Friday 30 December 2016
The changing face of Christmas
The changing face of Christmas
Progress presents some serious threats to the true meaning of the festive season.
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Manila: The age of instant information has changed tremendously the face of Christmas. We can now communicate with our loved ones from one end of the globe to the other in a matter of minutes or seconds.
We can send our Christmas greetings and wishes to hundreds of friends in the silence and coldness of our rooms. We can make people smile, touch their hearts, and lift their spirits through words of wisdom in an instant, and free of charge.
Science and technology has made our life easier, faster, and more efficient. It has multiplied our options in choosing the best gifts we can give to our loved ones.
It has given us possibilities to expand our generosity by donating part of our material treasures through established and reliable agencies, both private and government, that are caring for the well-being of the least, last, and lost in society.
Alongside the many blessings of this century, we cannot forget the threats present in the progress it brings. For one, the easy and instant gratification of human needs provided by technology often creates a consumeristic lifestyle.
For that matter, Christmas becomes a whole business of producing "would be gifts" that are not really necessary for human consumption, and are often unhealthy and destructive to our already polluted world.
And in the name of gift giving and sharing, we become victims of an economic system that makes Christmas an opportunity to gain more profit, rather than, humanize our world.
Today's gifts often contribute to building walls rather than bridges among and between family members.
Our tables, which used to be centers of family communion, turn into an aggregate of family members who are busy multiplying contacts through their mobile phones and other gadgets.
We have forgotten the original reason why we have invented these gadgets.
The real story of Christmas reminds us that science and technology is for human development. Jesus Christ, the human face of God's mercy and compassion has demonstrated to us the value of simplicity and humility necessary to restore innocence to our complicated and sophisticated humanity.
Jesus' humility (the God who took human flesh) is the antidote for man's greed for power, while at the same time elevating human dignity to his divine calling. Christ's simplicity is the solution to man's desire for material possessions resulting in poverty among millions and the degradation of mother earth.
The Word made Flesh (Jesus Christ) did not only proclaim the nobility of human nature, it also assumed the divine calling of all of creation. This human and divine truth has its historical beginning in the humble and simple event called the Christmas Story.
Bonifacio Tago Jr. is vice president for academic programs and professor of philosophy at Good Samaritan Colleges in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. He is currently taking up a doctorate degree in Theology in Consecrated Life at the Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia.
Source: UCAN
No Christmas joy for displaced Santals in Bangladesh
No Christmas joy for displaced Santals in Bangladesh
Festivities are on hold for over 2,000 forced from their homes.
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| Indigenous Santals in Madarpur village of northern Gainbandha district speak of their ordeal after being attacked and evicted from disputed land in this Nov. 16 photo. (ucanews.com photo) |
Murmu, a Catholic, has been living like a refugee with his wife and two sons in Joypur village, Govindaganj in the northern Gaibandha district of Bangladesh.
They are among 2,500 Santals, who were attacked and forcibly evicted from disputed land by ‘thugs’ from the Rangpur Sugar mill and police on Nov. 6-7.
About 70 percent of the evicted people are Catholic, 15 percent are Protestant and the rest are non-Christians. Most of them are living in tarpaulin tents under the open sky, while others have taken shelter with relatives and neighbors in the villages of Joypur and Madarpur.
“In our area, Christmas celebrations start from Dec. 16 and lasts until the New Year, with people participating in traditional Christmas music, dance and drama; buying new clothes, visiting people in villages and decorating houses and the Church. None of these things are happening now,” Murmu told ucanews.com.
Murmu said his family had lost all their belongings including money, valuables and livestock in the attack, putting them into a serious financial crisis. He is planning to take his family to his workplace in Ghoraghat area in the neighboring Dinajpur district during the Christmas holidays.
“The joyful mood for Christmas celebrations is missing here. People have no money and they are still gripped by panic. They have warm clothes from donors, but not enough food and medicines,” he said.
There is a small Catholic church in the village but it’s being used as a warehouse for relief materials as they trickle in from various voluntary organizations and church groups.
“We used to decorate the church every year, but it’s not possible this year. People don’t know where they will have the Mass on Christmas day,” Murmu added.
Ganesh Murmu, 40, a pastor from Lutheran Church in Joypur, said some 300 members of the church are in dire straits since the eviction, leaving them in no mood for celebrations.
“Usually, people complete Christmas preparations by Dec. 15 but not this time. None of them were able to buy new clothes as they usually do every year, and we have not able to decorate the church as people couldn’t pay donations,” Ganesh told ucanews.com.
A small minority
In Bangladesh, about 90 percent of its 160 million population are Sunni Muslims, while Hindus are the largest minority group with about 9 percent. The rest belong to other faiths including Buddhism and Christianity.
Christians, the majority of them Catholic, make up less than half a percent of the population and about half of an estimated 600,000 Christians hail from various indigenous ethnic groups.
Christmas is the only widely known Christian festival that people from other faiths know about, as it is a public holiday across the country.
Father Samson Marandi, parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Dinajpur, which covers the area, lamented for plight of displaced Santals.
“These people are living like prisoners in jail as they are afraid to go outside for various purposes including work,” Father Marandi, a Santal himself, told ucanews.com.
“They have lost everything in arson attack and their normal life has been brought to a halt. We are sad to see they are unable to celebrate Christmas joyfully like past years,” he said.
The priest said his church would put aside much of the traditional customs and festivities to be in solidarity with the sober mood of the evicted people.
“Traditionally, we have a novena Mass for villagers leading up to Christmas day but it’s not being held this year. Our bishop (Sebastian Tudu) will visit the affected people and offer Mass for them on Christmas day, in order to help them realize that we are with them in both good and bad times,” the priest added.
Some Santals like Ganesh Murmu see a spiritual lesson in their plight.
“This is a hard time for us, but we accept it. We offer our suffering to Jesus and to the Holy Family, who had to endure persecution but accepted it as God’s plan,” the Lutheran pastor said.
Source: UCAN
Christmas spirit at inter-faith peace rally in Rajasthan city
Christmas spirit at inter-faith peace rally in Rajasthan city
Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made up the 10,000 people in the eight-mile walk through the city.
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Some 10,000 people — Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs — joined the eight kilometer walk through the city streets on Dec. 19.
"Jesus Christ is beyond religion, and he came to the world to bring peace. That is the reason this peace rally is conducted just before Christmas," said Father Norbert Herman, director of Maitri Sadan (Friendship Home) who first organized the rally.
Camel carts depicting nativity scenes and other stories of Christ's birth were a part of the rally, as were environmental or pro-life themes from some of the 20 schools that joined the event.
Chandra Singh Kothari, city mayor and chief guest of the program, said that "peace is the need of the hour in this tumultuous time and Jesus came to bring peace and joy in the world."
Bishop Devaprasad Ganawa of Udaipur and leaders of other religions gave messages of unity, peace and joy.
William D'Souza, principal of St. Anthony's School in Udaipur and one of the participants in the rally, said it felt good that festival brought people from all religions together.
"The rally is a joint effort by all that has set an example of love and brotherhood among all communities," said D'Souza.
The diocesan area has some 8 million people but Catholics are only some 25,000 in the Hindu dominate area. Christians are a tiny minority in the state of 84 million people, 89 percent of them Hindus.
But events such the peace rally "prove to be beneficial for all," said Sandeep Singhatwadia, president of the Sarv Dharam Maitri Sangh, an inter-faith forum.
"All religions teach peace, love and brotherhood. Only the presentation is different," he said adding that the rally helped build a new generation convinced of the need for religious amity.
Muslim leader Mushtaq Chanchal and a rally participant, told ucanews.com that people are always very enthusiastic about the event each year. "Such programs have a very positive impact on the society and need to be carried out at a larger scale," he added.
Source: UCAN
Odisha chief minister visits cathedral church
Odisha chief minister visits cathedral church
Patnaik also acknowledged the “selfless services” of Christians like St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata.
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Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the St. Vincent’s pro-Cathedral in Bhubaneswar Dec. 22 at a function and assured security to Christian community while offering them his Christmas wishes.
He was chief guest at a Christmas gathering in the premises of the Catholic Church. Several state legislators, leaders from other Christian denominations and some 1500 Catholics and scores of priests and nuns attended the programs.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttuck-Bhubaneshwar organized the program, first such event in the state, which witnessed Indian history’s fiercest anti-Christian violence some eight years ago when fanatic Hindus attacked Christians killing some 100 people.
However, Patniak said “Odisha is well aware of the Christian presence and concerned about the safety and security of every Christian,” as he wished the community on the occasion of Christmas.
His Christmas message stressed that Christmas “is a gift of love, gift of peace and gift of happiness, Christmas is a time to be happy and make others to be happy. It is a time of contemplation, peace, joy and harmony.”
He said people lived “socially and culturally harmonious” in the state, which is “traditionally known” for mutual cooperation of al sections of people.
Patnaik, state chief minster for a fourth time, cut a Christmas cake wishing the Christian community and all the in the state the joys of Christmas and the New Year.
Archbishop Barwa’s message also stressed the peace aspect of Christmas. “Christmas is the festival of light. Through the incarnation, God took human form to dispel darkness of sin and damnation. Christmas is also the festival of hope as a Saviour was born to liberate entire humanity from fear and anxiety about after-life,” the archbishop said.
“Christmas also is the festival of peace as Jesus Christ the prince of peace was born to bring peace in our hearts, if we too become like little children, innocent and humble,” Archbishop Barwa said.
Patnaik also acknowledged the “selfless services” of Christians like St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata. In September, when the nun was named a saint he had named a city flyover after her at the request of regional bishops’ council.
END
Jacobite priest donates kidney to Muslim woman
Jacobite priest donates kidney to Muslim woman
Father Shibu Kuttiparichel of Cheengery donated one of his kidneys to a 29-year-old woman.
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The 39-year-old Priest Shibu Kuttiparichel of Cheengery St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Church in Wayanad district, donated one of his kidneys to the 29-year-old woman.
The kidney was harvested and transplanted into Kairunnissa at a private hospital here.
Kairunnissa hails from Thrissur and was selected as the recipient from others registered with the Kidney Federation of India.
The federation was founded by another Christian priest Davis Chiramel, who himself had donated one of his kidneys a few years back.
Kairunnissa was suffering from kidney ailments for the past four years and had undergone several rounds of dialysis, said the hospital management.
"Even as Kairunnissa's 56-year-old mother, Shereefa was ready to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter, it was not matching," according to the hospital authorities.
Later Kuttiparichel's blood group matched with Kairunnissa and the transplant was possible," said the authorities.
Both the donor and recipient are in good condition. Kuttiparichel will be discharged in four days, while Kairunnissa will be discharged after a week, said the hospital.
IANS
Christmas values for all
Christmas values for all
Marking Christ's birth is a positive reinforcement of Christian faith in the values and principles he brought to the world.
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Manila: You don't have to be a practicing Christian to believe in the values of Christmas. They are universal. They uphold the human dignity and right of every human being irrespective of religion, race or status.
Believer or not, Jesus of Nazareth whose birth we celebrate was a wise man of great principles and he brought a message of hope, peace, love, justice and human dignity into the world. Believers hold he is the revered Son of God.
The Christmas festivities are a positive reinforcement of Christian faith in the values and principles he brought into the world that are valid today as they were on the day he spoke them.
Blessed are the poor for they have a right to the land, he said. Blessed are the oppressed, they have a right to justice and freedom. Blessed are they who are oppressed and threatened with death, for they deserve freedom and life and many more.
He was hailed as a messiah, a savior of the world to save it from wrongdoing. He was the child destined to be the prophet of justice and truth, love and a champion of human dignity. He was driven as a refugee and migrant out of his home because of threats of violence and murder. By virtue of that alone, all refugees and migrants have a right to a fair welcome and help.
Blessed are they who give a welcome for there was none for the Holy Family on the day of his birth. This child was born among animals, his family was excluded from the inn and in later life he was rejected and thrown out of the synagogue in his hometown.
He was the one that spoke out and challenged rulers of society to change, respect the poor and to share their wealth and national resources to make a just society. He was undaunted by criticism and challenge and being despised and vilified, he brought his mission to national attention and captivated the world and changed it.
The child from Bethlehem established the inalienable rights of all. He was the child who would place children as the most important in the kingdom whose rights and dignity would be exalted and respected. But they are not respected by politicians and leaders and society but are abused, tortured and rejected.
He was the child destined to call the sinners to repent and to transform the world. He passed that message to throngs that came to believe, respect and live out those values in daily practice. So all of us are challenged to accept and live them faithfully in one's own life, in the family and in society.
The greatest value of all is love of the unknown stranger, like that shown by the good Samaritan, and respect, forgiveness, compassion, healing and saving our fellow human beings. To practice them and persuade society to implement the values is a mission and give meaning and purpose to our lives.
If we believe in his values then we are called to lift the poor from misery and poverty, to bring social equality and dignity and live in peace and end war. Each of us can find a way to make the values real for them and for those around them. Each must act according to our ability.
The Christmas challenge is almost impossible to be fulfilled in the commercial and political world. They are on a collision course. There can be no compromise with human rights. Killing of suspects is morally wrong and amounts to murder.
The commercial interests and the false news that Christmas is about tinsel and partying and having a good time smothers the meaning of Christmas. But we can change that in our lives by putting into practice the values we say we believe.
So what is the point of Christmas if its message and its very center, Jesus born in Bethlehem, is ignored? The message of Jesus will be rejected and ignored by those steeped in corruption, vice and crime. For them, the call to repent and embrace the values and principles of justice, love, truthfulness and respect for human rights is just a laughable joke. That is their choice and that is the root of evil in the world.
We can rise above that and must do all we can to keep alive the message, stand for the principles and live clean lives of honesty and faithfulness, virtue and the values of Christmas.
Irish Father Shay Cullen, SSC, established the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in the Philippines in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sex abuse.
Source: UCAN
Friday 16 December 2016
What makes Christmas a season of joy?
What makes Christmas a season of joy?
Be happy in remembering, sharing and caring for those in great poverty and need.
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| A street vendor arranges Christmas decorations as Filipinos start to flock to shopping malls and street markets to prepare for the holidays. (Photo by Jun Mestica) |
Manila: What makes Christmas so beautiful, so cheerful, and a happy time, especially for children? It must be the gift-giving, the time when children look forward to gifts and love and caring and sharing.
The children of some well-off families receive so many gifts through the years that receiving more means nothing anymore. Children from poor families, however, looks at a Christmas gift as a joy they never forget because they have so little in this world.
Christmas is about change of heart and mind when the rich reach out to the poor. It's about caring and sharing.
It may not be much to ask, but with millions of displaced children in the world today, hundreds of thousands hungry and starving, it will be our duty and honor and a blessing for us to be able to share with them.
To give from our abundance and not to keep it all for ourselves is the spirit of Christmas. This is what should be with us all our lives — helping others not just ourselves.
It's a natural virtue to care and share with our own families, but to help a stranger in need is an act of great goodness and virtue. That is being a good neighbor.
A frugal Christmas is in order and we are challenged to have the courage and the love of neighbors and to stop and ask, "Who is my neighbor?"
In case you have forgotten that important teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, I remind you, it is the traveler who was beaten and robbed and left for dead.
The rich politician and merchant came and saw him and walked on by. The simple traveler, an outcast — a refugee almost — of Jewish society, came by and helped the wounded and bound his wounds when others would not and would leave him to die.
There are those who look the other way and walk on by. As many as 6,000 people have been shot dead in the Philippines since June this year. We ask why?
We are challenged by the Christmas spirit to put aside lavish plans for big spending and parties and think of the wounded and the dying in the war in Syria.
These are victims of the ruthless bombing of civilians, schools and hospitals by Putin of Russia and the war criminal Assad.
We must be concerned that the UK has sold 4.2 billion dollars worth of arms to the Saudis for their war in Yemen, killing hundreds of civilians including women and children. Whether they were killed intentionally or not, it's a war crime. It's like putting a sword in the hands of King Herod.
The modern images of the Holy Family fleeing the evil King Herod seeking safety as refugees are present in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and South Sudan. If the family of Jesus fled to Europe today, they would be barred by an iron fence, barbed wire, a concrete wall with the signs "No entry, go away, you are not welcome here."
If you believe that is right, then you are wrong. Because there are certain values treasured by most of humanity and that is to be treated by others, as we would want them to treat us. That may sound selfish but it is the bottom line. It is the lowest motivation.
The higher value and greatest motivation to help others ought to be because they are human like all of us. They have equal rights, dignity, humanity and God-given value and honor.
Christmas has a message for all of us and it is in the image of Jesus of Nazareth. He is the most revered of prophets and the Son of God as he was born in utter poverty. He grew up, lived and worked in a poor family as a tradesman.
Then there is the evil force of the so-called Islamic State that has captured and tortured many and threatens thousands more with death, as did the evil King Herod in his day of massacres of the innocents and their parents.
Are we going to close our doors and windows and keep them out of a refuge and safety? If so, we are far from the message of Jesus, and Christmas will be just a wild meaningless party.
We need to be renewed this Christmas by that message of love and sacrifice. That is what makes this a special time of renewal so we can be happy in sharing and caring for those in great poverty and need.
That first Christmas was a hard time for the Holy Family. So make this Christmas a happy time for those fleeing war and dire poverty and are reaching out for peace and survival.
Irish Father Shay Cullen, SSC, established the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in the Philippines in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sex abuse.
Source: UCAN
People with disabilities empowered through skills training
People with disabilities empowered through skills training
Delhi Archdiocese is helping them find a way back into society.
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| Ritu Kumari poses for a photograph after a performing in the "Ability Exhibition" on World Disability Day Dec. 3 in New Delhi (ucanews.com photo) |
What makes her unique is that the 20-year-old woman has a mental disability. Happy to be part of the Indian Olympic team, Kumari, who comes from Rohtak district in Haryana state, said she worked hard to reach this far.
"I will try to do my best," said Kumari, who does not talk much due to her condition and prefers to nod her head in agreement or disagreement.
Volunteers from Chetnalaya, the social service wing of Delhi Archdiocese, who work with Kumari said that her communication skills have improved since learning to make jewellery, one of the programs they offer people with disabilities.
Sunita Kumari, who works for Chetnalaya in Rohtak said that Ritu could not complete her studies due to her disability but "we saw her interest in sports and encouraged her to follow that."
As part of Chetnalaya's Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program, Sunita identifies people with disabilities in the locality and helps them access treatment and become more self-reliant through skills training and coaching.
They also help people get disability certificates from government hospitals, making them eligible for state welfare schemes and travel concessions.
Currently, Chetnalaya has 21 CBR centers in Delhi and Haryana states, where its volunteers are assisting some 4,000 disabled children.
Father Savari Raj, director of Chetnalaya, told ucanews.com that volunteers visit people with disabilities in the area. "In some cases, where it is needed, they also counsel family members how to best look after them."
Since medical facilities are not easily available in remote places, "we even train parents and siblings in physiotherapy to help a family member with disabilities. We want to make sure that no disabled person is abandoned or neglected," he said.
The church agency refers people with disabilities to government hospitals to get calipers and tricycles after they get their disability certificate from the government.
Salma (who goes by one name) from New Delhi, is benefiting from the disability certificate she got with the help of CBR volunteers.
The certificate "gives me visibility. With this, hospitals and other government institutions do not ask me for proof of my disability," Selma told ucanews.com.
To increase visibility and provide a platform to showcase their skills, Chetnalaya organized an "Ability Exhibition" on World Disability Day on Dec. 3 in New Delhi.
This year's exhibition featured some 1,000 children with disabilities from Delhi and Haryana taking part in the programs. They sang, danced and showcased handcrafted items they produced such as artificial jewellery, toys, clothes and jute bags.
Seven other NGOs working for the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities also took part in the event.
According to a 2011 census, India has some 26 million people with various disabilities. Of them, about 14 million are male.
India proposed a Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in 2014 to replace an earlier act passed in 1995. The bill, now pending in parliament, seeks to allow people with disabilities to access benefits such as reserved spots in education and employment.
"Thousands of people like Kumari are waiting for the passage of the bill as it will empower them to demand education and jobs with dignity, and live a normal life," Sunita said.
Source: UCAN
Typhoon Haiyan survivors demand land rights
Typhoon Haiyan survivors demand land rights
Philippine govt criticized for using much needed funds for housing on less vital projects instead.
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"The church is one with the people who seek immediate implementation of steps to help the Haiyan survivors," said Father Chris Militante, spokesman of Palo Archdiocese.
The priest said the church "also commends the government for its continued efforts to help the survivors."
Some 5,000 survivors of the storm staged a protest on Dec. 12 to express indignation at alleged government inaction over the plight of people in disaster-affected areas.
Haiyan left some 7,500 people dead; 2,000 others missing and thousands displaced when it struck in November 2013.
The protesters called for a review of a US$158-million government project to build a 27-3-km tide embankment supposedly to protect coastal communities from storm surges.
Typhoon survivors, however, said the project resulted in the delay to resettle people.
Pascualito Ilagan, spokesman of the group Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners, said what the government provided were "Band-Aid" solutions to the problems of survivors.
Aside from the typhoon survivors, scientists and environmentalists also called on the government to stop building the tide embankment.
"It is worrisome that a project of this scale and funded with billions of pesos has been rushed, which is likely to pose more dangers than what the project aims to address," said Ricarido Saturay Jr., a geotechnical expert.
The non-government Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) noted that up to 97 hectares of mangrove forests, swamps, and beach forests would be affected by the project.
"The Leyte Tide Embankment project is not only a waste of public funds, but also a dangerous proposition, out to compound existing hazards for the coastal communities of the province," said Frances Quimpo, CEC executive director.
Quimpo said it would be better for the government to use the project money to fund settlements that are resilient and near sources of livelihoods for people.
Source: UCAN
Vietnamese Catholics urged to care for the environment
Vietnamese Catholics urged to care for the environment
Bishop warns pilgrims that harming nature will 'hurt people indirectly'.
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"We should recognize our sins of damaging creation and disrespecting the environment we live in," Bishop Aloisius Nguyen Hung Vi of Kontum told some 25,000 pilgrims.
He addressed them at a celebration of the Immaculate Conception held on Dec. 8-9 at the Shrine of Mang Den in the mountainous district of Kon Plong, Kontum province.
"To preserve the environment means to preserve God's creation and to hurt nature is also to hurt people indirectly," the bishop said.
He urged people to avoid using plastic bags, divide their garbage for recycling and reuse or repair items rather than throw them away.
The bishop also asked them to walk, ride bicycles or take public transport rather than ride motorbikes, the most popular vehicles in the country. People should also save energy and water.
Responding to the bishop's call, pilgrims collected garbage and cleaned the shrine before they returned home.
"Environmental pollution has already reached an unbearable level," Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha told the National Assembly recently.
The minister suggested sources of pollution be reduced and eventually closing all damaging projects and factories.
He admitted that environmental standards in Vietnam are low but said the government would fix the problem.
According to government reports, industrial zones and trade villages pollute air, land and water. They discharge toxic chemicals, solid waste, dust and untreated waste water.
For example, over 100 out of the country's 183 industrial zones have not installed waste water treatment systems.
Since 2009 people from An Bai town in the northern province of Thai Binh have been unable to collect rainwater because it has been polluted by dust spewing from 70 lime kilns.
Source: UCAN
President Mukherjee emphasises women empowerment
President Mukherjee emphasises women empowerment
He mentioned economic independence as the second necessity to make women independent.
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The President expressed his views while meeting a delegation from Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Speaking on the occasion, Mukherjee congratulated the YFLO for its enthusiasm and encouragement to an important cause and said "a society which cannot respect women cannot be called a civilised society".
Outlining the steps to empower women, he said the first and foremost necessity was education of women, which would help them to understand their problems and develop in them consciousness to look for solutions.
He mentioned economic independence as the second necessity to make women independent.
"On many occasions, the economic value of the contribution of women is not highlighted. The contribution of women is also not highlighted through services which are not accounted for in economic terms. This should be changed," the President said.
He described legal rights granted to women through various laws as the third aspect which is important for their empowerment.
Mukherjee said that creation of social awareness in this regard, is the fourth necessity.
"The need was for involvement of all sections of society in order to sensitize people to give women their due and empower them. It was necessary to change the mental frame and do away with prejudices," he said.
The President also emphasised that it was necessary to avoid "tokenism", and said that though this may seem like a long and arduous journey but success could be achieved through commitment and sustained efforts.
IANS
Opus Dei prelate Bishop Echevarría remembered in India
Opus Dei prelate Bishop Echevarría remembered in India
Bishop Echevarría, second successor of Opus Dei founder St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, had visited India three times.
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Bishop Echevarría, second successor of Opus Dei founder St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, had visited India three times: in April 1996, in July-August 2008, and in January 2014.
“In each visit, he met believers, aid workers and friends of Opus Dei,” De Souza told Asia News, recollecting the prelate’s India visits.
In 2008 he stopped in Delhi before travelling to Australia for World Youth Day. Here he visited the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and prayed in front of the statue of St Josemaría, installed in the baptistery the previous year.
"On that occasion, he lit three candles: one for the Holy Father, one for women, and one for the men of the Prelature in the world."On his way back from Australia, the bishop stopped in Mumbai, where he visited the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount in Bandra. Speaking to those present, he said he was amazed to see "the hustle and bustle of people moving about, so many cars and rickshaws.”“All this,” he had added, “is an expression of life in this city and I have found it easier to pray with you and for you. It's also easy to love you more each day."
MgrEchevarría often travelled to India, de Souza explained, to fulfil a wish St Josemaría had expressed. The latter had never had the opportunity to visit the country and was excited about the growing number of Indian members in Opus Dei.
In Mumbai, the Prelate also said: "I want to be an Indian as you are. I wanted to come to India especially to tell you that God loves you as his beloved. Many saints have loved you in the same way. St Josemaría loved India and all countries.”
"You and I,” he said, “have to till the land of India with prayer, with our joyful work, and with a sense of responsibility in social life. We have to sow the seed of truth."
A close associate of St Josemaria, Bishop Echevarría was the last of the original generation of clerics to lead Opus Dei. He was elected prelate of Opus Dei in 1994. He died of complications due to a pulmonary infection on Dec 12.
Source: Herald Malaysia
Tamil Nadu fishermen allowed to attend Katchatheevu ceremony
Tamil Nadu fishermen allowed to attend Katchatheevu ceremony
The ceremony, scheduled earlier for Dec 7, was postponed by Sri Lankan government to Dec 23.
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The ceremony, scheduled earlier for Dec 7, was postponed by Sri Lankan government to Dec 23 following the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
As the Centre has granted permission to 100 fishermen from the state to attend the ceremony, the Tamil Nadu government tonight said it would make adequate arrangements for the pilgrims.
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had on Dec 8 asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the External Affairs Ministry to facilitate the participation of all fishermen devotees from the state intending to participate in the consecration ceremony of the church at Katchatheevu, an islet ceded by India to Sri Lanka in the 1970s.
In the letter, he had urged Modi to instruct Ministry of External Affairs to accord political clearance for the visit of pilgrims to the church without any cap on the number of visitors.
He also recalled that Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao had also written to Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar seeking political clearance for upto 100 pilgrims from Rameswaram but the MEA had allowed only 20.
Political clearance accorded for the participation of only 20 persons will disappoint the ardent devotees, he had stated.
He had recalled that his predecessor, the late J Jayalalithaa, had earlier written to him that the construction of the church should be jointly taken up by the Indian and Sri Lankan sides in view of the joint heritage of fishermen from both sides.
The state’s fishermen were “very keen” on protecting their traditional and customary access to this “important place of worship,” he had said.
Though he had stated that no restrictions should be placed on the number of participants, the Centre gave its permission for 100 fishermen to attend the ceremony, official sources said.
Source: Indian Express
Thursday 15 December 2016
Day 36 of demonetisation: Banks, ATMs still crowded
Day 36 of demonetisation: Banks, ATMs still crowded
Some citizens, feeling pushed to the wall by the demonetisation, hired others to be in the queue in their stead.
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The queues appeared just as long and branches as crowded as on November 10 -- when banks opened for business after the November 8 demonetisation announcement. And those waiting to withdraw money comprised disaffected and despairing people, made cash-poor by the central government's demonetisation move.
The Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch near the Nangloi Metro Station in west Delhi had at least 150 people waiting at 8.00 a.m. -- two hours before its scheduled opening time.
The disaffection seemed to have led people to believe that the ban is anti-poor, said an individual privy to the daily scene at the bank.
"So far, I have seen only the poor, labour-class people in queues. Yet to see an advocate, a top police officer, a judge, or any local politician coming and waiting," Asghar, a paan vendor in front of the bank, told IANS.
"The rich people don't have to wait in line, all the money is funneled to them from back channels, without them having to wait in the queues," he said.
"The people start gathering outside the bank as early as 10 p.m. and sleep or chat through the night, so that they could get their cash as soon as possible in the morning, and so that they could avoid being absent from their workplace," he added.
Another young man, who manned a fruit stall outside the bank, told IANS of an ingenious way of mitigating the anguish of standing in queue for long hours -- something like a relay race.
"My friend is already in the queue, and I'll replace him once he's tired. There's another friend and once he comes, I'll come back to my 'rehri' (cart). This way I won't lose any business as either I or someone else is always at the stall," he said.
The queues at the working ATMs in Connaught Place were also the same as they were the very next day after demonetisation.
"I finally withdrew money today after waiting in line for two hours. I survived cashless for days when I would return home at the very sight of winding queues, but I couldn't do without cash now," Apoorva Agnihotri, a logistics company executive, who withdrew money in Connaught Place, told IANS.
Besides the struggle at the ATMs and banks, people are forced to wage one such in their daily life as well, as they are forced to cut down on their expenses and live miserly.
"I was short on cash already when my house-maid asked for her salary. I had to pay her wages at the risk of pinching my own pocket. You see, she doesn't even have a phone, forget about a smart phone," Sagar Arora, a senior manager in a health insurance company in Sector-63 Noida, told IANS.
"Now, I have asked a couple of my friends for some cash. I cannot afford to stand in queues as I am hardly left with any time after my shift. I wish someone could find a scale to measure the inconvenience being caused to people. It's immense," he added.
Some citizens, feeling pushed to the wall by the demonetisation, hired others to be in the queue in their stead. One such individual talked to IANS and revealed that she was not alone, and that she got the idea from one of her friends, who got it from another.
"I pay a man Rs 500 to be in line and withdraw cash," said Langsun from Meghalaya, who works here as a counsellor for disabled children.
"We are four people in my family, and the man charges Rs 500 for each card," she added.
IANS
Kerala bishop asks Catholics to stop birth control
Kerala bishop asks Catholics to stop birth control
The Kerala church responds to a declining Christian population.
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Bishop Mathew Anikkuzhikkattil of Idukki made the appeal in a letter published in the December issue of the diocesan paper.
"Those who say no one needs to be born and live after they become part of the population are selfish and arrogant. A miserable life awaits them. Men and women should engage in creation as long as their reproduction capacity lasts," the bishop said in the article.
The bishop also said that inter-faith marriages and the tendency among young people to delay marriage to ensure they have an education and career are additional factors behind the decline.
Responding to such earlier exhortations from bishops, several Kerala parishes have come up with incentives to encourage people to procreate such as free education and free medical care for children starting from the fifth child onwards. Some parishes are even offering financial assistance to large families.
Source: UCAN
Now Punjab CM reaches out to Christian community
Now Punjab CM reaches out to Christian community
Badal said his government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for providing land for burial grounds as required by the community.
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Badal said his government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for providing land for burial grounds as required by the community, according to a PTI report.
The ruling party Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is worried about the anti-incumbency factor in 2017 Assembly polls. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had done well in Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, is expected to benefit from the anti-incumbency mood, especially in urban areas. Many believe a large share of the state’s 32 per cent Dalit votes would go for AAP in 2017.
At the event, Badal slammed Congress and AAP for hobnobbing with each other on the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal issue and asked people to foil their “nefarious designs to ruin the state”. Recently, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had accused SAD and Congress of “befooling” Punjabis on the SYL issue.
The Christian community is a miniscule 1% of the population in Punjab. AAP has been reaching out to the community,meeting leaders of Punjab Christian United Front in Jalandhar as part of its ongoing ‘Punjab Dialogue’ programme to gather public response before framing party’s manifesto for the 2017 Assembly elections.
SAD hopes to tide over the anti-incumbency factor by winning the confidence of the farmers and Dalits.It has promised free schoolbags to girls, cheap loans to women entrepreneurs, interest-free crop loans to small farmers, 4,000 modern gymnasiums for youth and aRs 100-crore scholarship fund for Dalits.
Source: One India
Pakistan's civil society frustrated by draconian situation
Pakistan's civil society frustrated by draconian situation
Several organizations have spoken out against 'deteriorating' human rights situation in the country.
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They spoke out at a Dec. 10 forum organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for the U.N's Human Rights Day.
"People are being targeted in the name of national security and there is an environment of fear. There are no trials; people just disappear. Writers are afraid to discuss state matters even in private," said I. A. Rehman, the commission's secretary general.
"More than half of the journalists in tribal areas have either left their work or migrated. The Pakistan Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority is now closing channels instead of regulating them," Rehman said.
The commission has long been trying to outlaw the practice of forced disappearance by law enforcement. According to the commission's records there were 2,584 disappearances between 2011-2016.
Nationalist, Zakir Bozdar, who was picked up by plain-clothed men from Hashim Bozdar village in Sindh province on Dec. 3, was found dead on the morning of Human Rights Day.
Furthermore, the state has been suppressing unions for 30 years. Student unions have been banned throughout that time and only three percent of the Pakistani labor force, the 10th largest in the world, is unionized.
On Dec. 1, the media authority suspended the licenses of Din News and Neo TV and fined them one million rupees each for leveling false allegations against a judge of the Supreme Court.
In October, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif fired Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid from his cabinet for leaking a news story about the Pakistan military backing foreign jihadist fighters.
"His party, as well as the Pakistan Army's media wing use Twitter extensively so we cannot ask questions or follow up and we only get headlines. There is no accountability or transparency in governance on Twitter," Ahmad Rashid, a Pakistan and Afghanistan analyst, told ucanews.com.
At a seminar, also organized to support Human Rights Day, United States Consul General Yuri Fedkiw called for more safeguards for civil and religious groups.
The day before, on Dec. 9, protesters waved placards outside the Lahore press club and shouted slogans such as, "protection is our right" and "stop harassing us."
"The government should turn its attention towards deteriorating human rights. The gypsy community, brick kiln workers, sanitary workers, transgender people, people with disabilities and religious minorities are presently among the most marginalized segments of society. The worst part is that the space for civil society is shrinking constantly," said Samson Salamat, director of the Center for Human Rights Education.
"2017 should be declared as a year for Rwadari ("religious tolerance and interfaith harmony") in the Pakistan in order to defeat religious extremism," he added.
Source: UCAN
Kerala bishops warn of urban-rural divide
Kerala bishops warn of urban-rural divide
The Bishops’ Council has urged the government to alleviate sufferings of people following demonetisation.
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In a statement issued at the conclusion of the winter conference of the KCBC at the Pastoral Orientation Centre in Kochi, the Bishops’ Council has urged the government to alleviate sufferings of people following demonetisation.
It cautioned the authorities to be vigilant against the banking system being turned into a mechanism for exploitation of the common man.
The council pointed out that investment of the money mobilised from the rural and backward sectors in the urban-oriented large enterprises would result in widening the urban-rural divide.
This would create a situation whereby the villages would be exploited for the benefit of the cities.
It wanted the government to take immediate action to solve the crisis in the cooperative sector, which had an important role in the development of rural areas.
The council demanded the authorities to take measures which would ensure the welfare and development of agriculture, small business, and coastal areas.
The conference wanted the government to take steps to alleviate the sufferings of the common man, post demonetisation of high-value currency notes. Steps should be taken to ensure that the government machinery functioned efficiently and without corruption so that the positive results of the demonetisation campaign reached the people.
The conference, which deliberated on issues concerning the church and society, urged the flock to intervene in issues that affected the poor, including issues of environmental degradation.
The meet also asked the Church leaders to be vigilant against lifestyles that went against simplicity in life.
The council earlier held a study camp on the impact of demonetisation, which it believed was implemented without proper preparations. K. Venu, A. Ajith Kumar, and K.M. Francis spoke at the camp.
Source: The Hindu
Miss Universe donates gifts for poor to Caritas Manila
Miss Universe donates gifts for poor to Caritas Manila
Philippine beauty queen contributes items for youth education campaign.
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"We are all doing this out of pure love and good faith," said the 2015 international beauty queen after meeting Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila on Dec. 12.
"The country is going to the right direction, and of course the Miss Universe competition is [in the Philippines next year] so we feel like we want to give back as much as we can," she said.
Wurtzbach called on others to also "share their blessings" especially during the Christmas season.
"Let's share with one another. Let us give without expecting anything in return," said Wurtzbach, who expressed her intention to work with Caritas Manila after her reign as Miss Universe.
Cardinal Tagle thanked the beauty queen for her donation.
"We are here for one purpose and that is to serve our brothers and sisters with no other motivation but love," said the prelate.
"Miss Pia, you are a towering figure. We look up to you," said Cardinal Tagle in jest as he welcomed the Miss Universe to the bishop's "very simple residence."
The cardinal said he was "happy that a person like you and other celebrities ... are offering whatever you could to support, especially the young people in need of education."
In an hour-long closed door meeting, Cardinal Tagle gave Wurtzbach a rosary that was personally given to the cardinal by Pope Francis.
Father Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila, said Wurtzbach donated personal items such as branded shoes, bags, and gowns that will be sold off to benefit Caritas Manila's youth education program.
Caritas Manila, the Archdiocese of Manila's social services and development ministry, is looking to raise about US$40,000 from the event.
Wurtzbach, a Catholic, also donated the proceeds of a recent charity gala to Caritas.
Source: UCAN
Taiwan 'can be the bridge' between Vatican and Beijing
Taiwan 'can be the bridge' between Vatican and Beijing
Taiwan church can also serve as a link between underground and patriotic churches in China, says Father Jeroom Heyndrickx.
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| Wang Yu-yuan (left), former Taiwan ambassador to the Holy See. Seated are Father Heyndrickx, the founding director of the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation at Leuven Catholic University in Belgium, and Gu Weiying, a retired professor on Catholic history. (ucanews.com photo) |
Belgian Father Jeroom Heyndrickx, a sinologist who makes frequent visits to China and Taiwan was one of three speakers at the Taipei seminar hosted by the Chinese Christian Spirit Community on Dec. 2, said he is optimistic on China-Vatican relations .
Father Heyndrickx said he saw that mainland China has become a "person of dialogue" since the government’s reform and opening policy in late 1970s while the Vatican is a "church of dialogue."
"The Taiwan church should serve as a bridge between the underground church and the patriotic church," said Father Heyndrickx who is the founding director of the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation at Leuven Catholic University in Belgium.
"With Fu Jen Catholic University, including the theology school, accepting students from mainland China, it is the greatest gift that the church in Taiwan gives to the church in China," he said.
The idea of a "bridge church" was proposed by the late Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi to persuade the Vatican not to give up on Taiwan when diplomatic relations between the two parties faced crisis in 1999, said another speaker Ku Wei-ying, a retired professor on Catholic history.
"The former Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, said in 1999 that the Vatican was not severing ties with Taiwan," said Gu. "It was just moving the doorplate of the ‘Nunciature of China' to where it was originally from," he said.
Ku implied the doorplate has no indication it refers to People's Republic of China or Republic of China, often known as Taiwan.
Ku anticipated that China and the Vatican might take a "gradual approach by first setting up a liaison office."
The third speaker at the seminar, Wang Yu-yuan, a former Taiwan ambassador to the Holy See, said that Taiwanese should be paying attention to the Vatican's efforts to broker a deal with Beijing over bishop appointments in mainland China.
"Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed goodwill to the Beijing authorities and his wish is to establish normalized relations," said Wang.
"It shows relations between the two parties have never been better as now," he said.
Media attention in Taiwan over the issue is currently tempered with anxiety given that the Vatican is the only European state that Taiwan maintains diplomatic relationships with.
While negotiations are said to be about bishop appointments, there are concerns in Taiwan that this might ultimately lead to changes in Taiwan-Vatican diplomatic relations.
Wang thinks that since the China-Vatican working group was formed only this year, negotiations will still take some time.
Giving a comparison, Wang said the Holy See has conducted nearly 10 years of progress with Vietnam's communist regime since initial contact began in 2007.
There are an estimated 300,000 Catholics among Taiwan's 23 million people.
Source: UCAN
Children of no country: Stateless and forgotten in Malaysia
Children of no country: Stateless and forgotten in Malaysia
With no legal status, a path to a better future eludes them.
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| Two children play in the cart they use to transport goods around the market for a small fee in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Their parents are Filipino migrants. (Photo by Jefferi Chang) |
The mother of two was referring to five-year-old Nasir and three-year-old Noori, both sitting with her on top of an orange plastic container by the waterfront in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah state, Malaysia.
The three had just finished a lunch of rice, fish and vegetables and are heading home to a small room they rent for RM650 (US$155) a month.
They belong to no country, part of a steadily growing multitude with no citizenship or place to call home, unable to claim the things that governments can provide, like health care and education.
The 30-something housewife is keen for her children to get what she never had — a formal education that could lead to a better future.
"If they were in the Philippines they would be able to go to school," she says regretfully.
Nasir and Noori are among thousands of migrant children and refugees who have traveled to Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, in search of a better life. It has proved elusive.
There are no official figures but Torben Venning, a Dane who was involved in trying to provide basic education to thousands of immigrant children in Sabah, guesses there are tens of thousands.
He believes generations are being condemned to a life of hardship because they lack education.
"I worked with stateless and unregistered children in Sabah from 2004 - 2015," he said in an email.
Children born to migrant workers from Indonesia and the Philippines lack legal documents and are ineligible to attend state schools.
Aid projects run by NGOs and churches have limited impact. Authorities see aid as an encouragement to stay — a political minefield in a restive country.
As of last year, unregistered children born in Sabah to Indonesian parents are believed to number around 70,000 with 30,000 more from Filipino parents.
Most of the Indonesian children live in Sabah's palm oil plantations, where their parents work. Filipino children generally live in urban areas where their parents work in construction or domestic service.
Malaysian immigration law does not grant legal status to children of immigrants but with several hundred thousand immigrants having been in Sabah for decades, tens of thousands of children remain unregistered.
The Malaysian government has accepted NGOs to provide education to them, some plantation companies provide schools and, since 2006, the Indonesian government has been providing teachers and education.
Children of Philippine migrants generally have more difficulties. They only have access to informal and often unlicensed education projects in town areas.
The armed incursion by a band of Suluk Filipinos and violence on the east coast of the state in the town of Lahad Datu in 2013 disrupted life for Suluk families.
They live in constant fear of arrest. Many have lost their jobs due to discrimination making it hard for their children to attend even informal classes.
The Bajau Laut, a sea-dwelling people, also remain largely stateless without any access to school and medical care.
Their movement at sea has been restricted due to security measures after the incursion and many have been reduced to beggary. Their children roam towns as street children.
They are by far the most vulnerable migrants in Sabah. Infant mortality from curable diseases is said to be high and some of them can only access polluted drinking water.
Detention for long periods due to the lack of documents is common and there are unconfirmed reports of deaths in detention, especially women and children.
Amira, originally from Zamboanga in the Philippines, left Lahad Datu three years ago. "Life is better here in [Kota Kinabalu]. There are security checks and raids but it's okay. There is work and we can survive," she said.
"Our children make themselves useful selling plastic bags and carting goods for a little money," she says. It's a schooling of sorts.
Her son, Nasir takes a final gulp of water from a plastic Coca-Cola bottle and tosses it into the sea along with a plastic bag of fish bones. They join the flotsam and jetsam littering the waterfront.
Further away, two young boys are taking a break from helping their parents. One, pushing a cart, growls like a car engine and the other sits inside, playing along — a celebration of childhood and perhaps a rite of passage too.
Source: UCAN
Weddings are no fairytale for Indonesia's child brides
Weddings are no fairytale for Indonesia's child brides
Activists decry lack of government effort in preventing rights violations against young girls as a result of child marriages.
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"I was a fourth grader. I had to stop school. It was because of the economic difficulties faced by my father, a pedicab driver with five children to feed," she told ucanews.com.
She gave birth to a girl in May the next year. For the first few months, her husband, working as a daily laborer, met all the daily needs. When her daughter was three months, however, she had to work as a laundress to make ends meet as her husband stopped working.
That was when the real problems surfaced.
"We argued a lot," she said. "He repeatedly hit me, cursed me and then kicked me out."
In 1999, she divorced her husband.
"I couldn't take anymore," she said.
A year later, she married again and gave birth to two more daughters. However, hard times forced her to work as a migrant in Bahrain for two years. She sent all her money to her husband, who sometimes worked as a motorcycle taxi driver.
"When I returned in 2009, I found my husband had married another woman. We had fights. I was often subjected to domestic violence," she said.
Not surprisingly, she left him.
In 2011, she married yet again. Still, similar problems frequently surfaced.
Sukesih is now 35 and among more than 700 million women around the world who have fallen victim to child marriage, a global phenomenon that remains a serious problem in Indonesia, in which 50,000 girls marry before the age of 15 every year.
Child marriage is a violation of human rights and against international law, according to the U.N. and rights groups. It deprives girls of their childhood, an education and exposes them to health risks especially with regard to childbirth and their general well-being, it says.
Future prospects are also grim and the girls are at greater risk of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their husband and his family, they say.
According to UNICEF, one in six Indonesian girls, about 340,000, are married before their 18th birthday each year.
Indonesia is 37th on the global child marriage index and has the second-highest rate in Southeast Asia, behind Cambodia.
Irrelevant law
Misiyah Misi, director of women's rights group the Institute of Alternative Education Circle for Women, said Indonesia's 1974 marriage law setting 16 as the minimum age at which women can marry should be changed.
The minimum age is often ignored or not enforced resulting in many child brides under 16 years of age she said.
"Several groups have filed petitions for a judicial review of the law, but they were rejected by the Constitutional Court," she told ucanews.com.
In March 2014, the Women's Health Foundation and a coalition of activists and organisations filed an appeal, arguing that the law was inconsistent with a 2002 child protection law that defines a child as being under 18.
It was also inconsistent with a 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Indonesia ratified in 1984, they said.
In June 2015, the court dismissed the appeal, saying a change to the minimum age for marriage was not warranted since there was no guarantee that increasing the age from 16 to 18 would reduce divorce rates or other social problems.
President Joko Widodo should issue a presidential decree banning child marriage and enforce it, Misi said.
"It is the time for president to act," she said.
Impacts and measures
For 46-year-old Uun, she said she had no choice but to marry off her only daughter when she was 16.
"She had been in a relationship with the man for five years. I was afraid she would get pregnant outside of marriage," she said.
Social pressure was also a reason she said, adding that people in her village in West Java's Kuningan district were gossiping and pointing fingers.
Lenny N. Rosalin, deputy head for child growth and development affairs at the Ministry for Women Empowerment and Child Protection, said even though a law setting a minimum marriage age exists enforcement is hampered by social attitudes that allow child marriage to flourish.
As such, her ministry is looking to tackle the problem by trying to change attitudes, she said.
"We've formed child forums in which children are encouraged to serve as agents of change and we introduced awareness programs to educate parents," she told ucanews.com.
"We are also encouraging schools to provide sex education and religious and tribal leaders to campaign against child marriage," she said.
Holy Family Father Hibertus Hartana, secretary of the Indonesian bishops' family commission, suggested all related parties should work together.
"There must be four elements: family, government, religious leaders and tribal leaders. They have to sit together and work together to tell people about the negative impacts of child marriage," he said.
For the likes of Sukesih the damage has already been done.
"I hope in the future, there will be no more child marriages," she said.
Source: UCAN
Is India's fight against black money a political game?
Is India's fight against black money a political game?
Critics smell corruption in Modi's anti-corruption drive.
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Bhubaneswar: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his decision to withdraw high value bank notes overnight on Nov. 8 he called it a "masterstroke" and "game changer." But many now wonder if the Indian population have been made to suffer for Modi's political benefit.
He appealed to the people to sacrifice a little inconvenience for two days and help destroy terrorist's funds and choke the black market. But it has been far more than a little inconvenient.
The chaos and struggle of the poor continues, especially in the villages as they struggle to change their high values notes to smaller ones. Within a week of the announcement at least 33 people died directly or indirectly due to the struggle to get cash.
There are stories of poor people committing suicide out of frustration as they could not manage their expenses; sick people dying while their attendants and relatives stand in long bank and ATM queues. Anger and frustration is mounting as Modi's promise falls apart.
The move was tough for India's cash-based economy where the devalued banknotes of 500 and 1000 rupees constitute 86 percent of the cash in people's hands.
The majority of Indians, such as farmers who constitute at least half of the 1.2 billion population and small-time traders, depend on cash in a country where banking is a relatively new phenomenon.
Studies show that only 53 percent of Indians have bank accounts and 40 percent of them are dormant. That shows the scale of India's cash economy.
While de-valuing the notes, the government also issued a re-designed 500 rupee note and introduced a new 2,000 rupee note. On the face of it, the move looked like the best way to choke fake currency, black market stashes and tax evasion.
But with no added security features, fake 2000 rupee notes began to appear in several parts of India within a week of them appearing in the market. Fake notes were also found with terrorists who attacked the Indian army on the India-Pakistan border, reports said.
Senior Indian economics like Kausik Basu have said that a major chunk of India's black money is invested in real estate and gold. However, the government has announced no plans to bust these pockets of illegal funds.
The fight against black money was a campaign platform that Modi used in the 2014 national elections. He promised to bring back to India money that India's rich and famous, including politicians, had stashed away in Swiss banks. But, after two years in office, he has not yet fulfilled his promise.
He can't actually go after the black money in Swiss accounts because a lot of it belongs to the people who propelled him into power as well as those who sanitized his image from that of an anti-minority politician to a development-friendly statesman.
Even so, he has been keen to keep up his image of an anti-corruption crusader. He needed to divert the issue away from the black money stashed abroad to that stashed at home.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in its Human Development Report 2015 said that 80 percent of Indian women do not have bank accounts. The banned notes are reported to account for 86 percent of all the cash in India.
In the past years, despite best efforts, cash recovery has been less than six percent of undisclosed income seized from tax evaders, according to a report in Hindustan Times. So it seems this move will not end black money.
Banks received 2 trillion rupees or roughly $29.8 billion within a week of the government announcing the withdrawal as people, mostly poor and middle class, queued up to deposit or exchange their old bank notes.
This helped banks who were reportedly running short of cash and sinking in at least US$17 billion of bad debt. Media, especially social media, say the more cash the banks have the more they are able to write-off corporate debt. The same companies that helped Modi to his present chair will benefit when their bad debts are written off.
The State Bank of India has already written off 70,000 million rupees (more than US$1 billion) of unpaid loans from 63 willful defaulters, including industry tycoon Vijay Mallya's now defunct, Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya has moved out of India and now leads a posh life in England. Invalidating bank notes was a trick of the government and the Reserve Bank of India to take money from the pockets of ordinary Indians to pay for the luxury life of the rich.
In the fight against black money and corruption, Modi's government is also silent on political parties. It is estimated that over 75 percent of the money that political parties use for electioneering is unaccounted for. But the country still has no law to investigate a political party for corruption.
The move is aimed at the 2019 state election in Uttar Pradesh, a key state politically. Modi wanted to drain funding from rival parties who rely on donations from government employees and small-time vendors.
The move on bank notes is a well thought out political strategy to eliminate Modi's
political rivals. However, for single parents, children and vulnerable people, the assurance of ending graft is nothing but a political drama.
Ajay Kumar Singh is a Catholic priest and human rights campaigner based in eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar.
Source: UCAN
Wednesday 7 December 2016
Sri Lankan priest campaigns against giant Christmas tree
Sri Lankan priest campaigns against giant Christmas tree
It's the type of commercialization of Christmas that should be protested against, says Father Sarath Iddamalgoda.
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Using social media, Father Sarath Iddamalgoda believes the Christmas tree being installed at the Galle Face Green esplanade in the country's capital is a waste of money.
Estimated to cost Rs.20 million (US $133,000) the priest has been vocal on Facebook against the tree's construction calling it an "absurd thing."
Father Iddamalgoda launched the campaign at the end of November when he posted a message calling for people interested to join in and protest against this kind of commercialization of Christmas and waste of public funds.
"There are some priests and lay people who have supported my idea," Father Iddamalgoda said adding that he had also received a statement issued by the National Christian Council against this project.
On completion the tree is expected to be 114 meters tall.
Source: UCAN
Nagaland church seeks repeal of good governance day on Dec 25
Nagaland church seeks repeal of good governance day on Dec 25
Northeast India has sizable Christian population.
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Church body, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) the decision if not reversed will be discriminatory move against the minorities. Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitu Committee (MKHC), a committee of church leaders in the State has moved President Pranab Mukherjee to repeal the Central government’s decision to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas Day.
Northeast India has sizable christens population. In a statement NBCC said the controversy over Narendra Modi government’s decision to observe national Good Governance day, has returned to hurt the sentiments of Christian minority in India and majority in Nagaland. “The decision was an attempt to dilute the importance of the day and unless rectified, will go down in history as a “discriminatory move against religious minorities.”
NBCC said it could not agree more with Narendra Modi’s stand that Good Governance was the key to a nation’s progress and lauded his commitment for a transparent and accountable administration for the betterment of the common citizens. However, it said observing it on an auspicious occasion was “thoughtless and insensitive” particularly to the Christian minority in India.
NBCC slammed the motive to hold Good Governance on December 25 as nothing short of following the Sangh’s policies to suppress religious minorities in secular India.
NBCC said it honoured former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and had nothing against him though Good Governance Day was set on December 25 (Vajpayee’s birthday). However it said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was well aware that December 25 was a sacred day and known as Christmas the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated for the last 2000 years by Christians worldwide.
NBCC said the government was today playing with the sentiments of 2.4 crore plus Christians in India and asked what would be next? It reiterated that the utmost priority of any progressive government ought to be peace and harmony but such instance as above, that disturbed people’s minds and undermined the nation’s secular fabric would only lead to the establishment of tyranny of the majority.
“If such tendency was not restrained, then democracy would be one that ruled on behalf of the majority community and not on the basis of “rightness and excellence,” NBCC observed.
NBCC urged upon the Central government to “stay away” from causing divisions and keep away from instigating communal feelings and insecurity but instead go ahead with programmes without infringing on religious rights, whether it be majority or minority so that India could be known the world over, as a secular country with tolerance.
Recently State BJP president of Mizoram, Dr JV Hluna, stated that ‘Good Governance Day’ will never be observed on Christmas Day in the Christian-dominated state of Mizoram.
Source: Economic Times
Jayalalithaa’s ‘special relationship’ with her Catholic teachers
Jayalalithaa’s ‘special relationship’ with her Catholic teachers
Over the years, her association with her school and her teachers had remained strong.
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| Jayalalithaa (bottom right) in a 1957 photograph, when she was in the 4th grade at Bishop Cotton Girls High School in Bengaluru. Photo: EGK & Son Studio |
She moved to Chennai from Bengaluru when she was 10 years old and joined the Sacred Heart Matriculation School, also known as the Church Park Presentation Convent. Located near the Gemini Flyover, the sprawling school grounds nurtured great academic ambitions in Jayalalithaa, who reportedly was interested in pursuing a career in law before her entry into films.
“I absolutely loved my school days. I was the best outgoing student in my year and was the unanimous choice for the same, according to my headmistress and teachers. I consider this my proudest achievement,” she reminisced, in the late 1990s in a rare television interview. She also topped the matriculation examinations, and had received a scholarship for her academic performance.
Over the years, her association with her school and her teachers had remained strong.
Sister Clare and Catherine Simon, her teachers from Sacred Heart School, were invited to attend the swearing-in ceremonies when she was elected the Chief Minister, even though she was not in touch with them on a regular basis.
In June this year, when Catherine Simon died, Jayalalithaa released a statement, condoling on the death of her 88-year-old physical training teacher.
“She was a great influence on my life and we shared a very special relationship as a teacher and student. I had the good fortune of being her student from 1958 to 1964,” she said.
In an interview to ‘Kumudam’ early in her acting career, she had recalled a letter that Catherine Simon had written about her dances in the movie 'Aayirathil Oruvan', and had said that she had immensely appreciated it.
Source: The Hindu
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