Nirmala Carvalho

The permit allowed NGOs to raise funds from foreign sources to help the most disadvantaged groups in the country. In recent years, scores of NGOs have lost this permit. Last year, Save the Children was criticised by a government ministry for its fundraising campaign on malnutrition. Now Sister Dorothy Fernandes asks, who “will take care of the children”.

The pontiff picked Archbishop Cyril Vasil’ in order to end the crisis that has unfolded in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, which has so far refused to adopt the "uniform" rite in force since the summer of 2021. After 11 years as secretary of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, the prelate served as apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of Košice, Slovakia.

The main opposition bloc wants the prime minister to report on the violence tearing apart the north-eastern state. Following a fact-finding visit, opposition MPs found the “complete breakdown of law and order". In a statement, Card Oswald Gracias describes the conflict as tribal, not religious, urging the local Church to work for harmony.

The court ruled that the evidence against human rights activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira is insufficient to justify their detention on terrorism charges. The ruling also confirms the arbitrariness of Fr Swamy’s arrest. The 84-year-old Jesuit tribal rights advocate, who died in 2021 from COVID-19 after almost nine months in prison, saw his requests for release rejected several times.

The 43-day-old baby died following clashes between jail staff and refugees. The latter have been on a hunger strike for months, demanding to be released after two years in prison. The case emerged after activists posted two videos online. Even though the UN granted Rohingya refugee status, India continues to treat them as illegal migrants.

In Modi's electoral fiefdom, the buildings of the Sarva Seva Sangh were demolished, an informal school that gathered over 100 children closed, a study centre destroyed and a library with thousands of Mahatma's books left to rot in the rain. The name of the tycoon Adani circulates among the people as the sponsor of the operation. Fr Mathew (Indian Missionary Society): "An unprecedented cruel act on an area given in concession in 1960. They must tell the truth about what they want to build."

A video from early May went viral today showing the brutality of clashes between the Kuki and Meitei communities. A complaint was filed with police for kidnapping, gang rape and murder after relatives of one of the two women in the video were reportedly killed. Indian Prime Minister Modi broke his silence on the atrocities. For the Archbishop of Imphal, this is “a complete collapse of humanity.” For those affected, “we have requested the Armed Forces to airdrop relief material.”

In previous WYDs, some Indian participants chose not to return home; as a result, Indian authorities are tightening controls. For Fr Chetan Machado, executive secretary of the Catholic Youth Movement (CYM) of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), “80 per cent [of applicants] should be able to travel for the WYD.”

Card George Alencherry congratulates the scientists who worked on Chandrayaan-3. He also thanked “God for creating man with such wonderful talents." If the moon landing is successful in late August, India will be the fourth country in the world to have one of its spacecrafts make a soft landing on the moon.

Floods and landslides have particularly affected the state of Himachal Pradesh. The level of the Yamuna River is worrying in Delhi. The poor “are facing difficulties,” and “if people are in need of food, they should be helped,” the bishop of Simla-Chandigarh told AsiaNews. “We have asked our clinics to provide medicine to the poor and for those suffering,” he added.

Seventy-two years old, president of the Episcopal Conference that also includes Singapore and Brunei, he will be the second Malaysian in the College of Cardinals (but the first among the electors). His message to the diocese: "Together we build the Kingdom of God made of joy, mercy and hope". He brings to the College of Cardinals the issue of the relationship between religions and ethnic groups in South East Asia.

The account of an Indian Salesian missionary ministering among the just 1,500 Mongolian Catholics who will welcome the pontiff from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. "Our people feel privileged, honored and blessed by this gift. Let us pray that it will bring steps forward, facilitating the service that the Church offers to all in education and charity."