Sat, 20/03/2010 - 9:40pm Supreme Court questions Church property law

The Supreme Court of India today [March 20] asked Madhya Pradesh state to explain its move to enact a state law to manage Christian properties in the state.

The court response comes in following a plea by Church spokesperson Father Anand Muttungal seeking to restrain the state establishing a state-controlled trust system to control Christian properties.

The court asked the state to file their replies within four weeks.

The Church petition claims a resolution for such a law was passed in the absence of commission’s chairman.

“Therefore the commission members overstepped their jurisdiction. Similarly, the commission had also passed a resolution seeking property details of the Church including its schools, churches and cemeteries,” Father Muttungal said.

The district collectors and education department issued notices to certain Church schools to provide the details. The Church refused and took the matter to the Madhya Pradesh High Court and then to higher court when the state court failed to stop the state moves.

Lawyer Sister Mary Scaria, who was part of the panel of lawyers dealing with the case told UCA News that the court served notices on the state and four others listed as respondents, seeking their replies on the matter.

The notice was also sent to district educational officer of Jhabua district, state minority commission and the Christian member of the commission, who claimed to have pushed the idea, the sister informed

Wed, 17/03/2010 - 10:05am Amended law to let Centre take charge in riot-hit states

Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Time

New Delhi, March 17, 2010

The government’s final version of the communal violence law empowers
the Centre(Indian Federal Govt) to take charge of an area where riots have broken out once
it sends in central forces, if it finds the state government concerned
reluctant to act against the rioters.

The new law still does not allow the Centre to send armed forces on
its own to a riot-hit spot. But once a state has asked for central
forces to quell violence, the Centre will have the right — under
certain circumstances — of setting up a unified command, comprising
these forces and the local police.

The amendment was cleared by the Cabinet last December and is expected
to come for parliamentary approval next month.

The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of
Victims) Bill, however, says the Centre can declare an area
“communally disturbed” and take direct charge only if the state
concerned refuses to act against the violence being perpetrated to
such an extent that the secular fabric of the country, or internal
security, is endangered.

To guard against political misuse, the law stipulates that the Centre
must first draw the attention of the state government to the
deteriorating state of affairs, and set a deadline for it to take
necessary steps to suppress the violence.

Until now, central forces deployed in a state worked under the control
of the local district administration. But henceforth, in special
circumstances, it will work under the unified command, which will
report to the Centre.

The amendment was conceived of in the backdrop of the 2002 Gujarat
riots, when it was widely believed the state government had done
little to discourage the rioters.
Even so, it is bound to anger state governments who will see it as an
encroachment on their powers. Eight of 12 states that responded to a
survey by a parliamentary panel had even opposed an earlier, milder
version.

Mon, 15/03/2010 - 8:15am Mr. B.V. Pinto appointed as the addtional judge of Karnataka High court

Bangalore, Mar 12:Mr.Benedict Victor Pinto, became the first judge of Karnataka High Court from the Mangalorean Konkani Catholic community after nearly 50 years when he along with three others – Bijoor Manohar, who also hails from the coastal Dakshina Kannada district, Kalvachaiah Govindarajulu and Hosahalli Sheshadri Kempanna -- were sworn in by Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in Bangalore on Friday morning.

The swearing-in ceremony of the four new Justices as Additional Judges held in the jam-packed Karnataka High Court hall early in the morning was preceded by the reading the warrant of appointment issued by President Pratibha Patil by High Court’s Registrar General R B Boodhihal.

Tue, 09/03/2010 - 9:03am Past. T.T. Joseph entered into glory on 8th March

Bangalore
past. T.T. Joseph State President and Senior minister of IPC entered into glory with Lord on 8th March.Pastor TT has left a void in the hearts of many believers across the world.Global council of Indian Christians(GCIC) joins with the believers to pray for the bereaved family members and friends.May god continue to bless the mission and vision of IPC.

Sun, 07/03/2010 - 7:23pm Man from India charged over death of toddler

Melbourne, Mar 7 - A 23-year-old Indian man was today arrested and charged over the death of an Indian toddler, whose dumped body was found three days ago in a Melbourne suburb.

Sources informed that the wife of Dhillon Gursewak, who has been arrested, is likely to be charged for helping her husband in disposing off the toddler's body.

Gursewak, who lived in the same house as the three-old boy Gurshan Singh Channa and his parents from Punjab, has been charged with manslaughter due to criminal negligence and appeared in an out-of-sessions hearing at St Kilda Road police complex, local media reports said.

Police also said Gursewak, a part-time taxi driver, was not a relative of the toddler though they lived in the same house."The court heard Dhillon allegedly put the unconscious Channa in the boot of a car and drove around for three hours.

Sat, 06/03/2010 - 7:51am Body of a three-year-old Indian boy found dumped in Melbourne

NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE: The body of a three-year-old Indian boy was found dumped by a roadside in Melbourne, Australia, triggering shock and outrage in India. New Delhi termed it a "most unfortunate incident" as Canberra launched a major probe to determine the cause of the boy's death.

Gurshan Singh Channa's body was found on Oaklands Junction of Melbourne's Wildwood Road on Thursday night during a massive search mounted after his parents reported that he was missing.

The boy disappeared from his suburban house while his mother was taking a shower. His body was found around six hours later.

An autopsy conducted by the Australian authorities could not establish the cause of death of Channa.

Foreign minister S M Krishna on Friday described the death as unfortunate but said the government was still awaiting a report from the Australian authorities to ascertain the cause of death.

There are no external injury marks on the body," Krishna said in the Rajya Sabha. A team of homicide detectives was searching for clues to determine the cause of the death.
Meanwhile, the Australian police are treating the incident as a "worst case" and have deployed all available resources to probe the suspected homicide.

"There is no visible signs of the cause of death," said Victoria Deputy Police Commissioner Sir Ken Jones. "At the moment we're desperate for witnesses to come forward. We're pretty convinced there's people out there that may have seen something," said Jones. He added that the police have not yet determined if the boy's death was an opportunistic crime or something else. Victoria state premier John Brumby said he found the death of Gurshan Singh "personally distressing."

Mon, 01/03/2010 - 12:57pm 12 believers involved in an accident in Saudi,Br. Sinu passed to glory

Dammam( Saudi Arabia)

Bro. Sinu Jacob (Ooramana, Muvattupuzha, Kerala) went to be with the Lord today, 28 February. He had met with an accident in Saudi & underwent an open skull surgery at King Abdul Aziz Hospital, Taif. He was on Ventilator & his condition was very critical. He is survived by his wife, Syra and one child.

There is extensive formalities to get the body released for shipment to India. Kindly pray for an early processing of documents. Let us remember the grieving family members in prayers. May the Lord bestow upon them Heavenly Grace, Peace and Strength and console them with the Word of God. May the PEACE that passeth understanding rule over their hearts.

UPDATES :
A group of brethren from Jeddah met with a serious road accident while coming back from Dammam. While they were 250kms away from Taif , the driver fell asleep and the Coaster (Minibus) jumped across the divider & reached the opposite highway. A trailer which came from the opposite direction hit the coaster. There were 12 including 4 kids. Almost all of them suffered injuries or fractures and was hospitalized in a Government General Hospital. One brother who suffered head injury & another family was shifted to a Hospital in Taif for better treatment as their condition was not good. We understand that the brothers are not getting proper medical attention in King Abdul Aziz hospital. Kindly remember this situation in your prayers