South Jakarta's First Bike Lane to Be Ready Next Month

Jakarta Globe, Dofa Fasila | April 26, 2011

Related articles

• Velocipedes Blaze a Trail in Java
• Cycling Enthusiasts Gear Up for Inaugural Meeting
• Buenos Aires Pedaling Bicycles as a Cure for Illness, Pollution and Traffic Jams
• Saving the World, One Commute at a Time
• Jakarta’s Cyclists Hope for Smoother Ride by Opening Bike to Work Center

South Jakarta will have its first ever bicycle lane by the end of May — though it runs a mere 1.5 kilometers.

South Jakarta Mayor Syahrul Effendi said on Tuesday that a gubernatorial decree would be issued to provide the legal umbrella for the lane, which will run from the Ayodya Park to the Melawai commercial area.

"The physical work for the lane is not yet completed," he said, adding that about 40 percent of the work had already been done.

"It's been a bit slow because we have to work in the evenings so as not to hinder traffic during the day. What is important is that this lane would be inaugurated in May and can be used for cycling."

The mayor said the construction of the Rp 500 million, 1.6-meter wide bike lane was being financed by funds raised by the Indonesian Bicycling Committee.

Syahrul added that they would work to develop more bicycle lanes and try to have them interconnected.

Bike lanes, he said, were part of the city's regional zoning plan for 2010-2030.

The head of the South Jakarta zoning office, Gamal Sinurat, said they were looking at putting bicycle lanes under elevated highways, including under the Antasari-Blok M elevated highway and along the parts of the Eastern Flood Canal that runs through the municipality.

Biking enthusiasts and advocates have long campaigned for the creation of dedicated bicycle lanes in Jakarta. Toto Sugito, chairm an of Jakarta’s Bike to Work (B2W) cycling community, says the administration lacked the political will to make the city friendlier for those not using motor vehicles.

EU lifts flight ban of 4 RI cargo airlines

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 04/22/2011

Four Indonesian cargo airlines have been removed from the list of airlines banned from entering the European fly zone, after a meeting of the European Union (EU)’s Air Safety Committee on Apr. 5-7.

The ban removal was outlined in the Official Journal of the European Union as the EU released its latest update of the “List of airlines banned within the EU” on Thursday.

“This update removes the previous ban on the operations of four Indonesian all cargo air carriers – Cardig Air, Republic Express, Asia Link and Air Maleo,” the European Commission says in a press statement published on its website, http://ec.europa.eu.

“This is due to solid enforcement action taken by the Indonesian authorities to ensure that their operations are safe,” it adds.

The commission further explained in the official journal that the removal of the ban came after its video conference with the Indonesian authorities on March 11, during which the latter informed that all air carriers in Indonesia, with the exception of Wing Air, had undergone re-certification.

The Indonesian directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) also informed the commission that only 9% of the aircraft operating in Indonesia had yet to be fitted with the required International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) equipment.

“The DGCA [also informed that it] had issued an exemption permitting operations until the end of 2011 and that aircraft not fitted after this date would be grounded.

“The Air Safety Committee takes note of these developments and encourages the competent authorities of Indonesia to continue their efforts to enhance the oversight of air carriers under their regulatory responsibility,” the journal says.

A total of 10 Indonesian airlines have thus far been removed from the EU flight ban list, including Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua, Indonesia Air Asia and Metro Batavia.

Electric Vehicles Hold Promise of Bluer Skies for Manila (ADB)

Asian Development Bank, 13 April 2011

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III today transferred 20 Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded electric tricycles (e-trikes) to the City of Mandaluyong, marking an important first step towards a sustainable, energy-efficient transport model for the country.

Emissions from the transport sector currently represent 30% of all pollution in the country, and approximately 80% of air pollution in Metro Manila. A sizeable proportion of vehicle emissions are attributable to inefficient public transport, particularly from tricycles, jeepneys and buses.

The 20 e-trikes are part of an ADB-funded project to introduce energy-efficient transportation alternatives in the Philippines. ADB is currently in discussions with the government and other development partners on a proposed project to significantly scale up the rollout of energy efficient e-trikes in Manila and other urban areas as early as 2012.

"Working together, we can give Manila cleaner air, bluer skies, and a more livable environment," said Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB's Southeast Asia Department. "The Philippines is assuming a leading role in Asia in supporting green transportation alternatives, and if e-trikes are followed by new fleets of electric buses and jeepneys, the effect could be transformative."

Over 3.5 million motorized tricycles are currently operating in the Philippines, producing more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide and using close to $5 billion of imported fuel each year. Motorized tricycles - which are motorcycles with sidecars - are popularly used as low-cost public transport for short distances.

"Every 20,000 e-trikes that are introduced to Manila's streets will save the Philippines 100,000 liters of foreign fuel imports each day, saving the country about $35 million annually," said ADB's Principal Energy Specialist Sohail Hasnie. "This initiative not only benefits the environment, but it also supports the Philippines drive to become more energy independent."

Though the new e-trikes have higher up-front costs, older petrol tricycles are more than twice as expensive to operate and maintain in the long run. The cost savings will directly increase the incomes of e-trike operators.

The new ADB-supported e-trikes use lithium ion batteries, commonly used in laptop computers and mobile phones. The batteries can be recharged approximately 2,000 times, in contrast to lead acid batteries used in older e-trike models that need to be replaced every two years.

A recently concluded phase-one ADB pilot project demonstrated that the Philippines has the local manufacturing capacity and technical skills base to build and maintain a large e-trike fleet. Once thousands of e-trikes begin to be manufactured, many new jobs could be created.

Factoring in electricity required for charging the batteries, the e-trikes' carbon footprint will be less than one quarter of petroleum-fueled tricycles' carbon dioxide emissions.

As part of the pilot project, ADB will install four charging stations in Mandaluyong City, which will be able to charge the e-trike batteries to 50% capacity in less than 30 minutes. One of the charging stations will use solar energy.

About ADB

United States Companies Eye Railways, Airports in Indonesia: Official

Jakarta Globe, April 04, 2011

United States firms are eying investments in Indonesian infrastructure
such as railways and airports but are concerned about graft and a lack of
protection of intellectual property rights, the US under secretary of
commerce said on Monday. (Reuters Photo)

Related articles

• India Eases Joint-Firm Rules Amid FDI Slump
• Koreans Pledge $20b to Help Upgrade Indonesia’s Railroads
• Polyester Producer Pledges Billions in Push to Diversify Investment
• Indonesia Could Read Investment Grade in 12 Months: Fitch
• Investment Will Continue Despite Disaster, Indonesia Says

United States firms are eying investments in Indonesian infrastructure such as railways and airports but are concerned about graft and a lack of protection of intellectual property rights, the US under secretary of commerce said on Monday.

Under President Barack Obama, the United States is trying to improve ties with the world’s most populous Muslim country, including through investment and by boosting bilateral trade of $23 billion a year, which is two thirds of Indonesia’s trade with China.

“We have some American companies that are interested in supporting Indonesian transportation infrastructure needs, particularly in the railway system,” Francisco Sanchez said in an interview with Reuters.

He declined to identify the companies.

Indonesia’s government plans next week to offer investors $32 billion worth of infrastructure projects, including a railway, toll road and power plant, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy struggles to fund an overhaul of its transportation network.

Inadequate infrastructure is seen as both an investment opportunity and an obstacle to growth, and was cited by Fitch Ratings last month as a key risk to the chances of the country winning an investment grade rating in the next 12-18 months.

Other sectors US investors are interested in are health care, agriculture and green energy, said Sanchez, in Jakarta to explore closer commercial ties.

Indonesia opened up health care for foreign investment last year, and is looking to boost food security and expand geothermal power, where U.S. energy major Chevron is already an investor.

Foreign direct investment has picked up in Indonesia in the past year, but there has been far more investment from Asia than from US or European firms, with Japan having pledged more than $50 billion in infrastructure investment.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang has vowed to tackle corruption, a concern for many investors, though progress appears to have stalled.

Sanchez said further reforms on transparency were needed to attract more investment.

“Corruption, protection of intellectual property rights and overall transparency, all of these will have more long-term impact and positive impact on the Indonesian economy,” he said, adding businesses also wanted an opportunity to have a say on proposed regulations and laws.

Policy flip-flops have been a major concern for investors, particularly in the resources sector with rules aimed at reducing foreign ownership or involvement.

ExxonMobil has been in protracted negotiations over gas fields, while Indonesian regional authorities are competing with the national government to grab a stake in a nickel mine operated by US miner Newmont.

Reuters

Large hole discovered after Southwest flight makes emergency landing

CNN News, By the CNN Wire Staff,April 2, 2011

A 3-foot hole formed in the fuselage of Southwest Airlines Flight 813
on Friday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Passengers arrive in Sacramento, California, on a second plane
• A 3- to 4-foot hole is discovered in a plane's fuselage
• FAA: The captain made a rapid descent from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet
• A passenger commends airline personnel for their control of the situation

(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines flight landed safely at a military base in Yuma, Arizona, on Friday with what passengers described as a 3-foot hole in the fuselage of the Boeing 737.

"I heard a loud popping sound about three or four minutes before it blew open on us," passenger Greg Hansen told CNN.

"(Then) a big explosion happened. A big noise, and from there, you felt some of the air being sucked out. It happened right behind me, in the row behind me and it covers about two and a half rows," he said from seat 11C.

Hansen, 41, a regional sales manager for a biotech company, was flying home to Sacramento, California, from a business trip. Some people panicked and screamed as the blue sky and sun began to shine through the cabin in mid-flight, he said.

"Most people were just white knuckles holding onto the arm rests. The pilots did a great job and were under control to get us to a manageable level," he said.

But just behind him, Hansen said he could see the jagged edge of the aircraft where the rivets used to be.

"You can see the insulation and wiring. The interior ceiling panel was bouncing up and down with the air," he said.

"It was surreal, when you're riding in a modern aircraft. You're used to being enclosed and not having the window rolled down," he said.

Hansen described the hole as being about 3 or 4 feet long and about a foot wide.

Passenger Brenda Reese told CNN affiliates KCRA and KOVR she began to fear for her life.

"I was texting my sister to make certain that she told my kids that I loved them," Reese said.

Southwest Flight 812 made an emergency landing at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station/International Airport at 7:07 p.m. ET.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the captain made a rapid, controlled descent from 36,000 to about 11,000 feet after the cabin lost pressure.

"We do not know the cause of the decompression," said Ian Gregor of the FAA.

Hansen said the incident took place about 35 minutes into the flight. He says that it took about 45 seconds or a minute before the oxygen masks came down after the hole blew open.

"The crew was pretty calm about it. They walked around and checked on everyone," he said. "But it wasn't like the movies where papers get sucked out of the hole, but you could feel it and hear the noise."

One of the passengers told KOVR that the incident occurred shortly after flight attendants took drink orders.

"There was a hole in the fuselage about 3 feet long," said the passenger, identified only as Cindy. "You could see the insulation and the wiring. You could see a tear the length of one of the ceiling panels."

Southwest said in a statement that the flight crew "discovered a hole in the top of the aircraft."

Hansen said that most of the passengers were complaining of a pain in their eardrums from a rapid descent.

Southwest Airlines said only one injury was reported.

RELATED TOPICS

• Air Travel
• Southwest Airlines Inc

"There are no reported customer injuries," according to a statement released by the airline. "One of the flight attendants, however, received a minor injury upon descent."

Hansen said one male flight attendant appeared to fall and was bleeding from a facial injury.

Yuma International Airport spokeswoman Gen Grosse said passengers were tended to and given refreshments because the temperature on the tarmac was close to 100 degrees.

Hansen said passengers deplaned and boarded another Southwest Airlines plane for Sacramento. He said the airline offered passengers accommodations in Yuma, but did not know if any passengers chose to stay.

The second flight landed in Sacramento on Friday night.

But one passenger, Debbie Downey, opted to take a small Cessna aircraft back to the Phoenix area.

"Just wanted a change of scenery," said Downey, who was traveling with her husband. "My uncle is a retired pilot with Northwest Airlines and offered to come get us in his Cessna 182."

In a written statement, Boeing spokeswoman Julie O'Donnell declined to comment on possible causes of the incident.

"Boeing is dedicated to the safety of its airplanes and the people who fly on them," O'Donnell said. "We are providing technical assistance to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as it investigates the incident.

In accordance with international convention, we cannot speculate on either the cause or whether this incident is similar to or different from anything in the past; any questions about the investigation must be directed to the NTSB."

The NTSB said an investigative team will arrive in Yuma on Saturday.

CNN's John Branch, Rich Phillips, Deborah Doft and Greg Morrison contributed to this report.

Related Articles:

Small cracks found in three Southwest Airlines jets

NTSB: Southwest jet had pre-existing fatigue

Another Southwest Airlines flight diverted

Southwest cancels 300 flights after emergency

Southwest to ground 79 planes after hole prompts emergency landing

Holed Southwest Airlines flight makes emergency landing

Video: Elektra One All-Electric Plane Makes Successful Maiden Flight

Meanwhile, jet contrails found to be a worse climate-change culprit than carbon

POPSCI, By Clay Dillow, 03.30.2011

ELEKTRA ONE via PS-Aero

German company PC-Aero is trying to win NASA’s CAFE Green Flight Challenge, and Saturday they took a big step toward doing just that. The company’s ELEKTRA ONE aircraft, designed by PC-Aero’s founder and president Calin Gologan, made its successful first flight. But this one-seater isn’t your average single-prop. ELEKTRA ONE flies on electricity alone.

The Green Flight Challenge seeks a demo aircraft that can fly 200 miles in less than two hours on the energy equivalent of less than one gallon of fuel per person. ELEKTRA ONE didn’t push the envelope that far just yet--the maiden flight hit a ceiling just above 1600 feet and lasted just 30 minutes, burning just half the 6 kWh stored up in its batteries. But the fact that the lightweight aircraft was able to comfortably circle the airfield for half an hour-- more or less silently, we might add--is nothing short of impressive.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Who Birthed the Electric Plane?
• A Silent Electric Plane
• Global Warming Better, Worse Than We Thought

And the timing for such a flight couldn’t be better. A study released Tuesday claims that airplane contrails--those long, white condensation trails jets leave in the sky--may warm the planet more on the average day than all of the carbon emissions spewed from airplanes in the history of modern aviation.

The carbon lingers longer of course--the contrails and any heat-trapping cirrus clouds they cause dissipate in hours or days, while the carbon remains for decades--but still, that’s a lot heat being trapped on any given day. Electric planes, as you may have surmised, wouldn’t contribute to warming on either front. See ELEKTRA ONE take flight in the video below.

[Treehugger, Reuters]

Lawmaker Involved in Another Plane Seat Incident

Jakarta Globe, March 26, 2011

Related articles

• Man Traumatized After 9-Hour Ordeal in Mosque Toilet
• Indonesia Airport Foils Smugglers with 40 Pythons
• East Java Officials Get Caught Watching Porn During Speech
• Cambodia Sets Age, Wealth Limits for Foreign Husbands
• US Man Maintains Suicide, Murder Threat

Indonesian Twitter users woke up on Satuday to an early morning plane seat mix-up incident that ended with lawmaker Roy Suryo being asked to leave a Lion Air flight.

Twitter user @ernestprakasa said he boarded the 6:15 a.m. flight to Yogyakarta with his friend only to find their seats occupied by the Democrat Party lawmaker and his wife.

“When it was checked, it turned out that Roy Suryo's tickets were for the 7:45 flight, instead of 6.15 a.m. but he refused to leave the plane, dropping the name of Lion Air's director,” Ernest wrote.

Ernest said he and his friend decided to just leave the plane, but suddenly some of the other passengers shouted, “Don't let officials beat you!” and “Hey, Roy Suryo, don't pull a Nurdin Halid. You must step down now!”

In the midst of the chaos, the pilot, identified only as Capt. Vino, came out to the cabin to ask what was going on because the flight was already 15 minutes late.

After receiving an explanation from a flight attendant, the captain walked into the cockpit, grabbed his bag and angrily walked over to the plane's door, cursing government officials as he did so.

The captain refused to take off if Ernest and his friend were not on the plane.

Shortly after, a group of airport officers approached Roy Suryo, and the lawmaker finally got up and apologized to the passengers.

“I am sorry for having disturbed your flight,” he said, to the applause of the passengers.

After Suryo left, the captain returned to the cockpit and started the take-off procedure.

However, Suryo said he was simply a victim of Lion Air's mistake.

“Tweeps, I was the one who became the bigger man and took the blame for Lion Air's mistake in the double-seat incident. As the people's representative, I know ethics require me to apologize and prioritize others,” he wrote on his Twitter account.

Roy claimed Lion Air has apologized to him for the "miscommunication."

Lion Air refused to comment on the incident, saying they will verify the flight documents first.

Related Article:

The seven months pregnant woman told to give up her British Airways seat... just so Gordon Brown could fly Club Class

Boeing's new 747 completes first test flight

Reuters, SEATTLE | Sun Mar 20, 2011

The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental taxis down the runway before its maiden
 flight from Paine Field, in Everett, Washington, March 20, 2011.
(Credit: REUTERS/Robert Sorbo)

(Reuters) - Boeing Co's 747-8 Intercontinental, the new passenger version of its legendary jumbo jet, completed its maiden flight without a hitch on Sunday, marking a key milestone for the aircraft model more closely associated with Boeing than any other plane.

The behemoth began its first test flight from Boeing's Paine Field north of Seattle into clear blue skies at 9:58 a.m. local time. The take-off, witnessed by thousands of Boeing employees and aviation enthusiasts, occurred almost 42 years after the first flight of the original 747, which later became one of the most recognized planes in the world.

After almost four and half hours in the air, the red and white plane landed safely at Boeing Field just south of central Seattle.

The 747-8 Intercontinental will seat 467 passengers, 51 more than the current version of the 747. It promises to burn less fuel and offer more passenger comforts. The plane also boasts new wings, a new tail, state-of-the-art engines and a new cockpit.

The 747 was the world's largest airplane until 2005, when Airbus unveiled its 525-seat A380.

Boeing has taken orders for 33 747-8 passenger planes, according to the company website on Friday. The plane lists at $317.5 million.

Germany's Lufthansa has ordered 20 of the planes, and is set to be the first airline to bring the new jumbo into service early next year.

Production of the new 747 has been delayed as has the mid-sized 787 Dreamliner, a carbon-composite plane, which represents a bigger leap in technology than the revamped 747-8.

The stronger-selling freighter version of the 747 has already flown and is due to be delivered in mid-2011 -- 18 months later than first planned. Boeing has sold more than 70 747-8 freighters.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle and Kyle Peterson in Chicago; Editing by Diane Craft)

Nissan scanning vehicles for radioactive material

CNN News, From Kyung Lah, March 18, 2011

Nissan Motors' pickup trucks line up for export to the Middle East
area as a freighter approaches to the Nissan pier at the Yokohama
port, Kanagawa prefecture, 15 September 2006.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A company official says the measures aim to "reassure the public"
• The monitoring for radioactive material started this week
• Some Nissan production remains suspended

  

Tokyo (CNN) -- Nissan has started scanning vehicles made in Japan for traces of radioactive material, a company official said Friday.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to implement all appropriate measures to reassure the public that all products from our company remain within globally accepted safety standards and until we are confident that any risk of contamination is completely removed," said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of marketing for Nissan Motor Company.

RELATED TOPICS

• Japan
• Earthquakes

Sproule said the monitoring began this week.

Sources inside the company said there is virtually no risk of contamination from a car and no potential health risk to customers, but testing began because of public concern.

Production at several Nissan facilities remains suspended after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake damaged plants and equipment on March 11, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Storm Chaos Reignites Calls for Relocation of the Capital

The Jakarta Post, Dessy Sagita & Arientha Primanita | March 18, 2011

A tree collapsed in front of National Police headquarter in South Jakarta
on Wednesday. Extreme weather in the capital saw hail falling from the
sky, trees uprooted, widespread surface flooding and damage to the
exclusive Senayan City in South Jakarta. (JG Photo/Farouk Arnaz)

Related articles

• Storm Causes Traffic Chaos in Jakarta
• Two-Wheeling Fun in Jakarta and Beyond
• For Greater Jakarta Commuters, It's Railways Over Roads
• Traffic Chief Lauds Singapore Model
• Drivers in Jakarta May Pay up to Rp 21,000 a Day

The Jakarta administration is organizing compensation for vehicles and structures damaged by Wednesday’s freak weather, but frustrated Jakartans say more is needed: a capital relocation.

“Jakarta is under pressures it can no longer handle,” said Andrinof Chaniago, a public policy expert from the University of Indonesia, raising once again the debate of whether Indonesia needs to move its capital.

The sever weather on Wednesday afternoon quickly flooded roads throughout the capital, downed 42 trees and broke off branches from at least 100 more, damaging several cars and buildings in the process.

Catharina Suryowati, head of Jakarta’s Parks and Cemeteries Office , said the city would compensate the owners of each unit damaged by the trees with Rp 10 million ($1,140) each. “To claim it, the owners must give visual evidence in the form of photos, a police letter and the vehicle documents, while for buildings or houses, they must attach a letter from their neighborhood heads,” she said, adding that claims would be accepted for two months.

She acknowledged that more than 2,000 of the 70,000 trees in the city are at risk of collapse. “The trees are old, sick, rotten or tilting by more than 30 degrees. The trees’ trunks are prone to be broken,” she said.

Hari Sasongko Kushadi, head of the city’s Building Control and Monitoring Office, said owners of cars damaged by four collapsed billboards could also make claims with the city’s Tax Office against the sign owners.

Nirwono Joga, an urban planner from Trisakti University, said the city administration was always reactive to incidents like this, but rarely made attempts to prevent incidents. “It is not the trees’ faults but the planning of the trees planters,” he said.

But Andrinof said the problem was insufficient infrastructure and services creaking under the weight of a growing population.

Jakarta has become a magnet for people across the country because it is the center for both government and business. “It is now time to consider separating these two functions,” he said.

Intan Wibisono, a public relations consultant, agreed. “If the center of administration is relocated, development will spread to another part of the country and people wouldn’t flock to Jakarta,” she said. “It’s going to be a very big investment, and I know the transition period is going to be chaotic and painful, but it might pay off in the long run.”

The price of inaction, Andrinof said, was expensive for Jakartans who are forced to spend more for gas and medical costs. “Not to mention, wasting hours on the road makes people aggressive; Jakarta is full of angry, impatient people,” he said.

Emil Hartanto, an office worker who rides a motorbike from his house in Depok to his office in Pancoran, South Jakarta, every day, knows this all too well. “When you spend hours in the maze of traffic, your mood is ruined, you arrive in the office tired and grumpy, with not much energy left to stay productive,” he said.

The capital urgently needs to be relocated, Andrinof said. “There is no way to catch up, a breakthrough must happen,” he added.

Extreme Weather Causes Havoc in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, March 16, 2011

The damaged Senayan City mall. Extreme weather in the capital on
Wednesday saw hail falling from the sky, trees uprooted, widespread
surface flooding and damage to the exclusive Senayan City in South
Jakarta. (Photo Amanda Valani)

Related articles

• Jakarta's Skyscrapers Ready for Quakes, Governor Says
• Jakarta Sets Out Vision for City’s ERP Toll Scheme
• Jakarta Putting Brakes on Police Plan to Impose Morning Truck Ban in City
• Reinventing Jakarta's Motorcycle Taxis
• Jakarta Expats Pay Ninth Highest Rents in Asia: Report

Extreme weather in the capital on Wednesday saw hail falling from the sky, trees uprooted, widespread surface flooding and damage to the exclusive Senayan City in South Jakarta.

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forcaster Bunga confirmed that hail had fallen in the Senayan and Thamrin areas in the central capital.

Bunga said hail would fall on rare occasions in Jakarta during the transition between the wet and dry seasons.

“It is also triggered by extreme weather like we are experiencing now,” she said.

Trees had also blown over throughout the capital, including at the Al Azhar Islamic School, Bunga said.

Miraculously, there no injuries when a tree was flown over at National Police headquarters, damaging 14 cars at 3 p.m.

Heavy winds also caused panels from the outside of Senayan City mall to peel away from the building. The ceiling to the Brewhouse cafe on the ground floor also collapsed. There were a number of shocked customers but no injuries.

Afdita Sari, a public relations consultant, said the hailstorm caused damage to buildings in the Senopati area in South Jakarta.

She said the thumb-sized hail broke windows in her office building at 3 p.m.

“My colleagues and I rushed out the building because of the clanking on the roof,” she said. “We saw ice pellets falling from the sky and the hailstorm lasted for about 15 minutes.”

Afdita said the hailstorm was followed by strong winds that lasted for 10 minutes.

“It was the first hail I’ve seen — very scary.”

She said a stall selling cigarettes in front of her building was damaged when a tree was blown over on top of it.

Bunga said the bad weather would continue tonight.

The Traffic Management Center said traffic from the Jalan Sudirman traffic circle to Senayan was at a standstill.

“Take the TransJakarta bus if you must,” the center said on its Web site.

The traffic is expected to be heavy this evening.

Related Articles:

Falling trees in Jakarta hit 14 cars

Storm Causes Traffic Chaos in Jakarta

Governor : high-rise buildings in Jakarta quake-proof

Flight ban imposed within 30km of Fukushima nuclear plant

Antara News, Tue, March 15 2011

Tokyo (ANTARA News) - The transport ministry banned aircraft on Tuesday from flying within 30 kilometers of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, following a deepening crisis that has developed into brief leaks ofhigh-level radiation.

The move, imposed under the Civil Aeronautics Law, excludes aircraft engaged in search and rescue operations, and is not expected to have a large impact on scheduled commercial flights in the country, according to the Land, Infrastructure,Transport and Tourism Ministry.

Similar irregular flight bans have been imposed three times before, including one for the Group of Eight summit meeting in Hokkaido in 2008 and another for meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama last October, Kyodo reported.

Editor: Suryanto

Related Article:

100 evacuees to arrive in Jakarta from Japan this evening

Plane Forced to Land For Flying Without Permission

Jakarta Globe, Rahmat, March 07, 2011

Makassar. A charter plane headed for Malaysia was forced to land in Sulawesi on Monday for flying over Indonesia without proper permission.

The plane landed at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, at 1.50 p.m. on Monday.

The were 49 passengers, all of which are Pakistani policemen who are serving in East Timor as part of the peacekeeping troops, and five crew members on board. They have been questioned by the authorities.

First Air Marshal Agus Supriatna, the commander of the airport, said the plane was a Boeing 737-300 owned by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

“The airport radar detected the plane at 12 a.m. and the crew didn’t communicate with the control tower,” Agus told the Jakarta Globe.

He instructed a Sukhoi plane to chase the Boeing and force it to land at the airport.

“The plane landed at 1.50 p.m. It was piloted by Captain Tariq Khalil ur Rehman Awan,” he said, adding the plane took off from Dili, East Timor, and was headed for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The plane allegedly flew over Indonesia without fulfilling three requirements — namely diplomatic clearance, security clearance and flight approval.

“Every plane planning to fly over a foreign country must meet these three requirements,” Agus said.

The plane was parked at the airport while the crew and passengers were questioned by the airport authority, immigration and officials from the Indonesian Air Force.

“We have filed a report to the Malaysian Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Transportation Ministry to help the plane fulfill the clearances,” Agus said.

Related Article:

Foreign aircraft held for illegally entering RI territory

Adjust your compass now: the north pole is migrating to Russia

Movement of the magnetic north is causing problems for aviation, navigation and wildlife

The Independent, by Guy Adams in Los Angeles, Sunday, 6 March 2011

It sounds unlikely but it's true: the magnetic north pole is moving faster than at any time in human history, threatening everything from the safety of modern transport systems to the traditional navigation routes of migrating animals.

Scientists say that magnetic north, which for two centuries has been in the icy wilderness of Canada, is currently relocating towards Russia at a rate of about 40 miles a year. The speed of its movement has increased by a third in the past decade, prompting speculation that the field could be about to "flip", causing compasses to invert and point south rather than north, something that happens between three and seven times every million years.

Already the phenomenon is causing problems in the field of aviation. Tampa International airport in Florida has just spent a month renaming its three runways, which in common with those at most US airports are identified using numbers that correspond to the direction, in degrees, that they face on a compass. "Everything had to be changed; it was a huge project," Brenda Geoghagan, a spokeswoman for the airport, said.

The current rate of magnetic north's movement away from Canada's Ellesmere Island is throwing out compasses by roughly one degree every five years, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration to re-evaluate runway names across the country every five years. Similar changes were recently made to runways at Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach.

Geologists believe that magnetic north pole (which is different from the true North Pole, the axis on which the Earth spins) moves around due to changes in the planet's molten core, which contains liquid iron. They first located it in 1831, and have been attrying to follow its progress ever since.

Records indicate that the pole's location barely moved in the early decades, but in about 1904, it began tracking north-east at a rate of about nine miles a year. That speed increased significantly from about 1989, possibly because of a "plume" of magnetism deep below ground. The pole is now believed to be heading towards Siberia at about 37 miles each year. "Earth's magnetic field is changing in time. And as far as we know, it has always been changing in time," geophysicist Jeffrey Love of the US Geological Survey in Colorado told Discovery News, which investigated the issue last week.

GPS systems, which rely on satellites, have replaced compasses as the means by which the majority of professional navigators orientate themselves. But compasses are still valuable, and are widely used by hikers and other amateur map-readers. In some environments, such as underwater or beneath ground, which cannot be reached by satellite signals, they remain the only option. The oil industry, which uses magnets to determine which angle it should drill into the earth, needs to keep track of the exact location of magnetic north.

Birds that fly south for the winter, along with migratory sea creatures, could face confusion. Long-living animals, such as whales and turtles, may in future be required to recalibrate their navigational instincts.

Despite the cost and inconvenience of altering runway names, not to mention the indignity of losing magnetic north to Russia, inhabitants of North America stand to benefit from the changes in at least one respect: it will give them more opportunities to observe the aurora borealis.

No one can predict the impact of "polar reversal", during which magnetic north and south reverse, since one hasn't happened for 780,000 years, the longest stable period in the past 5 million years. Some geologists think we could be about to find out, though: they believe that the current changes to magnetic north could be the early stages of a "flip". But Mr Love says we shouldn't be too concerned. "Reversals typically take about 10,000 years to happen," he said. "And 10,000 years ago civilisation did not exist. These processes are slow, and therefore we don't have anything to worry about."

Related Articles:

Alarming NOAA data, Rapid Pole Shift In Progress

North Magnetic Pole Moving Due to Core Flux

NASA Claims Polar Shift Due in 2012

Pole Shift & Pole Reversal in 2012

Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole impacts Tampa airport