Marking the first palace gathering of his presidency, the President is slated to host an Idul Fitri "open house" after performing the holiday prayers at Istiqlal Mosque on Monday morning.

Combining astrological and traditional methods, the Religious Affairs Ministry's moonsighting committee has determined that the first day of Idul Fitri falls on March 31, which also means that members of both NU and Muhammadiyah will be celebrating the holiday on the same date this year.

Millions of Muslims often face questions on when the Ramadan or Idul Fitri holidays will fall, which depends on how religious authorities observe the moon to determine the Hijriah Islamic calendar.

The government is aiming to better align the vocational education sector with the job market through two new policies that will provide students opportunities for upskilling at job training centers as well as prospective jobs overseas upon graduation.

The country is likely to see a more reserved Idul Fitri this year as fewer people participate in the mudik (exodus) tradition amid financial hardship, widespread layoffs and President Prabowo Subianto’s sweeping austerity measures.

A work-from-anywhere (WFA) policy for civil servants and earlier school holidays for students have contributed to an earlier mudik (exodus) ahead of this year's Idul Fitri holiday, as suggested by data compiled by authorities.

A ministry official reported that the total gross deforestation for 2024 was 216,200 ha, offset by reforestation efforts covering 40,800 ha, resulting in a net loss of 175,400 ha.

The government has stressed that no institution is obliged to provide holiday bonuses ahead of Idul Fitri (THR) to civil society organizations, commonly referred as ormas (mass organizations).

The National Nutrition Agency (BGN) vows to pay thousands of its development pioneer scholar (SPPI) employees, who have not been paid since the free meals program started in January, before the Idul Fitri holidays.

Newly recruited civil servants (CASN) and government contract employees (PPPK) have taken the government’s claim that it will move up their start dates with a grain of salt, noting that the authorities could still change their minds amid the “budget-cutting season”.

The Indonesians were all rescued from Myawaddy on Monday. Later that same day, they crossed over the Second Friendship Bridge into Mae Sot in western Thailand, where they received health examinations.

Myanmar's Myawaddy scam centres are part of a Southeast Asia network involving criminal gangs trafficking hundreds of thousands of people to help generate illicit revenues running into billions of dollars a year, according to the United Nations.

The National Police have pledged to protect businesses from extortion and take “firm action” against members of mass organizations involved in such illicit activities, which have reportedly hindered investment in the country. 

Cyberscam operations, which have thrived in Myanmar's lawless border areas for several years, lure foreign workers with promises of high-paying jobs but hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud. 

The government has insisted on resuming President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free nutritious meal program during the fasting month of Ramadan by making some adjustments to the menu including by providing ultra-processed foods for school children, drawing criticism from nutritionists.

Indonesia is set to lift a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia, expecting it to offer 600,000 job opportunities mostly for domestic workers that could contribute to around Rp 31 trillion (US$1.89 billion) in foreign exchange earnings.

Migrant Worker Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding meets with President Prabowo Subianto on March 14 to talk about issues pertaining to Indonesian migrant workers abroad, including a plan to end a moratorium on sending Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia.

A study conducted by the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) has found conflicting laws governing land ownership in coastal areas.

The government is expecting a significant drop in the number of people partaking in the Idul Fitri tradition of mudik (exodus) this year as many Indonesians endure a tougher financial situation amid President Prabowo Subianto’s sweeping austerity measures.

President Prabowo Subianto held a four-hour discussion on Thursday with hundreds of leaders of public and private universities at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta.

The family of Wage Rudolf Soepratman, the composer of the national anthem “Indonesia Raya”, have lamented the neglected condition of the national hero’s violin, kept at the Youth Pledge Museum on Jl. Kramat Raya in Central Jakarta.

The government stopped cross-border carbon trade in late 2021, wanting to prioritise meeting its own carbon reduction targets as it sets up broad rules on carbon trading. 

The dry season will start in most areas in April and is expected to reach its peak in June up until August, the agency's climatology deputy Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan told reporters in a briefing. 

An internal investigation previously found that Bahlil violated several of the university’s academic standards, such as using data without permission from the sources and concluding the program in less than four semesters as required.

Every party, ranging from the government to the private sector, should contribute to pushing for gender equality in Indonesia, as the country has experienced a lack of progress in creating fairness for all genders in recent years.

The Indonesian Ombudsman said, only 207 out of a total of 602 government agencies have requested additional time for civil servant recruitment, meaning that there was no reason for the postponement in the remaining 395 agencies.

The government is planning to roll out around 50 "community schools" across the nation this year in an interministerial initiative that targets students from low-income families across the archipelago.

President Prabowo Subianto has announced that his administration will soon disburse the holiday allowance (THR) for state employees ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday this month despite the ongoing efforts to enforce sweeping austerity measures to fund his costly initiatives.

President Prabowo Subianto’s free birthday health screening program has seen low participation nationwide one month after its official launch on Feb. 10, raising questions about its target of reaching 100 million people by the end of the year. 

The House of Representatives is considering altering the 2017 Migrant Workers’ Protection Law to grant amnesty to both unauthorized migrant workers and the firms sending them overseas illegally, although experts say the plan will do little to solve the issues Indonesian migrant workers face.