Six months have passed since the Supreme Court’s then Secretary Nurhadi Abdurrahman resigned from his position. Yesterday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally decided to appoint the Head of the West Jakarta District Court Achmad Setyo Pudjoharsoyo as the replacement. Many wonder why the President chose Pudjoharsoyo because the public had warned the President of Achmad’s controversial verdict in the past.
Read MoreMilitary commander General Gatot Nurmantyo complained about stripping off of his powers over budget to lawmakers Monday (Feb 6). Nurmantyo pointed to the controversies surrounding the arrival of AgustaWestland 101 (AW-101) helicopter at Halim Perdanakusuma airport recently, even though President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo had cancelled the procurement. What’s going on?
Read MoreToday, Feb. 7, the North Jakarta District Court will continue the trial of blasphemy suspect, the Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. Ever since the last trial session, a controversy arose with the former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Party and the father of Ahok’s rival in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial race Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono) crying foul claiming that he was illegally wiretapped, after Ahok’s lawyer had implied knowledge of SBY’s phone conversation with witness K.H. Ma’ruf Amin, who was cross-examined in said trial. Ahok’s lawyer had once mentioned the possibility of summoning SBY to Court, will this materialize in today’s trial?
Read MoreThe Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Andi Zoelkarnaen Mallarangeng (commonly referred to as Choel) a suspect in the Hambalang sports complex graft case in 2015, but Choel was not detained, and not much happened since. Until yesterday, when the KPK decided to detain Choel after an examination session. Choel will be held for the next 20 days for the purpose of investigation.
Read MoreColonel Infantry Richard Tampubolon was sworn in as the new vice commander (wadanjen) of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) to replace Brig. Gen. Teguh Muji Angkasa, who was made the new Commander of the 161 Military Resort (Korem)/Wira Sakti at the IX Udayana Regional Military Command (Kodam) in Bali. With this promotion, Richard gets his first star and becomes an Army brigadier general. So, who is Brig. Gen. Richard Tampbolon?
Read MorePer Friday last week, foreign investors still reported net sell of Rp496.3 billion. After booking net buy of Rp16.17 trillion last year, foreign investors opted to sell local stocks early this year. But yesterday (Feb 6), foreign investors booked a net buy as they collected more local stocks. The composite index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) gained 0.66% to close at 5,396 yesterday.
Read MoreSukandamulia Group is one of major property groups in Indonesia. The group owns Holiday Inn Hotel in Kemayoran, Jakarta and Ibis Style in Kuta, Bali Island. One of its family members, Mr Albert Cahyadi Sukandadinata, has just passed away on Sunday, February 5.
Read MoreTrini Dewi Loa Lasuki, wife of tycoon Eka Tjipta Widjaja (Sinarmas Group), has passed away in Jakarta, Monday (February 6). Full obituary has yet to be released by the family, but Trini is said key figure for the group, which has interest in agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, coal mining, power generation, banking, insurance, property, telecommunication, and tech ventures.
Read MoreIndonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.02% year-on-year (y/y) in 2016, effectively ending the nation’s economic slowdown that occurred in the years 2011-2015. The Government’s revised target was achieved. What’s worrying is that Indonesia’s GDP growth in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2016 slowed to 4.94% (y/y) from a growth pace of 5.01% (y/y) in the third quarter of 2016. Indonesia’s GDP shrank 1.77% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to a downwardly revised 3.13% growth in the September quarter, tradingeconomics.com reported. It was the first contraction in three quarters and in line with markets estimates of a 1.8% decrease, as private consumption stalled while investment rose further and government spending and exports rebounded.
Read MoreUnlike China Hanking, BintangDelapan Group decided to postpone the development of smelter to process low-grade nickel in the Morowali Industrial Park, Central Sulawesi province. The group prefers to export low-grade nickel ores to feed the dormant smelters operated by its partners, Tsingshan Group, in China.
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