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(Wellington, New Zealand) 29 November 2022 – Pacific Parliamentarians including PNG’s Koni K. Iguan and Gov. Gary Juffa, PNG Chief Ombudsman Richard Pagen, Pacific Ombudsmen and integrity agencies are working together this week at the Parliament of New Zealand to boost oversight of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs), with technical assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). The attendance of the PNG parliamentary delegation was funded by the European Union under the Project on Preventing and Countering Corruption in Papua New Guinea, and supported by implementation partner the United Nations Development Programme in PNG. The conference, held in the Legislative Council Chamber of the NZ Parliament, will result in a new Pacific-focused toolkit on CDFs to strengthen accountability and transparency, in line with UNODC mandate as the custodian of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNC

The temples built during the reign of the Hoysala kings of Karnataka happen to be some of the most intricately designed temples in all of India. Their lathe turned pillars, beautifully carved sculptures, ceiling work, reliefs, friezes, iconography, inscriptions and history are some of the best in the business. Out of the 1500 temples that were built during their reign, the 12th century Chenna Keshava temple at Belur happens to be the grandest of them all. Dedicated to the handsome lord Keshava, this 12th century temple marvel and an important pilgrimage site in Vaishnavism was built over three generations and took 103 years to finish. It was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE on the banks of the Yagachi river in Belur, also called Velapura, an early Hoysala empire capital. It was attacked and plundered many times by Muslim invaders and was always rebuilt. The Vijayanagara kings took over the mantle of temple management and restoration upon the end of the Hoysala era. The l