Edisi 20 Maret 2013 | International Bali Post

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Entertainment

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

China’s homegrown hit films struggle overseas

Associated Press Writer

HONG KONG — The surprise hit in Chinese theaters last year was a low-budget, wacky road-trip comedy that even beat out global blockbuster “Avatar” to become the country’s highest-grossing film ever. But “Lost in Thailand” found just a paltry $57,000 during its U.S. theatrical release.

The film that earned 1.26 billion yuan ($200 million) in China joins other homegrown hits that have flopped internationally, and is the latest sign that while the country has become a box-office superpower, it faces a harder task fulfilling its leaders’ hopes that its studios will be able to rival Hollywood for global influence.

Action-comedy “Let the Bullets Fly,” starring Chow Yun-fat, grossed $111 million at home but $63,000 in the United States, while action-fantasy “Painted Skin: The Resurrection,” starring Donnie Yen, earned $113 million domestically but $50,400 in the U.S., according to Hollywood.com.

Chinese movies’ overseas box office receipts fell 48 percent last year, alarming regulators, who also worried about Hollywood movies taking more than

half of ticket revenue, which totaled 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), for the first time in nine years. Tong Gang, head of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, urged filmmakers to “better express Chinese images and stories in line with the international film mainstream” and step up their marketing and publicity, according to state media.

China’s film industry has been reaching out to Hollywood in search of coproduction deals that would help studios make movies that both Chinese and global audiences like. They’re hoping to make the next “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” a 2000 U.S.-China-Hong Kong-Taiwan co-production that became a global blockbuster.

But film distributors say selling China’s movies to the world is hampered by subject matter that doesn’t travel well,

different storytelling methods and the sheer size of its own market.

Lim Teck, managing director of Singaporean producer and distributor Clover Films, said China has become so lucrative local studios don’t need to think about other markets.

“China has become so big and so powerful. Basically a lot of movies nowadays are very Chinacentric,” Lim said at a panel discussion at the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market, a major trade show.

“They’re produced primarily for the China local market, which is nothing wrong because the market is so big, but with that in mind it sort of undermines the (appeal to the) rest of Asia,” Lim said.

Doris Pfardrescher, president of distributor Well Go USA, said the kinds of movies that are popular in China today — romances, comedies and fantasy flicks — don’t necessarily appeal to audiences in other countries.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013 India government ally withdraws from coalition, reforms at risk

Deschamps faces dilemma ahead of Georgia game

China’s leader Xi meets US treasury secretary

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Pope Francis begins reign with grand ceremony Agence France-Presse

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis knelt at the tomb of St Peter and donned a ring symbolising his new papal powers at a sumptuous inauguration on Tuesday as tens of thousands of pilgrims cheered Latin America’s first pontiff.

Continued on page 6

PSY to revise song over worry it may offend Arabs Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea — PSY says he will change the title and lyrics of his potential “Gangnam Style” follow-up over worries it could offend Arabs.

The announced title for the song can be written as “Assarabia” or “Assaravia”

in English. It’s slang used by South Koreans to express thrills. It suggests no ethnicity or body part, but worries have risen that Arabs might misinterpret the title and find it derogatory.

PSY said Monday on a South Korean social media website that he has decided to change the title. Some lyrics also will

change.

After several Korean albums, PSY has promised future work in English but it isn’t clear when. The “Gangnam Style” video with its catchy tune and much-imitated horse-riding dance has a record 1.44 billion views on YouTube since July.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives for his inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

IBP/ap

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

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International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Bali News In Kuta, Djoko Susilo’s house confiscated by KPK

Denpasar (Bali Post)-

One by one, General Inspector Djoko Susilo’s assets in Bali have been confiscated by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK. After a rice field at Yeh Gangga Tabanan, now an elite house located at Kuta has also been confiscated. The house located at Harvest Land Block A-17, By Pass Ngurah Rai, Kuta, Badung was predicted to be valued IDR 5 billion.

As seen by Bali Post last Monday (18/3) the elite house dominantly painted white with river rocks has had a paper stuck to its main gate stating ‘’Berdasarkan Surat Perintah Penyitaan Nomor: Sprin.Sita-01/01/01/2013 tanggal 9 Januari 2013 dan Sprin.Sita-13/01/01/2013 tanggal 31 Januari 2013. Bangunan ini telah disita dalam tindak pidana pencucian uang dengan tersangka Djoko Susilo’’ along with KPK’s logo. It is stating officially that the asset is sealed as part of accused Djoko Susilo money laundering act. The two floored house was seen empty and three meters wide garden looked really neat. According to one security of the estate, the house has been empty all this time and no one has been in –out the house. “As long as I work here, I never knew who owns the house,” the anonymous security stated.

When was the house sealed? Security did not know for sure yet saw the poster on Sunday (17/3) evening. It is explained the real value of the house is not known yet for sure houses in here were expensive. Head of Kuta Police, PC I Putu Gede Dedi Ujiana, confirmed that the confiscation of the house did happen yet admitted to have not known if the house is actually owned by Djoko Susilo or not. (kmb21)

Having cleft lip and cardiovascular disorder

Ardi undergoes catheter installation A toddler from Ubud, Gianyar, Ketut Ardi, 5 months, having a cardiovascular disorder and cleft lip, had undergone an operation for installation of catheter. Ardi had a leak in two cardiac sections so that he required an immediate surgery for catheterization. Surgery for Ardi was once delayed because of cost issue. Ultimately, he could undergo the surgery after Gianyar County facilitated the financing by public health insurance (Jamkesmas).

When met in Pudak Room, Ardi looked fast asleep. His mother, Made Siti, seemed to accompany him alone. Meanwhile, his father, Subrata, departed to his home village in Ubud to see the condition of their other children. With a grateful smile, Siti said the operation of his son last Thursday (Mar 14) ran smoothly. “The doctor said there was no problem related to the operation. Through Eco examination this morning, Ardi’s heart has been functioning normally,” said Siti while smiling with relief.

The only son of this couple just required the recovery of cardiac surgery before undergoing the next surgery in the lip. “Now, we just focus on the recovery. Afterwards, medical treatment will be taken for his cleft lip,” he said. For the cleft lip, Ardi had to undergo four stages of operation.

At the moment, the condition of Ardi continued to improve. His weight having dropped to 3.3 kg had gone up again to 3.5 kg. Infusion previously mounted on his hand had been removed. To drink milk, Ardi should do it by spoon. “After the surgery, he could drink milk a lot,” said Siti.

Regarding the cost of treatment for hospitalization of Ardi in Sanglah Hospital, Siti admitted to use Jamkesmas. However, the process was still ongoing. “The document is at hand, but the card has not been issued yet,” she said. She could not ascertain whether there was cost to be borne by the family before the Jamkesmas took effect. (san)

Matatah Kinembulan in Satria Palace

Some participants cry, one uses wheelchair

PINNACLE of the matatah kinembulan (mass tooth filing) ritual followed by 850 participants in Satria Palace, Denpasar, Monday (Mar 18) took place in a familial atmosphere. The series of Manusha Yajña ritual held in Satria Palace was in cooperation with the Lumajang Ashram, Tabanan, and supported by the Hindu Dharma Women of Indonesia (WHDI Bali) and Balinese residents was begun with the ngungkab lawang procession and closed with majaya-jaya ritual.

The mass tooth filing ritual was followed by residents from all over Bali. Those participating in the ritual were aged from 12 to 73 years old. Even, there was participant using a wheelchair.

After the procession, a number of participants cried. They moved because they had undergone an essential procession in their life, especially related to Balinese customs and culture. Sacred atmosphere was intensely felt when the procession began with ngungkab lawang and all the participants joined the mapeed or lined up from Satria Palace to location of the ritual.

Program Section Committee, Cok Putra Wisnu Wardhana, said the ngungkab lawang procession starting the pinnacle series of the mass tooth filing in Satria Palace was officiated over by Ida Pedanda Beluangan from Geria Sanur.

The procession had significance as transition from childhood to adolescence. Furthermore, it was resumed with ngendag ritual denoting the initial procession of a high priest to inculcate the essence of goodness or control against negative natures, so that children could become a good human.

After the tooth filling procession ended, all the participants resumed it with mejaya-jaya ritual.

It represented the expression of gratitude of all the participants to Supreme God because they were able to follow the whole series of ritual properly and smoothly.

A figure of Satria Palace doubling as Deputy Governor of Bali, AA Puspayoga, said the mass tooth filing suggested a social function of palace remaining to exist until today. People were expected to respect the palace as a cultural heritage, not as a feudal

heritage. “The royal administration period used to exist and now we descend it as a cultural heritage. I observe the palaces especially in Bali have disappeared in terms of the power function due to a system. However, the social function is still running and the social tasks still run well,” he said.

Existence of the social function was not only evidenced by the implementation of mass tooth filing, but also by mass cremation and mamukur some time ago. “It means the mutual assistance as indigenous wisdom is never extinct, especially in Bali. And this is a part of the mutual assistance,” added the former mayor of Denpasar.

Puspayoga explained that such a ritual actually had been organized by the big family of Satria Palace in 1964. This year drew the largest number of participants for almost five decades. “If we still open the registration, perhaps more partici-

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pants will join. But our capacity is only for 850 people,” he said.

Although the committee did not disseminate any invitation to the officials and politicians, the ritual was attended by a number of important officials and politicians in Bali.

Among others there were Denpasar Mayor I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, Regent of Jembrana I Putu Artha, Regent of Tabanan Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, Regent of Buleleng Putu Agus Suradnyana, Regent of Bangli I Made Gianyar, Deputy Regent of Klungkung Tjokorda Gde Agung, Deputy Regent of Tabanan Komang Gede Sanjaya and some other officials. Even, the Chairperson of the PDI-P Megawati was also present specifically to witness the ritual which was also enlivened by various kinds of entertainment such as profane dance, bebondresan and sacred dance. (kmb13/rin)

IBP

JAKARTA - Bali, the famed Island of the Gods, with its beautiful landscapes, a large number of cultural, historical and archaeological attractions is also rich with tasty authentic dishes. Graffiti Restaurant at Mercure Jakarta Simatupang Hotel presents “The Exotic Balinese Dishes” for the whole month of March 2013.

Comes in 6 a la carte menus of authentic Bali cuisine, this month food promotion will fits for those people who enjoy sampling the delightful flavors of Bali. The Exotic Bali menu starts with choices of 1 appetizer, 4 main courses and 1 dessert.

Try “Jukut Kakul”, the traditional Balinese soup as a starter, an intensely flavorful snail soup in coconut cream with minced green papaya.

The famous “Sate Lilit” surely not to be missed, a traditional Balinese skewer or ‘satay’ with minced seafood blended in special spices and served with Sweet Soya and Chilli

sauce. The first option for the main course would be an all-time favorite “Siap Betutu”, a classic dish, roasted chicken marinated in pungent roots, herbs and seasonings wrapped in banana leaf then steamed and roasted.

The meat is so tender and particularly delicious taken with Sambal.

“Bebek Megoreng Unggasan” another classic dish which specially marinated with seasonings and deep fried to a crispy golden-brown. If you prefer to have seafood as your main course, “Be pasih Jimbaran” would be the perfect choice, a marinated grilled red snapper in Jimbaran

style served with sambal matah. Another must try dish is “Kambing Mekuah” – Balinese lamb stew in coconut milk resulting a strong delicious flavor. Here is Balinese version of “Rendang”, “Be Sampi Mebase Bali” – braised beef curry in coconut milk. At last, a sweet desert as the closure, “Batun Bedil Pisang Rai” – sticky rice cake in sweet brown sugar sauce and boiled banana coated with freshly grated coconut.

Calendar Event for March 6 through 31, 2013 6 Mar Buda Cemeng Warigadean Pura Kepisah Sumerta Denpasar Pura Pasek Gelgel Gerih Abiansemal Pura Puncak Sari Penarukan Peninjoan Bangli Pura Bangun Sakti Besakih Pura Anteg Sari Dangin Pangkung Kediri Tabanan Pura Pesimpangan Batur Pande Dangin Pangkung Kediri Tabanan

10 Mar Redite Pon Juluwangi Pura Panti Pasek Gelgel Gobleg Kayu Putih Desa Banjar Buleleng 11 Mar T ilem Kesanga (Tawur Agung Kesanga)

12 Mar Nyepi Saka 1935 / Anggar Kasih Julungwangi Pura Tirta Harum Tegalwangi Bangli Pura Beratan Baturiti Pura Batu Klotok Klungkung Pura Pasek Tohjiwa Wanasari Tabanan Pura Pasek Tangguntiti Jakatebel Tabanan Pura Pasek Bendesa Sangsit Sawan Buleleng Pura Dalem Waturenggong Tarokaja Tegallalang Pura Ibu (Pura Kaja) Wanagiri Selemadeg Tabanan Pura Pasek Gelgel Tulikup Pura Manik Bingin Desa Dukuh Sidemen

The participants of the Matatah Kinembulan in Satria Palace.

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti  Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi.  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

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Grafiti Restaurant presents “The Exotic Balinese Dishes”

8 Mar Sukra Umanis Warigadean Ida Ratu Geng Penataran Agung Besakih Ida Ratu Raja Puraus Merajan Saloding Besakih

IBP/File

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

13 Mar Ngembak Geni / Buda Umanis Julungwangi Pura Penataran Gana Bebalang Bangli Pura Dalem Gede Banjar Pande Bangli Pura Puncak Sari Sangeh Abian Semal

Pura Dadia Agung Pasek Sanak Sapta Resi Banjar Perteluan Sidang Gianyar Pura Puseh Penegil Darma Banjar Kaja Kangin Kubutambahan Singaraja Pura Dalem Maya Blahbatuh Gianyar Linggih Bhatara Kayu Selem Penataran Agung Besakih 14 Mar Warespati paing Julungwangi Pura Sanghyang Tegal Desa Taro Tegallalang 21 Mar Sugian Jawa Pura Kawitan Tangkas Kori Agung Desa Tangkas Klungkung Piura Siang Kangin Tampuagan Desa Peninjoan Temuku Bangli Odalan Ida Ratu Mas Penataran Agung Besakih Odalan Ida Bhatara Bang Tulus Dewa Besakih 24 Mar Penyekeban Pura Jari Desa Batur Kintamani 26 Mar Penampahan Galungan Lan Purnama Sasih Kedasa Bhatara Turun Kabeh Besakih Pura Bukit Jati Bangli Pura Batur Kalanganyar Bangli Pura Masceti Pejengaji Tegallalang Pura Dalem Tangsub Sukawati Pura Penambangan Badung Denpasar Pura Lempuyang Madia Karang Asem Pura Batur Bangli Pura Desa Singakerta Ubud Pura Pasek Gelgel Tatag Kukuh Marga Tabanan Pura Gaduh Ketapian Sumerta Denpasar Pura Pasek Bendesa Batur Tuakilang Tabanan Pura Pasek Agung Tatag kelod Peguyangan Denpasar Pura Agung Pasek Bendesa Tonja Denpasar Pura Pasek Gelgel Angsri Baturiti Pura Pasek Gelgel Baleagung Subamia Braban

Pura Dukuh Sakti Belatung Bengkel Timpag Kerambitan Pura Pusat Dukuh Sakti Belatung Rendang Karangasem Pura Agung Jagatnatha Kota Denpasar Pura Pemerajan Agung Puri Petak Gianyar Pura Dadya Agung Bendesa Tangkas Kori Agung Pusat Gerih Abiansemal Pura Puseh Desa Ada Dukuh Sidemen Karangasem Pura Agung Giri Natha Semarang 27 Mar Galungan Pura Wakika Kupang NTT Pura Agung Girinatha Sumbawa Besa NTB Pura Dukuh Sakti Dukuh Kediri Tabanan Pura Atambuananta Kutamba NTT Pura webananta Kupang NTT Pura Giripati Mulawarman Pontianak Pura Mustika Dharma Cijantung Jakarta Timur 28 Mar Umanis Galungan Pura Watukaru Tabanan Pura Lempuyang Luhur Karangasem Pura Kentel Gumi Klungkung Pura Pasek gaduh Umadesa Kediri Tabanan Pura Pasek Kubayan Wangaya Gede Penebel Tabanan 29 Mar Sukra Paing Dungulan Pura Ulun Suwi Jimbaran Kuta Pura Luhur Kawitan Cameng Cemenggaon Sukawati Pura Pasek Ubung Denpasar 30 Mar Saniscara Pon Dungulan Pura Segara Jembrana Pura Dalem Gede Losan Klungkung 31 Mar Redite Wage Kuningan Pura Dalem Tegal Tamu S ekar Mukti Batubulan Pura Kubayan Umagunung Sempidi Badung

IBP/Courtesy of Mercure Jakarta

Balinese Temple Ceremony Every Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbulumbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land.

Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Health

International

Bali News

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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Bloomberg cigarette plan gets praise, criticism

President to host UNHLP meeting in Bali

Associated Press Writer

Antara

JAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will host the last United Nations High Level Panel (UNHLP) Meeting in Bali on March 25-27, 2013, the Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat said on its official website there on Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Anti-smoking advocates and health experts hailed proposals from Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would keep cigarettes out of sight in New York City stores, while tobacco companies and smokers called it an overreach. The ban, which would be the first of its kind in the U.S., is aimed at discouraging young people from smoking.

Keeping cigarettes under wraps could help, anti-smoking advocates say, citing studies that link exposure to smoking with starting it. Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots. Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, though it’s below what the going rate is in much of the city now.

While some of the research focuses on cigarette advertising, an English study of 11-to-15-year-olds published last month in the journal Tobacco Control found that simply noticing tobacco products on display every time a youth visited a shop raised the odds he or she would at least try smoking

by threefold, compared to peers who never noticed the products.

“What’s exciting about this (New York City proposal) is that this is the most comprehensive set of tobaccocontrol regulations that affect stores or the retail outlets,” said Kurt Ribisi, a professor of public health and cancer prevention specialist at the University of North Carolina. Moreover, cigarettes’ visibility can trigger impulse buys by smokers who are trying to quit, he and city officials say.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, other anti-smoking groups and several City Council members applauded Bloomberg’s announcement, made at a Queens hospital on Monday. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who largely controls what goes to a vote, said through her

office that she “supports the goal of these bills” but noted they would get a full review.

The ban on displaying cigarettes follows similar laws in Iceland, Canada, England and Ireland, but it would be the first such measure in the U.S. It’s aimed at discouraging young people from smoking. “Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity,” Bloomberg said. “And they invite young people to experiment with tobacco.” But smokers and cigarette sellers said the measure was overreaching.

“I don’t disagree that smoking itself is risky, but it’s a legal product,” said Audrey Silk, who’s affiliated with a smokers-rights group that has sued the city over previous regulations. “Tobacco’s been normal for centuries. ... It’s what he’s doing that’s not normal.”

Report: 1 in 3 seniors dies with, not of, dementia Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — A staggering 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, says a new report that highlights the impact the minddestroying disease is having on the rapidly aging population.

Dying with Alzheimer’s is not the same as dying from it. But even when dementia isn’t the direct cause of death, it can be the final blow — speeding someone’s decline by interfering with their care for heart disease, cancer or other serious illnesses. That’s the assessment of the report released Tuesday by the Alzheimer’s Association, which advocates for more research and support for families afflicted by it.

“Exacerbated aging,” is how Dr. Maria Carrillo, an association vice president, terms the Alzheimer’s effect. “It changes any health care situation for a family.”

In fact, only 30 percent of 70year-olds who don’t have Alzheimer’s are expected to die before their 80th birthday. But if they do have dementia, 61 percent are expected to die, the report found.

Already, 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. Those numbers will jump to 13.8 million by 2050, Tuesday’s report predicts. That’s slightly lower

than some previous estimates.

Count just the deaths directly attributed to dementia, and they’re growing fast. Nearly 85,000 people died from Alzheimer’s in 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a separate report Tuesday. Those are people who had Alzheimer’s listed as an underlying cause on a death certificate, perhaps because the dementia led to respiratory failure. Those numbers make Alzheimer’s the sixth leading cause of death.

That death rate rose 39 percent in the past decade, even as the CDC found that deaths declined among some of the nation’s other top killers — heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. The reason: Alzheimer’s is the only one of those leading killers to have no good treatment.

Today’s medications only temporarily ease some dementia symptoms.

But what’s on a death certificate is only part of the story.

Consider: Severe dementia can make it difficult for people to move around or swallow properly.

That increases the risk of pneumonia, one of the most commonly identified causes of death among Alzheimer’s patients.

Likewise, dementia patients can forget their medications for diabetes, high blood pressure or other illnesses. They may not be able to explain they are feeling symptoms

of other ailments such as infections.

They’re far more likely to be hospitalized than other older adults. That in turn increases their risk of death within the following year.

“You should be getting a sense of the so-called blurred distinction between deaths among people with Alzheimer’s and deaths caused

by Alzheimer’s. It’s not so clear where to draw the line,” said Jennifer Weuve of Chicago’s Rush University, who helped study that very question.

The Chicago Health and Aging Project tracked the health of more than 10,000 older adults over time.

Weuve’s team used the data to estimate how many people nationally will die with Alzheimer’s this year — about 450,000, according to Tuesday’s report.

That’s compatible with the 1 in 3 figure the Alzheimer’s Association calculates for all dementias. That number is based on a separate analysis of Medicare data that includes both Alzheimer’s cases and deaths among seniors with other forms of dementia.

Last year, the Obama administration set a goal of finding effective Alzheimer’s treatments by 2025, and increased research funding to help. It’s not clear how the government’s automatic budget cuts, which began earlier this month, will affect those plans.

Following three consecutive meetings respectively in New York, London and Monrovia, and preceded by a Video Conference in August, the UN High Level Panel co-chaired by British Prime Minister Cameron, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Yudhoyono will conclude its discussions after extensive discussion amongst

members of the UNHLP. The co-chairs were supported by prominent experts in the development agenda, from former presidents and prime ministers, current ministers, and development activist and other distinguished figures from the developing and developed worlds.

During the UNHLP meeting in London, discussions focused on

individual and household needs in pursuing development. In Monrovia, discussions continued on building national capacity. In Bali it will focus on forging the necessary international cooperation and partnership to end poverty in our lifetime.

As the MDGs will conclude in 2015, after fifteen years of garnering an international momen-

tum to address the development needs of individual countries, the work of the UNHLP would chart out a roadmap as to how the world would continue pursuing its development agenda for the interest of human kind.

The meeting in Bali would complete the dialog process amongst the panel members so that a report can be drafted and be submitted to the UN Secretary General, where he would launch it in May 2013 to the UN General Assembly. In September 2013, the member states of the UNGA

in its plenary session is expected to begin reviewing the recommendations of the UNHLP. To this, Indonesia has had the honor, under nine months of intense coordination with the United Kingdom and Liberia, to co-chair and facilitate the discussions amongst experts a n d s t a k e h o l d e r, s o t h a t b y 2015, every member state in the United Nations will have a renewed journey in pursuing the global development agenda, the Cabinet Secretariat said in the statement.

India enhancing educational cooperation with Bali IBP AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Harry Patel, an employee of Blondie’s Deli and Grocery, talks on the phone while waiting for customers in New York, Monday, March 18, 2013. A new anti-smoking proposal would make New York the first city in the nation to keep tobacco products out of sight in retail stores.

Surgery, therapy both prove good for knee repair Associated Press Writer

You might not want to rush into knee surgery. Physical therapy can be just as good for a common injury and at far less cost and risk, the most rigorous study to compare these treatments concludes.

Therapy didn’t always help and some people wound up having surgery for the problem, called a torn meniscus. But those who stuck with therapy had improved as much six months and one year later as those who were given arthroscopic surgery right away, researchers found.

“Both are very good choices. It would be quite reasonable to try physical therapy first because the chances are quite good that you’ll do quite well,” said one study leader, Dr. Jeffrey Katz, a joint specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

He was to discuss the study Tuesday at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in Chicago. Results were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

A meniscus is one of the crescentshaped cartilage discs that cushion the knee. About one-third of people over 50 have a tear in one, and arthritis makes this more likely. Usually the tear doesn’t cause symptoms but it can be painful.

When that happens, it’s tough to tell if the pain is from the tear or the arthritis — or whether surgery is needed or will help. Nearly half a million knee

surgeries for a torn meniscus are done each year in the U.S. The new federally funded study compared surgery with a less drastic option. Researchers at seven major universities and orthopedic surgery centers around the U.S. assigned 351 people with arthritis and meniscus tears to get either surgery or physical therapy. The therapy was nine sessions on average plus exercises to do at home, which experts say is key to success.

After six months, both groups had similar rates of functional improvement. Pain scores also were similar.

Thirty percent of patients assigned to physical therapy wound up having surgery before the six months was up, often because they felt therapy wasn’t helping them. Yet they ended up the same as those who got surgery right away, as well as the rest of the physical therapy group who stuck with it and avoided having an operation.

“There are patients who would like to get better in a ‘fix me’ approach” and surgery may be best for them, said Elena Losina, another study leader from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

However, an Australian preventive medicine expert contends that the study’s results should change practice.

Therapy “is a reasonable first strategy, with surgery reserved for the minority who don’t have improvement,” Rachelle Buchbinder of Monash University in Melbourne wrote in a commentary in the medical journal.

DENPASAR - During an event held Monday (18/3) by the Consulate General of India in Bali, in collaboration with the Institut Hindu Dharma Negeri (IHDN) Denpasar, the Ambassador of India to Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Gurjit Singh, highlighted the series of initiatives launched by the Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulates in Bali and Medan for enhancing educational cooperation with Indonesian academic community and students. He elaborated on a number of scholarship schemes offered by the Government of India for the Indonesian students and lecturers to pursue higher education in Indian universities, including research under M. Phil and Ph.D as also Post-Doctoral research under Junior & Senior Fellowships. He informed that over 120 scholarships are offered annually to Indonesia. Ambassador informed that with our persuasions, some airlines considering to provide a direct flight connection between India and Indonesia during the current year. As suggested by the Prof. Dr. Titib, it was noted that an institute offering IT/ICT education may be set up in Bali with participation of private sector from Indonesia and India.

This was the first-ever gathering in Bali of alumni of Indian universities and academicians, scholars, senior government representatives, prominent representatives of Balinese art & culture community and dignitaries, among others, organized by the year-old Consulate General of India in Bali.

Dr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, Head of the Bali Chapter of Hotels & Restaurants Association of Indonesia and a prominent member of the royal family of Ubud as well as the former Regent of the Province

of Gianyar, was the Chief Guest.

Prof. Dr. I Made Bakta, Rector of Udayana participated as the Guest of Honour, besides the Vice Rector of Dhyanapura University and ISI Denpasar. The members of consular corps based in Bali attended the event besides representatives of tourism organizations and hotels.

The event was held with the active support of the Institut Hindu Dharma Negeri Denpasar, whose Rector, Prof. Dr. I Made Titib, himself is an eminent alumni of

Indian educational system. IHDN Denpasar is the largest and a premier State institution under the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia imparting education on Hindu religion, philosophy, theology and social and culture sciences. With three faculties, two Master programmes and a Ph.D programme, it has nearly 5000 students and over 125 lecturers in different departments. Several of its lecturers have studied in Indian universities and it has coopera-

tion agreements with a couple of universities and cultural studies institution in India.

The alumni spoke very warmly of their learning experiences in India and elaborated on their immense intellectual growth and exposure gained in India during the course of their study. A large number of the alumni are currently working as professors, lecturers, heads of provincial government departments and in prominent art & culture institutions as well as in

tourism industry.

Earlier, documentary depicting cultural similarities in Bali and India, in particular Northeast India was shown to an appreciative audience followed by scintillating fusion dance performances by Ms. Aparajita Sarma, Dance Teacher from Indian Cultural Centre in Bali and Balinese dances by the students of IHDN Denpasar. The renowned Indonesian artiste, Trie Utami, also enthralled the audience.

IBP/Courtesy of Consulate of India

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President of the Soekarno Center gives feedback to Indian Ambassador

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suitable for our culture. Likewise, I hope there will be no indianization in Hinduism because Balinese people are proud of Balinese culture derived from Majapahit aging for 500 years. I quote the statement of Dr. Kusum Vyas (U.S. delegation) in the World Summit 2012 opened by the President of the RI that Bali does not need to learn to India.

Even, the Indians can learn about the culture and character of Balinese Hinduism. Similar endeavor has also been done by Maharishi Markandeya spreading Hinduism in Bali in the past,” said Dr. Arya Wedakarna.

On that occasion, the Rector of Mahendradatta University also criticized the poor quality of service provided for pilgrims to India both in terms of the quality of human resources, infrastructure and services. “I have visited India for three times, but in this year’s visit I got impression that Indian government has given less efforts to improve the quality in terms of human resources

and infrastructure in the holy cities of Hindus. So, I question about the tagline Wonderful India because it seems to have not been totally implemented. It is my input for central government of India in New Delhi,” said the founder of BIFA. Furthermore, he hoped the cooperation of Balinese and Indian people in Bali should be evaluated.

“I do hope the Indian community including businessmen, diplomats and professionals should emulate Chinese descendants in making socialization. But, please do not forget there are still many Balinese people somewhat rejecting the indianization. Be an intermingled community and respect the opinion of local people. Otherwise, there will be conflict between Balinese and Indian people,” said Dr. Wedakarna.

So, what to do next?

“I will send a letter to Prime Minister of the Republic of India related to many things. We ask for the quality improvement for diplo-

Security certification, hotel constrained by human resources Denpasar (Bali Post)—

his party also verified the potential of discomfort in a hotel to the smallest elements, such as pests and insects. “We also verify ranging from the smallest elements, such as the presence of pests and insects,” said Faroq.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Bali, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, added that in terms of star classification the hotel remained to face a constraint related to the readiness of the assessor

Enhancement of hotel security standardization and verification process is stumbled by readiness of human resources. At the moment, only three hotels have been certified, while the remaining hotels need to update their safety standards.

“It should also be realized that police personnel is quantitatively inadequate compared to the amount of hotels to be certified,” said the Directorate of Vital Object Supervision of Bali Police, Umar Faroq, in Denpasar, Monday (Mar 18).

He said the certification should be done to support the security and comfort in the tourist accommodation. He added the safety standard was assessed based on the calculation of hotel capacity and area. In addition, it was also required the readiness of human resources, in this case the readiness of security personnel.

Bali Beach, one of the largest hotel in Bali.

According to him,

AP Photo/ Feng Li, Pool

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew during his visit to the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Beijing, China.

IBP/ist

The President of Soekarno Center Dr. Shri I Gusti Ngurah Arya Wedakarna MWS III was giving feedbacks during the meeting with Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of the Republic of India to Indonesia.

matic staff in Bali in particular. In the future, the Indian expatriates working in Bali either in education, entrepreneurs or other sectors should be monitored. I truly support the effort of government in controlling the permit of foreign workers so that Bali will not be harmed.

Bali needs Indian investors having a

because the authorized party was only from central office of the PHRI. “Local assessors are only allowed to do classification for non-star hotels,” he said.

He said that such inflexible bureaucracy resulted in complicated classification process. When compared to the performance of Bali local assessors, the time required for the process tended to be faster. He mentioned that it only took three days for hotel classification.

“A total of 70 star hotels have passed through the reclassification among the 167 starred hotels in Bali. It will take 3 years for the classification of star hotel, so that there will be about 55 hotels classified each year,” he said.

From the process, the results obtained were volatile. However, the classification of hotels appointed for the international event accommodation of APEC 2013 had not indicated a downturn. It happened because all the hotels had been well prepared.

“A number of hotels undergo star downgrade, but they are only a few. The downgrade was caused by technical matters such as the rate of expired products, poor waste IBP/File management and inferior quality of service,” he said. (kmb27)

concern about Balinese culture, not on the other way around. Cooperation remains to be done while waiting for the subsequent Ambassador and Consul General because the diplomat disposition is temporary.

The cooperation will go on with the government and private sector,” said Dr. Wedakarna. (ad1)

Karak disease emerging

Kintamani orange production threatened Bangli (Bali Post)-

Due to the heavy rain and humidity in Kintamani the past few months, most of Kintamani oranges have been attacked by karak disease, similar to human’s phlegm disease. If this condition is not controlled straight away, its production will fall up to 40 percent in harvest season. Head of Bangli Agriculture and Forestry Agency, Ir. I Wayan Sukartana, last Monday (18/3) explained the case was first seen at Bayung area and due to the cold weather it spread to a lot of areas.

If the disease is not controlled, it might kill the plants and easily spread on short plants as sunlight did not get to it. Having organic manure given to wet condition soils also worsen the disease. “For that farmers used bode mash or kalipornia mash continuously to control it,” Sukartana stated.

It is admitted that in cultivating oranges, a high patience is needed as a number of disease might attack it such as CVPD. It has to be clean by cutting branches so sunlight can get through up to its stem bottom part.

Besides that, organic manure has to be given time to time so its fruit quality can go through export market grade A and B. Even so, grade C can still be sold in traditional market yet its price not as high as A and B. “We have asked PPL to keep on continuously supervise it post this disease that attacks most of Kintamani,” Sukartana clarified. (kmb17)

China’s leader Xi meets US treasury secretary

Associated Press Writer

BEIJING — China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, told the U.S. Treasury secretary he wants strong ties with Washington as the two sides resumed high-level interaction Tuesday following a months-long hiatus during the Chinese leadership transition. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s agenda for the two-day visit includes North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s exchange rate controls and cyberspying.

“I attach great importance to China’s relationship with the United States,” Xi told Lew during a meeting attended by diplomats and finance officials from both governments. “We stand ready to work with the U.S. side to continue to develop this China-U.S. cooperative partnership so that we will be able to open a path of cooperation between major countries.”

The meeting was the first highlevel U.S.-Chinese contact since then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s brief visit to Beijing in

September.

Leaders of the world’s two biggest economies have stressed their common interests in security affairs and global economic stability even as they wrangle over complaints about China’s trade surpluses, its exchange rate controls and efforts to curb global warming. Numerous computer hacking attacks on U.S. companies have been traced to China.

Contacts were suspended during the U.S. presidential election and China’s once-a-decade leadership

transition, which began with Xi being named Communist Party leader in November. He became president last week.

Xi referred to Lew as a “special representative” of President Barack Obama, suggesting he might be responsible for a wider range of issues than just finance. Xi acknowledged the two sides have “some differences” but said they have “enormous shared interests” and should “handle this relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective.”

Lew said Washington wants to work with Beijing to reduce trade and investment barriers and to “protect the work of our innovators,” a reference to complaints about rampant Chinese copying of foreign goods from Hollywood movies to software and telecoms technology.

BAGHDAD - Car bombs and a suicide blast hit Shi’ite districts of Baghdad and south of Iraq’s capital on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people on the 10th anniversary of the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Sunni Islamist insurgents tied to al Qaeda have stepped up attacks on Shi’ite targets since the start of the year in a campaign to stoke sectarian tension and undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government.

Tuesday’s car bombs exploded near a busy Baghdad market, close to the heavily fortified Green Zone and in other districts across the capital. A suicide bomber driving a truck attacked a police base in a Shi’ite town just south of the capital, police and hospital sources said.

“I was driving my taxi and suddenly I felt my car rocked. Smoke was all around. I saw two bodies on the ground. People were running and shouting everywhere,” said Al Radi, a taxi driver caught in one of the blasts in Baghdad’s

Sadr City. Another 160 people were wounded in the attacks, hospital officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s blasts, but Iraq’s al Qaeda wing, Islamic State of Iraq, has vowed to take back ground lost in its long war with American troops. Since the start of the year the group has carried out a string of high-profile attacks.

Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the well-protected Justice Ministry building in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing 25 people in an attack by the al Qaeda affiliate. A decade after U.S. and Western troops swept into Iraq to remove Saddam from power, Iraq still struggles with a stubborn insurgency, sectarian frictions and political instability among its Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Syria’s civil war is further fanning Iraq’s volatility as Islamist insurgents invigorated by the mainly Sunni rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad try to tap into Sunni Muslim discontent in Iraq.

REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen

Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in the AL-Mashtal district in Baghdad March 19, 2013. A series of coordinated car bombs and blasts hit Shi’ite districts across Baghdad and south of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing at least 25 people on the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.

Power still out at damaged nuclear plant in Japan

Associated Press Writer

TOKYO — A power outage has left four fuel storage pools at Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear plant without fresh cooling water for nearly 20 hours, raising concerns about the fragility of a facility that still runs on makeshift equipment.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that pool temperatures at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were well within safe levels, and that pools would remain safe for at least four days without fresh cooling water.

The utility said the reactors were unaffected and no other abnormalities were found.

The cooling system was restored at one of the four pools by midafternoon Tuesday, and the systems for the three other pools are expected to resume by Wednesday morning as workers complete repairs and try to determine the cause the problem, TEPCO officials said.

Workers fixed the last of the three switchboards that they suspect as a possible cause of the problem and the utility was preparing a backup system in case the repairs didn’t

fix the issue, TEPCO spokesman Masayuki Ono told reporters. “If worse comes to worst, we have a backup water injection system,” Ono said.

Japan’s March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s power and cooling systems, causing three reactor cores to melt and fuel storage pools to overheat.

The current power outage is a major test for TEPCO to show if it has learned anything from the disaster.

TEPCO, which has repeatedly faced cover-up scandals, was slammed by local media Tuesday for waiting

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Bombs kill at least 50 on anniversary of Iraq invasion

Reuters

RELATIONSHIP between Indonesia and India had been well maintained since the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata. After the independence period, Indonesia played a considerable role in the friendship with India. Even, the independence of India in 1947 was inspired by the movement of Bung Karno that could precede the independence of Indonesia two years earlier in 1945.

However, the relationship between India and Indonesia, especially in the fields of culture, did not necessarily have to import the whole Indian culture because it would affect the cultural identity of Bali and Indonesia. On that account, it was required a rigorous selection to the culture and cooperation program of India coming to Bali. These were conveyed by Dr. Shri I Gusti Ngurah Arya Wedakarna MWS III (President of The Sukarno Center) in the meeting with Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of the Republic of India to Indonesia, held by Bali-India Friendship Association (BIFA).

“I do not agree if all of Indian cultures come to Bali. Bung Karno ever said that in the Tri Sakti conception was mentioned that Bali and Indonesia should be sovereign in the field of culture. Therefore, any component in Bali either the government, customary village, college or NGO should be selective to the Indian culture coming into Bali. They are not entirely

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

hours to disclose the blackout.

Ono acknowledged the plant was vulnerable. “Fukushima Dai-ichi still runs on makeshift equipment, and we are trying to switch to something more permanent and dependable, which is more desirable,” he said. “Considering the equipment situation, we may be pushing a little too hard.”

Ono said the utility did not immediately try to switch to a backup cooling system because doing so without finding and fixing the cause could lead to a repeat of the problem.

There is a backup cooling system but

no backup outside power.

Regulators previously have raised concerns about the makeshift equipment and urged the plant to switch them to a more permanent arrangement. The operator still has to remove melted, fatally radioactive fuel from the reactors before fully decommissioning the plant, which officials say could take 40 years.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief government spokesman, sought to allay concerns. “In a sense, we have put in place measures that leave no room for worry,” Suga told reporters in a regular briefing.

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BUSINESS Associated Press

HONG KONG — Lego is building its first factory in China as part of a plan to move production closer to Asia, its fastest growing market.

The Danish maker of building blocks for children said it’s investing at least 100 million euros ($130 million) in the new plant. Construction will start in 2014 and take three years.

It will be located in Jiaxing, 100 kilometers (67 miles) from Shanghai, where Lego is planning an Asian distribution center.

Lego said the new factory will be “a supply base for future growth in Asia.”

The company said that in recent years sales in the region have grown by more than 50 percent annually.

Lego predicted the factory will be able to supply 70 to 80 percent of the toys it sells in Asia in 2017.

China foreign direct investment overseas soars 147% Agence France-Presse

FOTO: FRENCH.JPG

Passengers queue for the Eurostar cross-Channel train, at Gare du Nord station in Paris, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. The OECD trimmed its growth forecast for France on Tuesday but recommended the government avoid more spending cuts to meet it EU deficit reduction pledges.

OECD trims French growth forecast Agence France-Presse

PARIS - The OECD trimmed its growth forecast for France on Tuesday but recommended the government avoid more spending cuts to meet it EU deficit reduction pledges. continue as planned while letting automatic stabilisers operate fully,” said the OECD in a survey of the French economy.

French President Francois Hollande last week publicly renounced the goal of hitting the 3.0 percent target in 2013, saying the public deficit would probably reach 3.7 percent of gross domestic product this year.

The OECD characterised the government’s deficit reduction plans as “ambitious given current headwinds”.

While urging the government to stick to plans to cut spending, the OECD urged a shift in taxes away from business and labour in a bid to boost competitiveness

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Makala-kalaan Kinembulan

Lego plans first China factory as Asian sales leap

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said it now expects the French economy to grow by 0.1 percent this year, instead of the 0.3 percent it forecast earlier.

It said it expected France’s public deficit would come in at 3.5 percent of economic output this year.

France had pledged to return to the 3.0 percent EU deficit ceiling this year, but the OECD forecast that this will only be achieved next year.

However the economic policy advisory body did not encourage France to make any additional spending cuts to meet the target.

“Deficit reduction efforts must

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International

and growth.

The report noted that France’s growth per capita over the past two decades has been among the lowest among its 34 member countries.

“Eliminating inefficient tax expenditures and increasing environmental, property and inheritance taxes would allow taxes on labour and businesses to be reduced further,” said the OECD report which offered over a dozen specific recommendations.

The OECD said France’s unemployment rate, which hit a 14-year record of 10.6 percent at then end of 2012, would continue to rise before stabilising at 11.25 percent at the end of this year.

BEIJING - Chinese investment overseas in January and February soared 147 percent year-on-year to $18.39 billion, official data showed Tuesday -- more than foreign direct investment into the country itself.

Incoming FDI, which excludes financial sectors, stood at $17.48 billion over the period, the commerce ministry said, down 1.35 percent year-on-year.

Beijing is keen to promote overseas investment in part of its efforts to reform China’s growth model and acquire significant foreign assets in sectors such as energy, mining and high-tech industries, analysts said.

“It should be a trend in the long run -- it is highly likely that overseas direct investment will exceed foreign direct investment in the next few years,” Ren Xianfang, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm IHS Global Insight, told AFP. “It is a national strategy to transfer China to a big investor from a big exporter.”

Chinese direct investment overseas surged almost 30 percent last year from 2011 as firms in the world’s second-largest economy increasingly look to expand abroad.

The biggest rise in Chinese investment in a major market over January and February was in Australia, where it surged 282 percent, the ministry said.

It was followed by Hong Kong, up 156 percent, and the US with a 146 percent increase, while in south-east Asia it went up 114 percent and in the EU 81.9 percent.

However, in Japan, with whom Beijing has been involved in a territorial row, investment was down 31 percent. Overseas FDI to Russia also slipped 46 percent.

At the same time China’s manufacturing competitiveness faces rising costs, while investor confidence is battered by weakness in the global economy.

Nonetheless incoming FDI in rose 6.3 percent to $8.21 billion in February, the first year-on-year increase in nine months, the commerce ministry said.

EU investment into China increased “quite rapidly” in the first two months of the year, the ministry said in a statement, rising 34.01 percent to $1.214 billion.

But FDI fell from the US and Asia, with Japanese investment down 6.7 percent over the period to $1.269 billion.

China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, expanding 7.8 percent from the year before. But it has been showing renewed vigour, with GDP growth accelerating in the final three months of 2012 to 7.9 percent, snapping seven straight quarters of weakening expansion.

Month-to-month comparisons at the start of the year in China can be heavily affected by seasonal factors as China’s annual Lunar New Year holiday can fall in either January or February.

China takes a week off during the break, the country’s biggest, as hundreds of millions of people travel back to their hometowns for celebrations.

Joined by 59 couples, a couple aged 75 years old Bali Post

SEMARAPURA - For the first time, the Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia (PHDI) Klungkung organized the Vivaha Samskara Makala-kalaan Kinembulan (mass wedding) in the office courtyard of PHDI Klungkung on Monday (Mar 18). In fact, the ritual was welcomed enthusiastically by Balinese residents. Even, there was a couple aged 75 years old joining the ritual.

It was followed by 59 couples from all walks of life, ranging from civil servants, police officers, workers to farmers. Meanwhile, some couples were from outside Klungkung such as Karangasem and Gianyar. The procession took place solemnly and was commenced by purificatory rite, worshipping for the offerings, tearing impromptu mat with kris dagger and cutting thread for three times. Afterward, the couples underwent the next procession such as surrounding the kala-kalaan offerings, washing hands and face, purifying the self with sudamala strainer, sibuk pepek, majaya-jaya, worship, matepung

tawar and ended with ngayab.

After the procession, a number of couples claimed to be grateful because they could finally perform the makala-kalaan ritual. Even, a couple from Paksebali village, Wayan Mogog, 75, and Wayan Murni, 60, could just have executed the ritual at the age of 75 years. “At the end, we are able to perform the makala-kalaan ritual. I got married in the 1950s but could not afford the ritual,” he said. After getting married, the couple had bestowed with two children and two grandchildren.

Their children and grandchildren also witnessed the makala-kalaan procession in the office courtyard of the PHDI Klungkung.

Chairman of the PHDI Klungkung, Mangku Wayan Sura, said the ritual was carried out based on the condition of local community because many Hindu couples had not completed their wedding up to makala-kalaan ritual. By mass ritual, the expenses of the Hindus would be getting smaller, so that it was considered more effective in resolving the high costs of wedding up to the makala-kalaan ritual. (kmb31)

IBP/File Photo

In the course of the first quarter of 2013, the transmission of zoonosis diseases such as rabies and bird flu still needed watching out, especially the bird flu disease in ducks.

First quarter of 2013

Bird flu remains to threat Denpasar Bali Post

DENPASAR - In the course of the first quarter of 2013, the transmission of zoonosis diseases such as rabies and bird flu still needed watching out, especially the bird flu disease in ducks. Until now, the bird flu case in ducks was still found to be positive in people’s homes and becoming a threat to Denpasar. Meanwhile, the transmission of rabies was no longer found.

IBP/kmb31

A couple aged 75 years old joining the Vivaha Samskara Makala-kalaan Kinembulan (mass wedding) in the office courtyard of PHDI Klungkung on Monday (Mar 18).

It was revealed by the Head of Denpasar Livestock, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, AA Bayu Bramasta when met at the office of Denpasar Mayor, Monday (Mar 18). “Until this month, there has been no report about rabies. Meanwhile, bird flu in ducks is still found in some places,” he said.

Bramasta said the handling of bird flu in ducks was longer than in chickens. Bird flu in ducks was not enough to be examined by rapid test. In chicken, the results could have been seen whether positive or negative by rapid test. “Meanwhile, bird flu in ducks must be followed up by laboratory examination. In short, it is not enough to be examined by rapid

test,” he said.

He explained that bird flu case in ducks mostly happened due to the purchase of duck whose origin was unknown. If they were raised in the local area, the possibility of bird flu was small. By and large, the ducks affected by bird flu was due to the purchase in the market so that its origin was unknown.

In providing outreach to community, his party had already been working with the existing larvae mosquito observers at each village. By involving these officers, the socialization for prevention of bird flu could work more precisely and faster because they had often made visits to people’s home. “We’ve

been working with the larvae mosquito observers to participate in monitoring the presence of bird flu. We’ll also follow up if people make a report to PDS team of Denpasar Livestock, Fishery and Maritime Affairs,” said Bayu Bramasta.

If any animal was found to be positive for bird flu, his party should sterilize the area or the house compound. It was intended to avoid the spread of bird flu from getting faster. Besides, his party had sent a letter to each village asking people to isolate any animals (ducks) just purchased in the market from the others. It was to prevent the transmission when the new animals were infected by bird flu. (kmb12)

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From page 1

REUTERS/Babu

Chief of India’s ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi (L) speaks with M. Karunanidhi, chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, during an election campaign rally in Chennai April 5, 2011.

India government ally withdraws from coalition, reforms at risk Reuters

NEW DELHI - A key regional ally pulled out of India’s ruling coalition on Tuesday, jeopardizing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economic reforms but posing no immediate threat to the minority government, which can survive with the support of other parties.

The withdrawal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) could hamper the government’s efforts to rein in the budget deficit, spur growth in Asia’s third-largest economy and stave off the threat of a downgrade by global credit ratings agencies.

DMK leader M. Karunanidhi told a press conference the party would not offer outside support to the government and would withdraw its five federal ministers on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In a possible sign of policy paralysis to come, a powerful regional party that supports the government in parliament, the Samajwadi Party (SP), said it would not back bills aimed at liberalizing pensions and insurance. The government had hoped to pass the reforms in this session of parliament.

“With the federal elections next year, political stability is key for all economic reforms. This will surely delay the economic reforms to some extent,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure,

chief economist, Bank Of Baroda, Mumbai.

In other reform bills, the government wants to change land acquisition laws to make it easier for companies to buy land for industrial and infrastructure projects. Also planned are a food security bill to provide subsidized more grain for the poor, the setting up of an anti-graft ombudsman and the approval of an ordinance providing for harsher punishment for perpetrators of sex crimes.

The DMK, which draws its support from Tamils in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, announced its withdrawal from the coalition in protest against the government’s perceived dithering on a U.N. resolution on war crimes in neighboring Sri Lanka between that country’s Sinhalesemajority government and its own minority Tamils.

It was not immediately clear what impact the withdrawal of the DMK would have on the bills as the party has previously expressed support for

the land acquisition and food security measures.

But the withdrawal heightens the chance that the government will call a snap national election if it is unable to pass major legislation, although neither the ruling Congress party nor the main opposition have shown much appetite for early polls. Elections need to be held by May 2014.

“The government has lost majority. All the reforms including insurance and pension will now be put on the back burner,” said Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a spokesman for the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP leaders said they had no immediate plans to call for a confidence vote in parliament.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was stable, adding there was a chance the DMK could change its mind. The DMK has climbed down in the past after threatening to withdraw from the coalition. “There is no crisis,” Chidambaram told reporters.

Francis swept into a sun-drenched St Peter’s Square to greet the throngs and walked in a procession along the length of the basilica as prelates chanted a Litany of Saints in Latin.

The 265th successor to St Peter, considered the first pope, also received from his cardinals the pallium -- a lambswool strip of cloth that symbolises the pope’s role as a shepherd.

The “Fisherman’s Ring” bestowed on him by Angelo Sodano, the dean of the college of cardinals, is a personalised signet ring traditionally worn by popes in honour of St Peter -- a fisherman.

Crowds had gathered from the early morning to see the Argentine pope’s enthronement in a rare ceremony laden with centuries-old rituals and lavish imagery.

Francis gave the thumbs-up to ecstatic crowds and stopped to kiss babies, getting off the car at one point to bless a handicapped man.

“With Pope Francis, the Church will be closer to the people and to the modern world,” said Rodrigo Grajales, a 31-year-old Colombian priest.

The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has already won hearts in Rome with a disarmingly informal style which contrasted with Tuesday’s pomp and ceremony.

The Vatican said 132 foreign delegations attended.

Bergoglio was the surprise choice at a conclave of cardinals to find a successor to 85-year-old Benedict XVI, who last month brought a sudden end to a papacy that had often been overshadowed by scandal, saying he was too old to carry on.

He was the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages.

The jovial Francis has said he chose his papal name in honour of the mediaeval Italian saint St Francis of Assisi and has called for a “poor Church for the poor”, warning the world’s cardinals against pursuing worldly glories.

“Go Francis! We Will Be With You Wherever You Go!” read a sign held up by a group of Brazilian nuns in St Peter’s Square. Sister Rosa, an elderly Italian nun, said she expected the pope would be “another St Francis on Earth for love, goodness, poverty and humility”.

The son of an Italian immigrant railway worker from a working-class quarter of Buenos Aires has been effusive in a way that is unusual in the Vatican.

But the arrival of world leaders has presented him with a first diplomatic headache in the form of a request from compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina to mediate in a row with Britain over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Francis is still haunted by criticism at home for failing to speak out against the excesses of Argentina’s military rule during the dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Chinese government has also said it will not be sending any representatives after Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he was attending.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe also flew in, sidestepping an EU travel ban over human rights abuses that does not apply to the Vatican.

Latin America was heavily represented at the inauguration of the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, with the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay all in attendance.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and European Union leaders were also present.

Leaders of the Eastern Catholic Rite were also in attendance, including Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Vatican radio said it was the first time a patriarch of Constantinople had attended an inauguration since 1054 when the eastern and western halfs of Christendom split. The Vatican was in security lockdown for the event, with 3,000 officers deployed including sharpshooters on the rooftops and bomb disposal experts. Three Red Cross tents could be seen on the square and giant screens have been placed all down Via della Conciliazione -- the main avenue leading to St Peter’s.

The mass proper will include a homily by Francis, who has often strayed from prepared texts with off-the-cuff jokes, anecdotes and passionate exhortations for spiritual renewal.

Church leaders have urged Francis to move quickly to reform the intrigue-filled Roman Curia, the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, and his appointments in the coming weeks will be closely watched.

Francis has indicated he will press for a friendlier faith that is closer to ordinary people and for social justice, although the moderate conservative is unlikely to change major tenets of Catholic doctrine.

Vatican experts say he has also signalled he will pursue a more inclusive “collegial” style of leadership together with the cardinals and bishops.

Vast crowds also gathered on the other side of the Atlantic outside the Buenos Aires cathedral to dance and sing as they watched the inauguration.

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

11

INDONESIA Lion Air stuns again with Airbus deal Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Lion Air, a little-known carrier launched 13 years ago with just one plane, has struck two of the world’s largest aircraft orders in a staggering $46 billion bet on Indonesia’s air transport boom.

France announced Monday that Indonesia’s fastest-growing airline had agreed to buy 234 mediumhaul A320 jets worth $23.8 billion (18.4 billion euros) from European aerospace giant Airbus.

French President Francois Hollande described the “historic” deal as the biggest in the history of civil aviation.

The agreement was signed at the Elysee Palace by Airbus head Fabrice Bregier and his Lion Air counterpart Rusdi Kirana.

The deal comes after Lion Air astounded the industry with a $22.4 billion agreement for 230 Boeing 737 airliners, inked in 2011 as a vis-

iting US President Barack Obama looked on.

The impressive orders are in sharp contrast with the size of the company, which is banned from US and EU skies over safety fears.

Founded in 1999 by brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana, who are ranked the 33rd richest Indonesians with collective wealth of $900 million, Lion Air is the first private airline in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation.

Currently it operates a relatively modest 92 planes -- all Boeings except for one McDonnell Douglas -- which makes it number nine among regional carriers in terms of

fleet size.

Its 72 destinations are mostly in Indonesia, and the furthest it flies is to Saudi Arabia -- a route mostly packed with domestic workers and construction labourers.

Nevertheless, the company has huge ambitions and is betting big on the formidable expansion of air transport in Indonesia, which is experiencing passenger growth of around 20 percent every year.

With 240 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation, and embraces more than 17,000 islands scattered across 33 provinces.

Annual economic growth ex-

ceeds 6.0 percent and there is a burgeoning middle class which is keen to abandon travel by bus, ferry and train and instead take to the skies for holidays and family visits.

Despite its regulatory woes, Lion Air is intent on spreading its wings internationally, and is expected this year to launch its long-haul arm, Batik Air, with six Boeing 737s and five Boeing B787 Dreamliners.

Last September it also announced the launch of another offshoot, Malindo Airways, which will begin regional operations in May from Malaysia, the home turf of Lion Air’s main rival AirAsia.

The vast potential of Indonesia’s aviation market, and the scope for offshoot carriers, supports the scale of Lion Air’s orders, said Brendan Sobie from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in Singapore.

Observers said that Lion Air wants to replicate the success of AirAsia, the region’s low-cost pioneer which has flourished from its Kuala Lumpur base under the charismatic leadership of founder Tony Fernandes.

“I think Lion Air wants to show that it can beat Tony Fernandes,” said Dudi Sudibyo, an expert from aviation magazine Angkasa.

With both mega-purchases in place, Lion Air would boast more than 600 aircraft by 2025, making it among the top ten of the world’s biggest airlines in terms of fleet size.

In 2007 Lion was among a number of Indonesian airlines banned by the EU for lax safety standards.

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and several other firms were taken off the blacklist in July 2009 but Lion Air is still on it.

State-owned enterprises to invest in Myanmar

Antara

AP Photo/Trisnadi, File

A Lion Air passenger jet plane is parked on the tarmac at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, in this file photo dated May 12, 2012. Indonesian airline Lion Air is to buy 234 short to medium range aircraft from Airbus it is announced Monday March 18, 2013, for euro 18.4 billion (US dlrs24 billion), in what is being billed as the biggest civilian deal in the history of the aircraft manufacturer.

JAKARTA - About 15 stateowned enterprises are to invest in Myanmar in 2013 as an effort to expand business opportunity abroad, Minister Dahlan Iskan said here on Tuesday.

Among the 15 companies are electricity company PT PLN, tin firm PT Timah, aircraft maintenance company PT Garuda Maintenance Facilities (GMF), coal producer company PT Bukit Asam, state logistics agency Perum Bulog, PT Bank Negara Indonesia, fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Indonesia, cement company PT Semen Indonesia and telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia.

“Business is rising in Myanmar in accordance with the democratization process there,” said Dahlan.

The minister mentioned electricity company PT PLN will cooperate with local company in Myanmar in

reducing electricity loses rate in the country which is still at 26 percent.

In Indonesia itself the electricity loses rate is below 10 percent.

Meanwhile cement company PT Semen Indonesia will build a factory in Myanmar with target distribution to local market and Vietnam. Tin firm PT Timah is also set to build a factory in Myanmar.

Aircraft maintenance company PT GMF will offer maintenance service to aircraft companies in Myanmar while coal producer PT Bukit Asam will invest US$80 million to build a 2x20 Megawatt steam power plant. Telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia is now waiting for business license to operate celluler service in Myanmar.

“All operational cost of Indonesian state owned companies in myanmar will be taken care

by PT Bank Negara Indonesia,” Dahlan added.

10

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Destination

International

International

Sports

Yeh Pulu Relief:

Description of Life in Bali Ancient Kingdom IBP

Bali is a bijou island, but the content of traditional values, arts, history and culture is not as small as the area. Artistic heritage, history and culture almost spread throughout the nine regencies and city existing on the Island of the Gods. The search on the heritage, arts and cultural relics of this time is to Yeh Pulu Relief.

Relief of the ancient rock stone is located at the Bedulu (Bedahulu) Village, Blahbatuh Subdistrict, Gianyar Regency.

Location to Tampaksiring and Kintamani is only about 40 minutes drive from Denpasar City. The entrance to the tourist attraction of holy water is not far from the main road east of Goa Gajah Temple, to the right, into the village street. Visitors should be careful because there are many road junctions without a clue heading for the object of Yeh Pulu Relief, or ask the way to local residents.

The monument in the form of relief becoming the main attraction to tourists, especially foreign tourists, was discovered in 1925 by a courtier or Ubud Royal family. The name was taken from the barrel (or container of rice in the past) located at the central axis of purified water nestling in the

west of the relief. The word yeh in Balinese language means water and pulu means a barrel.

The appeal of

this monument is not only because of the uniqueness of relief sculpture immortalized on the rock stone wall of the hill,

but also due to the spread of rice field view along the two-hundredmeters and the sound of clinking water on the left-right path to location is always neatly

trimmed and maintained sustainably, emanating a natural beauty.

With such a natural atmosphere, the clear and the sharpness of splashing water are always flowing along the trench making the ambience around this object really peaceful and enchanting. On that account, it is not

IBP/Net

mistaken if the niches (caves) in southern relief suspected as the hermitage of the last Balinese ancient King before the collapse of Bali to Majapahit administration in 1343.

Relief with magical nuance and meaningful is 25 meters long and 2 meters high. Many researches conducted by experts from home and overseas to recognize the implicit meaning behind the wall relief of the rock cliffs on the hills. As consequence, it drove many commentaries and analysis to uncover the mystery behind the veil of the true meaning of the relief. Overall, the theme of this story recounts the life in the forest atmosphere and daily life in the ancient kingdom of Bali. In addition to the Balinese classical carvings, this monument also has niches of Bedahulu Royal Hermitage before his death against the army of the Majapahit kingdom in 1343 AD. Yeh Pulu Relief poses one of the many historical classical monuments of Bali originating in ancient Bali (14th century AD) retaining full knowledge of art, which until now is still sustainable and be cared by the members of Subak, as one of the classical organizations that in particular organizes farmers and manage all aspects of rice field cultivation.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

7

Heat beat Boston for 23d consecutive win in NBA Associated Press Writer

REUTERS/Brandon Malone

Lotus Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland drives in the pit lane during the Australian F1 Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne March 17, 2013.

Lotus not convinced tyre advantage over F1 rivals will continue

Lotus is not convinced that it will continue to have a decisive tyre advantage over its rivals in every grand prix this year. The E21’s tyre management was key to Kimi Raikkonen’s Australian Grand Prix victory as it allowed him to make only two pit-stops compared to the three of his main rivals.

While Lotus is confident that the car is one of the best in terms of tyre degradation, technical director James Allison doesn’t count on being able to do this everywhere.

“It’s fairly finely-balanced and we can’t assume that we will be able to pull off the trick of running one fewer stop than everyone else at a competitive pace everywhere we go,” Allison told AUTOSPORT. “The car is good, the drivers have both said that from the outset and they have a good feeling about it, but it’s not a given at all. “It doesn’t take much to shove the tyres from being able to do the two-stopper that Kimi managed to the three-stopper that Romain [Grosjean] ran.”

Allison admitted that the car’s qualifying performance was roughly representative of its position in the competitive order, but that

the tyre characteristics this year means that starting position is not as important as it was at the end of 2012.

Raikkonen and team-mate Grosjean locked out the fourth row behind the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars.

Lotus has downplayed expectations of a title bid, but Allison is confident that the car can continue to be in the mix as long as the tyres remain key to race form.

“On one-lap running, we are the third or fourth quickest team and that means we are going to be somewhere from fifth to eighth [in qualifying],” said Allison.

Lotus E21 F1 2013 Australia”The indications from the car are that it is capable over a wide range of tracks of running competitive in the races.

“The tyres are less of a story than everyone was anticipating but they are more highlystrung than last year.

“Qualifying pace is therefore slightly less important than it was at the tail-end of last season because it doesn’t take many laps at 0.2-0.3 seconds a lap degradation before the qualifying pace is meaningless.”

Brazil’s World Cup may go well for the wrong reasons

Reuters

SAO PAULO - It’s the catchphrase of the year in Brazil: “Imagina na Copa!” The Portuguese phrase, which basically means “Imagine what it’ll be like during the World Cup,” has become a favorite among Brazilians stuck in traffic, or in line at their woefully overcrowded airports.

The underlying belief is that the chaos will be worse when Brazil hosts the soccer tournament in June 2014, and hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors fly in to see the games.

Yet Paulo Resende, one of the country’s leading logistics experts, says that fear is misplaced.

After a recent survey of about 20 leading local corporations and travel agencies, Re-

sende believes Brazil’s airports and roads will actually see substantially less traffic during the World Cup than on normal business days.

The reason: Brazilians have heard so many doomsday predictions about gridlock that companies will avoid business travel, families will avoid vacations and some people will just stay at home as much as possible and watch the games on TV during the month the World Cup is in progress, Resende says. In other words: “Imagina na Copa” may end up being the event’s salvation.

“What luck - our incompetence is going to save us,” said Resende, a dean at the Fundacao Dom Cabral, a business school in Belo Horizonte. “People are so worried about the Cup that some are going to close themselves inside.”

BOSTON — LeBron James and the Miami Heat escaped Boston with their 23rd consecutive win and now have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.

Five years to the day after the Celtics ended Houston’s winning streak at 22 games, James scored 37 points and made the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami’s 105-103 victory on Monday night.

After overcoming the largest deficit they’ve faced during their streak, the only team left for the Heat to catch is the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row. “It means a lot,” James said.

“I know the history of the game. To be sitting in second place right now ... for us to be there and doing it the way we want to do it, it means a lot.”

Jeff Green scored a career-high 43 points for Boston, which was without Kevin Garnett for the second straight game. Paul Pierce had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics, but he missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left that could h av e given Boston the win.

Instead, the defending NBA

champions won a regular-season game in Boston for the first time in 11 tries.

“This was a passionate game, a lot of history between the two teams,” said Miami forward Shane Battier, who played for the Rockets when their 22-game win streak ended on March 18, 2008, and was with the Heat when they knocked Boston out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. “Not that it’s playoff intensity ... nothing’s like the playoffs.”

James added 12 assists and Mario Chalmers scored 21 for Miami, which has not lost since Feb. 1.

“It’s a special opportunity that we have with this group and you don’t want to take it for granted,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“You want to treat every day as a special opportunity to be with this group, to share these moments together, but more importantly to take a step closer to going after our goal and every day that we improve puts us in a better position in a quest where nothing is guaranteed for anybody.”

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) drives past Boston Celtics’ Jeff Green (8) in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Monday, March 18, 2013. The Heat won 105-103.

AP Photo/ Michael Dwyer

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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Deschamps faces dilemma ahead of Georgia game Associated Press Writer

CLAIREFONTAINE, France — France coach Didier Deschamps must decide whether to gamble on picking players for the World Cup qualifier with Georgia who are at risk of being suspended for the critical game against Spain four days later.

Midfielders Yohan Cabaye, Maxime Gonalons and Blaise Matuidi and center back Laurent Koscielny will be suspended if they are booked against Georgia on Friday, leaving Deschamps with a difficult decision to make over whether or not he should leave out first-choice players.

“Yes, that is a possibility but that doesn’t mean I will do it.

The risk of suspension is an extra danger,” Deschamps said Monday, adding that he is wary of pushing tired players too far against a Georgia team which he expects to sit back and defend deep in numbers.

“We could find ourselves in that situation,” he said. “I’m expecting to face a Georgia team which will come to Stade de France to defend well.”

Deschamps also has injury concerns, with Cabaye and winger Jeremy Menez nursing groin strains and star winger Franck Ribery recovering from an ankle ligament injury, and he may be better served resting some of them.

“Freshness is important when you are playing two teams with completely different profiles,” Deschamps said. “I have to take into consideration that I have four players who could be suspended (for the Spain match) and three of them in midfield.”

France is level with Spain at the top of Group I with seven points after having drawn 1-1 away to the Spanish in October.

Koscielny, meanwhile, is confident he can cope with playing under the threat of a yellow card.

“When I play I think first and foremost about the match. If I play then I will give everything without putting myself under pressure over the yellow card,” the Arsenal defender said. “The most important thing is the Georgia match, even though I know everyone’s focusing on Spain. We have to win against Georgia, then after that we will have a lot of time to think about Spain afterward. Spain had a lot of trouble winning over there and we are expecting a tough game.”

Resting Koscielny against a Georgia team not renowned for its attacking flair, however, could be an ideal opportunity to give 19-year-old center back Raphael Varane his first cap.

“There is always a risk when a player starts. There are examples of that, but Varane will start at one stage or another.

There is no such thing as zero risk in football,” Deschamps said. “I have no doubt about his ability but this is a different context. Is he capable of dealing with that? Yes.” Paul Pogba, who turned 20 last week, has proved a goal threat from distance by scoring five times from Juventus’ midfield this season. He said he is ready to seize his opportunity if it arises.

“I enjoy my football and I am happy to be at Juventus. The players believe in me, so does the coach. So I have no pressure,” Pogba said. “If I am here now it means that (Deschamps) has faith in me. If he has selected me it means he thinks I am ready.

I am ready to play and to show my ability.”

Deschamps is bracing himself for a scrappy contest against Georgia, which held out until late on before losing 1-0 at home to Spain. “We’ve watched quite a few videos of their last games,” he said. “They defended very well at home to Spain, with a lot of aggression.”

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

9

Kroos, Bender drop out of Germany World Cup squad Associated Press Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany — Midfielders Toni Kroos of Bayern Munich and Sven Bender of Borussia Dortmund have dropped out of Germany’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan.

Kroos has an inflamed knee, while Bender is down with the flu.

Twin brother Lars Bender of Bayer Leverkusen pulled out Saturday because of a heel injury.

Coach Joachim Loew has not decided whether to call up any replacement. Loew’s squad is already missing attacking midfielder Marco Reus, who is suspended for the first game; central defenders Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber, both injured, and striker Miroslav Klose, also injured.

Germany plays in Astana on Friday and in Nuremberg four days later.

Unbeaten Germany tops Group C with 10 points, ahead of Sweden with seven and Ireland with six.

REUTERS/Toby Melville

Chelsea’s Ramires (C) and Frank Lampard (R) look on as West Bromwich Albion’s goalkeeper Ben Foster (L) attempts an injury-time overhead kick shot on goal during their English Premier League soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London March 2, 2013.

Foster buzzing about England return after babysitting Reuters

LONDON - West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster says he is happy to be back in the England fold again now that he has more time on his hands following baby-sitting duties.

Foster has not been involved since turning his back on England two years ago, saying at the time he wanted to spend more time with his young family rather than be England’s second or third choice keeper under former coach Fabio Capello.

However, he is now keen to add to his five caps after making himself available again. “(The kids) spend every day at school

AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere

French soccer team coach Didier Deschamps addresses reporters during a press conference in Paris, Thursday March 14, 2013.

Red Star name Sa Pinto as coach after Jankovic departs

Reuters

BELGRADE - Red Star Belgrade have announced former Portugal forward Ricardo Sa Pinto will take over as coach following the departure of Aleksandar Jankovic, the Serbian first division club said on their official website (www.crvenazvezdafk.com).

Former European Cup winners Red Star, who owe in excess of an estimated 50 million euros to creditors, fell 11 points behind champions and league leaders Partizan after a 2-1 defeat at Radnicki Nis on Sunday.

Red Star last won the title in 2007 and

are staring at a trophyless season after they were knocked out of the Serbian Cup and eliminated from the Europa League in the preliminary rounds.

“The club’s managing board convened on Monday evening and after a three-hour session, we agreed with Jankovic to go our separate ways while Sa Pinto will sign a 15-month contract,” Red Star’s sports director Zoran Stojadinovic said.

“We have an option of extending Sa Pinto’s contract by another year if we are happy with the results, he knows the situation is difficult and will be given time to consolidate the team.”

Sa Pinto, who scored nine goals in 45 internationals, had a brief spell at Sporting Lisbon last year after working as an assistant at Uniao Leiria. Stojadinovic is convinced the 40-year-old would be able to emulate his playing achievements at Red Star’s helm.

“He was an outstanding player and I think he has the confidence to become an excellent coach,” he said.

“We don’t expect to win the league title this year because that would put Sa Pinto in an awkward position, but I insisted that he takes over and if it turns out to be a mistake I will take responsibility.”

now, so by the time they get home it’s half-past-four, you give them their dinner and a bath and then it is bedtime, so I don’t really get to see them as much as I did,” Foster told the club’s website (www. wba.co.uk).

“With age comes the feeling that you don’t want to regret things. My kids are a huge part of my life and it would be lovely to show them a few DVDs and caps when they’re older - and the World Cup next year is a huge thing,” he added.

The 29-year-old has never played for England at a major tournament and although he is unlikely to usurp number one Joe Hart the Manchester City keeper

has not been at his best.

“I’m not expecting to play to be honest. I’ve said many times he (Hart) could be England’s number one for the next 10 or 15 years. I just want to be there to help out,” said the former Manchester United player.

“I’m buzzing. It’s been two years since I was last involved so it’s nice, and to come straight back in with qualifiers will make it a little bit more special.” Foster will face competition from Celtic’s Fraser Forster for second choice.

England are away at minnows San Marino on Friday before they travel to Group H leaders Montenegro on March 26.

at Liverpool and spent eight years at Anfield, where he became one of the Premier League’s most feared forwards. He then moved to Spanish club Real Madrid and enjoyed an impressive strike rate despite largely being a back-up for Brazil striker Ronaldo.

Owen returned to England for stints at Newcastle and Manchester United before moving to Stoke on a free transfer in the last offseason.

Injuries, though, have taken their toll on his body and he has scored only one goal for what will be his last club.

“I now feel it is the right time to bring the curtain down on my career,” Owen said Tuesday on his

personal website. “I have been very fortunate in that my career has taken me on a journey that like many young players starting out, I could only have dreamt of.”

Aside from the goal against Argentina, where he announced himself on the world stage at the age of 18, Owen will also be remembered for his clinical hat trick in a World Cup qualifier against Germany in Munich in 2001.

Arguably the highlight of his club career came in the 2001 FA Cup final, when he scored twice for Liverpool in a 2-1 win over a dominant Arsenal. Liverpool went on to complete the FA Cup-League Cup-UEFA Cup treble that season.

Michael Owen to retire at end of season

Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson

Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, left, and Dortmund’s Sven Bender challenge for the ball during their German Soccer Cup (DFB Pokal) quarterfinal match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in Munich, southern Germany Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013.

LONDON — Michael Owen will retire at the end of the Premier League season, concluding the career of one of English football’s most prolific strikers for club and country.

The 33-year-old Owen scored 40 times in 89 England appearances, including a memorable solo goal from the halfway line in a World Cup knockout match against Argentina in 1998, to place him fourth on the country’s all-time scorers list behind Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves.

Known for his pace and quality finishing, he started his club career

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International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sp rt

Deschamps faces dilemma ahead of Georgia game Associated Press Writer

CLAIREFONTAINE, France — France coach Didier Deschamps must decide whether to gamble on picking players for the World Cup qualifier with Georgia who are at risk of being suspended for the critical game against Spain four days later.

Midfielders Yohan Cabaye, Maxime Gonalons and Blaise Matuidi and center back Laurent Koscielny will be suspended if they are booked against Georgia on Friday, leaving Deschamps with a difficult decision to make over whether or not he should leave out first-choice players.

“Yes, that is a possibility but that doesn’t mean I will do it.

The risk of suspension is an extra danger,” Deschamps said Monday, adding that he is wary of pushing tired players too far against a Georgia team which he expects to sit back and defend deep in numbers.

“We could find ourselves in that situation,” he said. “I’m expecting to face a Georgia team which will come to Stade de France to defend well.”

Deschamps also has injury concerns, with Cabaye and winger Jeremy Menez nursing groin strains and star winger Franck Ribery recovering from an ankle ligament injury, and he may be better served resting some of them.

“Freshness is important when you are playing two teams with completely different profiles,” Deschamps said. “I have to take into consideration that I have four players who could be suspended (for the Spain match) and three of them in midfield.”

France is level with Spain at the top of Group I with seven points after having drawn 1-1 away to the Spanish in October.

Koscielny, meanwhile, is confident he can cope with playing under the threat of a yellow card.

“When I play I think first and foremost about the match. If I play then I will give everything without putting myself under pressure over the yellow card,” the Arsenal defender said. “The most important thing is the Georgia match, even though I know everyone’s focusing on Spain. We have to win against Georgia, then after that we will have a lot of time to think about Spain afterward. Spain had a lot of trouble winning over there and we are expecting a tough game.”

Resting Koscielny against a Georgia team not renowned for its attacking flair, however, could be an ideal opportunity to give 19-year-old center back Raphael Varane his first cap.

“There is always a risk when a player starts. There are examples of that, but Varane will start at one stage or another.

There is no such thing as zero risk in football,” Deschamps said. “I have no doubt about his ability but this is a different context. Is he capable of dealing with that? Yes.” Paul Pogba, who turned 20 last week, has proved a goal threat from distance by scoring five times from Juventus’ midfield this season. He said he is ready to seize his opportunity if it arises.

“I enjoy my football and I am happy to be at Juventus. The players believe in me, so does the coach. So I have no pressure,” Pogba said. “If I am here now it means that (Deschamps) has faith in me. If he has selected me it means he thinks I am ready.

I am ready to play and to show my ability.”

Deschamps is bracing himself for a scrappy contest against Georgia, which held out until late on before losing 1-0 at home to Spain. “We’ve watched quite a few videos of their last games,” he said. “They defended very well at home to Spain, with a lot of aggression.”

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

9

Kroos, Bender drop out of Germany World Cup squad Associated Press Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany — Midfielders Toni Kroos of Bayern Munich and Sven Bender of Borussia Dortmund have dropped out of Germany’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan.

Kroos has an inflamed knee, while Bender is down with the flu.

Twin brother Lars Bender of Bayer Leverkusen pulled out Saturday because of a heel injury.

Coach Joachim Loew has not decided whether to call up any replacement. Loew’s squad is already missing attacking midfielder Marco Reus, who is suspended for the first game; central defenders Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber, both injured, and striker Miroslav Klose, also injured.

Germany plays in Astana on Friday and in Nuremberg four days later.

Unbeaten Germany tops Group C with 10 points, ahead of Sweden with seven and Ireland with six.

REUTERS/Toby Melville

Chelsea’s Ramires (C) and Frank Lampard (R) look on as West Bromwich Albion’s goalkeeper Ben Foster (L) attempts an injury-time overhead kick shot on goal during their English Premier League soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London March 2, 2013.

Foster buzzing about England return after babysitting Reuters

LONDON - West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster says he is happy to be back in the England fold again now that he has more time on his hands following baby-sitting duties.

Foster has not been involved since turning his back on England two years ago, saying at the time he wanted to spend more time with his young family rather than be England’s second or third choice keeper under former coach Fabio Capello.

However, he is now keen to add to his five caps after making himself available again. “(The kids) spend every day at school

AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere

French soccer team coach Didier Deschamps addresses reporters during a press conference in Paris, Thursday March 14, 2013.

Red Star name Sa Pinto as coach after Jankovic departs

Reuters

BELGRADE - Red Star Belgrade have announced former Portugal forward Ricardo Sa Pinto will take over as coach following the departure of Aleksandar Jankovic, the Serbian first division club said on their official website (www.crvenazvezdafk.com).

Former European Cup winners Red Star, who owe in excess of an estimated 50 million euros to creditors, fell 11 points behind champions and league leaders Partizan after a 2-1 defeat at Radnicki Nis on Sunday.

Red Star last won the title in 2007 and

are staring at a trophyless season after they were knocked out of the Serbian Cup and eliminated from the Europa League in the preliminary rounds.

“The club’s managing board convened on Monday evening and after a three-hour session, we agreed with Jankovic to go our separate ways while Sa Pinto will sign a 15-month contract,” Red Star’s sports director Zoran Stojadinovic said.

“We have an option of extending Sa Pinto’s contract by another year if we are happy with the results, he knows the situation is difficult and will be given time to consolidate the team.”

Sa Pinto, who scored nine goals in 45 internationals, had a brief spell at Sporting Lisbon last year after working as an assistant at Uniao Leiria. Stojadinovic is convinced the 40-year-old would be able to emulate his playing achievements at Red Star’s helm.

“He was an outstanding player and I think he has the confidence to become an excellent coach,” he said.

“We don’t expect to win the league title this year because that would put Sa Pinto in an awkward position, but I insisted that he takes over and if it turns out to be a mistake I will take responsibility.”

now, so by the time they get home it’s half-past-four, you give them their dinner and a bath and then it is bedtime, so I don’t really get to see them as much as I did,” Foster told the club’s website (www. wba.co.uk).

“With age comes the feeling that you don’t want to regret things. My kids are a huge part of my life and it would be lovely to show them a few DVDs and caps when they’re older - and the World Cup next year is a huge thing,” he added.

The 29-year-old has never played for England at a major tournament and although he is unlikely to usurp number one Joe Hart the Manchester City keeper

has not been at his best.

“I’m not expecting to play to be honest. I’ve said many times he (Hart) could be England’s number one for the next 10 or 15 years. I just want to be there to help out,” said the former Manchester United player.

“I’m buzzing. It’s been two years since I was last involved so it’s nice, and to come straight back in with qualifiers will make it a little bit more special.” Foster will face competition from Celtic’s Fraser Forster for second choice.

England are away at minnows San Marino on Friday before they travel to Group H leaders Montenegro on March 26.

at Liverpool and spent eight years at Anfield, where he became one of the Premier League’s most feared forwards. He then moved to Spanish club Real Madrid and enjoyed an impressive strike rate despite largely being a back-up for Brazil striker Ronaldo.

Owen returned to England for stints at Newcastle and Manchester United before moving to Stoke on a free transfer in the last offseason.

Injuries, though, have taken their toll on his body and he has scored only one goal for what will be his last club.

“I now feel it is the right time to bring the curtain down on my career,” Owen said Tuesday on his

personal website. “I have been very fortunate in that my career has taken me on a journey that like many young players starting out, I could only have dreamt of.”

Aside from the goal against Argentina, where he announced himself on the world stage at the age of 18, Owen will also be remembered for his clinical hat trick in a World Cup qualifier against Germany in Munich in 2001.

Arguably the highlight of his club career came in the 2001 FA Cup final, when he scored twice for Liverpool in a 2-1 win over a dominant Arsenal. Liverpool went on to complete the FA Cup-League Cup-UEFA Cup treble that season.

Michael Owen to retire at end of season

Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson

Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, left, and Dortmund’s Sven Bender challenge for the ball during their German Soccer Cup (DFB Pokal) quarterfinal match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in Munich, southern Germany Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013.

LONDON — Michael Owen will retire at the end of the Premier League season, concluding the career of one of English football’s most prolific strikers for club and country.

The 33-year-old Owen scored 40 times in 89 England appearances, including a memorable solo goal from the halfway line in a World Cup knockout match against Argentina in 1998, to place him fourth on the country’s all-time scorers list behind Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves.

Known for his pace and quality finishing, he started his club career

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Destination

International

International

Sports

Yeh Pulu Relief:

Description of Life in Bali Ancient Kingdom IBP

Bali is a bijou island, but the content of traditional values, arts, history and culture is not as small as the area. Artistic heritage, history and culture almost spread throughout the nine regencies and city existing on the Island of the Gods. The search on the heritage, arts and cultural relics of this time is to Yeh Pulu Relief.

Relief of the ancient rock stone is located at the Bedulu (Bedahulu) Village, Blahbatuh Subdistrict, Gianyar Regency.

Location to Tampaksiring and Kintamani is only about 40 minutes drive from Denpasar City. The entrance to the tourist attraction of holy water is not far from the main road east of Goa Gajah Temple, to the right, into the village street. Visitors should be careful because there are many road junctions without a clue heading for the object of Yeh Pulu Relief, or ask the way to local residents.

The monument in the form of relief becoming the main attraction to tourists, especially foreign tourists, was discovered in 1925 by a courtier or Ubud Royal family. The name was taken from the barrel (or container of rice in the past) located at the central axis of purified water nestling in the

west of the relief. The word yeh in Balinese language means water and pulu means a barrel.

The appeal of

this monument is not only because of the uniqueness of relief sculpture immortalized on the rock stone wall of the hill,

but also due to the spread of rice field view along the two-hundredmeters and the sound of clinking water on the left-right path to location is always neatly

trimmed and maintained sustainably, emanating a natural beauty.

With such a natural atmosphere, the clear and the sharpness of splashing water are always flowing along the trench making the ambience around this object really peaceful and enchanting. On that account, it is not

IBP/Net

mistaken if the niches (caves) in southern relief suspected as the hermitage of the last Balinese ancient King before the collapse of Bali to Majapahit administration in 1343.

Relief with magical nuance and meaningful is 25 meters long and 2 meters high. Many researches conducted by experts from home and overseas to recognize the implicit meaning behind the wall relief of the rock cliffs on the hills. As consequence, it drove many commentaries and analysis to uncover the mystery behind the veil of the true meaning of the relief. Overall, the theme of this story recounts the life in the forest atmosphere and daily life in the ancient kingdom of Bali. In addition to the Balinese classical carvings, this monument also has niches of Bedahulu Royal Hermitage before his death against the army of the Majapahit kingdom in 1343 AD. Yeh Pulu Relief poses one of the many historical classical monuments of Bali originating in ancient Bali (14th century AD) retaining full knowledge of art, which until now is still sustainable and be cared by the members of Subak, as one of the classical organizations that in particular organizes farmers and manage all aspects of rice field cultivation.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

7

Heat beat Boston for 23d consecutive win in NBA Associated Press Writer

REUTERS/Brandon Malone

Lotus Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland drives in the pit lane during the Australian F1 Grand Prix at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne March 17, 2013.

Lotus not convinced tyre advantage over F1 rivals will continue

Lotus is not convinced that it will continue to have a decisive tyre advantage over its rivals in every grand prix this year. The E21’s tyre management was key to Kimi Raikkonen’s Australian Grand Prix victory as it allowed him to make only two pit-stops compared to the three of his main rivals.

While Lotus is confident that the car is one of the best in terms of tyre degradation, technical director James Allison doesn’t count on being able to do this everywhere.

“It’s fairly finely-balanced and we can’t assume that we will be able to pull off the trick of running one fewer stop than everyone else at a competitive pace everywhere we go,” Allison told AUTOSPORT. “The car is good, the drivers have both said that from the outset and they have a good feeling about it, but it’s not a given at all. “It doesn’t take much to shove the tyres from being able to do the two-stopper that Kimi managed to the three-stopper that Romain [Grosjean] ran.”

Allison admitted that the car’s qualifying performance was roughly representative of its position in the competitive order, but that

the tyre characteristics this year means that starting position is not as important as it was at the end of 2012.

Raikkonen and team-mate Grosjean locked out the fourth row behind the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars.

Lotus has downplayed expectations of a title bid, but Allison is confident that the car can continue to be in the mix as long as the tyres remain key to race form.

“On one-lap running, we are the third or fourth quickest team and that means we are going to be somewhere from fifth to eighth [in qualifying],” said Allison.

Lotus E21 F1 2013 Australia”The indications from the car are that it is capable over a wide range of tracks of running competitive in the races.

“The tyres are less of a story than everyone was anticipating but they are more highlystrung than last year.

“Qualifying pace is therefore slightly less important than it was at the tail-end of last season because it doesn’t take many laps at 0.2-0.3 seconds a lap degradation before the qualifying pace is meaningless.”

Brazil’s World Cup may go well for the wrong reasons

Reuters

SAO PAULO - It’s the catchphrase of the year in Brazil: “Imagina na Copa!” The Portuguese phrase, which basically means “Imagine what it’ll be like during the World Cup,” has become a favorite among Brazilians stuck in traffic, or in line at their woefully overcrowded airports.

The underlying belief is that the chaos will be worse when Brazil hosts the soccer tournament in June 2014, and hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors fly in to see the games.

Yet Paulo Resende, one of the country’s leading logistics experts, says that fear is misplaced.

After a recent survey of about 20 leading local corporations and travel agencies, Re-

sende believes Brazil’s airports and roads will actually see substantially less traffic during the World Cup than on normal business days.

The reason: Brazilians have heard so many doomsday predictions about gridlock that companies will avoid business travel, families will avoid vacations and some people will just stay at home as much as possible and watch the games on TV during the month the World Cup is in progress, Resende says. In other words: “Imagina na Copa” may end up being the event’s salvation.

“What luck - our incompetence is going to save us,” said Resende, a dean at the Fundacao Dom Cabral, a business school in Belo Horizonte. “People are so worried about the Cup that some are going to close themselves inside.”

BOSTON — LeBron James and the Miami Heat escaped Boston with their 23rd consecutive win and now have the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.

Five years to the day after the Celtics ended Houston’s winning streak at 22 games, James scored 37 points and made the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami’s 105-103 victory on Monday night.

After overcoming the largest deficit they’ve faced during their streak, the only team left for the Heat to catch is the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row. “It means a lot,” James said.

“I know the history of the game. To be sitting in second place right now ... for us to be there and doing it the way we want to do it, it means a lot.”

Jeff Green scored a career-high 43 points for Boston, which was without Kevin Garnett for the second straight game. Paul Pierce had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics, but he missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left that could h av e given Boston the win.

Instead, the defending NBA

champions won a regular-season game in Boston for the first time in 11 tries.

“This was a passionate game, a lot of history between the two teams,” said Miami forward Shane Battier, who played for the Rockets when their 22-game win streak ended on March 18, 2008, and was with the Heat when they knocked Boston out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. “Not that it’s playoff intensity ... nothing’s like the playoffs.”

James added 12 assists and Mario Chalmers scored 21 for Miami, which has not lost since Feb. 1.

“It’s a special opportunity that we have with this group and you don’t want to take it for granted,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“You want to treat every day as a special opportunity to be with this group, to share these moments together, but more importantly to take a step closer to going after our goal and every day that we improve puts us in a better position in a quest where nothing is guaranteed for anybody.”

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) drives past Boston Celtics’ Jeff Green (8) in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Monday, March 18, 2013. The Heat won 105-103.

AP Photo/ Michael Dwyer

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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International

RLD Pope Francis...

From page 1

REUTERS/Babu

Chief of India’s ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi (L) speaks with M. Karunanidhi, chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, during an election campaign rally in Chennai April 5, 2011.

India government ally withdraws from coalition, reforms at risk Reuters

NEW DELHI - A key regional ally pulled out of India’s ruling coalition on Tuesday, jeopardizing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economic reforms but posing no immediate threat to the minority government, which can survive with the support of other parties.

The withdrawal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) could hamper the government’s efforts to rein in the budget deficit, spur growth in Asia’s third-largest economy and stave off the threat of a downgrade by global credit ratings agencies.

DMK leader M. Karunanidhi told a press conference the party would not offer outside support to the government and would withdraw its five federal ministers on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In a possible sign of policy paralysis to come, a powerful regional party that supports the government in parliament, the Samajwadi Party (SP), said it would not back bills aimed at liberalizing pensions and insurance. The government had hoped to pass the reforms in this session of parliament.

“With the federal elections next year, political stability is key for all economic reforms. This will surely delay the economic reforms to some extent,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure,

chief economist, Bank Of Baroda, Mumbai.

In other reform bills, the government wants to change land acquisition laws to make it easier for companies to buy land for industrial and infrastructure projects. Also planned are a food security bill to provide subsidized more grain for the poor, the setting up of an anti-graft ombudsman and the approval of an ordinance providing for harsher punishment for perpetrators of sex crimes.

The DMK, which draws its support from Tamils in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, announced its withdrawal from the coalition in protest against the government’s perceived dithering on a U.N. resolution on war crimes in neighboring Sri Lanka between that country’s Sinhalesemajority government and its own minority Tamils.

It was not immediately clear what impact the withdrawal of the DMK would have on the bills as the party has previously expressed support for

the land acquisition and food security measures.

But the withdrawal heightens the chance that the government will call a snap national election if it is unable to pass major legislation, although neither the ruling Congress party nor the main opposition have shown much appetite for early polls. Elections need to be held by May 2014.

“The government has lost majority. All the reforms including insurance and pension will now be put on the back burner,” said Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a spokesman for the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP leaders said they had no immediate plans to call for a confidence vote in parliament.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was stable, adding there was a chance the DMK could change its mind. The DMK has climbed down in the past after threatening to withdraw from the coalition. “There is no crisis,” Chidambaram told reporters.

Francis swept into a sun-drenched St Peter’s Square to greet the throngs and walked in a procession along the length of the basilica as prelates chanted a Litany of Saints in Latin.

The 265th successor to St Peter, considered the first pope, also received from his cardinals the pallium -- a lambswool strip of cloth that symbolises the pope’s role as a shepherd.

The “Fisherman’s Ring” bestowed on him by Angelo Sodano, the dean of the college of cardinals, is a personalised signet ring traditionally worn by popes in honour of St Peter -- a fisherman.

Crowds had gathered from the early morning to see the Argentine pope’s enthronement in a rare ceremony laden with centuries-old rituals and lavish imagery.

Francis gave the thumbs-up to ecstatic crowds and stopped to kiss babies, getting off the car at one point to bless a handicapped man.

“With Pope Francis, the Church will be closer to the people and to the modern world,” said Rodrigo Grajales, a 31-year-old Colombian priest.

The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has already won hearts in Rome with a disarmingly informal style which contrasted with Tuesday’s pomp and ceremony.

The Vatican said 132 foreign delegations attended.

Bergoglio was the surprise choice at a conclave of cardinals to find a successor to 85-year-old Benedict XVI, who last month brought a sudden end to a papacy that had often been overshadowed by scandal, saying he was too old to carry on.

He was the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages.

The jovial Francis has said he chose his papal name in honour of the mediaeval Italian saint St Francis of Assisi and has called for a “poor Church for the poor”, warning the world’s cardinals against pursuing worldly glories.

“Go Francis! We Will Be With You Wherever You Go!” read a sign held up by a group of Brazilian nuns in St Peter’s Square. Sister Rosa, an elderly Italian nun, said she expected the pope would be “another St Francis on Earth for love, goodness, poverty and humility”.

The son of an Italian immigrant railway worker from a working-class quarter of Buenos Aires has been effusive in a way that is unusual in the Vatican.

But the arrival of world leaders has presented him with a first diplomatic headache in the form of a request from compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina to mediate in a row with Britain over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Francis is still haunted by criticism at home for failing to speak out against the excesses of Argentina’s military rule during the dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Chinese government has also said it will not be sending any representatives after Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he was attending.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe also flew in, sidestepping an EU travel ban over human rights abuses that does not apply to the Vatican.

Latin America was heavily represented at the inauguration of the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, with the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay all in attendance.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and European Union leaders were also present.

Leaders of the Eastern Catholic Rite were also in attendance, including Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Vatican radio said it was the first time a patriarch of Constantinople had attended an inauguration since 1054 when the eastern and western halfs of Christendom split. The Vatican was in security lockdown for the event, with 3,000 officers deployed including sharpshooters on the rooftops and bomb disposal experts. Three Red Cross tents could be seen on the square and giant screens have been placed all down Via della Conciliazione -- the main avenue leading to St Peter’s.

The mass proper will include a homily by Francis, who has often strayed from prepared texts with off-the-cuff jokes, anecdotes and passionate exhortations for spiritual renewal.

Church leaders have urged Francis to move quickly to reform the intrigue-filled Roman Curia, the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, and his appointments in the coming weeks will be closely watched.

Francis has indicated he will press for a friendlier faith that is closer to ordinary people and for social justice, although the moderate conservative is unlikely to change major tenets of Catholic doctrine.

Vatican experts say he has also signalled he will pursue a more inclusive “collegial” style of leadership together with the cardinals and bishops.

Vast crowds also gathered on the other side of the Atlantic outside the Buenos Aires cathedral to dance and sing as they watched the inauguration.

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

11

INDONESIA Lion Air stuns again with Airbus deal Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Lion Air, a little-known carrier launched 13 years ago with just one plane, has struck two of the world’s largest aircraft orders in a staggering $46 billion bet on Indonesia’s air transport boom.

France announced Monday that Indonesia’s fastest-growing airline had agreed to buy 234 mediumhaul A320 jets worth $23.8 billion (18.4 billion euros) from European aerospace giant Airbus.

French President Francois Hollande described the “historic” deal as the biggest in the history of civil aviation.

The agreement was signed at the Elysee Palace by Airbus head Fabrice Bregier and his Lion Air counterpart Rusdi Kirana.

The deal comes after Lion Air astounded the industry with a $22.4 billion agreement for 230 Boeing 737 airliners, inked in 2011 as a vis-

iting US President Barack Obama looked on.

The impressive orders are in sharp contrast with the size of the company, which is banned from US and EU skies over safety fears.

Founded in 1999 by brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana, who are ranked the 33rd richest Indonesians with collective wealth of $900 million, Lion Air is the first private airline in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation.

Currently it operates a relatively modest 92 planes -- all Boeings except for one McDonnell Douglas -- which makes it number nine among regional carriers in terms of

fleet size.

Its 72 destinations are mostly in Indonesia, and the furthest it flies is to Saudi Arabia -- a route mostly packed with domestic workers and construction labourers.

Nevertheless, the company has huge ambitions and is betting big on the formidable expansion of air transport in Indonesia, which is experiencing passenger growth of around 20 percent every year.

With 240 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation, and embraces more than 17,000 islands scattered across 33 provinces.

Annual economic growth ex-

ceeds 6.0 percent and there is a burgeoning middle class which is keen to abandon travel by bus, ferry and train and instead take to the skies for holidays and family visits.

Despite its regulatory woes, Lion Air is intent on spreading its wings internationally, and is expected this year to launch its long-haul arm, Batik Air, with six Boeing 737s and five Boeing B787 Dreamliners.

Last September it also announced the launch of another offshoot, Malindo Airways, which will begin regional operations in May from Malaysia, the home turf of Lion Air’s main rival AirAsia.

The vast potential of Indonesia’s aviation market, and the scope for offshoot carriers, supports the scale of Lion Air’s orders, said Brendan Sobie from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in Singapore.

Observers said that Lion Air wants to replicate the success of AirAsia, the region’s low-cost pioneer which has flourished from its Kuala Lumpur base under the charismatic leadership of founder Tony Fernandes.

“I think Lion Air wants to show that it can beat Tony Fernandes,” said Dudi Sudibyo, an expert from aviation magazine Angkasa.

With both mega-purchases in place, Lion Air would boast more than 600 aircraft by 2025, making it among the top ten of the world’s biggest airlines in terms of fleet size.

In 2007 Lion was among a number of Indonesian airlines banned by the EU for lax safety standards.

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and several other firms were taken off the blacklist in July 2009 but Lion Air is still on it.

State-owned enterprises to invest in Myanmar

Antara

AP Photo/Trisnadi, File

A Lion Air passenger jet plane is parked on the tarmac at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, in this file photo dated May 12, 2012. Indonesian airline Lion Air is to buy 234 short to medium range aircraft from Airbus it is announced Monday March 18, 2013, for euro 18.4 billion (US dlrs24 billion), in what is being billed as the biggest civilian deal in the history of the aircraft manufacturer.

JAKARTA - About 15 stateowned enterprises are to invest in Myanmar in 2013 as an effort to expand business opportunity abroad, Minister Dahlan Iskan said here on Tuesday.

Among the 15 companies are electricity company PT PLN, tin firm PT Timah, aircraft maintenance company PT Garuda Maintenance Facilities (GMF), coal producer company PT Bukit Asam, state logistics agency Perum Bulog, PT Bank Negara Indonesia, fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Indonesia, cement company PT Semen Indonesia and telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia.

“Business is rising in Myanmar in accordance with the democratization process there,” said Dahlan.

The minister mentioned electricity company PT PLN will cooperate with local company in Myanmar in

reducing electricity loses rate in the country which is still at 26 percent.

In Indonesia itself the electricity loses rate is below 10 percent.

Meanwhile cement company PT Semen Indonesia will build a factory in Myanmar with target distribution to local market and Vietnam. Tin firm PT Timah is also set to build a factory in Myanmar.

Aircraft maintenance company PT GMF will offer maintenance service to aircraft companies in Myanmar while coal producer PT Bukit Asam will invest US$80 million to build a 2x20 Megawatt steam power plant. Telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia is now waiting for business license to operate celluler service in Myanmar.

“All operational cost of Indonesian state owned companies in myanmar will be taken care

by PT Bank Negara Indonesia,” Dahlan added.

12

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

BUSINESS Associated Press

HONG KONG — Lego is building its first factory in China as part of a plan to move production closer to Asia, its fastest growing market.

The Danish maker of building blocks for children said it’s investing at least 100 million euros ($130 million) in the new plant. Construction will start in 2014 and take three years.

It will be located in Jiaxing, 100 kilometers (67 miles) from Shanghai, where Lego is planning an Asian distribution center.

Lego said the new factory will be “a supply base for future growth in Asia.”

The company said that in recent years sales in the region have grown by more than 50 percent annually.

Lego predicted the factory will be able to supply 70 to 80 percent of the toys it sells in Asia in 2017.

China foreign direct investment overseas soars 147% Agence France-Presse

FOTO: FRENCH.JPG

Passengers queue for the Eurostar cross-Channel train, at Gare du Nord station in Paris, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. The OECD trimmed its growth forecast for France on Tuesday but recommended the government avoid more spending cuts to meet it EU deficit reduction pledges.

OECD trims French growth forecast Agence France-Presse

PARIS - The OECD trimmed its growth forecast for France on Tuesday but recommended the government avoid more spending cuts to meet it EU deficit reduction pledges. continue as planned while letting automatic stabilisers operate fully,” said the OECD in a survey of the French economy.

French President Francois Hollande last week publicly renounced the goal of hitting the 3.0 percent target in 2013, saying the public deficit would probably reach 3.7 percent of gross domestic product this year.

The OECD characterised the government’s deficit reduction plans as “ambitious given current headwinds”.

While urging the government to stick to plans to cut spending, the OECD urged a shift in taxes away from business and labour in a bid to boost competitiveness

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

5

Makala-kalaan Kinembulan

Lego plans first China factory as Asian sales leap

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said it now expects the French economy to grow by 0.1 percent this year, instead of the 0.3 percent it forecast earlier.

It said it expected France’s public deficit would come in at 3.5 percent of economic output this year.

France had pledged to return to the 3.0 percent EU deficit ceiling this year, but the OECD forecast that this will only be achieved next year.

However the economic policy advisory body did not encourage France to make any additional spending cuts to meet the target.

“Deficit reduction efforts must

Bali News

International

and growth.

The report noted that France’s growth per capita over the past two decades has been among the lowest among its 34 member countries.

“Eliminating inefficient tax expenditures and increasing environmental, property and inheritance taxes would allow taxes on labour and businesses to be reduced further,” said the OECD report which offered over a dozen specific recommendations.

The OECD said France’s unemployment rate, which hit a 14-year record of 10.6 percent at then end of 2012, would continue to rise before stabilising at 11.25 percent at the end of this year.

BEIJING - Chinese investment overseas in January and February soared 147 percent year-on-year to $18.39 billion, official data showed Tuesday -- more than foreign direct investment into the country itself.

Incoming FDI, which excludes financial sectors, stood at $17.48 billion over the period, the commerce ministry said, down 1.35 percent year-on-year.

Beijing is keen to promote overseas investment in part of its efforts to reform China’s growth model and acquire significant foreign assets in sectors such as energy, mining and high-tech industries, analysts said.

“It should be a trend in the long run -- it is highly likely that overseas direct investment will exceed foreign direct investment in the next few years,” Ren Xianfang, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm IHS Global Insight, told AFP. “It is a national strategy to transfer China to a big investor from a big exporter.”

Chinese direct investment overseas surged almost 30 percent last year from 2011 as firms in the world’s second-largest economy increasingly look to expand abroad.

The biggest rise in Chinese investment in a major market over January and February was in Australia, where it surged 282 percent, the ministry said.

It was followed by Hong Kong, up 156 percent, and the US with a 146 percent increase, while in south-east Asia it went up 114 percent and in the EU 81.9 percent.

However, in Japan, with whom Beijing has been involved in a territorial row, investment was down 31 percent. Overseas FDI to Russia also slipped 46 percent.

At the same time China’s manufacturing competitiveness faces rising costs, while investor confidence is battered by weakness in the global economy.

Nonetheless incoming FDI in rose 6.3 percent to $8.21 billion in February, the first year-on-year increase in nine months, the commerce ministry said.

EU investment into China increased “quite rapidly” in the first two months of the year, the ministry said in a statement, rising 34.01 percent to $1.214 billion.

But FDI fell from the US and Asia, with Japanese investment down 6.7 percent over the period to $1.269 billion.

China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, expanding 7.8 percent from the year before. But it has been showing renewed vigour, with GDP growth accelerating in the final three months of 2012 to 7.9 percent, snapping seven straight quarters of weakening expansion.

Month-to-month comparisons at the start of the year in China can be heavily affected by seasonal factors as China’s annual Lunar New Year holiday can fall in either January or February.

China takes a week off during the break, the country’s biggest, as hundreds of millions of people travel back to their hometowns for celebrations.

Joined by 59 couples, a couple aged 75 years old Bali Post

SEMARAPURA - For the first time, the Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia (PHDI) Klungkung organized the Vivaha Samskara Makala-kalaan Kinembulan (mass wedding) in the office courtyard of PHDI Klungkung on Monday (Mar 18). In fact, the ritual was welcomed enthusiastically by Balinese residents. Even, there was a couple aged 75 years old joining the ritual.

It was followed by 59 couples from all walks of life, ranging from civil servants, police officers, workers to farmers. Meanwhile, some couples were from outside Klungkung such as Karangasem and Gianyar. The procession took place solemnly and was commenced by purificatory rite, worshipping for the offerings, tearing impromptu mat with kris dagger and cutting thread for three times. Afterward, the couples underwent the next procession such as surrounding the kala-kalaan offerings, washing hands and face, purifying the self with sudamala strainer, sibuk pepek, majaya-jaya, worship, matepung

tawar and ended with ngayab.

After the procession, a number of couples claimed to be grateful because they could finally perform the makala-kalaan ritual. Even, a couple from Paksebali village, Wayan Mogog, 75, and Wayan Murni, 60, could just have executed the ritual at the age of 75 years. “At the end, we are able to perform the makala-kalaan ritual. I got married in the 1950s but could not afford the ritual,” he said. After getting married, the couple had bestowed with two children and two grandchildren.

Their children and grandchildren also witnessed the makala-kalaan procession in the office courtyard of the PHDI Klungkung.

Chairman of the PHDI Klungkung, Mangku Wayan Sura, said the ritual was carried out based on the condition of local community because many Hindu couples had not completed their wedding up to makala-kalaan ritual. By mass ritual, the expenses of the Hindus would be getting smaller, so that it was considered more effective in resolving the high costs of wedding up to the makala-kalaan ritual. (kmb31)

IBP/File Photo

In the course of the first quarter of 2013, the transmission of zoonosis diseases such as rabies and bird flu still needed watching out, especially the bird flu disease in ducks.

First quarter of 2013

Bird flu remains to threat Denpasar Bali Post

DENPASAR - In the course of the first quarter of 2013, the transmission of zoonosis diseases such as rabies and bird flu still needed watching out, especially the bird flu disease in ducks. Until now, the bird flu case in ducks was still found to be positive in people’s homes and becoming a threat to Denpasar. Meanwhile, the transmission of rabies was no longer found.

IBP/kmb31

A couple aged 75 years old joining the Vivaha Samskara Makala-kalaan Kinembulan (mass wedding) in the office courtyard of PHDI Klungkung on Monday (Mar 18).

It was revealed by the Head of Denpasar Livestock, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, AA Bayu Bramasta when met at the office of Denpasar Mayor, Monday (Mar 18). “Until this month, there has been no report about rabies. Meanwhile, bird flu in ducks is still found in some places,” he said.

Bramasta said the handling of bird flu in ducks was longer than in chickens. Bird flu in ducks was not enough to be examined by rapid test. In chicken, the results could have been seen whether positive or negative by rapid test. “Meanwhile, bird flu in ducks must be followed up by laboratory examination. In short, it is not enough to be examined by rapid

test,” he said.

He explained that bird flu case in ducks mostly happened due to the purchase of duck whose origin was unknown. If they were raised in the local area, the possibility of bird flu was small. By and large, the ducks affected by bird flu was due to the purchase in the market so that its origin was unknown.

In providing outreach to community, his party had already been working with the existing larvae mosquito observers at each village. By involving these officers, the socialization for prevention of bird flu could work more precisely and faster because they had often made visits to people’s home. “We’ve

been working with the larvae mosquito observers to participate in monitoring the presence of bird flu. We’ll also follow up if people make a report to PDS team of Denpasar Livestock, Fishery and Maritime Affairs,” said Bayu Bramasta.

If any animal was found to be positive for bird flu, his party should sterilize the area or the house compound. It was intended to avoid the spread of bird flu from getting faster. Besides, his party had sent a letter to each village asking people to isolate any animals (ducks) just purchased in the market from the others. It was to prevent the transmission when the new animals were infected by bird flu. (kmb12)

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Bali News

International

International

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President of the Soekarno Center gives feedback to Indian Ambassador

RLD

suitable for our culture. Likewise, I hope there will be no indianization in Hinduism because Balinese people are proud of Balinese culture derived from Majapahit aging for 500 years. I quote the statement of Dr. Kusum Vyas (U.S. delegation) in the World Summit 2012 opened by the President of the RI that Bali does not need to learn to India.

Even, the Indians can learn about the culture and character of Balinese Hinduism. Similar endeavor has also been done by Maharishi Markandeya spreading Hinduism in Bali in the past,” said Dr. Arya Wedakarna.

On that occasion, the Rector of Mahendradatta University also criticized the poor quality of service provided for pilgrims to India both in terms of the quality of human resources, infrastructure and services. “I have visited India for three times, but in this year’s visit I got impression that Indian government has given less efforts to improve the quality in terms of human resources

and infrastructure in the holy cities of Hindus. So, I question about the tagline Wonderful India because it seems to have not been totally implemented. It is my input for central government of India in New Delhi,” said the founder of BIFA. Furthermore, he hoped the cooperation of Balinese and Indian people in Bali should be evaluated.

“I do hope the Indian community including businessmen, diplomats and professionals should emulate Chinese descendants in making socialization. But, please do not forget there are still many Balinese people somewhat rejecting the indianization. Be an intermingled community and respect the opinion of local people. Otherwise, there will be conflict between Balinese and Indian people,” said Dr. Wedakarna.

So, what to do next?

“I will send a letter to Prime Minister of the Republic of India related to many things. We ask for the quality improvement for diplo-

Security certification, hotel constrained by human resources Denpasar (Bali Post)—

his party also verified the potential of discomfort in a hotel to the smallest elements, such as pests and insects. “We also verify ranging from the smallest elements, such as the presence of pests and insects,” said Faroq.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Bali, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, added that in terms of star classification the hotel remained to face a constraint related to the readiness of the assessor

Enhancement of hotel security standardization and verification process is stumbled by readiness of human resources. At the moment, only three hotels have been certified, while the remaining hotels need to update their safety standards.

“It should also be realized that police personnel is quantitatively inadequate compared to the amount of hotels to be certified,” said the Directorate of Vital Object Supervision of Bali Police, Umar Faroq, in Denpasar, Monday (Mar 18).

He said the certification should be done to support the security and comfort in the tourist accommodation. He added the safety standard was assessed based on the calculation of hotel capacity and area. In addition, it was also required the readiness of human resources, in this case the readiness of security personnel.

Bali Beach, one of the largest hotel in Bali.

According to him,

AP Photo/ Feng Li, Pool

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew during his visit to the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Beijing, China.

IBP/ist

The President of Soekarno Center Dr. Shri I Gusti Ngurah Arya Wedakarna MWS III was giving feedbacks during the meeting with Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of the Republic of India to Indonesia.

matic staff in Bali in particular. In the future, the Indian expatriates working in Bali either in education, entrepreneurs or other sectors should be monitored. I truly support the effort of government in controlling the permit of foreign workers so that Bali will not be harmed.

Bali needs Indian investors having a

because the authorized party was only from central office of the PHRI. “Local assessors are only allowed to do classification for non-star hotels,” he said.

He said that such inflexible bureaucracy resulted in complicated classification process. When compared to the performance of Bali local assessors, the time required for the process tended to be faster. He mentioned that it only took three days for hotel classification.

“A total of 70 star hotels have passed through the reclassification among the 167 starred hotels in Bali. It will take 3 years for the classification of star hotel, so that there will be about 55 hotels classified each year,” he said.

From the process, the results obtained were volatile. However, the classification of hotels appointed for the international event accommodation of APEC 2013 had not indicated a downturn. It happened because all the hotels had been well prepared.

“A number of hotels undergo star downgrade, but they are only a few. The downgrade was caused by technical matters such as the rate of expired products, poor waste IBP/File management and inferior quality of service,” he said. (kmb27)

concern about Balinese culture, not on the other way around. Cooperation remains to be done while waiting for the subsequent Ambassador and Consul General because the diplomat disposition is temporary.

The cooperation will go on with the government and private sector,” said Dr. Wedakarna. (ad1)

Karak disease emerging

Kintamani orange production threatened Bangli (Bali Post)-

Due to the heavy rain and humidity in Kintamani the past few months, most of Kintamani oranges have been attacked by karak disease, similar to human’s phlegm disease. If this condition is not controlled straight away, its production will fall up to 40 percent in harvest season. Head of Bangli Agriculture and Forestry Agency, Ir. I Wayan Sukartana, last Monday (18/3) explained the case was first seen at Bayung area and due to the cold weather it spread to a lot of areas.

If the disease is not controlled, it might kill the plants and easily spread on short plants as sunlight did not get to it. Having organic manure given to wet condition soils also worsen the disease. “For that farmers used bode mash or kalipornia mash continuously to control it,” Sukartana stated.

It is admitted that in cultivating oranges, a high patience is needed as a number of disease might attack it such as CVPD. It has to be clean by cutting branches so sunlight can get through up to its stem bottom part.

Besides that, organic manure has to be given time to time so its fruit quality can go through export market grade A and B. Even so, grade C can still be sold in traditional market yet its price not as high as A and B. “We have asked PPL to keep on continuously supervise it post this disease that attacks most of Kintamani,” Sukartana clarified. (kmb17)

China’s leader Xi meets US treasury secretary

Associated Press Writer

BEIJING — China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, told the U.S. Treasury secretary he wants strong ties with Washington as the two sides resumed high-level interaction Tuesday following a months-long hiatus during the Chinese leadership transition. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s agenda for the two-day visit includes North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s exchange rate controls and cyberspying.

“I attach great importance to China’s relationship with the United States,” Xi told Lew during a meeting attended by diplomats and finance officials from both governments. “We stand ready to work with the U.S. side to continue to develop this China-U.S. cooperative partnership so that we will be able to open a path of cooperation between major countries.”

The meeting was the first highlevel U.S.-Chinese contact since then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s brief visit to Beijing in

September.

Leaders of the world’s two biggest economies have stressed their common interests in security affairs and global economic stability even as they wrangle over complaints about China’s trade surpluses, its exchange rate controls and efforts to curb global warming. Numerous computer hacking attacks on U.S. companies have been traced to China.

Contacts were suspended during the U.S. presidential election and China’s once-a-decade leadership

transition, which began with Xi being named Communist Party leader in November. He became president last week.

Xi referred to Lew as a “special representative” of President Barack Obama, suggesting he might be responsible for a wider range of issues than just finance. Xi acknowledged the two sides have “some differences” but said they have “enormous shared interests” and should “handle this relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective.”

Lew said Washington wants to work with Beijing to reduce trade and investment barriers and to “protect the work of our innovators,” a reference to complaints about rampant Chinese copying of foreign goods from Hollywood movies to software and telecoms technology.

BAGHDAD - Car bombs and a suicide blast hit Shi’ite districts of Baghdad and south of Iraq’s capital on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people on the 10th anniversary of the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Sunni Islamist insurgents tied to al Qaeda have stepped up attacks on Shi’ite targets since the start of the year in a campaign to stoke sectarian tension and undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government.

Tuesday’s car bombs exploded near a busy Baghdad market, close to the heavily fortified Green Zone and in other districts across the capital. A suicide bomber driving a truck attacked a police base in a Shi’ite town just south of the capital, police and hospital sources said.

“I was driving my taxi and suddenly I felt my car rocked. Smoke was all around. I saw two bodies on the ground. People were running and shouting everywhere,” said Al Radi, a taxi driver caught in one of the blasts in Baghdad’s

Sadr City. Another 160 people were wounded in the attacks, hospital officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s blasts, but Iraq’s al Qaeda wing, Islamic State of Iraq, has vowed to take back ground lost in its long war with American troops. Since the start of the year the group has carried out a string of high-profile attacks.

Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the well-protected Justice Ministry building in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing 25 people in an attack by the al Qaeda affiliate. A decade after U.S. and Western troops swept into Iraq to remove Saddam from power, Iraq still struggles with a stubborn insurgency, sectarian frictions and political instability among its Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Syria’s civil war is further fanning Iraq’s volatility as Islamist insurgents invigorated by the mainly Sunni rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad try to tap into Sunni Muslim discontent in Iraq.

REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen

Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in the AL-Mashtal district in Baghdad March 19, 2013. A series of coordinated car bombs and blasts hit Shi’ite districts across Baghdad and south of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing at least 25 people on the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.

Power still out at damaged nuclear plant in Japan

Associated Press Writer

TOKYO — A power outage has left four fuel storage pools at Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear plant without fresh cooling water for nearly 20 hours, raising concerns about the fragility of a facility that still runs on makeshift equipment.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that pool temperatures at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were well within safe levels, and that pools would remain safe for at least four days without fresh cooling water.

The utility said the reactors were unaffected and no other abnormalities were found.

The cooling system was restored at one of the four pools by midafternoon Tuesday, and the systems for the three other pools are expected to resume by Wednesday morning as workers complete repairs and try to determine the cause the problem, TEPCO officials said.

Workers fixed the last of the three switchboards that they suspect as a possible cause of the problem and the utility was preparing a backup system in case the repairs didn’t

fix the issue, TEPCO spokesman Masayuki Ono told reporters. “If worse comes to worst, we have a backup water injection system,” Ono said.

Japan’s March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s power and cooling systems, causing three reactor cores to melt and fuel storage pools to overheat.

The current power outage is a major test for TEPCO to show if it has learned anything from the disaster.

TEPCO, which has repeatedly faced cover-up scandals, was slammed by local media Tuesday for waiting

13

Bombs kill at least 50 on anniversary of Iraq invasion

Reuters

RELATIONSHIP between Indonesia and India had been well maintained since the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata. After the independence period, Indonesia played a considerable role in the friendship with India. Even, the independence of India in 1947 was inspired by the movement of Bung Karno that could precede the independence of Indonesia two years earlier in 1945.

However, the relationship between India and Indonesia, especially in the fields of culture, did not necessarily have to import the whole Indian culture because it would affect the cultural identity of Bali and Indonesia. On that account, it was required a rigorous selection to the culture and cooperation program of India coming to Bali. These were conveyed by Dr. Shri I Gusti Ngurah Arya Wedakarna MWS III (President of The Sukarno Center) in the meeting with Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of the Republic of India to Indonesia, held by Bali-India Friendship Association (BIFA).

“I do not agree if all of Indian cultures come to Bali. Bung Karno ever said that in the Tri Sakti conception was mentioned that Bali and Indonesia should be sovereign in the field of culture. Therefore, any component in Bali either the government, customary village, college or NGO should be selective to the Indian culture coming into Bali. They are not entirely

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

hours to disclose the blackout.

Ono acknowledged the plant was vulnerable. “Fukushima Dai-ichi still runs on makeshift equipment, and we are trying to switch to something more permanent and dependable, which is more desirable,” he said. “Considering the equipment situation, we may be pushing a little too hard.”

Ono said the utility did not immediately try to switch to a backup cooling system because doing so without finding and fixing the cause could lead to a repeat of the problem.

There is a backup cooling system but

no backup outside power.

Regulators previously have raised concerns about the makeshift equipment and urged the plant to switch them to a more permanent arrangement. The operator still has to remove melted, fatally radioactive fuel from the reactors before fully decommissioning the plant, which officials say could take 40 years.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief government spokesman, sought to allay concerns. “In a sense, we have put in place measures that leave no room for worry,” Suga told reporters in a regular briefing.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Health

International

Bali News

International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

3

Bloomberg cigarette plan gets praise, criticism

President to host UNHLP meeting in Bali

Associated Press Writer

Antara

JAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will host the last United Nations High Level Panel (UNHLP) Meeting in Bali on March 25-27, 2013, the Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat said on its official website there on Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Anti-smoking advocates and health experts hailed proposals from Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would keep cigarettes out of sight in New York City stores, while tobacco companies and smokers called it an overreach. The ban, which would be the first of its kind in the U.S., is aimed at discouraging young people from smoking.

Keeping cigarettes under wraps could help, anti-smoking advocates say, citing studies that link exposure to smoking with starting it. Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots. Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, though it’s below what the going rate is in much of the city now.

While some of the research focuses on cigarette advertising, an English study of 11-to-15-year-olds published last month in the journal Tobacco Control found that simply noticing tobacco products on display every time a youth visited a shop raised the odds he or she would at least try smoking

by threefold, compared to peers who never noticed the products.

“What’s exciting about this (New York City proposal) is that this is the most comprehensive set of tobaccocontrol regulations that affect stores or the retail outlets,” said Kurt Ribisi, a professor of public health and cancer prevention specialist at the University of North Carolina. Moreover, cigarettes’ visibility can trigger impulse buys by smokers who are trying to quit, he and city officials say.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, other anti-smoking groups and several City Council members applauded Bloomberg’s announcement, made at a Queens hospital on Monday. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who largely controls what goes to a vote, said through her

office that she “supports the goal of these bills” but noted they would get a full review.

The ban on displaying cigarettes follows similar laws in Iceland, Canada, England and Ireland, but it would be the first such measure in the U.S. It’s aimed at discouraging young people from smoking. “Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity,” Bloomberg said. “And they invite young people to experiment with tobacco.” But smokers and cigarette sellers said the measure was overreaching.

“I don’t disagree that smoking itself is risky, but it’s a legal product,” said Audrey Silk, who’s affiliated with a smokers-rights group that has sued the city over previous regulations. “Tobacco’s been normal for centuries. ... It’s what he’s doing that’s not normal.”

Report: 1 in 3 seniors dies with, not of, dementia Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — A staggering 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, says a new report that highlights the impact the minddestroying disease is having on the rapidly aging population.

Dying with Alzheimer’s is not the same as dying from it. But even when dementia isn’t the direct cause of death, it can be the final blow — speeding someone’s decline by interfering with their care for heart disease, cancer or other serious illnesses. That’s the assessment of the report released Tuesday by the Alzheimer’s Association, which advocates for more research and support for families afflicted by it.

“Exacerbated aging,” is how Dr. Maria Carrillo, an association vice president, terms the Alzheimer’s effect. “It changes any health care situation for a family.”

In fact, only 30 percent of 70year-olds who don’t have Alzheimer’s are expected to die before their 80th birthday. But if they do have dementia, 61 percent are expected to die, the report found.

Already, 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. Those numbers will jump to 13.8 million by 2050, Tuesday’s report predicts. That’s slightly lower

than some previous estimates.

Count just the deaths directly attributed to dementia, and they’re growing fast. Nearly 85,000 people died from Alzheimer’s in 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a separate report Tuesday. Those are people who had Alzheimer’s listed as an underlying cause on a death certificate, perhaps because the dementia led to respiratory failure. Those numbers make Alzheimer’s the sixth leading cause of death.

That death rate rose 39 percent in the past decade, even as the CDC found that deaths declined among some of the nation’s other top killers — heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. The reason: Alzheimer’s is the only one of those leading killers to have no good treatment.

Today’s medications only temporarily ease some dementia symptoms.

But what’s on a death certificate is only part of the story.

Consider: Severe dementia can make it difficult for people to move around or swallow properly.

That increases the risk of pneumonia, one of the most commonly identified causes of death among Alzheimer’s patients.

Likewise, dementia patients can forget their medications for diabetes, high blood pressure or other illnesses. They may not be able to explain they are feeling symptoms

of other ailments such as infections.

They’re far more likely to be hospitalized than other older adults. That in turn increases their risk of death within the following year.

“You should be getting a sense of the so-called blurred distinction between deaths among people with Alzheimer’s and deaths caused

by Alzheimer’s. It’s not so clear where to draw the line,” said Jennifer Weuve of Chicago’s Rush University, who helped study that very question.

The Chicago Health and Aging Project tracked the health of more than 10,000 older adults over time.

Weuve’s team used the data to estimate how many people nationally will die with Alzheimer’s this year — about 450,000, according to Tuesday’s report.

That’s compatible with the 1 in 3 figure the Alzheimer’s Association calculates for all dementias. That number is based on a separate analysis of Medicare data that includes both Alzheimer’s cases and deaths among seniors with other forms of dementia.

Last year, the Obama administration set a goal of finding effective Alzheimer’s treatments by 2025, and increased research funding to help. It’s not clear how the government’s automatic budget cuts, which began earlier this month, will affect those plans.

Following three consecutive meetings respectively in New York, London and Monrovia, and preceded by a Video Conference in August, the UN High Level Panel co-chaired by British Prime Minister Cameron, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Yudhoyono will conclude its discussions after extensive discussion amongst

members of the UNHLP. The co-chairs were supported by prominent experts in the development agenda, from former presidents and prime ministers, current ministers, and development activist and other distinguished figures from the developing and developed worlds.

During the UNHLP meeting in London, discussions focused on

individual and household needs in pursuing development. In Monrovia, discussions continued on building national capacity. In Bali it will focus on forging the necessary international cooperation and partnership to end poverty in our lifetime.

As the MDGs will conclude in 2015, after fifteen years of garnering an international momen-

tum to address the development needs of individual countries, the work of the UNHLP would chart out a roadmap as to how the world would continue pursuing its development agenda for the interest of human kind.

The meeting in Bali would complete the dialog process amongst the panel members so that a report can be drafted and be submitted to the UN Secretary General, where he would launch it in May 2013 to the UN General Assembly. In September 2013, the member states of the UNGA

in its plenary session is expected to begin reviewing the recommendations of the UNHLP. To this, Indonesia has had the honor, under nine months of intense coordination with the United Kingdom and Liberia, to co-chair and facilitate the discussions amongst experts a n d s t a k e h o l d e r, s o t h a t b y 2015, every member state in the United Nations will have a renewed journey in pursuing the global development agenda, the Cabinet Secretariat said in the statement.

India enhancing educational cooperation with Bali IBP AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Harry Patel, an employee of Blondie’s Deli and Grocery, talks on the phone while waiting for customers in New York, Monday, March 18, 2013. A new anti-smoking proposal would make New York the first city in the nation to keep tobacco products out of sight in retail stores.

Surgery, therapy both prove good for knee repair Associated Press Writer

You might not want to rush into knee surgery. Physical therapy can be just as good for a common injury and at far less cost and risk, the most rigorous study to compare these treatments concludes.

Therapy didn’t always help and some people wound up having surgery for the problem, called a torn meniscus. But those who stuck with therapy had improved as much six months and one year later as those who were given arthroscopic surgery right away, researchers found.

“Both are very good choices. It would be quite reasonable to try physical therapy first because the chances are quite good that you’ll do quite well,” said one study leader, Dr. Jeffrey Katz, a joint specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

He was to discuss the study Tuesday at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in Chicago. Results were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

A meniscus is one of the crescentshaped cartilage discs that cushion the knee. About one-third of people over 50 have a tear in one, and arthritis makes this more likely. Usually the tear doesn’t cause symptoms but it can be painful.

When that happens, it’s tough to tell if the pain is from the tear or the arthritis — or whether surgery is needed or will help. Nearly half a million knee

surgeries for a torn meniscus are done each year in the U.S. The new federally funded study compared surgery with a less drastic option. Researchers at seven major universities and orthopedic surgery centers around the U.S. assigned 351 people with arthritis and meniscus tears to get either surgery or physical therapy. The therapy was nine sessions on average plus exercises to do at home, which experts say is key to success.

After six months, both groups had similar rates of functional improvement. Pain scores also were similar.

Thirty percent of patients assigned to physical therapy wound up having surgery before the six months was up, often because they felt therapy wasn’t helping them. Yet they ended up the same as those who got surgery right away, as well as the rest of the physical therapy group who stuck with it and avoided having an operation.

“There are patients who would like to get better in a ‘fix me’ approach” and surgery may be best for them, said Elena Losina, another study leader from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

However, an Australian preventive medicine expert contends that the study’s results should change practice.

Therapy “is a reasonable first strategy, with surgery reserved for the minority who don’t have improvement,” Rachelle Buchbinder of Monash University in Melbourne wrote in a commentary in the medical journal.

DENPASAR - During an event held Monday (18/3) by the Consulate General of India in Bali, in collaboration with the Institut Hindu Dharma Negeri (IHDN) Denpasar, the Ambassador of India to Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Gurjit Singh, highlighted the series of initiatives launched by the Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulates in Bali and Medan for enhancing educational cooperation with Indonesian academic community and students. He elaborated on a number of scholarship schemes offered by the Government of India for the Indonesian students and lecturers to pursue higher education in Indian universities, including research under M. Phil and Ph.D as also Post-Doctoral research under Junior & Senior Fellowships. He informed that over 120 scholarships are offered annually to Indonesia. Ambassador informed that with our persuasions, some airlines considering to provide a direct flight connection between India and Indonesia during the current year. As suggested by the Prof. Dr. Titib, it was noted that an institute offering IT/ICT education may be set up in Bali with participation of private sector from Indonesia and India.

This was the first-ever gathering in Bali of alumni of Indian universities and academicians, scholars, senior government representatives, prominent representatives of Balinese art & culture community and dignitaries, among others, organized by the year-old Consulate General of India in Bali.

Dr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, Head of the Bali Chapter of Hotels & Restaurants Association of Indonesia and a prominent member of the royal family of Ubud as well as the former Regent of the Province

of Gianyar, was the Chief Guest.

Prof. Dr. I Made Bakta, Rector of Udayana participated as the Guest of Honour, besides the Vice Rector of Dhyanapura University and ISI Denpasar. The members of consular corps based in Bali attended the event besides representatives of tourism organizations and hotels.

The event was held with the active support of the Institut Hindu Dharma Negeri Denpasar, whose Rector, Prof. Dr. I Made Titib, himself is an eminent alumni of

Indian educational system. IHDN Denpasar is the largest and a premier State institution under the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia imparting education on Hindu religion, philosophy, theology and social and culture sciences. With three faculties, two Master programmes and a Ph.D programme, it has nearly 5000 students and over 125 lecturers in different departments. Several of its lecturers have studied in Indian universities and it has coopera-

tion agreements with a couple of universities and cultural studies institution in India.

The alumni spoke very warmly of their learning experiences in India and elaborated on their immense intellectual growth and exposure gained in India during the course of their study. A large number of the alumni are currently working as professors, lecturers, heads of provincial government departments and in prominent art & culture institutions as well as in

tourism industry.

Earlier, documentary depicting cultural similarities in Bali and India, in particular Northeast India was shown to an appreciative audience followed by scintillating fusion dance performances by Ms. Aparajita Sarma, Dance Teacher from Indian Cultural Centre in Bali and Balinese dances by the students of IHDN Denpasar. The renowned Indonesian artiste, Trie Utami, also enthralled the audience.

IBP/Courtesy of Consulate of India

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International

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Bali News In Kuta, Djoko Susilo’s house confiscated by KPK

Denpasar (Bali Post)-

One by one, General Inspector Djoko Susilo’s assets in Bali have been confiscated by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK. After a rice field at Yeh Gangga Tabanan, now an elite house located at Kuta has also been confiscated. The house located at Harvest Land Block A-17, By Pass Ngurah Rai, Kuta, Badung was predicted to be valued IDR 5 billion.

As seen by Bali Post last Monday (18/3) the elite house dominantly painted white with river rocks has had a paper stuck to its main gate stating ‘’Berdasarkan Surat Perintah Penyitaan Nomor: Sprin.Sita-01/01/01/2013 tanggal 9 Januari 2013 dan Sprin.Sita-13/01/01/2013 tanggal 31 Januari 2013. Bangunan ini telah disita dalam tindak pidana pencucian uang dengan tersangka Djoko Susilo’’ along with KPK’s logo. It is stating officially that the asset is sealed as part of accused Djoko Susilo money laundering act. The two floored house was seen empty and three meters wide garden looked really neat. According to one security of the estate, the house has been empty all this time and no one has been in –out the house. “As long as I work here, I never knew who owns the house,” the anonymous security stated.

When was the house sealed? Security did not know for sure yet saw the poster on Sunday (17/3) evening. It is explained the real value of the house is not known yet for sure houses in here were expensive. Head of Kuta Police, PC I Putu Gede Dedi Ujiana, confirmed that the confiscation of the house did happen yet admitted to have not known if the house is actually owned by Djoko Susilo or not. (kmb21)

Having cleft lip and cardiovascular disorder

Ardi undergoes catheter installation A toddler from Ubud, Gianyar, Ketut Ardi, 5 months, having a cardiovascular disorder and cleft lip, had undergone an operation for installation of catheter. Ardi had a leak in two cardiac sections so that he required an immediate surgery for catheterization. Surgery for Ardi was once delayed because of cost issue. Ultimately, he could undergo the surgery after Gianyar County facilitated the financing by public health insurance (Jamkesmas).

When met in Pudak Room, Ardi looked fast asleep. His mother, Made Siti, seemed to accompany him alone. Meanwhile, his father, Subrata, departed to his home village in Ubud to see the condition of their other children. With a grateful smile, Siti said the operation of his son last Thursday (Mar 14) ran smoothly. “The doctor said there was no problem related to the operation. Through Eco examination this morning, Ardi’s heart has been functioning normally,” said Siti while smiling with relief.

The only son of this couple just required the recovery of cardiac surgery before undergoing the next surgery in the lip. “Now, we just focus on the recovery. Afterwards, medical treatment will be taken for his cleft lip,” he said. For the cleft lip, Ardi had to undergo four stages of operation.

At the moment, the condition of Ardi continued to improve. His weight having dropped to 3.3 kg had gone up again to 3.5 kg. Infusion previously mounted on his hand had been removed. To drink milk, Ardi should do it by spoon. “After the surgery, he could drink milk a lot,” said Siti.

Regarding the cost of treatment for hospitalization of Ardi in Sanglah Hospital, Siti admitted to use Jamkesmas. However, the process was still ongoing. “The document is at hand, but the card has not been issued yet,” she said. She could not ascertain whether there was cost to be borne by the family before the Jamkesmas took effect. (san)

Matatah Kinembulan in Satria Palace

Some participants cry, one uses wheelchair

PINNACLE of the matatah kinembulan (mass tooth filing) ritual followed by 850 participants in Satria Palace, Denpasar, Monday (Mar 18) took place in a familial atmosphere. The series of Manusha Yajña ritual held in Satria Palace was in cooperation with the Lumajang Ashram, Tabanan, and supported by the Hindu Dharma Women of Indonesia (WHDI Bali) and Balinese residents was begun with the ngungkab lawang procession and closed with majaya-jaya ritual.

The mass tooth filing ritual was followed by residents from all over Bali. Those participating in the ritual were aged from 12 to 73 years old. Even, there was participant using a wheelchair.

After the procession, a number of participants cried. They moved because they had undergone an essential procession in their life, especially related to Balinese customs and culture. Sacred atmosphere was intensely felt when the procession began with ngungkab lawang and all the participants joined the mapeed or lined up from Satria Palace to location of the ritual.

Program Section Committee, Cok Putra Wisnu Wardhana, said the ngungkab lawang procession starting the pinnacle series of the mass tooth filing in Satria Palace was officiated over by Ida Pedanda Beluangan from Geria Sanur.

The procession had significance as transition from childhood to adolescence. Furthermore, it was resumed with ngendag ritual denoting the initial procession of a high priest to inculcate the essence of goodness or control against negative natures, so that children could become a good human.

After the tooth filling procession ended, all the participants resumed it with mejaya-jaya ritual.

It represented the expression of gratitude of all the participants to Supreme God because they were able to follow the whole series of ritual properly and smoothly.

A figure of Satria Palace doubling as Deputy Governor of Bali, AA Puspayoga, said the mass tooth filing suggested a social function of palace remaining to exist until today. People were expected to respect the palace as a cultural heritage, not as a feudal

heritage. “The royal administration period used to exist and now we descend it as a cultural heritage. I observe the palaces especially in Bali have disappeared in terms of the power function due to a system. However, the social function is still running and the social tasks still run well,” he said.

Existence of the social function was not only evidenced by the implementation of mass tooth filing, but also by mass cremation and mamukur some time ago. “It means the mutual assistance as indigenous wisdom is never extinct, especially in Bali. And this is a part of the mutual assistance,” added the former mayor of Denpasar.

Puspayoga explained that such a ritual actually had been organized by the big family of Satria Palace in 1964. This year drew the largest number of participants for almost five decades. “If we still open the registration, perhaps more partici-

Activities

International

pants will join. But our capacity is only for 850 people,” he said.

Although the committee did not disseminate any invitation to the officials and politicians, the ritual was attended by a number of important officials and politicians in Bali.

Among others there were Denpasar Mayor I.B. Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, Regent of Jembrana I Putu Artha, Regent of Tabanan Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, Regent of Buleleng Putu Agus Suradnyana, Regent of Bangli I Made Gianyar, Deputy Regent of Klungkung Tjokorda Gde Agung, Deputy Regent of Tabanan Komang Gede Sanjaya and some other officials. Even, the Chairperson of the PDI-P Megawati was also present specifically to witness the ritual which was also enlivened by various kinds of entertainment such as profane dance, bebondresan and sacred dance. (kmb13/rin)

IBP

JAKARTA - Bali, the famed Island of the Gods, with its beautiful landscapes, a large number of cultural, historical and archaeological attractions is also rich with tasty authentic dishes. Graffiti Restaurant at Mercure Jakarta Simatupang Hotel presents “The Exotic Balinese Dishes” for the whole month of March 2013.

Comes in 6 a la carte menus of authentic Bali cuisine, this month food promotion will fits for those people who enjoy sampling the delightful flavors of Bali. The Exotic Bali menu starts with choices of 1 appetizer, 4 main courses and 1 dessert.

Try “Jukut Kakul”, the traditional Balinese soup as a starter, an intensely flavorful snail soup in coconut cream with minced green papaya.

The famous “Sate Lilit” surely not to be missed, a traditional Balinese skewer or ‘satay’ with minced seafood blended in special spices and served with Sweet Soya and Chilli

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sauce. The first option for the main course would be an all-time favorite “Siap Betutu”, a classic dish, roasted chicken marinated in pungent roots, herbs and seasonings wrapped in banana leaf then steamed and roasted.

The meat is so tender and particularly delicious taken with Sambal.

“Bebek Megoreng Unggasan” another classic dish which specially marinated with seasonings and deep fried to a crispy golden-brown. If you prefer to have seafood as your main course, “Be pasih Jimbaran” would be the perfect choice, a marinated grilled red snapper in Jimbaran

style served with sambal matah. Another must try dish is “Kambing Mekuah” – Balinese lamb stew in coconut milk resulting a strong delicious flavor. Here is Balinese version of “Rendang”, “Be Sampi Mebase Bali” – braised beef curry in coconut milk. At last, a sweet desert as the closure, “Batun Bedil Pisang Rai” – sticky rice cake in sweet brown sugar sauce and boiled banana coated with freshly grated coconut.

Calendar Event for March 6 through 31, 2013 6 Mar Buda Cemeng Warigadean Pura Kepisah Sumerta Denpasar Pura Pasek Gelgel Gerih Abiansemal Pura Puncak Sari Penarukan Peninjoan Bangli Pura Bangun Sakti Besakih Pura Anteg Sari Dangin Pangkung Kediri Tabanan Pura Pesimpangan Batur Pande Dangin Pangkung Kediri Tabanan

10 Mar Redite Pon Juluwangi Pura Panti Pasek Gelgel Gobleg Kayu Putih Desa Banjar Buleleng

IBP/File

15

Grafiti Restaurant presents “The Exotic Balinese Dishes”

8 Mar Sukra Umanis Warigadean Ida Ratu Geng Penataran Agung Besakih Ida Ratu Raja Puraus Merajan Saloding Besakih

The participants of the Matatah Kinembulan in Satria Palace.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

11 Mar T ilem Kesanga (Tawur Agung Kesanga)

12 Mar Nyepi Saka 1935 / Anggar Kasih Julungwangi Pura Tirta Harum Tegalwangi Bangli Pura Beratan Baturiti Pura Batu Klotok Klungkung Pura Pasek Tohjiwa Wanasari Tabanan Pura Pasek Tangguntiti Jakatebel Tabanan Pura Pasek Bendesa Sangsit Sawan Buleleng Pura Dalem Waturenggong Tarokaja Tegallalang Pura Ibu (Pura Kaja) Wanagiri Selemadeg Tabanan Pura Pasek Gelgel Tulikup Pura Manik Bingin Desa Dukuh Sidemen 13 Mar Ngembak Geni / Buda Umanis Julungwangi Pura Penataran Gana Bebalang Bangli Pura Dalem Gede Banjar Pande Bangli Pura Puncak Sari Sangeh Abian Semal

Pura Dadia Agung Pasek Sanak Sapta Resi Banjar Perteluan Sidang Gianyar Pura Puseh Penegil Darma Banjar Kaja Kangin Kubutambahan Singaraja Pura Dalem Maya Blahbatuh Gianyar Linggih Bhatara Kayu Selem Penataran Agung Besakih 14 Mar Warespati paing Julungwangi Pura Sanghyang Tegal Desa Taro Tegallalang 21 Mar Sugian Jawa Pura Kawitan Tangkas Kori Agung Desa Tangkas Klungkung Piura Siang Kangin Tampuagan Desa Peninjoan Temuku Bangli Odalan Ida Ratu Mas Penataran Agung Besakih Odalan Ida Bhatara Bang Tulus Dewa Besakih 24 Mar Penyekeban Pura Jari Desa Batur Kintamani 26 Mar Penampahan Galungan Lan Purnama Sasih Kedasa Bhatara Turun Kabeh Besakih Pura Bukit Jati Bangli Pura Batur Kalanganyar Bangli Pura Masceti Pejengaji Tegallalang Pura Dalem Tangsub Sukawati Pura Penambangan Badung Denpasar Pura Lempuyang Madia Karang Asem Pura Batur Bangli Pura Desa Singakerta Ubud Pura Pasek Gelgel Tatag Kukuh Marga Tabanan Pura Gaduh Ketapian Sumerta Denpasar Pura Pasek Bendesa Batur Tuakilang Tabanan Pura Pasek Agung Tatag kelod Peguyangan Denpasar Pura Agung Pasek Bendesa Tonja Denpasar Pura Pasek Gelgel Angsri Baturiti Pura Pasek Gelgel Baleagung Subamia Braban

Pura Dukuh Sakti Belatung Bengkel Timpag Kerambitan Pura Pusat Dukuh Sakti Belatung Rendang Karangasem Pura Agung Jagatnatha Kota Denpasar Pura Pemerajan Agung Puri Petak Gianyar Pura Dadya Agung Bendesa Tangkas Kori Agung Pusat Gerih Abiansemal Pura Puseh Desa Ada Dukuh Sidemen Karangasem Pura Agung Giri Natha Semarang 27 Mar Galungan Pura Wakika Kupang NTT Pura Agung Girinatha Sumbawa Besa NTB Pura Dukuh Sakti Dukuh Kediri Tabanan Pura Atambuananta Kutamba NTT Pura webananta Kupang NTT Pura Giripati Mulawarman Pontianak Pura Mustika Dharma Cijantung Jakarta Timur 28 Mar Umanis Galungan Pura Watukaru Tabanan Pura Lempuyang Luhur Karangasem Pura Kentel Gumi Klungkung Pura Pasek gaduh Umadesa Kediri Tabanan Pura Pasek Kubayan Wangaya Gede Penebel Tabanan 29 Mar Sukra Paing Dungulan Pura Ulun Suwi Jimbaran Kuta Pura Luhur Kawitan Cameng Cemenggaon Sukawati Pura Pasek Ubung Denpasar 30 Mar Saniscara Pon Dungulan Pura Segara Jembrana Pura Dalem Gede Losan Klungkung 31 Mar Redite Wage Kuningan Pura Dalem Tegal Tamu S ekar Mukti Batubulan Pura Kubayan Umagunung Sempidi Badung

IBP/Courtesy of Mercure Jakarta

Balinese Temple Ceremony Every Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbulumbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land.

Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

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16 Pages Number 62 5th year

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Entertainment

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

China’s homegrown hit films struggle overseas

Associated Press Writer

HONG KONG — The surprise hit in Chinese theaters last year was a low-budget, wacky road-trip comedy that even beat out global blockbuster “Avatar” to become the country’s highest-grossing film ever. But “Lost in Thailand” found just a paltry $57,000 during its U.S. theatrical release.

The film that earned 1.26 billion yuan ($200 million) in China joins other homegrown hits that have flopped internationally, and is the latest sign that while the country has become a box-office superpower, it faces a harder task fulfilling its leaders’ hopes that its studios will be able to rival Hollywood for global influence.

Action-comedy “Let the Bullets Fly,” starring Chow Yun-fat, grossed $111 million at home but $63,000 in the United States, while action-fantasy “Painted Skin: The Resurrection,” starring Donnie Yen, earned $113 million domestically but $50,400 in the U.S., according to Hollywood.com.

Chinese movies’ overseas box office receipts fell 48 percent last year, alarming regulators, who also worried about Hollywood movies taking more than

half of ticket revenue, which totaled 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), for the first time in nine years. Tong Gang, head of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, urged filmmakers to “better express Chinese images and stories in line with the international film mainstream” and step up their marketing and publicity, according to state media.

China’s film industry has been reaching out to Hollywood in search of coproduction deals that would help studios make movies that both Chinese and global audiences like. They’re hoping to make the next “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” a 2000 U.S.-China-Hong Kong-Taiwan co-production that became a global blockbuster.

But film distributors say selling China’s movies to the world is hampered by subject matter that doesn’t travel well,

different storytelling methods and the sheer size of its own market.

Lim Teck, managing director of Singaporean producer and distributor Clover Films, said China has become so lucrative local studios don’t need to think about other markets.

“China has become so big and so powerful. Basically a lot of movies nowadays are very Chinacentric,” Lim said at a panel discussion at the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market, a major trade show.

“They’re produced primarily for the China local market, which is nothing wrong because the market is so big, but with that in mind it sort of undermines the (appeal to the) rest of Asia,” Lim said.

Doris Pfardrescher, president of distributor Well Go USA, said the kinds of movies that are popular in China today — romances, comedies and fantasy flicks — don’t necessarily appeal to audiences in other countries.

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

India government ally withdraws from coalition, reforms at risk

Xu Zheng

AP

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

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Deschamps faces dilemma ahead of Georgia game

Page 8

China’s leader Xi meets US treasury secretary

Page 13

Pope Francis begins reign with grand ceremony Agence France-Presse

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis knelt at the tomb of St Peter and donned a ring symbolising his new papal powers at a sumptuous inauguration on Tuesday as tens of thousands of pilgrims cheered Latin America’s first pontiff.

Continued on page 6

PSY to revise song over worry it may offend Arabs Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea — PSY says he will change the title and lyrics of his potential “Gangnam Style” follow-up over worries it could offend Arabs.

The announced title for the song can be written as “Assarabia” or “Assaravia”

in English. It’s slang used by South Koreans to express thrills. It suggests no ethnicity or body part, but worries have risen that Arabs might misinterpret the title and find it derogatory.

PSY said Monday on a South Korean social media website that he has decided to change the title. Some lyrics also will

change.

After several Korean albums, PSY has promised future work in English but it isn’t clear when. The “Gangnam Style” video with its catchy tune and much-imitated horse-riding dance has a record 1.44 billion views on YouTube since July.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives for his inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

IBP/ap

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino