Government, House approve of Presidential pardon bill Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Legislators and the government on Thursday ended deliberation on the amendment of Law No. 3/1950 on Presidential Pardons with a new stipulation that enables a convict to seek a pardon and appeal all at once, but the appeal will be processed first. The approved bill states that the president cannot pardon a convict before the Supreme Court (MA) hands down a verdict in an appeal.

Drivers attack, damage 10 minivans BOGOR: Protesting public minivan drivers in Bogor attacked coworkers and damaged 10 vehicles when they refused to join a strike over minivan routes on Thursday. The drivers of 05 minvans traveling from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in Dermaga, demanded they be allowed to enter Bogor's downtown areas of Merdeka and Jembatan Merah. The drivers asked their friends driving route 03 around Baranangsiang Bubulak to join the strike.

Education empowers people to be responsible The government will propose revisions to the draft bill on national education and one main item in the bill's deliberation will be the changes to the Constitution in regard to education. The following is an excerpt of an interview with Suyanto, rector of Yogyakarta State University, formerly the state-run Institute of Teachers' Training and Education (IKIP) with The Jakarta Post's Soeryo Winoto.

Imported used clothes From Bisnis Indonesia Indonesians are fond of consuming used goods ranging from used aircraft, rail cars, buses, luxury cars, factory machines, electronics, paper, to used clothes and other products. Some of these goods are imported legally and others are contraband. Indonesia is capable of producing such goods but they are more expensive or their quality lower than imported used commodities.

Divestment price of Bank Niaga The plan of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to divest the government's shares in PT Bank Niaga Tbk will again have to be postponed because the prospective investor, Malaysia's Commerce Asset Bhd and Indonesia's House of People's Representatives, whose approval IBRA must have for its every step, are yet to agree on the price of the shares to be transacted.

TV Today: Friday, September 20, 2002 TVRI .tb .30" .90" 5:00 a.m. Religious Teachings 6:00 News 8:00 Environment 9:00 Indonesian Film 11:00 News 11:30 Music 12:00 p.m. News 1:00 Talk Show 3:00 Music 3:30 Religious Teachings 4:00 TV Drama 5:00 The Brilliant 6:00 News 7:00 Talk Show 9:00 News 9:30 TV Drama 11:00 Puppet Show TPI 5:30 a.m. Religious Teachings 7:00 Quiz 8:00 Music 9:00 Entertainment News 10:00 Music 11:00 Traditional Comedy 12:00 p.m.

APD II meeting marred by boycott Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Asian People's Dialogue (ASD) II, which aims at seeking solutions to urban poverty in the country was marred by a boycott from foreign participants who objected to the absence of the Indonesian participants in the plenary session. "Where are the Indonesian participants? We won't start our presentation unless the Indonesian participants are present," said a speaker on behalf of the foreign participants.

Central government wants to claim right over land use Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Authority over land use may be the next point of contention between the central government and local administrations as the former considers claiming back the right over land use in the regions that had been given over to the latter since the implementation of regional autonomy in 2000.

Using the law as a shield From Rakyat Merdeka What a mess our judicial system is! Unless the system is reformed, don't expect that the law can be enforced. The governor of Bank Indonesia, Syahril Sabirin, was convicted by the district court and then acquitted by the higher court that heard his appeal. Akbar Tanjung has also been convicted by the district court. It remains to be seen whether, like Sabirin, he will also be acquitted.

Asia tourism won in 2001: Report Dominic Whiting, Reuters, Bangkok Asia's reputation as a relatively safe destination combined with the Sept.11 attacks on the United States spurred an increase in tourists to most of the region, an industry said on Thursday. A report by the Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) showed that just over 80 million people visited Asian countries, up 3.5 percent, with Malaysia, Mongolia, Cambodia and China notching up the highest percentage gains.

'There is nothing new about money politics' With corruption being so rampant in this country, some people were not surprised to hear the news about the alleged money politics behind Governor Sutiyoso's victory. Sutamto, 49, has been working as a taxi driver for more than a year. The former employee of a gas company resides in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, with his wife and five children.

Banjarmasin mayor faces impeachment Yuliansyah and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin/Jakarta Following the impeachment of South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham last month, the Mayor of Banjarmasin, Sofyan Arfan, faces similar action as Anti Provocateur Movement (Gapok) pressure continues to increase. Gapok chairman Puar Junaidi said on Thursday that any leader would face impeachment if he or she violated existing regulations. "We monitor all those in power," Puar said.

"Make love, not war!" in troubled Aceh 2. Korea -- New era in East Asia 2 X 30 Tokyo, Pyongyang rapproachment hopeful new era in East Asia

Stock quotations on JSX Stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (in rupiah) on Sept.

Djamin reelected as Unimed rector MEDAN, North Sumatra: Prof. Djanius Djamin was reelected as rector of Medan State University (Unimed) after garnering 43 out of a possible 47 votes, for the second term in a senate meeting in Medan on Wednesday. The professor defeated two other nominees, Buranuddin and Irwandy, with ease as they gained only three votes and one vote respectively in the closed session to elect the rector of Unimed, previously known as Medan IKIP (teachers college).

Jamsostek to set up 14 health centers Up to 14 trauma centers will be set up by the end of this year, in a bid to provide better health services to workers, P.T. Jaminan Sosial Tenaga Kerja (Jamsostek) Director Ahmad Djunaedi said on Thursday. Speaking after inaugurating the Rungkut Trauma Center in Surabaya, East Java, Djunaedi revealed that another 25 trauma centers would be established in 2003. "We have started establishing trauma centers only in the second semester of 2002.

The impact of the drought The media intensively sounded the alarm against drought so that the entire country could be well prepared. This warning was expected to minimize the adverse impacts of this natural phenomenon. Unfortunately we live in unusual times, as this warning has been construed as an attempt to discredit the government. True enough, we are now feeling the impact of drought.

Patrol boats to protect Babel waters PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: Palembang Police spokesman Comr.. Arum Priyono said on Thursday that police patrol boats formerly deployed in West Kalimantan were currently patrolling the waters of Bangka-Belitung (Babel) to prevent foreign fishermen from pillaging the province's marine resources. Arum said the waters would also be safeguarded by commissioning patrol boats from South Sumatra's Sea and Air Police and from the local naval base.

Wife defend's al-Faruq's innocence Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor The wife of detained terrorist suspect Omar al-Faruq has defended her husband's innocence, saying he had nothing to do with terrorism. "I don't believe he is a terrorist; he is only a scapegoat," Mira Agustina told reporters at her house in Cisalada subdistrict, Bogor, West Java. Mira confirmed that plain-clothed police officers arrested al- Faruq on June 5 in Baranangsiang, also in Bogor.

Legal experts decry arrest of al-Qaeda suspect al-Faruq Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Legal experts have raised objections to the arrest and deportation of an al-Qaeda suspect by means of an intelligence operation, saying such operations are prone to rights abuses. "The war against terrorism is a must, but human rights should not be put aside in an attempt to meet that goal.

'Luxury tax on electronic goods must be scrapped' A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Ministry of Trade and Industry has proposed to the Ministry of Finance to drop the existing luxury tax on electronic goods, arguing that the tax has discouraged investment in the sector.