RI, Australia sail through 1st round SINGAPORE (AFP): Indonesia beat Thailand while Australia downed Pakistan yesterday in the opening round of the men's team event of the 13th Asian table tennis championships being played here. Top seed China and archrival South Korea had breezed through the preliminary rounds of the tournament which opened here Wednesday.

Sloppy censorship From Bisnis Indonesia It was inevitable that the film Striptease, starring Demi Moore and currently showing in movie houses, would be heavily cut by the censorship board. It is deplorable that the board has done some sloppy work, leaving much too obvious breaks in the film's sequence. Apart from smoother transitions to cover up the mutilated parts of films, I expect the censorship board to be more flexible in their criteria.

Toll road crash claims four lives CIKAMPEK, West Java: Four people were killed and six were seriously injured in a midnight crash on the Cikampek toll road near Karawang yesterday. The accident, believed to be the worst in the past month, happened when a truck slammed into a bus parked in the emergency lane with a flat tire. Toll road authorities said all the victims were bus passengers.

Sahid builds new hall JAKARTA (JP): Hotel Sahid Jaya, a five-star hotel on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, is building a new convention and conference center, costing about US$ 8 million. Hotel general manager Guido J.A. Gyde said yesterday the new convention center, called Puri Ratna, would be linked to the existing Puri Agung Convention Hall. The hall and the center are expected to hold up to 4,500 guests for a cocktail party or 2,000 for an elegant sit-down dinner.

Inti wins $16m contracts BANDUNG (JP): State-owned telecommunications equipment producer PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Inti) has won US$16 million worth of contracts to supply and maintain telecommunications networks installed by private firms. Inti spokesman Suhasri U.N.

No RI officials will attend Nobel ceremony: Alatas JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday Indonesian officials, both at home and those stationed abroad, would not attend Tuesday's Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo for Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and exiled East Timor separatist leader Jose Ramos Horta.

President presents awards JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will give 67 Upakarti awards to executives, companies and local administrations for their contribution to small business, Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo said yesterday. Tunky said the President would present the awards on Dec. 16 at the State Palace to 21 regents and mayors, 18 companies and 20 individuals to recognize their efforts to promote small business.

Police and residents catch taxi robbers JAKARTA (JP): Police with the help of local residents arrested four men for robbing two President taxi drivers in North Jakarta and West Jakarta yesterday. City Police Spokesman Maj. Nyoman Suriasta said Karyono, 19, was arrested in North Jakarta for allegedly robbing driver Taman, 26. Karyono stopped a taxi on Jl. Cakung and asked to go to Jl. Raya Cilincing, he said.

Wendy's to open 60 outlets JAKARTA (JP): Fast-food franchisee PT Wendy Citarasa plans to open 60 outlets in eight cities next year, its general manager said yesterday. Jonathan Goenawan said the planned outlets were expected to increase the company's annual sales to around US$38.3 million. He said the outlets, with expected monthly sales of $60,000 each on average, would be opened in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Malang, Denpasar, Cirebon and Medan.

Navy told to heed personnel SURABAYA (JP): President Soeharto told the Navy yesterday that although its equipment is continuously modernized, it should never neglect its human resources. "The Navy needs personnel who are strongly committed to the Armed Forces' oaths," he said when addressing the 51st commemoration of Naval Fleet Day.

City official defends parking joint venture JAKARTA (JP): A top city official has came to the defense of a controversial joint car parking venture between a local company and an Australian firm. "Such a joint venture is just alright because there is no law explicitly banning a foreign company from such a business," the assistant to the City Secretary of Economic and Development Affairs, Prawoto, said Wednesday.

'Seven operators can meet demand for cellular phones' JAKARTA (JP): The seven licensed mobile cellular telecommunications operators will be able to meet increasing domestic demand for cellular phones, an executive said yesterday. Julius S. Djohan, the president of PT Excelcomindo Pratama, a digital Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications operator, told The Jakarta Post that the seven providers were not operating at capacity.