Tangkapan layar Direktur Komersial PT Krakatau Steel Tbk. Akbar Djohan (kedua dari kiri) dalam diskusi MUDAPRO di Jakarta, hari Sabtu, 19/08/2023. ANTARA/Aji Cakti
Direktur Komersial PT Krakatau Steel Tbk. Akbar Djohan mengungkapkan mengenai pentingnya pola pikir sebagai wirausaha (entrepreneur) bagi generasi muda Indonesia.
"Saya sering sampaikan kepada generasi muda mengenai pentingnya pola pikir (mindset) entrepreneur," ujar Akbar Djohan dalam seminar daring yang diikuti di Jakarta, Sabtu.
Dia juga mengingatkan agar generasi muda jangan cepat tergiur dengan godaan, terutama proses instan dikarenakan yang namanya proses instan memiliki efek samping kurang baik. Generasi muda baiknya menjalani proses secara alamiah atau sebagaimana mestinya.
Selain itu, hal penting lainnya yang perlu menjadi bekal bagi generasi muda adalah adaptif karena perkembangan zaman yang selalu berubah.
Akbar juga menyampaikan mengenai pentingnya keberanian sebagai modal untuk menjalankan kepemimpinan yang kuat.
"Keberanian perlu diperkuat dan dipertajam untuk bisa menjadi pemimpin di masing-masing korporasi," katanya.
Sebelumnya, Menteri BUMN Erick Thohir mendorong generasi muda untuk siap menjadi elemen penggerak ekonomi Indonesia.
Generasi muda Indonesia harus siap menjadi elemen penggerak ekonomi Indonesia, sehingga harus membekali diri dengan pendidikan dan skill yang dibutuhkan di era disrupsi digital. Menteri BUMN juga menambahkan bahwa tidak cukup menjadi generasi digital native. Generasi muda harus memiliki etos kerja yang baik, berkomitmen, dan memiliki jaringan luas.
Erick juga menantang generasi muda untuk menciptakan lapangan kerja. Salah satunya lewat kewirausahaan digital. Untuk mendorong lahirnya wirausaha baru, khususnya di sektor digital, perusahaan-perusahaan BUMN bahu membahu mendukung dan memfasilitasi tiga hal yaitu infrastruktur, pendanaan, dan akses pasar.
Dia juga berharap agar generasi muda terus meningkatkan kemampuan mereka, mengingat edukasi saat ini sangatlah muda didapatkan secara daring.
Peletakan batu pertama atau groundbreaking pabrik tekstil di Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (KEK) Kendal, Jawa Tengah, Jumat (18/8)/Ist
Peletakan batu pertama atau groundbreaking dilakukan pemerintah terhadap pabrik tekstil, PT Dongjin Textile Indonesia di Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (KEK) Kendal, Jawa Tengah, hari Jumat, 18/08/2023.
Groundbreaking industri di KEK ini lain dari biasanya karena dilakukan Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian, Airlangga Hartarto bersama Menteri Perdagangan dan Industri Singapura, Gam Ki Yong beserta delegasi kedua negara.
Seremonial tersebut dilakukan setelah keduanya menggelar The 13th Ministerial Meeting of the Indonesia-Singapore Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups di Semarang, Jawa Tengah.
“Ini pertama kalinya meeting dengan enam working groups dan secara langsung dilanjutkan dengan site visit. Jadi, kita tidak hanya meeting, tetapi kita juga walk the talk,” tegas Menko Airlangga.
Airlangga menuturkan, Kendal Industrial Park (KIP) yang telah ditetapkan sebagai KEK menunjukkan kemajuan signifikan sejak diresmikan Presiden Joko Widodo dan Perdana Menteri Singapura, Lee Hsien Loong pada November 2016 silam.
Hingga Juli 2023, KIP telah menarik 90 investor dari Indonesia, Singapura, Malaysia, Jepang, Korea Selatan, China, Taiwan, Jerman, hingga Hong Kong dengan mengumpulkan investasi hingga 3,37 miliar dolar AS dan menciptakan hampir 30 ribu lapangan kerja.
Sementara itu, PT Dongjin Textile merupakan salah satu supplier utama produk sepatu dan apparel. Pabrik ini menjadi yang bangunan kedua yang dibangun perusahaan tersebut di Indonesia.
“Pendirian pabrik ini diharapkan menambah investasi dan kepercayaan terhadap Kawasan Industri dan KEK di Kendal,” pungkas Menko Airlangga.
Selain Airlangga dan Gam Ki Yong, turut hadir pula Bupati Kendal, Dico M Ganinduto; Sekretaris Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian, Susiwijono Moegiarso; Deputi Bidang Koordinasi Pengembangan Wilayah dan Tata Ruang Kemenko Perekonomian, Deputi Bidang Koordinasi Kerja Sama Ekonomi Internasional Kemenko Perekonomian, beserta delegasi Indonesia-Singapura dan jajaran PT Dongjin Textile Indonesia.
Anies Baswedan tercebur usai dikalahkan oleh Ketua RT Malkan di pertandingan Gebuk Bantal. Anies tercebur ke Waduk Lebak Bulus saat lomba adu gebuk bantal di perayaan HUT Republik Indonesia ke-78 di Waduk Lebak Bulus, Cilandak, Jakarta Barat. (KOMPAS.com/Joy Andre T.)
Seorang ketua RT berhasil mengalahkan Anies Baswedan dalam lomba gebuk bantal yang digelar warga di Cilandak Barat, Jakarta Selatan, hari Kamis kemarin, 17/08/2023.
Diketahui, Anies Baswedan ternyata mengikuti sejumlah perlombaan untuk memeriahkan HUT ke-78 RI.
Anies terdaftar dalam dua perlombaan, yakni tarik tambang dan juga gebuk bantal.
Pada perlombaan tarik tambang, tim yang dipimpin oleh mantan Gubernur DKI Jakarta itu keluar menjadi juara.
Tim dari Anies menang di fase pertama, namun menelan kekalahan di fase kedua, setelahnya di babak penentuan, tim Anies Baswedan meraih kemenangan. Selanjutnya, Anies Baswedan ikut juga dalam lomba gebuk bantal.
Dalam perlombaan ini, Anies berhadapan satu lawan satu dengan warga secara bergantian.
Pada pertandingan pertama, Anies Baswedan berhasil membuat salah satu warga RT06 RW04 tumbang.
Melaju ke babak selanjutnya, Anies Baswedan berhadapan dengan perwakilan dari wartawan yang meliput di gelanggang acara bernama Santoso.
Pada pertandingan ini, mantan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Mendikbud) itu kembali meraih kemenangan.
Di babak ketiga, Anies Baswedan dihadapkan dengan Ketua RT06 RW04 Kelurahan Cilandak Barat, bernama Malkan, dalam perlombaan ini, Anies Baswedan justru tumbang.
Anies kalah dalam beberapa pukulan yang dilancarkan oleh Malkan dan membuat mantan Rektor Universitas Paramadina itu kalah.
Menyikapi perlombaan ini, Anies berguyon kalau dirinya berharap tetap bisa mengurus surat-surat dengan mudah.
"Saya kalah sama pak RT, insyaallah kalau ngurus surat surat masih gampang," kata Anies usai perlombaan
Hingga kini kemerdekaan Indonesia belum dirasakan seluruh masyarakat Indonesia. Sejarawan Anhar Gonggong mengatakan itu pada diskusi virtual bertajuk "Kemerdekaan 78, Sudahkah Kita Merdeka?", pada hari Jumat, 18/08/2023.
“Saya mau mengatakan secara jujur, bahwa kemerdekaan baru dinikmati segelintir orang,” katanya
Anhar pun menyampaikan keprihatinannya ketika menonton perayaan kemerdekaan di Istana Negara, dan menyaksikan ada rakyat kecil yang lewat di depan rumahnya menjual sayuran.
“Anda lihat kemarin, betapa ramainya di depan istana, pakaian macem-macem yang harganya jutaan, tapi bukan itu yang ada di pikiran saya. Karena apa? Pada saat yang bersamaan, saya dengar penjual tempe lewat di tempat saya, penjual kacang, yang belum tentu laku,” katanya.
Dia mengaku tertegun melihat kontradiktif kehidupan para elite dan pejabat negara yang ramai mengenakan pakaian mewah, sedangkan di sisi lain banyak masyarakat kekurangan, bahkan kelaparan.
“Apakah itu kemerdekaan? Apakah itu makna kemerdekaan? Apakah itu artinya seluruh bangsa Indonesia sudah menikmati kemerdekaannya?” dia balik bertanya.
Menurutnya, yang dikatakan kemerdekaan hanyalah segelintir orang yang berkuasa, dan memiliki tujuan untuk menjadi penguasa negara.
“(Padahal) justru mereka yang berkuasa itu tujuan utamanya memberikan kesejahteraan yang lebih baik kepada mereka yang dia kuasai,” ucapnya.
“Jadi presiden, menteri, diberikan fasilitas, tapi tujuan utamanya bukan untuk menikmati fasilitas itu, tapi agar bisa memberikan makna kepada kemerdekaan ini bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia,” tutupnya.
Ukraine has lost more than 400 military both killed and injured in the Donetsk and South Donetsk directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Friday.
Over the given period, the Russian armed forces repelled three attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction, one in the South Donetsk direction, seven attacks and counterattacks in the Kupyansk direction, two in the Krasny Liman direction, and two more in the Zaporozhye direction.
"Enemy losses (in the Donetsk direction) amounted to up to 220 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, five vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system, a D-20 howitzer and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts," the ministry noted, adding that up to 210 troops were destroyed in the South Donetsk direction.
Moreover, Kiev lost up to 195 soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction, the ministry mentioned.
Russian Foreign Ministry Appeals to Ukrainian Troops: Resist Kiev Regime or Surrender
Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has advised soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to either turn their weapons against the Kiev regime or surrender. The diplomat's comment was published on the ministry's official website.
"We strongly recommend Ukrainian servicemen who are convinced of the criminal nature of the bandit junta that has seized their country to either turn their weapons against it or surrender to our forces," the official noted.
Zakharova also emphasized that in such cases, the humane and dignified treatment of Ukrainian military personnel will be ensured.
She also stressed that the criminal Kiev regime continues to shell Russian cities and villages with NATO weapons, including with banned cluster munitions. These actions result in civilian casualties, including children.
In early July, the US government announced it would send hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs to Ukraine to aid its struggling counteroffensive. The munitions, fired from howitzers, are intended to bolster Ukrainian forces. The move came after significant losses, including more than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 4,900 military vehicles.
The US pre-positioned these weapons prior to the announcement, and their use began shortly thereafter. These cluster bombs, similar to depleted uranium shells in Ukraine's tanks, pose the risk of widespread unexploded bomblets, leaving areas dangerous for years. The US and its allies have provided nearly $100 billion in support since February 2022 as Ukrainian forces face Russian superiority, raising concerns about waning Western interest in the ongoing conflict.
CNN - Washington believes Ukraine’s attacks on Crimea are pointless
Ukraine should abandon its targeting of Crimea and focus on breaking through Russian lines instead, US military officials told CNN on Friday. Kiev has stepped up its attacks on the Russian peninsula in recent weeks, with Moscow claiming that the strikes are an attempt to distract from failures on the battlefield.
Since last month, Ukraine has hit the Crimean Bridge – which links the peninsula to the Russian mainland – with naval drones, aerial drones, and long-range missiles. In the last week alone, Russian air defenses thwarted an attempted missile strike on the bridge, and downed 20 drones bound for unspecified targets further inland on the peninsula.
This strategy of deep strikes has “knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive,” an anonymous “senior defense official” told CNN. “And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.”
Ukraine launched its long-anticipated counterattack against Russian forces in early June, aiming to push south through the Zaporozhye region and reach the city of Melitopol near the Sea of Azov, which would split the Russian front and cut off Russia’s land access to Crimea.
However, the operation has cost Kiev more than 43,000 troops and nearly 5,000 pieces of heavy equipment thus far, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. Ukrainian forces have failed to penetrate even the first line of Russia’s multi-layered network of defenses in some areas, leading Western officials to privately pronounce the offensive a failure, according to recent media reports.
Amid the stalled effort, Kiev’s attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure are “acts of desperation” aimed at drawing attention away from its military failures, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
Officials in Washington see things similarly, according to CNN’s report. “The reality is this offensive does not have some eternal runway to go on through the fall,” a Pentagon source told the network. “I’m not too optimistic that we’ll be at the Sea of Azov by Christmas,” another military official said.
While the report paints a grim picture for Ukraine, officials in Kiev insist that they will achieve their objectives, with Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba stating this week that he “doesn’t care” how long it takes. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the Ukrainian offensive as “suicidal,” and accused Ukraine’s Western backers of pushing Kiev to “wage the war to the last Ukrainian.”
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed – US congressman
Ukraine is now in a stalemate in its conflict with Russia and it is unclear if it can win, one of Kiev’s top backers in the US Congress, Representative Andy Harris (R-Maryland), has admitted.
Harris recently told a town hall meeting of his constituents that it is time to wind down direct US aid to Ukraine because Kiev’s springtime offensive, which was supposed to turn the tide of the conflict, has failed to realise its goals, Politico reported on Thursday.
“I’ll be blunt, it’s failed,” said Harris, who has been one the staunchest supporters of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and has repeatedly supported military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Kiev. “I’m not sure it’s winnable anymore,” he added.
Asked whether he would support another tranche of aid to Ukraine, Harris insisted that there are a number of concerns about providing more money to Kiev, one of which is the prospect of fraud or waste. “If there is humanitarian monies, nonmilitary monies, or military monies without an inspector general, I’m not supporting it.”
The congressman added that the US has its own issues to deal with, including the trillion-dollar US deficit in the post-Covid years.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have that kind of money,” Harris said of US President Joe Biden’s proposal to provide an additional $24 billion in emergency funds to Ukraine.
Instead of fueling the conflict further by providing Kiev with additional aid, Harris is now calling for peace negotiations.
“I think the time has come to realistically call for peace talks. I know President Zelensky doesn’t want it,” Harris said. “But President Zelensky, without our help, he would abjectly lose the war. And with our help, he’s not winning. It’s a stalemate now.”
Harris is the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe. His Hungarian-born father, Zoltan, married Irene Koczerzuk, a Polish refugee from present-day Ukraine, before immigrating to the US in 1950.
Ukraine has refused to enter into talks with Russia. Zelensky has formally outlawed any negotiations with the Kremlin as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power, and has insisted that Kiev will discuss peace only after Russian forces withdraw from the territories it claims as its own.
Moscow has said that it is open to peace talks as long as Kiev respects its national security interests and the status of the former Ukrainian regions that officially joined Russia following referendums.
Russian officials have argued that Kiev’s Western backers are pushing it to prolong the conflict and have thwarted attempts at finding a peaceful resolution. In June, Putin revealed that Moscow and Kiev had reached a preliminary agreement in the early months of the conflict in 2022, only for the Ukrainian side to “throw it all away, into the garbage dump of history.”
The West’s overall assistance to the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky regime over the year of the special military operation exceeded 160 billion US dollars, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine.
"In terms of money, the West’s aggregate assistance to the Zelensky regime over the year of the special military operation exceeded 160 billion US dollar, including military aid of 75 billion US dollars," he said.
"By the way, according to the estimates of the Washington-based The Heritage Foundation NGO, the United States has already allocated around 113 billion US dollars to Ukraine, or some 900 dollars from each household, plus 300 dollars as interests for servicing corresponding debt obligations. Huge sums, especially amid the difficult situation in the global economy." he added.
According to the top Russian diplomat, round 50 countries of the so-called "Ramstein coalition" for military support for Ukraine "are actually involved in the armed conflict on the part of the Kiev regime, which does not hesitate to use terrorist fighting methods." "Large-scale weapons supplies, including cluster and long-range munitions, are being sent to Ukraine," he said. "NATO instructors take part in planning operations of the Ukrainian army, NATO intelligence data are being used."
Meanwhile, Western leaders keep on repeating like aa mantra that they will continue to help Kiev as long as it takes, Lavrov noted. "Of course, this is their choice and the Zelensky junta’s decision to go on fighting until the last Ukrainian," he went on. "But, historically, the United States cannot boast a good reputation in terms of supporting its allies." In this context, he recalled that the termination of the US military assistance to South Vietnam in 1973 and to the Ashraf Ghani regime in Afghanistan in 2021 ended up in the immediate fall of the authorities loyal to Washington. "And present-day Ukraine practically totally depends on Western money and weapons supplies," he stressed.
Course toward exhausting Russia
Lavrov noted that the west "is seeking to eliminate Russia as a serious geopolitical rival." "This is why Washington and Brussels have unleashed a hybrid war against us," he said. "And it is supplemented by the unprecedented sanction pressure. The Americans are using the carrot-and-stick policy in a bid to make our partners to refuse from economic and other cooperation with Russia."
They don’t’ hesitate to resort to blatant sabotage, like in the case with the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines running across the Baltic Sea, or taking efforts to remove Russia from the mechanisms of international cooperation in the areas of culture, education, science, and sports.
"Evidently, these and other aggressive measures are geared to weaken, exhaust Russia," Lavrov noted. "They are seeking to maximally drain out our economic, technological, and defense capacities, to limit our sovereignty and make us drop our independent foreign and domestic policy.".
US unwillingness to end Ukraine conflict behind talk of Zelensky’s ‘formula’ — Lavrov
The United States is unwilling to end the Ukrainian conflict, which is why it keeps talking about resolving it based on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s "formula," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine.
When asked about the viability of a position taken by a number of politicians that it’s up to Russia and the US to agree on a way to end the conflict in Ukraine, Russia’s top diplomat pointed out that "such logic implies that Ukraine is an American puppet and all issues should be resolved with the Americans."
"The problem, however, is that the US has no intention of ending the conflict. As I have already said, its officially declared goal is to inflict ‘a strategic defeat’ on Russia, and weaken us as much as possible in military, economic and political terms. This is why Washington keeps saying that talks on resolving the issue should be held only on the Ukrainians’ terms, that is, based on Vladimir Zelensky’s notorious ‘peace formula’," the foreign minister stressed.
Lavrov noted that it was "a pointless categorical position." "We can’t be expected to agree that our core security interests will be infringed on and Russian and Russian-speaking people in our new territories and areas controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces will continue to face arbitrariness," Lavrov went on to say.
Another thing the West needs to realize is that Russia will defend its people and its vital interests by all means. It’s best if our opponents realize as soon as possible that a confrontation with Russia will lead to nothing, and move to adopt more civilized, political and diplomatic methods to ensure a balance of interests," he added.
The Russian foreign minister also emphasized that in December 2021, Moscow had made "a very serious effort" to convey its concerns to Western capitals, sending them two draft agreements concerning security guarantees with the US and measures to ensure security with NATO member states.
"However, our initiative was arrogantly rejected right away. Instead of engaging in talks, they focused their efforts on increasing the production of weapons and ammunition to be provided to Ukraine, triggering a further escalation of regional tensions," Lavrov concluded.
