Women and communities in the most remote and biologically diverse regions of the country will receive financial literacy training after a Cooperation Agreement between the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI) and the US Government through the United States Agency for International Assistance (USAID). These trainings are part of the Lukautim Graun Program, a USAID funded environmental conservation program operating in the most diverse and vulnerable parts of Papua New Guinea. In signing the formal agreement to launch the trainings, Chief of Party for USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program, Mr. Maurice Knight said the financial literacy trainings will improve economic conditions for women and communities while at the same time promoting conservation of the country’s exceptional biodiversity. “Empowering emerging female entrepreneurs with both business and environmental skills will increase income for rural families and reduce hunting and illegal wildlife trade,” Mr Knight said. “Unless women and girls are empowered to fully participate in the economy, PNG will not be able to meet its development targets.” Executive Director for CEFI Mr. Saliya Ranasinghe said that financial inclusion is identified as an important priority in the implementation of CEFI’s third financial inclusion strategy which women and youth are important under the digital financial services and financial literacy and financial education. USAID Development Specialist Julie Hulama said this cooperation agreement between USAID Lukautim Graun Program and CEFI aligns with USAID’s 2020 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy that affirms USAID's vision of a prosperous and peaceful world in which women, girls, men, and boys enjoy equal economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries. Lukautim Graun Program implements its project at the national level and along the Bismarck Forest Corridor that covers Eastern Highlands Province, Jiwaka Province, Madang Province, Simbu Province, YUS Conservation Area in Morobe Province, and Milne Bay Province for the marine program.

Coastal communities around the country have been put on alert for “higher than normal” tides over the next few months. The National Weather Service warned that the high tides may trigger coastal flooding this season, due to a combination of factors. It stated that one of these factors is the current La Nina state, declared earlier this season. The other contributing factor is a seasonal phenomenon often referred to as 'westerly wind burst' which is contributing to the current coastal flooding situation on the northern coast of PNG. The NWS also stated that many parts of PNG are expecting the highest tides of the year this month with the 2021 Tide Calendar for Lombrum in Manus province showing four of the highest tides of the year expected in the month of December. As La Nina is anticipated to influence higher sea levels until April 2022, the chances of coastal flooding during extreme high tides will persist over the next few months.

74 pioneer grade 10 students of Dr. John Davis High School in Dusin, Middle Ramu district, graduated in a small but significant ceremony attended by community members, school staff and a few invited guests. Dr. John Davis Highschool is located in Minyak village in the Kovon LLG of rural Middle Ramu district; A small hamlet located just behind the mountains of Jimi District of Jiwaka Province where much of basic government services such as road is hardly seen. This little school is the pride of their community, a much-needed service which was established as a community school in the 1980’s by a missionary from Southern Highlands, James Yakip and was recently accredited a high school status by Madang Education Division. School staff and villagers celebrated the day with much enthusiasm because after 34 years, their children would not have to travel to other neighbouring provinces to receive higher education. This small ceremony was made even special when the country’s opposition leader and member for Vanimo Green, Beldan Namah, attended the graduation upon invitation from former Madang Governor, Jim Kas. Mr Namah on the occasion paid his respects to the late Middle Ramu MP, Johhny Annanias Alonk who passed away recently. He conveyed his sincere condolences to his people and described the late MP as very humble leader. Mr Namah committed a total of K200,000 to the Dusin Community school and Dr. John Davis Highschool. Namah encouraged the graduates to look at other ways of furthering their education instead of focusing on the formal education system process. Principle Legal Officer at Department of Justice and Attorney General, John Laule, and a former student of Dusin Community School stressed to the students to not consume Marijuana and homebrew and gave them an insight of the consequences under the recent law passed. During the ceremony, a moment of silence was given to the late member Upon leaving the ceremony, Mr Namah gave a K10,000 cash to the Minyak community to celebrate their Christmas and new year. Although the school faces a lot of challenges, with no proper teaching materials, no funding and little facility built mostly from bush materials, there are three faithful teachers who teach seven subjects interchangeably. The community’s hope is to be connected by road someday so that changes can be brought in to the area.

Commander Border, Acting Assistant Commissioner Peter Philips said the recent visit by Prime Minister James Marape to West Sepik was very successful. Mr Philips, whose command includes East and West Sepik and Western Province, said the Prime Minister was in the provincial capital of Vanimo to open the new West Sepik Provincial Administration Building and launch several impact projects for the province. Mr Philips said his recent visit to the province with the Prime Minister and his delegations was to ensure the security of the Prime Minister given concerns of spill-over effects of the on-going conflict across the border in Indonesia’s West Papua province. Mr Philips said his Provincial Police Commander and the members of the constabulary made sure that there was no disruption and that people were not allowed to take advantage of his visit to raise issues about what was happening in West Papua. Mr Philips said whilst the issue in West Papua was important, the Prime Minister was on a tight schedule and in the province specifically to open the new provincial government building and launch major impact projects for the province. Mr Philips commended his PPC and the members of the constabulary for delivering a trouble-free event. He said the public turned up in numbers and they behaved well.

I, Honourable Rainbo Paita, MP, Minister for National Planning and Monitoring wish to announce to the general public that I am stepping aside from my ministerial portfolio forthwith. This comes after a video was circulated on social media as well as the mainstream media of me discharging a rifle. After learning from Post Courier’s front-page report on the 13th of December 2021 of the incident, I wrote to the Prime Minister advising him of my intention to step aside and allow a thorough investigation without fear or favour by the concerned authorities in the spirit of good leadership. I also wish to inform the public that my official vehicle was shot upon by criminal elements at Waigani in September 2021, which was reported to the Police hierarchy. This incident has prompted me to take necessary precautionary measures to protect myself.  As such, I was advised by my Close Protection Officer (CPO), who is also a certified trainer, of the need for me to acquire basic rifle handling skills. This is so that in the event that we were attacked and my CPO is critically wounded, I would be able to use my CPO’s rifle in self-defence. I want to put on record that I have a firearm licence. I also want to put on record that the video footage was of a private training session between me and my close protection officer (CPO) on a private property outside of Port Moresby. I did not discharge the firearm into a crowed place to cause public disorder nor jeopardise public safety. However, due to the many concerns raised since the video has surfaced in the public domain, as a Senior State Minister in the PANGU led Government, I welcome the police investigation into any unlawful conduct. I take responsibility of my actions and do not wish to bring disrepute to the Government and the Ministry of National Planning and Monitoring. Therefore, to preserve the integrity of the office that I occupy, I am stepping aside from my Ministerial Portfolio as the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring forthwith, until the investigation is completed. I sincerely apologise to the people of Papua New Guinea, our Development Partners, Investors and my beloved people of Finschhafen for any embarrassment that I may have unintentionally caused. I thank Prime Minister for he's wisdom in respecting my decision. Against most advices, I wish to step aside in the public interest of allowing police to investigate any intention or motivate of criminality. I apologize to my people of Finschaffen, Morobe and the people of Papua New Guinea. God bless our efforts to serve our People. Hon. Rainbo PAITA, MP Member for Finschhafen

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) is ready to deliver a safer and secure 2022 National General Elections despite manpower and resource issues. This was the general conclusion made by the various divisional and Provincial Police Commanders when they presented the overview of their supplementary orders to the Police Commissioner’s General Orders at the national election security planning conference. The conference was held at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby from November 29 to December 3. The NCD/Central Commander Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr said during his presentation that the constabulary is prepared and ready to deliver the 2022 national general election. He said they have very experienced senior officers who had taken part in previous elections so they are confident that they will deliver in 2022. He said the officers have also been running elections including major operations and so are confident of delivering a safe and secure 2022 National General Election for the people of PNG. Mr Wagambie said that despite the preparations the constabulary would still face problems with logistics, manpower, and funding. He said these resources are very important for major operations such as the national elections. Mr Wagambie however reassured the senior police officers as well as the nation that they would still deliver despite the challenges. Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Highlands Eastern Command Joseph Tondop raised similar concerns and said they needed a massive awareness campaign to be carried out to ensure they establish community trust and confidence as well as establishing contacts with the people at the community level. He said awareness is really important especially in the highland’s provinces. Mr Tondop was confident that the security agencies will deliver a free, safe and corruption free 2022 national general election if they could get the pre-election operations done on time. Mr Tondop said we are four months away from the issue of writs and urgently require funding to be made available on time to start to prepare and deliver their pre-election campaigns. He however said that with or without resources they would still conduct the awareness campaign and run the election security operations.

There's new royalty in the Miss Universe world! On Sunday, Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu was officially named Miss Universe 2021. Sandhu, 21, beat out 79 other contestants from various countries and territories — including runner-up Miss Paraguay Nadia Ferreira and second runner-up Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane — to claim the prestigious title. Sandhu was presented the crown by her successor, Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza, before taking her first walk as the new Miss Universe on the stage in Eilat, Israel. A strong advocate for women's empowerment, Sandhu is actor who draws inspiration from Priyanka Chopra. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, dancing, cooking, horse riding and playing chess. Prior to the winning moment, the 70th annual Miss Universe competition, which was hosted by Steve Harvey, featured a swimsuit and evening gown segment, as well as an interview portion for each of the contestants. Israeli singer and international pop star Noa Kirel also delivered a performance at the pageant, which had a focus on the climate crisis as part of a green agenda that corresponds with the values ​​of Israel. The competition was a historic one, as it marked the first time that a delegate from the United Arab Emirates has ever competed and the first time in over four decades that Miss Universe Morocco has returned to the pageant. Miss Universe 2021 was held seven months after Meza, 27, earned the 2020 crown this past May. Her win came about five months later than usual because the annual pageant went on a hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement prior to Sunday's competition, Israeli Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov said he was thrilled to welcome Miss Universe to his country, even with the ongoing COVID concerns. "Despite the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic placed in our path, we knew how to maintain the balance between health and the economy, to bring tourism back to Israel," Razvozov said. "We needed to create tourism anchors that will promote and present Israel to the world as a vaccination nation that invites tourists to visit. The Miss Universe pageant is, without [a] doubt, an important and significant anchor of this plan." Sunday's show also marked the first time that Harvey, 64, returned to the Miss Universe competition since 2019. SOURCE: PEOPLE.COM IMAGE CREDIT: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP VIA GETTY

Canterbury premiership winner Braith Anasta believes the Bulldogs have pulled off their best recruitment drive in 20 years. But now it’s time to fit the squad under the salary cap and Anasta has detailed some moves the club could make to help ease the financial pressure it faces. The Dogs won the wooden spoon this year but they’re expected to contest finals next season and potentially push for a drought-breaking title in 2023 on the back of a boom recruiting drive. Coach Trent Barrett arrived at the end of 2020, after helping guide Penrith to the grand final as an assistant, and he’s been on a spending spree ever since. Barrett has signed playmaker and 2021 Dally M team of the year representative Matt Burton, star forward Tevita Pangai Jr and Brent Naden - all from the Panthers. It didn’t stop there, with Storm superstar Josh Addo-Carr also joining plus Dragons duo Paul Vaughan and Matt Dufty also joining this off-season. Things will get even better for the Bulldogs in 2023, with Eels star hooker Reed Mahoney and Panthers forward Viliame Kikau joining the club. “They’re building incredibly,” Anasta told foxsports.com.au. “It’s been hard to watch the Dogs for a long time now and I talk to a lot of the other ex players, we’re all good mates, it’s been very hard to watch. “They’ve bought in all the right areas, you can be full of cash and have all the money in the world but if you don’t spend it wisely, it’s just a waste and I think clubs have been guilty of that over time and the Dogs maybe themselves have been guilty of that over time.” Rugby league mastermind Phil Gould returned to Canterbury, where he played and coached in the 1980s, earlier this year as the club’s general manager. Anasta echoed the praise Gould has been receiving for his immediate impact on the struggling club. “Gus has had a big influence,” Anasta said. “The key areas they’re buying in, in terms of damaging forwards in Kikau and Vaughan, big powerful guys who have got fast feet and can offload, that’s really what you need with the speed of the game these days, rush speed is everything. “Then when you’ve got rush speed what do you do with it? They’ve needed a quality No. 9 and they’ve got Mahoney, they needed halves and they’ve got Burton. SOURCE: FOX SPORTS

Communities around Mabudawan in the South-Fly District of Western Province will have better access to the Mabudawan Health Centre following the completion of a new jetty funded by Australia through the Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP) at a cost of PGK3.1 million. As a Level 3 health facility, the Mabudawan Health Centre has a full range of medical facilities including a maternity ward; dental clinic; tuberculosis consultation and isolation ward; pathology laboratory; and accident and emergency centre. The health centre serves a catchment area of around 18,000 people. Communities previously travelled via dugout canoes and boats and struggled through the muddy shores to access the health facility. This was an enormous challenge, particularly for very sick patients and those with disabilities. The health centre now has a floating pontoon with a hinged walkway allowing 24-hour direct access to boats, making it easier to transfer patients and achieve consistent delivery of medical supplies and equipment. Nursing officer Esongke Waurang, who is currently in charge of the health centre, said: “People are traveling long distances, as far as Kunini, Morehead and Daru, to access the clinic because of its [high-quality] setup so the jetty will help to give better access to our services, where they don’t have to walk through the muddy shore like before”. Kelwyn Browne, a health advisor with the PNG Australia Transition to Health (PATH) Program, who works closely with Esongke reiterated: “For sick people and normal patient access, this jetty will make it easier to reach the clinic whether they’re coming in from the rivers or up and down the coasts. It’ll also be a bit easier for the staff and the support team here to move medical supplies and other things to the centre.” The Mabudawan jetty has been designed to withstand high tides and is expected to be in use for at least 20 years.

With only a few weeks away to the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Cricket PNG has announced the appointment of Rodney Maha as the Head Coach of PIH Under 19 Cricket PNG team. Maha is now in charge of all aspects of the World Cup tour and it is a very well deserved responsibility. Cricket PNG General Manager, Tony Naidu in making the announcement and commending Maha added, ‘This is a great honour, and a very popular choice.’ Maha is not new to the cricket scene nor the sporting industry in Papua New Guinea.  He brings with him a wealth of experience and is ready to put on the cap as the Head Coach. 'I've been working in Cricket PNG for 12 years in different roles.  Starting off as a development officer and then becoming the Regional Cricket Manager for Morobe before becoming the Lewas Head Coach in 2015.  I then became the Competitions Coordinator before being given the Cricket Development Manager role.’ Currently the National Talent ID Manager at Cricket PNG, Maha oversees identifying and bringing in male and female players in the junior and senior cricket programs. He has already been heavily involved with the U19 team from talent identification through to their training programme. 'I feel it is not only about coaching but also playing a few other roles like being a parent and a role model.' With the U19 team in training where Maha is in charge, he says the boys are doing well and have created an important bond amongst each other. ‘I hope the boys do well and I am positive they will play well come January,’ he adds with optimism. ‘The boys will be playing against full member nations and these nations will have a high level of skill, as expected.  We will try to match them with our talent and the spirit that PNG is very well known for.’ As he expects, he encourages the country to back the PIH U19 Cricket PNG team. ‘It will be great if the country can support our boys through social media. They will need all the support they can get.’

Farmers from Jiwaka Province and neighboring provinces have been selling their produce to the newly established buying point in Minj, Jiwaka for the last couple of months, as part of the preparation to the official opening of the buying point. The strategic partnership between the leading agribusiness, Innovative Agro Industry Ltd. (IAI), and Jiwaka Provincial Government through the Jiwaka Development Corporation, has established the buying point in Minj, Jiwaka, to purchases the citrus fruits from Jiwaka’s citrus farmers, including lemons, lime, oranges and tangerines. From the buying point the citrus fruits enter a cold chain and are delivered to the urban markets of Lae and Port Moresby, thereby creating market access to Jiwaka’s farmers and providing the urban consumers quality citrus at affordable prices, replacing the highly priced overseas imports. The buying point is part of a large scale partnership that will include assisting the farmers with further inputs, extension services, technology and knowhow. Margaret Deruage from Simbu, is the officer in charge at Minj Buying Point, says: “The buying point receives good feedback from the farmers, before the buying point started its operation accessing markets for their citrus was a an impossible challenge for most individual farmers, the few farmers that succeeded in selling their citrus had to deal with traders and other agents that brought and sold their produce to the markets but paid the farmers a very low price. other farmers that travelled with their produce to the markets had to endure a risk filled, costly and time consuming journey." "Furthermore, the established commercial buying point has rejuvenated and motivated the farmers to tend to their abandoned citrus trees so they can constantly bring in supply and benefit. This will sustain the farmers in the long run”. “It is interesting to note that most farmers own individual orchard yards of around 500 to 1000 or more trees. In the past they typically operated within associations to help them access markets, today I see that the vast majority come to sell their citrus as individual farmers and very few show up as part of an association or other type of groups” Margaret graduated from Vudal University and has been working with Innovative Agro-Industry since 2015. She started as Plant Protection Officer at 9 Mile Farm and moved to the highlands to work as an Extension Officer at the Sirunki farm in Enga. She says the biggest challenge for the buying point team is getting good quality and quantity to meet market demand. “The farmer receive a good price and assistance to ensure consistent flow of supply. We receive full support from the Jiwaka Development Cooperation Limited, linking the farmers to the new venture and providing awareness regarding the market and the benefits for farmers”. The Jiwaka Produce is already available through the existing marketing channels that IAI has established in country like the 9 Mile Farm, and is expected to increase in volumes following the official opening this week.

Indian police say they have foiled a plot by a man who tried to fake his own death to avoid being returned to jail. Officers in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh say Sudesh Kumar, 36, murdered a man and tried to pass the body off as his own with the aid of his wife. But police found CCTV footage of him carrying the body on a bike. Kumar was reportedly released on parole during the Covid-19 pandemic after being charged with the murder of his 13-year-old daughter in 2018. Some Indian states have paroled some detainees in an attempt to prevent overcrowded prisons being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases. But Kumar had reportedly become convinced that authorities intended to end his period of parole and hatched the plan to avoid his re-incarceration. Police allege that Kumar confessed upon his arrest to killing Domen Ravidas on 19 November. Mr Ravidas was a mason of similar height and weight to Kumar, who had hired the contractor to conduct some repair work on his home. Mr Ravidas' body was discovered in a vacant plot the following day. His remains were burned beyond recognition, but he was carrying Kumar's ID card in his pocket. Kumar's wife, Anupama, later identified the body as her husband's at their home in the Indian capital of Delhi. However, after establishing that Kumar had faked his death, officers received a tip-off that he intended to visit his wife. Police raided the couple's home and apprehended Kumar, who confessed to the crime. His wife has also been arrested for her part in the plot. Iraj Raja, a superintendent with the regional police, praised the work of his officers during a press conference on Sunday. "The couple hatched an elaborate plot, but police managed to crack this blind murder case," Mr Raja said. "This team will be awarded for its work," he added. SOURCE: BBC NEWS