CASA’s Emergency Response to the devastating floods and landslides in Jammu & Kashmir (Updates 1 – 4).

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casapic2jpgAfter assessing the flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared the situation a “national‐level disaster” and announced a special assistance of INR 1,000 crore (US$ 170, 940, 171) for the flood‐hit state besides INR 2 00000 (US $ 3419) compensation from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the kin of the dead and INR 50,000 (US $ 855) for those seriously injured.

CASA has released INR 21, 75, 500 (US$37,188) towards organizing distribution of dry ration kit and NFIs to 1170 families in Kulgam and Sri Nagar districts in Kashmir. CASA along with its local partner organizations and Mountain Forum Himalayas have been one of the first respondents to the disaster in Kashmir.
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NCCI Centenary Celebration – Hyderabad Region

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REPORT OF REGIONAL NCCI CENTENARY CELEBRATION PROGRAMME 

(Hyderabad Region)

September 12 – 14, 2014

1The NCCI centenary celebration in Hyderabad region started with a grand Centenary Inaugural programme organized by Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) in its campus. The celebration began with an indigenous dance welcoming the dignitaries to the venue: the ACTC chapel.

The service in the chapel began at 9:30 am on September 12, 2014. Rev. Dr. Matthews Emmanuel Thathapudi, Principal of ACTC invited several Read more

Kashmir Floods Situation Updates

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APPEAL FOR PRAYER AND CHANNELIZING SUPPORT

Extracts from

Kashmir Floods Situation Updates

Up to 13 September 2014

By Arjimand Hussain, Rawalpora, Srinagar

Prepared with Additional Inputs and Edited by Mazher Hussain, COVA, Hyderabad

Most News Headlines on Kashmir floods continue to fall short of capturing the intensity of this calamity. I have put together some points which our friends in media and humanitarian agencies could use in their communications to capture the enormity of the crisis:

Critical Immediate Aid Requirements

– Critical aid requirements include: boats, drinking water, medicines, water purifying tablets, food, warm clothes, Beddings and Quilts (Razai), baby food, milk, liquid hand sanitisers, women’s hygiene kits, children’s hygiene kits.

The Disaster and Its Impact Read more

PC Jena: A Humble Ecumenical Leader with a passion for human rights

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pcjenaNCCI learns with shock and sorrow the passing away of Mr. Purna Chandra Jena, popularly known as PC Jena on 31st August 2014.  He was around 68 and was suffering from acute asthma.
He served NCCI as the Coordinator for NCCI-URM (Urban Rural Mission) from 2000 to 2006.  He, through his deep-rooted bible studies, showed great passion for just-peace for the Dalits and Tribals in India.  Through his writings, he has contributed a lot to the ecumenical world, to which we will be indebted. His talks and discussions inspired Human Rights activists and encouraged them to engage more meaningfully in achieving the Rights for the Dalits and Tribals, especially for those affected in Odisha.  He also served as the Dean for the various Youth Ecumenical Formative Programmes conducted by the NCCI Youth Unit headed by Mr. Dinesh Suna.
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FAREWELL TO NCCI EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES – Rev. Asir Ebenezer, Rev. Dr. Solomon Rongpi and Dr. Hrangthan Chhungi

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Three of our Executive Secretaries have finished their term of office with the National Council of Churches in India. We are grateful to God for the fine leadership we have had in them. As our friends take their skills and wisdom to other ministries, we wish them God’s richest blessings for an increasingly fruitful ministry.

asirREV. ASIR EBENEZER

Joined NCCI June 1,  2004 and served till May 31, 2014 in various capacities: Executive Secretary for Urban-Rural Mission (URM) and later of the NCCI Commission on Policy and National Governance, Officiating General Secretary for a year (2010), and Finance Secretary. He has contributed to NCCI at many levels including programs, finance, communications, strategic planning process and policies. His work at NCCI has been so extensive that any attempts to define it would fall short of according sufficient acknowledgement. He has taken office with the Church of South India (CSI) Synod located in Chennai. Read more

NCCI – AZARIAH HOUSE DAMAGED! URGENT APPEAL FOR FUNDS

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Dear friends,

On account of the stormy weather including incessant rains over the last week in Nagpur, some trees near Azariah House in the NCCI Campus have fallen causing extensive damage to the structure of Azariah House.(See pictures below)

As we may know that the house is named after the well-known Indian Church leader and ecumenist Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1874 – 1945), and has been used variously as conference hall, guest house, meeting place, etc.

We are celebrating the centenary of NCCI this year. In fact, the concluding celebration is planned to be held in Nagpur during November 6 – 10, 2014. The Azariah House facilities need to be in usable condition as early as possible.

We urgently appeal to you to grant financial support for repairing Azariah House and the compound wall which has collapsed in many places. The repair work is estimated at INR Ten Lakhs (Rs. 10,00,000/-) which is about USD 17000/-.

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NCCI letter to Minister of External Affairs, Government of India

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To

Smt. Sushma Swaraj

Cabinet Minister of External Affairs, Government of India

Dear Madam,

Greetings to you from the National Council of Churches in India!

The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) is concerned about thepresent conflict between Israel and Palestine in West Asia. It has beenreported that around 184 Palestinians died and more than 1,330 peopleare wounded. The majority of the victims are Civilians, Children and Elderlypeople. The Hamas has also fired rockets inside Israel. The violence of bothsides is condemnable.

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Govt Attorney prepares to file the reply on the Dalit Christian reservation issue in the Supreme Court of India.

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SC status issue of Dalit Christians’ case came for hearing in the Supreme Court of India on 8th July 2014. The Government attorney asked for two weeks time for the new Central Government to file the reply. The case may be listed after two weeks.
 Mr. Prashant Bhushan (Centre for Public Interest Litigation) put forward the pertinent point that that Sikhism and Buddhism do not recognise caste system but they were given SC status. Christianity also does not recognise caste system but since the Dalit Christians are living in the larger society where the caste system is practiced they should be given SC status. Advocates Mr. Franklin Caesar Thomas, Ms. Tehmina, Ms. Loregin, Mr. Aristotle, Sr. Sneha were present in the court on our behalf.

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2014 Election Results: Reiterating the Church’s Prophetic Citizenship

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As per our country’s democratic process, parliamentary elections are held every five years. As Christians we always pray that the elections would be conducted properly and peacefully. When the election results are out, as per conventional practice we congratulate the new government and we pray that the people so elected and the new government would serve the country well. In many of our church liturgies an intercessory prayer is offered every Sunday for the President, the Prime Minister, the Governor and Chief Minister of our respective states, and for all those in authority.
The 2014 election results are expressive of the desire of the majority of the people for corruption-free, electorate-responsible, good governance, for economic well-being in terms of employment, control over the rising cost of living, for easy access to basic necessities of life such as food-grains, water, electricity, education, shelter and health, and for justice and peace. We are reminded of the Nazareth Manifesto of Jesus “to bring good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Lk.4:18-19)
Therefore the 2014 Elections constitute the kairos (the critical decisive time) for the Church in India to be bearers of the ‘Nazareth Manifesto’ gospel in the country: 

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“Save the Life of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso”. End human trafficking! Appeal from NCCI – AICCW.

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maryjaneAll India Council of Christian Women (AICCW), Women’s Wing of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) has sent an appeal to the Respected President of Indonesia Joko Widodo to save the life of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.

The 30-year-old Filipina is on death row in Indonesia. This Filipino woman, convicted of alleged drug trafficking, has been transferred to a detention center on Indonesia’s Nusakambangan Island, where she awaits execution by firing squad on 28th April 2015, Tuesday.

Veleso was subject to sexual abuse and ‘almost raped’ as she says by her employer when she was working as domestic worker in Dubai and she came to Philippines. When she was looking for job again she was tricked by her neighbour/family friend and her boyfriend.

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