DENPASAR, Bali: Nine foreign performing art troupes and seven

DENPASAR, Bali: Nine foreign performing art troupes and seven
others from various Indonesian provinces will join the 24th Bali
Art Festival scheduled to take place on the tourist island from
June 22 through July 20, 2002, a report said on Monday.

Wayan Rai, chairman of the Indonesian Arts College (STSI) in
Denpasar, said President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Cabinet
ministers were slated to attend the festival, which would present
Bali's diverse classical and contemporary arts.

The college will present its latest creation for the opening
ceremony at the Niti Mandala Renon Square in Denpasar, besides
contemporary dances in the city's cultural center, where Bali's
senior artists will receive awards for their outstanding
achievements.

Balinese music in modern arrangements, choir performances and
epic-based ballets are STSI's other highlights in the regional
art event, which will also see the participation of six Japanese
groups and others from Norway, South Korea and Singapore.

"Seven troupes from Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam, Central Java and Papua provinces will add color to
the annual festival featuring elements of art and culture from
eight regencies and a city in Bali," Wayan Rai said. --Antara

Villagers sue forest concessionaires

MUARA TEWEH, Central Kalimantan: Almost 200 people from three
villages in Gunung Purei district of North Barito regency in
Central Kalimantan, have sued forest concessionaires operating in
the area for alleged exploitation of a protected forest.

The lawsuit, also signed by Muara Mea village chief Ngina
Inkak, names PT Indexim and PT Sindo Lumber as concessionaires
that have conducted logging in the protected forest of Gunung
Lumut, considered a sacred place by local people.

Located in Muara Mea, Gunung Purei district, the Gunung Lumut
forest is a ritual site for villagers embracing the mystical
faith of Kaharingan, besides being hereditary land handed down to
the Muara Mea people from generation to generation.

Three representatives of the village have urged the North
Barito regency administration and the regional legislature to
settle the case, after a meeting with executives of the companies
ended in a deadlock.

Regency administration sources said on Monday North Barito
Regent Badaruddin had instructed a special team comprising
forestry officials and village figures to conduct a field survey
and determine the extent of the encroachment into the disputed
forest. --Antara

East Java high schools to join robot contest

SURABAYA, East Java: The State Polytechnic School of the Surabaya
Institute of Technology, champion of last year's robot
competition in Japan, will hold a line tracer robot contest for
high school students throughout East Java on July 14, 2002.

The committee for the 15th anniversary of the Polytechnic
School announced on Sunday that the participants would come in
groups, each comprising two students and a teacher as mentor, to
present their creations. Judging will be based on entries with
the best appearance, highest speed and most sophisticated
engineering.

The polytechnic school first organized the robot contest in
1993 and resumed the activity in 1999 after several years'
absence. Its robot team, called B-Cak, joined the International
Robot Contest in Fukushima, Japan, on March 4, 2001 and emerged
as champion.

Other programs to mark the school's anniversary include
website design by students, the launching of teleducation in
cooperation with Malaysia's Tun Abdul Razak University, Oracle
database training and various computer seminars. --Antara