rise and weather events in the Torres Strait region “point to humaninduced climate change being the root cause of the loss of the Bramble Cay melomys”, a study released in 2016 said.

The Melomys rubicola, considered the Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic mammal species, was first discovered on the cay in 1845 by Europeans who shot the “large rats” for sport. (afp)

IBP/net

The rat-like Bramble Cay melomys -- whose only known habitat was a small sandy island in far northern Australia -- has not been spotted in a decade.

14

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Technology

International

Bali News

International

LIGO will be getting a quantum upgrade

WASHINGTON - Gravitational wave detectors are going quantum. A planned revamp of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, LIGO, relies on finessing quantum techniques, LIGO scientists announced February 14. That $35 million upgrade could let scientists catch a gravitational wave every day, on average. LIGO’s current tally of 11 gravitational wave events could be surpassed in a single week, LIGO researchers said in a news conference at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Starting up in 2024, the revved up detector, known as

Advanced LIGO Plus, will seek to wrangle a quantum rule, the

Heisenberg uncertainty principle, to improve the machine’s

IBP/net

Scientists have been working on upgrades to LIGO (shown). Soon, the gravitational wave detector will begin using quantum techniques.

ability to detect ripples in spacetime. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that it’s impossible to precisely measure certain properties, such as the position and momentum of an object, at the same time.

In LIGO, this translates to a give-and-take in the light scientists monitor to detect gravitational waves. At each of the observatory’s two detectors, located in Livingston, La., and Hanford, Wash., laser light bounces back and forth within two 4-kilometer-long arms arranged in an “L”. To determine whether a gravitational wave is passing through, scientists measure the brightness of the light where the arms meet and the beams recombine.

Due to quantum mechanics, that light fluctuates in two ways: in its phase, the timing of the light wave; and in its amplitude, which de termines the light’s intensity.

This variation muddles LIGO’s measurements, making it more difficult to pick out the subtle signals of a gravitational wave.

So in LIGO’s next round of operation, to begin in April, researchers will for the first time use quantum “squeezed” light, in which the fluctuations in the light’s phase are

decreased. As a result, LIGO will better capture waves of higher frequencies — ripples that would have a higher pitch if converted into sound waves.

“That’s exciting, but it comes with a penalty,” physicist Michael Zucker of Caltech and MIT LIGO Laboratory said in the news conference. Fluctuations in the power of the light are increased, which makes measuring lower frequency gravitational waves more difficult. “It doesn’t excuse you from Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.”

But in Advanced LIGO Plus, scientists will use a system that will make the best of both worlds, squeezing the light one way for lower frequency ripples and another for higher frequency signals, to improve the machine’s performance overall. “That is another step in complexity,” says physicist Hartmut Grote of Cardiff University in Wales. Grote helped pioneer light squeezing techniques in a smaller gravitational wave detector called GEO 600, located near Hannover, Germany.

Another detector in India, called LIGO-India, is also expected to turn on at around the same time as Advanced LIGO Plus, and will employ the same quantum techniques. (afp)

Robots are becoming classroom tutors. But will they make the grade?

BOSTON - Pondering a tablet screen displaying a town scene, a pre-K student tilts her head to the side and taps her lip thoughtfully.

“What are we trying to find?” asks the plush, red and blue robot called Tega that’s perched on the desk beside the girl. The bot resembles a teddy bear–sized Furby.

“We are trying to find lavendercolored stuff,” the girl explains.

Lavender is a new vocabulary word. “OK!” Tega chirps.

The girl uses her forefinger to pan around the scene. She eventually selects an image of a girl — not wearing purple. The game puts a red mark through her choice: wrong.

The girl slumps down in her chair, head dropped to her chest as Tega says, “I’m sure you will do better next time. I believe in you.”

The robot, which MIT researchers are testing with students in a Boston-area public school, tilts toward the girl, who leans in close so that her cheek is right next to Tega’s.

Now it’s the robot’s turn. “Time to perform!” it says. The scene on-screen shifts, as though the bot is telepathically controlling the tablet. “Hmm …”

Tega looks up at its partner, as though seeking confirmation that it’s doing this right, and the girl

cups the bot’s cheeks encouragingly. The robot looks back at the screen. The girl rests her hand in the robot’s soft fur and murmurs, “I believe in you.”

This kind of tight connection is typical of child-robot interactions, says MIT social robotics and human-robot interaction researcher Cynthia Breazeal. Her team is investigating how this turn-taking robot can help students learn. Kids have a “special kind of affinity” with robots, she says.

Although adults might quickly become disenchanted with machines that aren’t very perceptive or don’t speak more than scripted sentences, children are liable to chat with, listen to and otherwise treat even basic robots as sentient, social beings, says Tony Belpaeme, a social roboticist at Ghent University in Belgium. Researchers like Breazeal and Belpaeme are trying to leverage that connection to create robots that engage with kids as tutors and peer learners.

These robots aren’t meant to replace human teachers, says Paul Vogt, a social robotics and language development researcher at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. But customizable, endlessly patient

automatons could provide students with one-on-one attention in crowded classrooms. That extra support may be especially helpful for children with special needs or for students who are learning in a different language than they’re used to, says Belpaeme, who is studying how robots can help immigrant children in Europe pick up a second language.

Robots might also help homeschooled students, proponents say, or teach in areas where human experts are in short supply.

English-speaking robots are slated to enter some 500 Japanese classrooms this year for exactly that purpose. Hundreds of Chinese kindergarten classes also have adopted educational robots. But in Western countries, these devices have yet to invade classrooms.

Just like any expensive educational technology, however, classroom robots may never make it to every classroom. Computer and cognitive scientist Brian Scassellati of Yale University and colleagues have had success with a device named Keepon that looks like two stacked yellow tennis balls with eyes and a nose. “When we produce them in the lab, they’re probably

costing us about $200 total,” he says. But many researchers use the humanoid Nao robot, which costs several thousand dollars a pop, raising the question of how many schools will be able to afford the classroom helpers.

“There’s a lot of hype about robots,” says Goren Gordon, a natural and artificial curiosity researcher at Tel Aviv University. At this point, most testing has been short-term in

small groups of children. So little is known about the potential risks involved when young kids keep close company with automatons. Yet early testing suggests that robots could help students learn new skills and promote good study habits and positive attitudes toward learning.

Researchers still have a lot to figure out about best practices and potential impacts if educational robots are going to achieve tenure. (net)

IBP/net

Educational robots have been designed to help students learn a wide range of topics, from handwriting to mathematics. This robot, named Minnie, supports children on reading assignments.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

3

Ahead of Panca Wali Krama, Klotok Beach starts arranging

SEMARAPURA - Heavy equipment was busy removing sand mounds on Klotok Beach, Klungkung, on Sunday (Feb. 17). This is the realization of the beach arrangement for parking area, ahead of the melasti procession of the pralingga or sanctified effigies of Ida Bhatara from Besakih Temple heading for the local beach in early March. In addition, this arrangement is a follow-up to the regional government after stopping the total search for mosaic stones on the local beach, recently.

IBP/rah

The Bali Police won the world record for Bali Gemilang Millennial with the highest number of participants.

Bali Police break world’s record of Bali Gemilang Dance DENPASAR - The Millennial Road Safety Festival (MRSF) held by the Bali Police at Puputan Margarana Square, Renon, on Sunday (Feb. 17) took place successfully.

From this activity, the Bali Police won the world record for Bali Gemilang Millennial with the highest number of participants, namely 80,000 people whereas the initial target was only 50,000 participants.

The award was handed over by MURI representative to the Chief of Bali Police, Dr. Petrus Reinhard Golose.

In his remarks, Golose conveyed the event held starting at 14:00 could be implemented with the cooperation of all parties, especially thanks to the initiation of the Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

“You (millennial generation) live in what is called the borderless world.

You live in a gadget, and you trust more information even though they are fake news,” he said.

Bali Police Chief also revealed that in the last three years 1,561 people from the millennial generation got involved in traffic accidents in Bali and 603 people died.

On that account, President Joko Widodo very much respects to the future of the millennial generation so that this MRSF is held.

“What is it done for? It’s to protect the millennial generation and

to look after the future leaders of the nation. You are candidates for the future leaders. We are ‘colonial’ not millennial any longer,” he said.

As the Chief of Bali Police, he claimed to understand what the millennial generation wants. “Later tonight (Sunday) there will be a lot of noise. Bali will become a model for the world. From Bali, we shake Indonesia and from Bali we shake the world,” said this two-star general on the shoulder.

The MRSF 2019 was commenced with a fun walk followed by thousands of millennial generations, especially pupils and students throughout Bali. The fun walk was released by the Director of Traffic Affairs at Bali Police, Anak Agung Made Sudana, and enlivened by Lion Dance and marching band.

“We hope the participants will enliven the Millennial Road Safety Festival. In essence, we hope in the future the young generations will behave orderly and obey the traffic rules,” said Sudana.

Apart from involving tens of thousands of participants, the MRSF was also enlivened with hundreds of motorbike and car clubs. In addition to displaying big motorbikes, there were also antique motorcycles and cars thronging the north side of the square. (kmb36)

The mounting beach sand toward the edge of the road due to the high tides of seawater makes the local parking area seem to get neglected. So, the heavy equipment of the Klungkung Public Works, Spatial Planning and Settlement Agency returns to push it to the shore. The remaining unused mosaic stones in the small sacks were returned to the shore. Illegal huts built around it are also demolished so as not to give a slum impression.

“Later on when performing melasti, pilgrims are comfortable,” said the Regent of Klungkung, Nyoman Suwirta, while directly reviewing the arrangement.

He also instructed the Acting Head of Public Works Agency, Nyoman Susanta, to immediately make a study regarding the local coastal arrangement. So, it can give a positive impression of the Watuklotok Temple which is clean, comfortable and beautiful.

After this initial arrangement, he requested there are no more huts

or small shops around the beach because it gives a slum impression around the temple. He has planned to make small kiosks on the north side of the highway, working with local residents.

Aside from being a holy place for melasti, Klotok Beach is also thronged by residents to just spend vacation. He acknowledged that previously the condition of the beach was complained by many visitors. Apart from the existence of the mosaic stone mining activities, such condition is also caused by a lot of garbage and it seemed to have been neglected for a long time.

“This is our answer against the protests from a number of visitors. This is just the beginning of the arrangement. After that, the other supporting facilities will be prepared,” he added.

Previously, the search for mosaic stones on the beach was stopped to prevent the increasingly severe abrasion. In addition to saving the

environment, the cessation of the search for mosaic stones being rife around Watuklotok Beach is also to maintain the sanctity of the temple at that location. At that time, the Head of the Klungkung Environment and Land Agency, AA Ngurah Kirana, said that currently there are 160 mosaic stone seekers. In details, 16 people come from Negari village, 56 people from Takmung village, 6 people from Satra village, 53 people from Tojan village, 14 people from Gelgel village, 5 people from Tangkas village and 10 people from Jumpai village.

Regent Suwirta then offered a solution to the mosaic stone seekers to form a group of farmers for raising cows or pigs. After the formation, in 2020 the district government will disburse the assistance. In addition, some of the qualified persons will be appointed as contract workers that will be employed as janitors, gardeners, nursery officers and other officers. (kmb)

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Bali News

International

Nyepi without internet access still being discussed

DENPASAR - Bali Regional Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) together with the Bali provincial government and the House of Representatives signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the appeal not to broadcast and relay broadcasts during Nyepi falling on March 7. The MoU was submitted by Commission I of the Bali House of Representatives along with the Bali Communication, Informatics and Statistics Office (Kominfos) and KPID Bali to the Central KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics in Jakarta, Monday (Feb. 18).

“We appeal to all broadcasting institutions not to broadcast and or relay their broadcasts on Nyepi (Mar. 7) starting at 6:00 in the morning until Friday (Mar. 8) at 6:00 in the morning,” said Chairman of Commission I of the Bali House, I Ketut Tama Tenaya, when confirmed via telephone last Monday.

A c c o r d i n g t o Ta m a , t h e House also cooperated with the Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Center (Balmon) of NTB and East Java so that the broadcasts did not cover the region of Bali on the celebration of Nyepi.

M e a n while, related to cellular data (internet), whether b e i n g turned off like last year or not is still waiting for a circular from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

“Although there were pros and cons last year, the implementation still went well. I hope for the understanding of all parties and stakeholders to respect the catur brata penyepian in Bali for

24 hours,” added this PDI-P politician.

Tama invites that all components of society in Bali to create a quality celebration of Nyepi. Even if the internet is turned off this year, it is limited to cellular data packages. Meanwhile, the internet for vital services such as security, hospitals, airports, and disaster certainly remains in operation.

When confirmed separately, Head of the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Bali Province, I Nyoman Sujaya, said the meeting with the Central KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics had not yet discussed about the internet. However, he only discussed about the termination of TV and radio broadcasts.

“The internet is still being discussed. Today (Monday—Ed) our discussion is related to radio and TV broadcasts. By and large, the ministry invites the providers to meet with us. Just now, the discussion had not touched the matter,” he explained. (kmb32)

Activities

International

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

SILENT DISCOVERY AT HOTEL NIKKO BALI BENOA BEACH IBP/cubit

Municipal Police of Tabanan dismantled unlicensed banners.

Giving shabby impression

Ads and banners dismantled by municipal police

TABANAN - Municipal Police of Tabanan returned to do the cleaning up. Previously, they targeted around Jalan Gajah Mada, Tabanan, while on Monday (Feb. 18), the officers demolished billboards around the Kediri market. A number of illegal advertisements in the form of unlicensed banners were even immediately dismantled by the enforcement officers of the regional regulation.

“At least there are 22 banners issued by the officers. Other than making slums on the appearance of the town, the banners are classified into advertisements without paying levies,” said Chief of the Tabanan Municipal Police, I Wayan Sarba.

He said the dismantling of advertisements and banners is aimed at maintaining security and order around the town of Tabanan to avoid slum impression. At the same time, it is one of the measures to increase the regionally generated revenue (PAD).

“So, the unlicensed banners are dismantled to enable the installation of licensed advertisements or banners,” he said firmly.

For this reason, he prepared a patrol team to prioritize control in order the look of Tabanan town can be getting clean. And of course the

cleanup against unlicensed banners, advertisement and billboards will continue to be carried out every day so that all road sections are free of them. Unfortunately, the efforts continuously made sometimes still do not cause a deterrent effect on a number of stubborn elements.

“Some parties are very stubborn.

After being dismantled by municipal police, on the next day they are desperate to install it again.

Certainly, this act violates Regional Regulation No.12/2002 on public order. Moreover, they do not pay levies and these violators will be processed with misdemeanor,” he said.

In addition to the Kediri Market, the officers also carried out curbing at the Kediri Square. Two pick-up trucks were detained because they were found selling on the roadside.

“The violators in the Kediri Square will be charged with misdemeanor on February 26. Moreover, due to getting stubborn, two pickup trucks are secured as evidence,” he concluded.

On the other hand, a number of evidences from the curbing in the parking area of the Tabanan Municipal Police office also received direct attention from the Regional Secretary of Tabanan, I Gede Susila, after leading the assembly in the Municipal Police’s office on Monday morning. He immediately came down to take a closer look at the evidence having been secured by the officers because they were proven to violate the regional regulation. (kmb28)

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Bangli: Swasrina, Buleleng: Mudiarta, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Eka Parananda, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  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

Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is inviting you to rediscover yourself through the blissful serenity during Nyepi day with Silent Discovery offer from 6-8 March 2019.

Nyepi Day or commonly known as Silent Day in Bali is celebrated annually as the Balinese Hindhu observes silence, fasting, and meditation for the whole day and night. Nyepi is reserved for selfreflection and hence, anything that might interfere with the purpose is restricted.

Some of the main restrictions

are no lighting fires, no working, no entertainment, and no traveling.

It is one magical day in Bali where complete silence is honored and the tranquility is present at all time.

On this special occasion, Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is offering a special 40% mark down from Best Available Rate for you to spend two blissful night at any room categories. Take the time to rediscover your spirit and reconnect with your inner soul, while the courteous team of Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach takes care of your every need. The

night during Nyepi is known to be exceptionally beautiful as the stars shine brightly, allowing you to have a glimpse into the universe at the comfort of your room.

This rare opportunity is best enjoyed from the Oceanfront Rooftop Suites or the Oceanfront Suites that will give you the full, unobstructed view of the starry sky. Not to forget, a further discount of 20% on spa treatments, food, and beverages are also available for One Harmony members.

The Silent Discovery offer is valid for booking immediately

for stay period 6-8 March 2019 and reservations can be made via email to ?info@hotelnikkobalibenoabeach.com or phone call to 62 361 773 577 by mentioning the promo code: NYEPI40.

About Nikko Hotel Bali Benoa Beach

Hotel Nikko Bali Benoa Beach is an ideal tropical getaway only steps away from the famed Tanjung Benoa Beach. With a harmonious blend of Japanese traditions and Balinese hospitality, the hotel

15

offers 188 spacious guest rooms and suites across nine categories including a rooftop suite facing the Indian Ocean.

For your holiday pleasure, enjoy the four versatile restaurants and three bars serving Western, Asian, Italian, Balinese, and Japanese cuisine, an impressive lagoon pool with a swim-up bar and the spa. The hotel provides function rooms suitable for mid-scale conferences, and the outdoor venues are perfect for celebrations such as weddings, dinner receptions, and group gatherings.

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

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

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Rarer than a Sumatran rhino: a woman composer

PARIS - Camille Pepin is part of a very rare breed. She is a female composer.

Women have conquered space, risen in the military ranks, but some professions remain resolutely and bewilderingly masculine.

When Pepin turned up for her first day at the Paris Conservatoire -- as usual the only woman in a class of men -- an official told her that her name wasn’t on the list.

But when she insisted that she was and that he look again, he cried, “Ah, you’re a woman!”

Camille is also a man’s name in France. “I would never have thought,” he apologised. “There are so many men...”

With so few female composers in the classical music repertoire, it was an easy mistake to make.

Pepin has never let everyday

sexism get her down though, laughing it off like water off a duck’s back.

“One male composer told me I was getting commissions because I was a woman and not too bad looking,” said the 28-year-old, whose first album, “Chamber Music”, is released later this month.

After a concert of one of her more combative pieces, “a man came to tell me my music was ‘very fresh, flowery and sweet’,” she told AFP. “I am a woman so clearly those three words” apply, she said wryly.

Pepin, whose music recalls both Claude Debussy and American minimalist composers like John Adams, said sometimes the sexist stereotypes which persist in the classical music world are hard to take. (afp)

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 In this file photo taken on February 04, 2019, rosa Salazar attends the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” at Westwood Regency Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The cyborgs of ‘Alita’ vanquish rivals in N.American box office

LOS ANGELES - Fox’s new sci-fi spectacle “Alita: Battle Angel” is dominating North American box offices with an estimated $33 million take this four-day holiday weekend, industry trackers said Sunday.

Thomas SAMSON / AFP

French music composer Camille Pepin poses in her studio in Paris on February 11, 2019.

The film, with Rosa Salazar voicing “Alita,” a cyborg almost more human than machine, was set to make $27.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period and an additional $5.2 million for Monday’s President’s Day holiday, Exhibitor Relations reported.

The computer-animated adaptation of a Japanese cyberpunk manga story has big names behind it, directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron.

The project, 20 years in the making, also has a sizable budget: $170 million. The Fox film beat out last weekend’s leader, “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” which

earned Warner Bros an estimated $21.2 million in ticket sales for the first three days of the weekend and $27.3 million when Monday is included.

This fourth “Lego” movie again features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett -- joined this time by Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph -- in a story of love and chaos in a postapocalyptic toyland.

In third was another Warner Bros. film, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, at $14.2 million for three days and $16.5 million for four. Rebel Wilson stars as a rom-com hating New Yorker who, after a blow to

the head, finds herself in her own romantic comedy. Liam Hemsworth also stars.

Fourth place went to Paramount’s “What Men Want.” The gender-switching remake of 2000’s “What Women Want” stars Taraji P. Henson. It had three-day ticket sales of $10.9 million and a fourday total of $12.6 million.

And in fifth was “Happy Death Day 2U” from Universal, at $9.8 million for three days and $11.5 million for four -- already recouping the mere $9 million it cost to make.

Jessica Rothe again plays the role of a young woman living and reliving the day of her murder. (afp)

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SANJAY KANOJIA / AFP

A large number of mourners gather on the bank of the Ganges river to attend the funeral procession for Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper Mahesh Kumar Meena Meena at Meja village, some 60 kms from Allahabad on February 16, 2019, following an attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir. Thousands of mourners across several Indian cities on February 16 attended funerals of soldiers killed in a deadly suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir as a round-the-clock curfew remains in force in a part of the restive region.

Pakistan ‘ready to talk’ with India on Kashmir, will retaliate if attacked: PM

Pakistan is ready to help India investigate the deadliest blast in Kashmir in decades, but will retaliate if Delhi attacks, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals soared. “Pakistan won’t just think to retaliate. Pakistan will retaliate,” said Khan in a nationally televised address.

The former cricket hero went on to demand Delhi share proof of Islamabad’s involvement in last week’s suicide blast in Indian-held Kashmir, which killed at least 41 Indian paramilitaries. He spoke days after the attack was claimed

by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, unleashing a war of words between the archrivals and spurring both countries

to recall their respective envoys.

India, whose leader Narendra Modi faces elections in coming weeks, has accused Islamabad of harbouring the militants and vowed “the terrorist groups and their masters... have to pay a heavy price”.

Pakistan has denied involvement.

Khan vowed on Tuesday that if any militant group was using Pakistani soil to launch attacks, “its enmity is

with us. This is against our interest”.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars in connection to the dispute.

Minutes after the address, Khan’s official Instagram account posted a picture of the premier -- scowling and cross-armed -- along with a

message that read: “Don’t mess with my country”. Earlier Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pleaded with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to intervene, saying India was threatening to “use force against Pakistan” and abandon a vital water treaty.

“It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions,” wrote Qureshi in a message shared with journalists. Kashmir is one of the world’s most militarised zones, with some 500,000 Indian troops deployed to fight a rebellion that

broke out in 1989. Scores of armed groups are now involved.

Tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, have died in the conflict.

Violence has spiked since 2016 with almost 600 killed last year, the highest toll in a decade. (afp) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.