A number of companies have laid off their workers following the implementation of the mineral export ban policy. The Government has been reluctant to admit this. The Director General for Mineral and Coal, R. Sukhyar, played the semantics card with Yosef Ardi News. R. Sukhyar admitted of receiving reports about layoffs in West Kalimantan and Sulawesi, but the Director General insisted that they’re not classified as mass layoffs. What’s the state of this affair today?

Various media outlets have published reports critical of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s leave of absence. The President decided to take a few days off to campaign and that’s apparently a big no-no. But when Governor of Jakarta Joko “Jokowi” Widodo also took a day off to visit the final resting place of the late President Soekarno in East Java, the media didn’t seem to be as punishing as they were with the President. Meanwhile, in Jokowi’s absence, Vice Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama appears seemingly estranged from and frustrated with the performance of his staff. What’s going on, Jakarta?

Riau Regional police (Polda) has named PT Nasional Sago Prima (NSP), subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro (SGRO)—controlled by Sampoerna Family, suspect in forest fire incidents in Riau Province, which sent out smog to neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia. SGRO’s shares dropped 3.3% Wednesday but on thin trading volume.

Five days ago, in a cabinet meeting, President SBY reminded his cabinet members to remain focused on their official duties. But on Wednesday (Mar. 12), the president failed to lead by example. President SBY, who is also Chairman of the Democratic Party, decided to take official leave in order to join other leaders from his party to go on the campaign trail.

There are those who are eager to hear the news of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s nomination as the presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). These are the people who believe that Jokowi can change the nation for the better. We wonder how widely this eagerness is shared. We spoke to a family of factory workers in Jakarta and listened to what they have to say.

Hary’s country-wide political tour raised a few questions, one of which is whether or not Hary helped finance the tour. We don’t know just how much Hary contributed to Hanura. But the fact is that Hanura is the political party with the third largest campaign fund behind Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party and President SBY’s Democratic Party. According to Hanura’s campaign fund report submitted to the General Election Commission last week, its campaign fund reached Rp241 billion.

We’ve talked a lot about Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, because both of them are the strongest figures in today’s assumed pool of presidential candidates. But we haven’t really talked at great length about Hary Tanosoedibjo. The media mogul is, after all, Hanura party’s vice presidential candidate.. Hary Tanoe matters not because he has a chance at winning 2014 — it’s unlikely. Hary matters because of his future in politics and the extent to which it would impact his companies.

There are a lot of ambitious figures vying for the Indonesian Presidency. Some of them may have even spent a massive sum of money to campaign for themselves. But only one one them can win the race. So the question is, for those who lose the race, do they have a plan B?

The media has intensified its coverage on the irregularities surrounding projects under the Jakarta administration, one of which is the procurement of defective, new fleet of Transjakarta (and its feeder) buses (hereinafter shall be referred to as the TJ project). Lately the focus has been on a particular person who is supposedly close to Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Aggressive expansion financed with loans has forced Chairul Tanjung to seek refinancing facilities in the past few months. Other than acquiring retailer Carrefour Indonesia, Chairul decided to invest heavily in flag carrier Garuda Indonesia (GIAA). Some still don’t understand why he entered airline business in the first place. How about Bosowa Group?