Thursday, June 26, 2008

PT PUSRI urge Regulation about Distribution of Subsidized Fertilizer

PT PUSRI, as the oldest and the biggest industrial fertilizer in Indonesia, won't distribute subsidized fertilizer to the area having not regulation about distribution of subsidized fertilizer. PT PUSRI won't take a risk if they are blamed by the governmentcause distribute fertilizer as an illegal thing. They hope that all province can fulfill this wish.***

Sunday, June 22, 2008

FreeRice to support victims of Cyclone Nargis

Rice generated by the award-winning Internet word game FreeRice will soon be going to help feed survivors of the cyclone which hit Myanmar in May.

The rice will be distributed to many of the 755,000 people that WFP aims to reach with its relief operation in the country. Two rice consignments for Myanmar have been paid for by YUM! and Unilever, the latest companies to help fund the FreeRice initiative.

Through FreeRice.com, online players ranging from school children to office workers donate 20 grains of rice to WFP every time they get a right answer.

FreeRice’s creator John Breen estimates that up to 500,000 people play the vocabulary-expanding online game every day. So far, players have won over 36 billion grains of rice for the hungry – that’s enough for 3.75 million meals.

Rice has already been donated to WFP programmes in Uganda, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It has fed refugees, schoolchildren, pregnant women and mothers.

Time's top websites of the year

The FreeRice website, launched in October 2007, continues to win recognition as an innovative web phenomenon. It has just been selected by Time magazine as one of the top 50 websites of the year.

Time.com allows users to vote for their favourite site among those selected. If you want to vote for FreeRice.com, you can do so here.

FreeRice creator John Breen recently picked up a second award for the ground-breaking web initiative. The award, presented on May 16, came from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. On January 7, FreeRice won the best website prize in the charity category of the Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finds of the Year Awards.

With interest in the FreeRice vocab game as strong as ever, John and WFP are hoping to reach the target of 4 million meals for the hungry by the end of the summer.*(wfp.org)

The Importance of Staving Off a Magnesium Deficiency

The latest government study shows a staggering 68% of Americans do not consume the recommended daily intake of magnesium.

Even more frightening are data from this study showing that 19% of Americans do not consume even half of the government’s recommended daily intake of magnesium. This article is an excerpt from the book "Transdermal Magnesium Therapy" by Mark Sircus AC., OMD.

'Studies show that as many as half of all Americans do not consume enough magnesium. Magnesium deficits have been tied to allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, heart disease, muscle cramps and other conditions.' - Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...

You can follow the complete article by Mark Sircus Ac., OMD from naturalnews here.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Subsidized Fertilizer in Indonesia will be Stable

Oil price's increasing also impacted to the farmers in Indonesia. So that, Indonesian government take a policy to increase estimate for subsidized fertilizer.

Indonesian government estimating for subsidized fertilizer around 14.7 quintillion, in order to stabling fertilizer's basic price. This estimation used for fertilizer's stock about 7.2 million in 2008.

Indonesian government determine basic price for fertilizer type Urea 1,200 rupiah each kilogram. For NPK 1,750 rupiah each kilogram, ZA about 1,050 rupiah each kilogram and for SP-36 1,550 each kilogram.

In 2008, Indonesian Government consider for fertilizer's stock about 4.3 million ton Urea, 800.000 ton SP-36, 700.000 ton ZA, 900.000 ton NPK and 345.000 ton organic fertilizer.***

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Perahu Bidar Race at Sungai Musi

Palembang City Anniversary celebrated on June 17th, 2008 by Government of Palembang with Perahu Bidar race and Perahu Hias contest, took place on Musi River, Palembang.

Perahu Bidar race followed by 19 contestants coming from Palembang region and outer. And for Perahu Hias Contest, followed by 17 contestants from Palembang region and 7 contestants from outer.

Perahu Bidar Race is started from Dermaga 35 Ilir and finished at Benteng Kuto Besak Square, passed through 800 metres long distance.***[]

Use It or Lose It

Words used the most evolve the slowest. Researchers have traced how past tense forms of English verbs have died out since the time of Beowulf. Only one persists as a rule: adding “-ed” to denote the past tense (so-called regular verbs).

The investigators catalogued all the irregular verbs they came across, such as “sing”/“sang,” as well as those that have since been regularized (such as “slink,” which is now “slinked” but 1,200 years ago was “slunk”). Only 98 of the 177 irregular verbs they found have not been regularized, and given two verbs, if one was used 1/100 as frequently, it evolved 10 times faster.

Next to fall, they predict: “wed,” the past tense of which will regularize to “wedded.” The October 11 Nature published this study, as well as a similar one comparing soundalike words across Indo-European languages.***—Nikhil Swaminathan

Not So Neutral Neutron

The neutron may be electrically neutral overall, but physicists had thought it was actually positively charged at its center with an offsetting negative charge at its outer edge.

New results from three different particle accelerators suggest the neutron is even more complicated, with a negative charge both in its inner core and in its outer edge and with a positive charge sandwiched in between.

The findings could improve understanding of the strong force, which binds atomic nuclei together, as well as the inner workings of stars. It might also have applications in nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

According to researcher Gerald Miller of the University of Washington, the neutron could prove even more complex as more data come in, as he describes in the September 14 Physical Review Letters.*** —Charles Q. Choi

Monday, June 16, 2008

Hole Shrinkage

Ozone in the stratosphere blocks deadly ultraviolet rays from the sun, but the past use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in aerosols and other products has thinned the protection. The damage is embodied by the infamous “ozone hole” that forms over the South Pole every Antarctic spring. (A hole is defined as a thickness of ozone less than 220 Dobson units—or less than 2.2 millimeters thick if the ozone resided at sea level at 0 degrees Celsius).

Measurements of the hole taken by the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite do not necessarily mean that the ozone layer has begun recovering. Rather weather patterns allowed warm air to mix into the polar regions, thus limiting the problem.

Temperature below which ozone depletion occurs:
–78 degrees C

Percent that the ozone layer has thinned every year this decade: 0.3

Peak Antarctic ozone loss, in metric tons:
In 2006: 40 million
In 2007: 27.7 million

Minimum ozone depth in hole, in Dobson units:
In 2006: 100
In 2007: 120

Area of hole, in square kilometers:
In 2006: 28 million
In 2007: 24.7 million

Area of North America, in square kilometers:
24.25 million

SOURCE: European Space Agency announcement, October 3, 2007

1325 Palembang City Anniversary



Palembang is the oldest city in Indonesia, based on Kedukan Bukit Epigraphy (683 ac) founded at Bukit Siguntang, Palembang City. This Epigraphy told about place that called wanua, builded as capital of Sriwijaya Emperor on June 16, 683. Based on this, government authenticate every June 16, as Palembang City Anniversary.

If we discuss about Palembang City, we can correlate it with Sriwijaya Emperor, that ever made it as capital of Sriwijaya Emperor around 7th century till 12th century. On 17th century, Palembang City become capital of Kesultanan Palembang Darussalam, proclaimed by Pangeran Ratu Kimas Hindi Sri Susuhanan Abdurrahman Candiwalang Khalifatul Mukminin Sayidul Iman (populer as Kimas Hindi/Kimas Cinde). Kesultanan Palembang Darussalam eliminated by Dutch Government Colonizer on October 7th, 1823 and become on of Netherland Commision Agent.***[]

Killing the Kilogram

In September 2007, news reports proclaimed that the kilogram was mysteriously losing mass. Specifically, the reference cylinder, made 118 years ago and kept locked away under glass in France, appears to have lost 50 micrograms when compared with the average of dozens of copies.

Physicists have long recognized this kind of mass drift, however, which is why they have been seeking natural defi nitions for the kilogram [see “Weighty Matters”; SciAm, December 2006]. One possibility for a new defi nition would be the number of silicon atoms in a kilogram of pure silicon; another would rely on electrical power and quantum effects.***[]

Visa on Arrival to Visit Palembang City

Indonesia Government had granted visa on arrival favor to 52 countries to be able to purchase the visa on arrival facility upon their arrival in Indonesia’s designed “International Gateway” at 15 airports and 21 seaports, one of the airport is Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport Palembang, they are :
  1. Argentina
  2. Australia
  3. Austria
  4. Bahrain
  5. Belgium
  6. Brazil
  7. Bulgaria
  8. Cambodia
  9. Canada
  10. Cyprus
  11. Denmark
  12. Egypt
  13. Estonia
  14. Finland
  15. France
  16. Germany
  17. Greece
  18. Hungary
  19. Iceland
  20. India
  21. Iran
  22. Ireland
  23. Italy
  24. Japan
  25. Kuwait
  26. Laos
  27. Liechtenstein
  28. Luxembourg
  29. Maldives
  30. Malta
  31. Mexico
  32. Monaco
  33. New Zealand
  34. Norway
  35. Oman
  36. RRC
  37. Poland
  38. Portugal
  39. Qatar
  40. Saudi Arabia
  41. Russia
  42. South Africa
  43. South Korea
  44. Spain
  45. Switzerland
  46. Sweden
  47. Surinam
  48. Taiwan
  49. The Netherland
  50. United Arab Emirate
  51. United Kingdom
  52. United States of America

And started per 28 May 2007, Indonesia will be added its Visa on Arrival (VOA) favors to more 12 countries joined with previous 52 other favored countries according to the Directorate General of Immigration recent released paper. The 12 countries are

  1. Algeria
  2. People�s Republic of China
  3. The Czech Republic
  4. Fiji
  5. Latvia
  6. Libya
  7. Lithuania
  8. Panama
  9. Romania
  10. Slovakia
  11. Slovenia
  12. Tunisia

Tourists from those selected countries will not oblige to apply abroad for a visa but can purchase a visa on arrival at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport. The fee for this visa, payable upon landing, is US$10 for a 7 day visa and US$25 for a 30-day visa. The official entry requirements for the issuance of a 30 or 7 days day visa-on arrival:

  1. Passport must be from one of the countries listed above.
  2. Passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 (six) months from the date of entry into Indonesia.
  3. Payment of US$10 or US$25 must be paid at the gateway, depending on the length of visa required.
  4. Onward or return tickets are compulsory.
  5. Visitors must enter and exit through one of the 15 airports or 21 seaports officially approved as an “international gateway” by the Indonesian Immigration department.

There are 11 countries and territories are eligible for a “Visa Free” facility. Those holding valid passports from the following countries will be granted a non-extendable 30-day Visa-Free Short Visit Permit upon arrival at Sultan Mahmud Badarrudin II International Airport without charge:

  1. Brunei Darussalam
  2. Chile
  3. Hong Kong SAR
  4. Macau SAR
  5. Malaysia
  6. Morocco
  7. Peru
  8. Philippines
  9. Thailand
  10. Vietnam
  11. Singapore

Others nationals that not granted with either visa on arrival favor nor visa free favor from Indonesia government may apply for tourist visa at Indonesia embassy abroad.***[]

***Source


Atmosphere of Uncertainty?

To support the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that current warming is anthropogenic, William Collins, Robert Colman, James Haywood, Martin R. Manning and Philip Mote assert in “The Physical Science behind Climate Change” that the mismatch between surface and tropospheric warming rates has now been resolved. This claim is not supported by actual observations.

According to the April 2006 Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) report, considerable disparity exists between the observed warming-rate patterns and those calculated by greenhouse models. Although the models predict that temperature trends will increase with altitude by 200 to 300 percent, the data from both weather balloons and satellites show the opposite.

This result does not deny the existence of a greenhouse effect from the considerable increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gases. But it does suggest that present models greatly overestimate the effect’s magnitude and signifi cance.***Fred Singer - University of വിര്ജീനിയ

***Source

Bulk Industrial Chemicals

The bulk industrial chemicals category includes those chemicals and materials produced in the chemical industry in large quantities, typically using continuous processes although they may be manufactured in large batch equipment. The price of these chemicals tends to be a more important factor than their performance.

Both organic and inorganic chemicals can be produced on a large scale. Organic chemicals are materials that contain hydrogen and carbon atoms and sometimes other elements such as nitrogen, oxygen and halogens. Inorganic chemicals are generally considered to embrace all substances except hydrocarbons and their derivatives.

Petrochemicals are primarily organic chemicals made from hydrocarbon raw materials sourced from crude oil, natural gas or coal. Olefins (ethylene, propylene and butadiene) and aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylenes) are the primary building block chemicals to make petrochemical intermediates and final products.

Many petrochemicals are processed into polymers for use in plastics, resins, fibres, elastomers and coatings. Petrochemicals are also used to make a wide range of end-use products such as detergents, adhesives, solvents, plasticizers, lubricants, etc.

Fertilizers can be organic or inorganic materials which contain one or more of the primary plant nutrients and sometimes secondary or trace nutrients. The primary nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium while secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulphur.

If nitrogen is the main element, it is described as nitrogen fertilizer supplied as anhydrous ammonia or solutions containing nitrogen derived from ammonia. The ammonia can be directly applied to the soil or used to produce other compounds such as ammonium nitrate and urea. Ammonia can also be used in combination with phosphate rock and potassium to form N-P-K compound fertilizers.

Large volume inorganic chemicals are produced by the chemical industry. These include chlorine, caustic soda, titanium dioxide, and many carbonates, sulphates and halides.*