India

Testing for the Indian government’s Apaar project begins in Assam. Each student will have a profile linked to the Aadhaar (the Indian digital identity system) with their entire school history. Education activists are concerned that the risks of Big Brother and exclusion in a country where too many educational establishments lack even basic services.

Recent incidents involving the UNIFIL have put the spotlight on what various countries contribute to peacekeeping operations. Nepal, India, and Bangladesh alone have provided more than 16,000 military personnel. Conversely, the United States, China and Japan contribute to expenditures, data from three years ago show.

There are already 7.7 million people working in digital platform services, but it is estimated that this will triple by 2030. A recently published report notes that the vast majority of them do not receive a decent wage after deducting the expenses they have to incur to work. Some Indian states are trying to regulate the sector.

The automobile magnate who passed away yesterday at the age of 86 was also known in the country for his ‘Tata Trusts’, initiatives through which millions of people from the poorest groups were able to benefit from development opportunities. The Bishops' Conference: “A beacon of compassion and generosity: he contributed to making India a global economic power, without ever losing sight of the least”.

Francis’s decision to choose George Koovakkad, 51, his close aide in organising papal journeys, and not to the new major Archbishop Thattil, means that in a few months this young priest will be the only cardinal elector of this Church of the Eastern rite, which has been deeply divided in recent years by a row over the liturgy, a wound that is still open.

The Muslim-majority territory disputed with Pakistan returned to the polls after ten years (and Modi’s unilateral repeal of its special autonomy under the constitution), with Omar Abdullah's National Conference winning the most seats. But Prime Minister Modi’s party proved opinion polls wrong and won a third consecutive mandate in the northern state next to Delhi, again beating the Congress.

Subhash Velingkar, a former local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is behind the request. This comes a month before the start of the ten-year exhibition of the saint's remains. Protests have followed. Fr Savio Fernandes, executive secretary of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, has called for social harmony. Several local politicians took legal action on the grounds that Velingkar’s remarks are offensive to religious sentiments.

Since September, the secondary school, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, has been entrusted to the foundation linked to the Indian tycoon. The sisters explain the decision by emphasising the different values and aims compared to a group whose priority is ‘commercial interests’. For this reason they ask that the inscription ‘Mount Carmel’ be removed from the façade.

Jacinta Kerketta turned down the prestigious Room to Read because it was co-sponsored by a US agency while the US government supports Israel's war in Gaza (and Lebanon). Last year she did the same with another award in protest against the abuse of Adivasis in Manipur. For Indian priest, hers is a “bold step”.

The platform was launched by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India-Latin rite on the eve of World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Migrants can register to be welcomed and helped by host communities. Migrants bring wealth to local parishes, as was visible last Sunday in Mumbai during the Karam festival, celebrated by over 800 Catholic migrants at St Stephen's Church.

Since 9 September, about a thousand workers have been asking for higher salaries and their own union. The southern Indian state has been an important industrial hub for hi-tech production since the 1990s; unlike other states where economic growth dominates, it has seen social progress as well, due especially to policies that do not take into account caste or religion.

In a letter, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath denounces the misappropriation of property owned by Christian fishing families in Ernakulam district. After intense debate, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, tabled in early August, was forwarded to a joint parliamentary committee. Muslims, however, fear control by the central government.