Indonesia takes two diving medals JAKARTA (JP): Two Indonesian scuba divers romped home with a silver and a bronze medal in the second Asian Diving Championships in South Korea on July 27 and July 28. Razul Chalbi, executive director of the Indonesian Diving Association, said that M Ivan Diponegoro Gani took the silver in the men's fins swimming 3000 meters and Anna Gani took the bronze in the women's division.

Japan, RI battle tropical disease JAKARTA (JP): Representatives from the Indonesian and Japanese governments yesterday exchanged notes of cooperation for the construction of a Tropical Disease Center at the Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java. Under the project, Japan is to give a grant of 856 million Yen (Rp 18.8 billion) for the center.

National car benefits market From Neraca I have wanted to own a car for a long time, a luxury automobile if possible. Therefore the decree on the national car has attracted my attention. The many reports and articles on the national car have led me to the following conclusions: The granting of facilities to the Timor is less than fair. However, the policy has forced other car manufacturers to reconsider the pricing of their products.

Stocks prices inched up 0.4% in quiet trading JAKARTA (JP): Stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) edged up by only 0.4 percent yesterday in a very quiet trading as most foreign investors continued to sideline. "Today's increase doesn't mean that the market has regained investors' confidence. Foreign investors are net sellers today, meaning that they are still cautious to make a quick come-back," a dealer with a London-based securities company told The Jakarta Post.

Japan sending more and more investment Asia's way: analyst TOKYO (AFP): Asia can expect to experience a strong growth in Japanese direct investment over the next few years as producers here continue adjustments for the strong yen, according to a leading analyst. BZW Research Ltd. analyst James Vestral said Asia outstripped North America in the year to March 1995 as the major recipient of Japanese offshore investment in manufacturing, and the gap is expected to widen.

Puncak discotheques raided for drugs BOGOR (JP): Discotheques along the road leading to the Puncak mountain resort have been subjected to three raids in the past two months following suspicions of transactions of illegal drugs. Denny M. Moechry, the regency spokesman, told The Jakarta Post officials seized drugs from a number of patrons in the raids. He did not say what type of drugs. "So far there are no grounds to close down the nightspots," he said.

LG plans more RI plants SEOUL (AFP): South Korea's LG Electronics Co. said yesterday it would build a 150-million-dollar joint venture plant with Japan's Asahi Glass and two other Indonesian firms to produce TV tube parts in Indonesia. The joint venture, P.T. Video Display Glass Indonesia, will be capable of churning out 10 million color picture tube funnels, the rear part of the tube, from October 1997.

Clove conversion project to cost $174m JAKARTA (JP): The conversion of clove plantations into food crops will require at least Rp 400 billion (US$173.9 million) from the farmers' compulsory savings scheme, an official says. Jaya Putra, the director for cooperative supervision at the ministry of cooperatives and small enterprises, said the conversion project was originally expected to be financed by special conversion funds collected from farmers.