Nirmala Carvalho

According to the latest Annual Status of Education Report, more than 50 per cent of rural students between 14 and 18 fail to solve a three-digit division, a problem whose solution is usually taught in primary school. Many continue to struggle even with basic reading. Among the causes: poor training and low wages for teachers.

For weeks, the city on the border with Myanmar has been rocked by attacks and reprisals between ethnic Meitei and Kuki. Seven deaths have been reported in the last few hours. The Sisters of Mother Teresa have also been forced to leave their home amid fighting between armed men and Indian security forces.

Replaced by an apostolic administrator a year ago, Bishop William has now resigned from the diocese in Karnataka. Many in the local clergy were against him, accusing him of taking lovers and fathering children. For the Bishops’ Conference, his resignation reflected “the distressing situation in the diocese”, and was “not a disciplinary measure”.

None of the four shankaracharyas are expected to attend the ceremony on 22 January. The place of worship is not yet completed and its inauguration would violate sacred rules. But two of the four note that they are not opposed to the presence of the prime minister.

The 67-year-old Bishop of Shamshabad was elected yesterday by the local Synod in Kochi and confirmed by Pope Francis. In his first words to the faithful, he said that “we should stand together and work together.” The Eastern rite community of six million members has been shaken in recent years by a major row over the liturgy centred in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.

The pontiff called the practice “deplorable" in his address to the Diplomatic Corps, demanding a total ban. In India, once the world surrogacy capital, the authorities have restricted its scope, but it is still allowed for close relatives. For Dr Pascoal Carvalho, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, this still puts women at risk of “potential exploitation”.

The chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, Priyank Kanoongo, reported the disappearance of 26 girls from a Carmelite-run hostel, but a police enquiry found that they were at home with their families for the Christmas holidays.

Four Muslim Meitei were killed in Thubal district. Seven members of the security forces were wounded by armed Kuki in Moreh, a city on the border with Myanmar. A curfew has been reimposed in five districts of the northeastern state rocked by ethnic strife for months.

Mumbai Cardinal Owald Gracias: "Blessing for all is part of our spirituality. The Vatican document affirms an attitude that should be obvious, it does not change the doctrine on marriage as those who misunderstand it claim'. Singapore Cardinal William Goh: "We show mercy but we do not approve of same-sex unions because without truth, love is compromised".

In 2014 - when the current prime minister was first elected - there were 147 incidents of violence against Christians in India. Also due to the 'anti-conversion laws' of 2021, there were 687 cases of attacks and indiscriminate arrests of Christians - from January to November 2023. The Christmas meeting and the premier's words are a first step towards the hope of a distinction in relations, especially in the northern states

He was arrested for defending other Christians arrested under the state’s anti-conversion law, adopted three years ago by the governing Hindu nationalist party. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas of Allahabad welcomed his release as an unexpected "Christmas gift”.

In his Christmas letter to the Catholics of the Indian state shaken by ethnic violence, Archbishop Linus Neli asked his community to share their goods with the poor and needy, praying that India's north-eastern state may regain peace and harmony. The Supreme Court has ordered the local government to identify and draw up a list of places of worship to be restored after being damaged by the violence in recent months.