MILITARY UNIFORM CHANGED UNANNOUNCED Kathmandu, 9 Nov.: Military uniform has been changed announced. Nepal Army’s two top officers, Army Chief Gen. Gaurab Shumshere Rana was first pictured with the uniform in a newspaper Wednesday and Acting Army Chief Lt. Gen Nepal Bhusan Chand in another newspaper photograph Friday. Army Chief. Gen. Rana is currently visiting Australia. “Formal uniform was changed after a decision in principle. The half-sleeved white uniform worn by the army chief is the summer dress,’ Army Spokesman Brig. Gen. Suresh Sharma told Kantipur. ‘The winter uniform will be slightly different.” The new uniforms will be available to others when tender is completed. nnnn . DONORS UNITE TO PREVENT FUND MISUSE Kathmandu, 9 Nov.: Donors who contributed more than $ 161 million for the Local Governance and Community Development Programme ( LGCDP ) have come up with ananti-corruption measure, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post.. A 10-point proposal forwarded by the donors to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development comes after reports in the media that millions of rupees from development funds allocated to local bodies for development and social security were being misused by local politicians in collusion with bureaucrats in the absence of elected peoples’ representatives. The anti-corruption measure, prepared after consultation among potential donors, has sought clear policies and rules on corruption from the ministry. The Asian Development Bank, DFID, DANIDA, CIDA, NORAD, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, SDC, UNV and UNCDF have shelled out $ 161.5 million for the four-year LGCDP programme. The term of programme, which started in 2008, is set to expire this year. The ministry, for its part, is now preparing a second phase programme to check the increasing fiduciary anomalies at the local level. However, as the LGCDP ’s first term will expire soon, donors have proposed independent third party reporting and citizen feedback on local development. “They [donors] have forwarded their proposal and we will jointly discuss it shortly,” said Gopi Khanal, programme manager of the LGCDP . Last month, after inspecting Dhanusha, senior officials from the ministry had concluded that Rs 300 million of the budget allocated for development and social security allowances had been misused. Eighteen senior officials were suspended for their alleged roles in misusing the fund and details were also forwarded to the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for further investigation. The suspended officials have now forcefully rejoined their offices but no credible investigation has yet been carried out by the CIAA, according to ministry officials. Additionally, media also reported that Rs 380 million of the budget distributed as advance payment for development projects in Saptari had yet to be furnished. Following complaints that local funds were been largely misused, the ministry formed three separate teams under the leadership of Joint Secretaries to look into the matter. However, the ministry officially has not made public any further developments concerning the irregularities. Given the delay in making public the status of corruption and actions against corrupt officials, the donor proposal has urged the ministry to share the status of all corruption cases related to local bodies and detailed action taken in the last six months. Nnnn DETAILS OF PRACHANDA, CHIINESE NGO AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP LUMBINI Kathmandu, 9 Nov.: The Lumbini Development National Directive Committee of Nepal ( LDNDC ) and the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), a Hong-Kong based NGO, on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of Lumbini, Kamal Dev Bhattarai writes in The Kathmandu Post.. The project aims to build infrastructure surrounding Lumbini in Nepal to attract Buddhist pilgrims. According to the MoU, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha will be developed into a ‘world peace city.’ LDNDC Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and APECF Executive Vice-chairman Xiao Wunan signed the MoU amid a programme in Kathmandu on Wednesday evening. The two sides, however, did not give details of the agreement and the estimated amount that the APECF is willing to spend for the purpose. A few months ago, the government had formed the LDNDC under Dahal to garner internal support for the development of a Lumbini project, which drew criticism from the Buddhist community. The community said the plan is an attempt to commercialize the sacred place. The LDNDC , a Cabinet-formed committee that has a four-year mandate, has members from the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML as well. Addressing the function, Dahal said a strategic partnership should be formed between Nepal, India and China through Lumibini. “The three countries can and should join hands for a strategic partnership through Lumbini for the development of the whole of Asia,” Dahal said. Xiao said the project will benefit Nepal, South Asia and the whole world. He added that improving the infrastructure in Lumbini and other areas around it is the main target of the project. APECF officials said an estimated 3 to 5 billion US dollars will be spent in the project. Xiao said his team will seek support from the Middle East in building hotels in the Lumbini area. He, however, did not elaborate. Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, a member of the LDNDC , said he was not informed of the MoU. “No discussions on the MoU were held in meetings of the LDNDC . I am surprised to know that the two institutions signed the agreement,” he said. Earlier, Dahal’s bid to bring in investment worth 3 billion US dollars from the APECF was dragged into controversy. Dahal allegedly kept government authorities in the dark when he did that. Ministers and government officials were not invited to Wednesday function too. Following the outcry over Dahal’s plans, the Maoist-led government had a few months back written to the APECF, urging it to take permission from the Social Welfare Council for investment in Nepal. nnnn