SHIB SENA DEMANDS 11 JANUARY BE DCLARED NATIONAL UNITY DAY Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: Declaration of a public holiday coinciding with the birthday of the nation’s founder and unifier King Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great was demanded Thursday by President of the National Shiv Sena party, Bikram Bahadur Bam. The Sena has has asked government to declare 11 January National Unity Day and threatened a two-day bandh 7,8 January. nnnn. RS.2.45B ADB GRANT Kathmandu, 27 Dec.: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a grant assistance of approximately Rs 2.45 billion to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of the Strengthening Public Management Programme, RSS reports. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed and exchanged at the Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The main objective of this programme is to enhance the efficiency, transparency and integrity of the public expenditures at the national and sub-national levels. The expected outputs of the programme include improved local budget and fiscal management, strengthened sub-national fiduciary risk management, enhanced public procurement system, and strengthened institutions of oversight and accountability. The Programme will undertake critical public financial management and fiduciary reforms at the national and sub-national levels in enhancing budgeting and expenditure management and fiscal sustainability at the sub-national level, reducing fiduciary risks at the sub-national level, enhancing the transparency, economy and efficiency of public procurement at the national and sub-national level, and strengthening the capacity of oversight and accountability institutions. The Ministry of Finance is the executing agency of this Programme whereas Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Public Procurement Monitoring office and National Vigilance Centre are the implementing agencies. The programme is expected to complete by 2015. Madhu Kumar Marasini, Joint secretary and, Chief of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance and Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director, Nepal Resident Mission ADB signed, the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions. The Government of Nepal has expressed its sincere appreciation to the ADB for this assistance and for the continued support in economic as well as infrastructural development of Nepal. nnnn NC LEADER DEAD KATHMANDU, 27 Dec.: Former Nepali Congress (NC) Accham district president Bhairab Singh Rawal died in the capital overnight, the party said. . He was 87. Nnnn . ASSAM TEA WORKRS BURN ALIVE BOSS, WIFE Kathmandu,, 27 Dec 27: Tea plantation workers torched the home of their boss, killing both him and his wife, following a labour dispute in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, officials said on Thursday, AFP reports from Guwhati. . Around 1,000 workers at the privately-owned M.K.B. Tea Estate attacked the plantation owner´s bungalow on Wednesday and set it on fire in violence blamed on festering labour unrest in the tea-growing region, police said. Mridul Bhattacharya and his wife Rita were burned to death as workers armed with home-made weapons prevented police from rescuing them, they said. "The body of the planter was charred beyond recognition and reduced to ashes while the body of the wife was found lying in the kitchen," local police officer A. Das told AFP by telephone. The grisly attack occurred in Assam´s tea-growing Tinsukia district, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the state´s main city of Guwahati. The Indian Express newspaper said the violence was sparked by orders served by Bhattacharya on 10 estate workers to vacate their quarters and the detention of three employees by police over unspecified disputes. Plantation workers were seen on local television channels admitting to having carried out an attack. "We all came and attacked the bungalow and set it on fire. They deserved to be killed as the planter has exploited us for a long time and tortured us for petty things," a tea estate female worker said on News Live local TV channel. The station did not identify the woman. Assam produces around 55 percent of India´s annual tea production, which stood at 988.32 million kilograms (2,174.3 million pounds) last year, and the state is home to more than 800 tea estate. nnnn