NCCI appoints secretaries for Commission on Youth and Commission on Dalits and Tribals/Adivasis

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Dear Ecumenical Colleagues,

New Year greetings from NCCI!

I am happy to introduce to you Mr.Pradip Bansrior and Mr.Jianthaolung Gonmei who are recently appointed respectively as the Executive Secretary NCCI-Commissions on Dalits and Tribals/Adivasis, and Executive Secretary NCCI-Commission on Youth.

Mr Pradip BansriorMr.Pradip has a Post Graduate degree in Economics. During the past 15 years he has served as Programme Secretary in SCMI, and as CNI Synod Programme Coordinator for Youth Concerns, Subaltern Concerns, and for Dalit & Tribal Concerns.

passportMr.Jianthaolung has completed his B.D. from the United Theological College, Bangalore. He has a Post Graduate degree in English language & literature. Before he joined NCCI, Mr.Jianthaolung was serving as an intern in NCCI during 2015.

Please uphold their ministries in your prayers, and encourage them with your support and guidance.

You may contact them at pradipbansrior@gmail.com and jian.gonmei@gmail.com

All India Council of Christian Women – Women’s Wing of NCC India invites Churches during this Advent Season to Welcome Baby Jesus by Taking a Stand Against Child Abuse

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16 Days Poster
ALARMING FACTS:
* In India 65% of school children reported facing corporal punishment – beatings by teachers mostly in government schools.
* Of children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators.
* India is the 4th most dangerous country in the world for girl child to be born in and for a girl woman to live in. (Indian Government Commissioned Survey Report, source: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com assessed on 2nd Dec 2015)
* Over 53% children in India face sexual abuse (That means out of every two children one child faces sexual abuse in India)

“The Writing on the Wall” WRITERS WORKSHOP REPORT (UBS | November 26 – 28, 2015)

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DSC03334A Writers Workshop, “The Writing on the Wall”, jointly organized by The Commission on Communication and Relations (COCR) of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), Board of Theological Text Book Program of South Asia (BTTBPSA) and Union Biblical Seminary (UBS), was held at UBS, Pune from November 26 – 28, 2015. Participants at the workshop included Pastors, theology students and theology professors from various denominations and colleges around India. The Program theme was conceived based on the fundamental premise that Prophetic writing is not only about being able to read the signs of times to come but to respond to it in boldness with a passion for truth and justice that itself becomes a force for transformation in society. The Program was purported to encourage a culture of writing to yield greater contribution to Theological text books in regional languages in India and also to produce the kind of writing that causes change and triumph of truth using not only traditional paradigms of writing but also effectively employing the tools available in emerging information and communication technology.

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Global Media Monitoring Project 2015 Press Release

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The Commission on Communications and Relations (COCR) of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) promotes ‘Communication for all’ and is sensitive to issues of Communications Rights in India. Through advocacy programs, seminars and workshops, NCCI-COCR highlights the need for gender balance, equity, democracy and communication rights in responsible journalism and media processes.

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) promotes communication as a basic human right, essential to people’s dignity and community. WACC works with all denied the right to communicate because of status, identity, or gender. WACC has corporate and personal members in 120 countries, organized in eight Regional Associations: Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and Pacific. The National Council of Churches in India is an active member.

The following is the press release from WACC’s Gender Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2015 which contains several important insights and concerns pertinent globally.



PRESS RELEASE

Progress for women in news media grinds to a halt

After 20 years, research in 114 countries reveals continued severe disparity between representation of women and men in news media

Progress towards equality of men and women in the news media has virtually ground to a halt according to the fifth and largest study on the portrayal and representation of women in the news media.

Extensive results of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) released 23 November show that, worldwide, women make up about 50% of the general population but only 24% of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news, exactly the same level found in the 2010 report.

Women’s relative invisibility in traditional news media has also crossed over into digital news delivery platforms. Only 26% of the people in Internet news stories and media news Tweets combined are women.

The GMMP is a project of the communications advocacy agency WACC, with support from UN Women. The first such survey of gender portrayal in news media was conducted in 1995, and at five year intervals after that. GMMP 2015 is the largest research and advocacy initiative in the world on gender equality in and through the news. UN Women has supported the survey twice consecutively.

Paris Terror and Tragedy: Crying in solidarity! Calling for peace with justice!

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There are too many of us who know what it means to have terrorism touch our lives, our loved ones, and our sense of connection with the people around us. Today, France and Lebanon are in the midst of that fog of tragedy. Even if we aren’t directly affected, we still feel some of the pain of the families of those killed and injured. And so even the National Council of Churches in India expresses our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in France, Lebanon and across the world that are mourning, suffering, experiencing rape, being rendered homeless, running and struggling for refuge, going through an excruciating sense of helplessness and hopelessness. Bold speeches are being made and solidarity statements are being uttered, such as “We all are France!” One wonders whether we would be concerned enough to declare, “We all are Afghanistan! We all are Iraq! We all are Syria! We all are Rohingyas!”

The frightening sense of vulnerability that the attack has induced is shared by every citizen and every government in the alliance of countries – European, American and Arab – part of a coalition formed to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, in Barack Obama’s words.

Faced with such an international situation, people and their governments are concerned about security. Increased surveillance measures may be necessary. Greater official intrusiveness into the private lives of citizens through expanded data and internet access laws may come to be seen as unavoidable. But total security is an illusion.

Open Letter to Prime Minister of India from the General Secretary of NCCI

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Dear Prime Minister,

Greetings!

Kindly lend me your ears as I share my mann ki baat with you.

You are a very good orator, who can rouse the masses. You are a very powerful executive, who can control all actions of the government. You are an IT savvy person, who can make clever use of all forms of media to your development schemes. You are an astute business entrepreneur, who can maneuver the globalization system to serve your vision of development. You are indeed a model for many 21st century persons who aspire to fame, position and power.

However while all seems grand and beautiful with your leadership, there are serious concerns that many Indian citizens would like to draw to your notice. They know that you are not unaware of these serious concerns, but are distressed that you are not taking actions which the situations demand. Let me highlight these concerns by drawing your attention to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

The Preamble of the Indian Constitution describes five cardinal features of the Indian state:

(1) India is a Sovereign State:
As a sovereign independent state, India is free both internally and externally to take her own decisions and implement these for her people and territories.

However don’t you think that our sovereignty is under threat at the hands of certain powers within and outside the country? For instance, as you are well aware, economic globalization limits the capacity of our country to determine our own policy outcomes in three main ways: through trade and economic integration; financial markets; and the competition for employment. So also our state sovereignty is weakened by fundamentalist, casteist, communal and commercial forces within the country.

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NCCI appreciates the ban removal on Bastar Panchayat

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The National Council of Churches in India appreciates the timely appeal made by the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum to the Chhattisgarh High Court in restoring their Right to Religion. The NCCI also hails the removal of the ban on Bastar Panchyat by the Chhattisgarh High Court. In times of anti-Christian sentiments, we value this decision made by the High Court in restoring peace and oneness of humankind.

Bastar panchayat ban: HC says right to religion is fundamental
TNN | Oct 15, 2015, 09.23 AM IST

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh high court has ordered that tribal Bastar region’s panchayat resolution passed last year, imposing ban on non-Hindu religious missionaries, won’t come in the way of exercising fundamental right to preach and propagate religion.

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NCCI congratulates the CMCH, Tamilnadu and wishes well for its ECP Therapy centre

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The National Council of Churches in India congratulates the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) in Tamil Nadu on the opening of a new External Counter Pulsation (ECP) centre.

ECP will promote non-surgical procedures for heart ailments.  ECP therapy — a non-invasive procedure — helps stimulate the growth of new blood vessels in the heart and, in some cases, improves the flow of existing blood vessels. Often, ECP is used when physicians have exhausted other therapies.

The treatment provided at the centre is covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Medical Insurance Scheme and the revenue generated from the treatment will also help finance the hospital’s development, hospital authorities said.

The NCCI wishes the CMCH, Tamilnadu to be a blessing and a healer to the Indian society and the people at large.

PETITION TO THE PRIME MINISTER. From The Leprosy Mission Trust India

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The Leprosy Mission Trust India has started an online petition to Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi asking him to take concrete steps to end discrimination against people affected by leprosy and take immediate action on Report 256 of the Law Commission of India.
This petition has already caught people’s imagination. Many have already signed the petition. Every day, more and more people sign to show their solidarity with people affected by leprosy!
The Leprosy Mission Trust India is aiming at getting 50,000 people to sign the petition. They need many more signatures to achieve this. The petition can be signed at the link given below:
Please share the above link on your Facebook timeline (if you have one) and forward the link to your colleagues, friends and family and request them to sign!
People affected by leprosy need our support to get EDPAL Bill passed in the Parliament and for the government to bring new legislation for their rehabilitation and development.Together, we can bring change in the lives of people affected by leprosy.
People affected by leprosy will be thankful to you for signing the petition which has the power to bring healing, inclusion and dignity in their lives.
The appeal of The Leprosy Mission Trust is thus recommended by NCCI (with its emphasis on compassion, healing, justice, inclusivity, dignity of life, and peace for all) for your strong support

Churches’ response to the crisis of Farmer Suicide

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farmer-suicide2NCCI-URM and VCLC responded to this burning issue by visiting and being in solidarity with the families of farmers residing in the Turakmari, Butibori area on the 7th of July, 2015.  Dr.Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary of NCCI, Pranita, Intern of the URM, Sanjay Wankhede Support Staff and VCLC Coordinator Rajesh Jadhav had a in-depth analysis with and among themselves.
In a bizarre development, seven debt-ridden farmers, among them three women, in Maharashtra’s Wardha district have sought the administration’s “permission” to commit suicide.
“The situation has become so bad that these seven peasants have approached the district officials requesting their green signal to end their lives,” said Kishore Tiwari, president of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an NGO working for farmers’ rights.

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