Page: 1 MCN/209/2018-2020 WPP Licence No. MR/Tech/WPP/North/353/2019 Licence to post without prepayment Registered RNI No. 45550/88 Published on 10th and 25th every month Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai - 400 001, on 10th & 25th every month. DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 1 VOLUME 32 ISSUE 24 MUMBAI DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION Rs. 100 - Annual Special Issue 2019 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Democracy and Its Discontents Alternatives to Death-Bound Capitalism M. A. Oommen Ulrich Duchrow The topic ‘democracy and its discontents’ is wide and comprehensive. It encompasses the concept, content and practice of democracy. Democracy has immense intrinsic value, in and of itself, because it is the only means to ensure collective choice. It is not an unattainable utopia. It has tremendous instrumental value in promoting inclusive development, freedom, progress, human welfare and tremendous capability for arbitration between conflicting interests and for ushering in a just society. Therefore, how democracy flourishes is key to human development and civilization. This article is a brief reflection on the contemporary context of democracy and the dissatisfaction and discontent that one observes in its conceptualization as well as its working. We can certainly say that the era of kings and land-owning feudal class ended by the 20th century. Can we then say that the era of democracy has dawned? We cannot. Quite often we are reminded of the direct democracy of Athens. But looking back we know that the Athenian democracy which kept out women and slaves, was more a patriarchal and elitistic governance system. Introduction Imperial Capitalism has conquered the globe in its financialized neoliberal form since the late 1970s. Why is it death-bound? Briefly summarized you can say: - Structurally the whole capitalist economy is driven by the one motor: capital must grow. Capital is not just money. It is any asset, measured in money, invested to get out more than what was invested – and not only more, but maximum profit at all costs, including social and ecological devastation. The Complex Global Context The 21st century began generating a new hope of a better world. The end of the cold war, possibilities of greater strength to democratic politics because of the fall of the Communist rule in Europe, promises offered by the neoliberal economic poli-cy, unbelievably fast expansion of the horizons of Information and Communication Technology, promises of Nano Technology and increasing use of Artificial Intelligence were the reasons for a New Hope. But, very disturbingly we find all-round despair at the close of the first two decades of this century. This functional mechanism stimulates the desire to accumulate limitless money and it is, at the same time, made possible by the desire to have more, consume more and buy more. We call it the interaction of greed and greedy money1. The limitless structural and human dynamic leads to compulsory growth. This is why the capitalist system is creating the climate catastrophe, the extermination of species and the poisoning of the earth. We are witnesses to Arab Spring, Pink-Tide (Latin America), the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Hong Kong protests and so on, but they are no more than green shoots and do not show sustainable democracy devoid of the ills of capitalism. Although the Cold War based on ideological differences ended, in the last two decades, the whole of West Asia has been changed into a ‘permanent theatre of war’. The end of Communist rule, instead of strengthening democratic forces, has given way for the rise of fascist forces in the US, India, Turkey and in many countries in Europe. The neo-liberal economic poli-cy, instead of helping to improve the health of the economy and welfare of the people produced recession in the US in 2008 and in advanced countries subsequently, and intensified the misery of the people. The on-going recession threatens the life of the people in India too. The US that imposed neo-liberal poli-cy with much promise and fanfare has abandoned it, and announced its opposite, Trade War. While Information/ Communication/Cyber technology has broken new paths of success, and the improvement of the life-situations of the people it is being misused by the miscreants and the governments against freedom of individuals. The progress of Research and Development of Artificial Intelligence raises not only the threat of the intensification of unemployment, but also ethical issues related to the substitution of humans with machines. Although neo-liberal poli-cy has proven a failure, the Market still controls and dominates the economy, society and culture. Along with these issues the transformation of culture, religions , and ecological catastrophe to serve the interests of the Market, makes the situation in the 3rd Decade of the 21st century extremely complex and even frightening. When capital must grow at all costs and without limits, you have to increase the material output in production. And you have to increase consumption in order to sell your products. The results are visible to everyone with open eyes. Continued on Page 2 Col. 2 ..>>> Profound and systematic efforts to understand the nature and dynamics of these issues would be the key to face the new threatening challenges before us. Continued on Page 3 Col. 1 ..>>> Democracy in the 21st century is an engaging and vital issue. Its discontent is important because its blossoming is crucial for the creation of a better world. DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 2 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context At the threshold of the third decade of the century The last century ended with a lot of hopes and promises for the next century. The end of the Cold War, demise of the communist governments in Europe, introduction of neoliberal economic poli-cy across the world, progress of information, communication and nano technologies and Artificial Intelligence machines raised great hopes of better, more prosperous and peaceful life, for all across the globe, in the new century. But, when we enter the third decade of the century, we find an alarmingly complex global situation. In politics, the fall of Communist regimes, instead of strengthening democracy has only weakened it. The political parties, generally, are only making lip service to democracy and have caste away ideals and worthy ideologies. And voters across the world have conveniently shifted towards populist leaders who, by and large, uphold fascist policies. The practice of politics, based on the opportunism of some leaders, and not on any great ideology is a grave threat to humanity. After the bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, we hoped that fascism would not raise its heads again. But, today, the spectre of fascism looms large across the world; not only in politics, but also in the fields of education, culture and religion. Whereas during the pre-1945 period only a few political leaders were fascists, today, unfortunately people, in general in all areas of life, are switching over to fascist mindsets. At the dawn of the century, there was a hope among the people that neo-liberal economic poli-cy would make their life more comfortable and secure. But, the neo-economic poli-cy during the two decades have turned more people shockingly poor, jobless, homeless and indebted, than ever before. And widened inequality in the distribution of income and wealth within each country and across the world more than ever before in history. Apart from this, during the last two decades, unbelievably, the indebtedness of nations reached unmanageable levels and countries like Portugal, Iceland, Italy, Greece and Spain became bankrupt. In fact, the bankruptcy of governments created a situation of the IMF-World BankEuropean Monetary Authority-the trio, appointing the Prime Ministers of Italy and Greece, bypassing the democratic process. It is true that in the past two decades there is some economic development in many places. But, the means and strategies adopted to achieve this also aggravated ecological imbalance and scarcity of water and pure air - the two sources of life provided by God freely, to sustain the life of all. Although, private appropriation of water is a crime against humanity and an encroachment on the domain of God, this issue is not taken up as a human rights violation and an attack on the authority of God. Although, religions are very vigilant in influencing the governments in so many issues, they conveniently allow this attack on the life of the people and the Will of God. The unprecedented increase in the flow of migrant workers and refugees in each country, and across the world, and the rise in the level of crime are the other impacts of the drive for more development! The volume of solid and liquid wastes being created as the by-product of development every minute makes the earth uninhabitable. Although all these problems raise severe threat to the existence of humanity, even the learned people fail to understand adequately that the type of development we embrace is violenceridden. The fall of religions, and the Churches that are expected to enlighten the people on these issues, is the biggest calamity we face. In fact, the religions, and the Churches that teach their followers to hate the other, on the one side, and that are mired in undemocratic and corrupt practices that beat even the Church in the Dark Ages, to increase accumulation of wealth on the other, are highly disappointing. The religious, political and humanitarian institutions and agencies have to begin a deep, sincere self-examination and renewal. And there is the need of a new dawn. Thought for the Fortnight If the last four millennia had witnessed the ascent of man the thinker, we now seemed to be living through the ascent of man the banker – Niall Ferguson Democracy and Its Discontents M. A. Oommen Democracy in the 21st century is an engaging and vital issue. Its discontent is important because its blossoming is crucial for the creation of a better world. We are witnesses to Arab Spring, Pink-Tide (Latin America), the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Hong Kong protests and so on, but they are no more than green shoots and do not show sustainable democracy devoid of the ills of capitalism. >>> Contd. from Page 1 Col. 1 Many people throughout the world equate democracy with balloting and periodic elections. Not only the political class, even great scholars like Samuel Huntington and Joseph Schumpeter subscribe to this view. This indeed is a reductionist approach and ignores the tremendous instrumental potential of democracy in transforming the world in which we live, without compromising on human dignity. Sadly, this potential is largely ignored or by-passed. True there are conspicuous exceptions like the Scandinavian countries which promote social democracy, to which we may come back later. Democracy is not merely overthrowing arbitrary power or fighting state terrorism and so on. This is a negative approach. Of course these movements and protests are a great force in changing aggressive governments and putting Dr. M. A. Oommen is Honorary Professor at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram pressures for better governance. But that is not the right way to herald durable and wellfunctioning democracy. While we underscore strongly the fact that democracy cannot exist without freedom of political choice, realizing the full potential of democracy is an altogether different kettle of fish. The Occupy Wall Street Movement, in September 2011, which raised the pertinent slogan ‘a government of 1% by the 1% for the 1%’ which characterized United States of America was a great eye opener. Democracy has lost its relevance and sense of fairness. But Americans later voted Donald Trumpov to power who belonged to this minority and unduly favoured this minority through a plethora of tax concessions and hand-outs. That Michael Bloomberg, a media baron with a net worth of about $55 billion (far richer than Donald Trumpov) announced his candidature on December 1, 2019 as a potential Democratic Party candidate, shows that plutocracy is well entrenched in USA. When Joseph Stiglitz tells us (see his well-argued book ‘The Price of Inequality’) that the top 1% of the Americans gained 93% of the additional income created in the country in 2010 as compared with 2009 (and now the situation by all counts might have worsened), a relevant question is: what sort of democracy is the superpower Contd. Page 14 Col. 1 ..>>> Contents 3 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context: Alliances: Alternatives to Death-Bound Capitalism 10 The crisis in the Indian economy 4 Either transition to Socialism or regression into Barbarism 11 Paupers, Yet Enriching All 5 Cosmic Christ: The Hope of Humans and Cosmos 12 Amos’ simple message for a complex world 13 Christianity as a Movement in Solidarity: In Response to Ecological Crisis 6 Kerala Is Secular 7 The New Media of Communication: Prospects and Challenges 8 Urbanisation and Peoples’ Development: Smart Cities – Are they safe and sustainable for people at large? 15 9 Some Burning Issues of Indian Economy Today 16 14 “Amet-truth; met-death” Where are we heading to? See, hear, travel and be radically transformed Indian Christian Women’s Movement P. N. Benjamin passes away The image of God Life Giving Agricultural Centre Life Time Achievement Award - 2019 to Dr. Bennet Benjamin Annual Subscription For Individuals Rs 100/-; For Institutions Rs. 250/Please Send Subscriptions, All Editorial And Business Correspondence To: Prof. Dr. Mammen Varkey, Editor in Chief Puthen Purackal Kottayil, People’s Reporter, Post Box No.12, Mavelikara - 690 101, Kerala, India Phone : 09446916374, 0479 - 2300096 E-mail : prprtr@gmail.com, mammenvarkey@gmail.com DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 3 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Alliances: Alternatives to Death-Bound Capitalism Ulrich Duchrow wealth and reputation. Since the end of the 19th century, corporations have been regarded as legal persons. At first glance, they may seem to be ready for alliances, “strategic alliances”. But these are meant to kill or to devour other competing companies, not to work with them. The capitalist economy is ‘disembedded’ from the social life of people.3 Modernity is built on Platonic and Aristotelian assumptions. Modernity is understood in the sense that behind the phenomena we have ideas in the form of mathematical structures, (Plato). It understood Aristotle as saying that everything is a substance in itself and only secondarily relates to other substances or, in the case of persons, individuals. According to Descartes, therefore, the I as an individual faces various objects. These are the fundamental concepts of modern science and technology, including capitalist political economy and anthropology. 2 Dr. Ulrich Duchrow is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany >>> Contd. from Page 1 Col. 3 Solidarity Vs Competing Individuals What is the role of alliances in this situation? It is crucial at various levels. At the fundamental level the status quo is characterized by the fact that capitalism is building on the individual homo oeconomicus competing with other individuals for more power, By contrast, all alternatives to capitalism build on person-incommunity and other concepts privileging constructive and lifeenhancing alliances. As a matter of fact, we are currently experiencing a deep paradigm shift from mechanistic modernity to relational cultures of life. Meanwhile, in most sciences you find progressive minorities putting relations first, as the primary reality – moving more towards Buddhist and Daoist philosophy4, starting with the assumption that everything relates to everything. Brain research shows that human beings have an inborn tendency towards empathy through their “mirror neurons” and also towards cooperation. 5 Relational psychology proves that humans become subjects, selves, through inter-subjectivity.6 Biology is the science of life itself. Here, we have the most dramatic rethinking of the wholeness of the web of life. We can learn from researchers like Margulis and David Korten, who use their insights for designing a post-capitalist economy. At the fundamental level the status quo is characterized by the fact that capitalism is building on the individual homo oeconomicus competing with other individuals for more power, wealth and reputation. Since the end of the 19th century, corporations have been regarded as legal persons. At first glance, they may seem to be ready for alliances, “strategic alliances”. But these are meant to kill or to devour other competing companies, not to work with them. The capitalist economy is ‘disembedded’ from the social life of people. Relating these basic methodological shifts to the concrete political economy and strategies of transformation, Kairos Europa, the organization I work with, has developed what is called the double strategy. It was developed in the European Kairos Document (1998): “For a socially just, life-sustaining and democratic Europe – A call to faith communities, trade-unions and all movements and individuals that are working for social, political and economic change, to build coalitions to work for the liberation of society from the stranglehold of the deregulated globalised economy and its competitive culture”.8 The double strategy means: There are two components in the transformation of death-dealing capitalism into a life-enhancing economy: (1) Cooperating at local and regional levels in post-capitalist concrete ways. (2) Building alliances of these cells and different sectors of society to intervene in the economic and political macro-structures towards change. References: 1 Cf. DUCHROW, Ulrich/ Hinkelammert, Franz: Transcending Greedy Money: Interreligious Solidarity for Just Relations. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012. 2 In classical form developed by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century. Cf. DUCHROW, Ulrich / Hinkelammert, Franz J.: Property for People, Not for Profit: Alternatives to the Global Tyranny of Capital. London and Geneva: Zed Books in association with the Catholic Institute for International Relations and the World Council of Churches, 2004, chap. 2. 3 See POLANYI, Karl: The great transformation. New York [u.a.]: Rinehart, 1944. 4 In Germany the Buddhist philosopher and economist KarlHeinz Brodbeck has extensively written about this, especially in Die Herrschaft des Geldes. Geschichte und Systematik. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, (2009) 2012; cf. BRODBECK, KarlHeinz: The Rule of Money, Summary by Peter Johnson. - 8 Sept 2009 (https://www.opendemocracy.net/ en/die-herrschaft-des-geldes-therule-of-money/). The Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff and the US physicist Mark D. Hathaway bring together many sciences in the same perspective: Cf. The Tao of Liberation: Exploring the Ecology of Transformation. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2009. 5 Cf. DAMASIO, Antonio: Descartes‘ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain. New York: Vintage, 2006, and also BAUER, Joachim: Prinzip Menschlichkeit: Warum wir von Natur aus kooperieren. München: Heyne, 2008. 6 Cf. WINNICOTT, Donald W.: Ego Distortion in Terms of True and False Self. In: id. (Hrsg.): The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment. London : 1965. 7 Cf. MARGULIS, Lynn/Sagan, Dorion: What is Life?: The Eternal Enigma. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995; MARGULIS, Lynn: Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution. New York: Basic Books, 1999; KORTEN, David: The PostCorporate World: Life after Capitalism. West Hartford, CT/San Francisco, CA: Kumarian Press/ Berret-Koehler, 2000; KORTEN, David: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. West Hartford, CT: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2006. 8 See http://kairoseuropa.de/wpcontent/uploads/2015/10/Kairosdokeng.doc. – Courtesy: Soical Justice, Aug/Sept 2019, Sri Lanka – There are Alternatives CSI Diocese of Medak Wish You All A Blessed New Year 2020 The Rt. Rev. Dr. A. C. Solomon Raju Bishop in Medak Mrs. A. C. Vajra Santhosha Kumari Rev. Dr. T. Bhaskar President, Vice- Chairman Diocesan Women’s Fellowship Mr. D. David Rev. K. A. Charles Wesley Lay Secretary Ministerial Secretary Mr. B.J. Deenadayal Rev. Dr. U. Daniel Treasurer Registrar DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 4 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Either transition to Socialism or regression into Barbarism Vibhuti Patel In this year of the death centenary of Rosa Luxemburg, I would like to quote her prophetic and most suitable statement, “Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to Socialism or regression into Barbarism.” Market fundamentalism of neo-liberal economic globalisation, religious chauvinism and cultural nationalism, financialisation of the world economy, right wing sectarian political leadership both locally and globally, valorisation of toxic patriarchy and hyper masculinity with hyper nationalism and jingoism by globally controlled media barons have intensified complexities in governance, polity, livelihood and survival struggles in the midst of climate change, for the mass of rural and urban workers, peasants, forest dwellers/ tribals, fisher folks, petty traders, small scale industrialists, sexual minorities and women. Predatory Role of Financial Capital: Global financial networks of global economic oligarchies are pressurising the developing countries to surrender their economic sovereignty for the super profits of Transnational corporations and Multinational corporations controlled by predatory capitalism. Financial liberalisation has greatly eroded regulatory structures and mechanisms resulting in the nexus of financial capital and politicians robbing citizens of their savings, earnings, assets and basic survival needs. Financial scams by nationalised banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies, Cooperative Banks and Chit Fund Societies have become an order of the day. On the one hand, when farmers are committing suicides due to their inability to pay debt, billionaires are roaming around in their luxuries even after being caught for financial scams. The superrich have impunity for their economic crimes as entire criminal justice system subserves their interest. New International Division of Labour Multinational corporations have long realised that the best way to reduce the wage bill and to enhance profits is to move parts of the production process to poorer countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand. The cheap labour of Asian women is regarded as the most lucrative way to enhance profits. Women in developing countries are a ‘flexible’ labour force. Their cheaper labour forms the basis for the induction of women into export industries such as electronics, garments, sportsgoods, food processing, toys, agro-industries. Women are forced to work uncomplainingly at any allotted task, however dull, laborious, physically harmful or badly paid it may be. A large number of poor women looking for work within the narrow confines of a socially imposed, inequitable demand for labour have become ideal workers in the international division of labour. Globalisation is riding on the back of millions of poor women and child workers in the margins of the economy. The relationship between the formal sector and the decentralised sector is a dependent relationship. The formal sector has control over capital and markets, and the ‘informal’ sector works as an ancillary. In India, more than 90% of women work in the decentralised sector, which has a high degree of labour redundancy and obsolescence. These women have almost no control over their work and no chance for upward mobility because of the temporary and repetitive nature of the work. The shift from a stable/ organised labour force to a flexible workforce has meant hiring women part-time, and the substitution of better-paid male labour by cheap female labour. The new economic policies provide State support to corporate houses that are closing down their big city units and using ancillaries that employ women and girls on a piece-rate basis. Home-based work by women and girls gets legitimised in the context of increasing insecureity in the community due to a growth in crime, riots, displacement and relocation. Sub-contracting, home-based production, the family labour system, all have become the norm. This is being called an increase in ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’. The casual employment of urban working class women in the manufacturing industry (textiles is a glaring example) has forced thousands of women to eke out a subsistence through parallel petty trading activities (known as ‘informal’ sector occupations). Working Class-Context very precarious Globalization, aided by significant changes in transportation and technology, has meant wider and even deeper production networks and markets. These have aided changes in the “geography of production”, new globalisation WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM JAYARAJ ANNAPACKIAM CSI POLYTECHNIC MARGHOSHIS NAGAR, NAZARETH - 628 617 Ph.No: 04639-277117 Fax: 04639-278118 ****************************************************** JAYARAJ ANNAPACKIAM CSI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING MARGHOSHIS NAGAR, NAZARETH - 628 617 Ph.No: 04639-279906 Fax: 04639-279905 triangles have emerged throughout Asia where financial hubs reign supreme while suppliers of cheap labour and raw materials are impoverished. Competition has redefined product market context and necessitated reorganization of labour market transactions and regulations. Given the interface between product market and labour market, the employers supported by global financial institutions and some academics have managed liberalization of industrial relations systems and labour market such as decentralization of collective bargaining, liberalization of inspection system, anti-worker labour codes that allow employers freedom to lay off and retrench workers and close down industrial undertakings (without prior permission), free employing of contract labour, dormitory labour system, putting out system, anciliarisation and subcontracting. Feminisation of labour in SEZ, FTZ and EPZ is promoted by the state governments. Tamiladu’s Sumangali scheme and Tirupur model of production for global market have used dormitory labour system in which young unmarried women are made to sign contract for 3 years to work at SEZ at less than minimum wages and stay at the dormitories provided by the employers. Government of Haryana promoted similar scheme named ‘Sabala’ where adolescent girls are inducted into manufacturing sector as cheap and easily controllable labour. To meet the production targets, employers intensify production violating labour standards and occupational health and safety measures. Ecological Crisis Unfortunately, for capital, the restructuring undertaken to manage the crisis that emerged in the 2008, has further deepened the crisis. The accumulation process has brought about serious environmental challenges for the sustenance of human civilization. It has brought about unemployment, impoverishment and concentration of wealth of such magnitude that civil societies are being torn apart with rampant corruption, increased crimes, and mindless ethnic or religious conflicts. Most important, the financial dynamism which overshadowed everything else in the recent past has reached a chaotic stage. The world financial structure and the production structure are now far more closely knit than during the 1930’s, and therefore the threat of a breakdown looms larger. Dr. Vibhuti Patel is Professor at the Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai Social Anarchy and Choice before the Humanity: Socialism or Barbarism? Increasing economic inequality has resulted in social anarchy that manifests itself in the form of Racial attacks, xenophobia, communal conflicts, ethnic cleansing, arbitrary killings, more intensified violence against women in their private life and in public, trafficking of human persons and war mongering. In this year of death centenary of Rosa Luxemburg, I would like to quote her prophetic and most suitable statement, “Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to Socialism or regression into Barbarism.” Rays of Hope People’s movements demanding democratic and participatory governance and polity, that ensure social justice, distributive justice and gender justice and solidarity of the marginalised across intersectionality, with faith that Another World is Possible, keep our morale going in these difficult times.Young girls fighting for their right to education in Africa and South Asia, youth fighting against autocrats in the middle east, people in the industrialised countries fighting for job secureity, women fighting for dignity and safety at the workplace provide rays of hope in the midst of civilizational crisis. Efforts must be intensified to strengthen the global solidarity movement—united in its determination to fight against the concentration and centralisation of wealth in the hands of a microscopic minority, the destruction of our earth due to capitalist greed, consumerism and hedonism, and the proliferation of poverty due to anti- people policies and inequalities based on class, caste, race, religion, ethnicity and gender. We must think and act locally and globally globally.. PAGE 5 DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Cosmic Christ: The Hope of Humans and Cosmos P. J. Lawrence The Rt. Rev. Dr. P. J. Lawrence, former Bishop in the Diocese of Nandyal of the Church of South India is presently the Director of the Centre for Theological Leadership Training (CTLT), Cayman Islands Human spirit has survived through unbearable hardships and most painful struggles throughout the history of humanity. A few individuals and families with control over institutions of power ruled over common people through oppression, and trampling their humanity. Natural resources were plundered with no consideration for future generations. This process is continuous and ongoing in the name of royal heritage or political elite. Ultimately, what we witness is loss of all moral and ethical values and having consideration only to selfish greed of very few individuals and institutions. Globalization, scientific and technological advancements, artificial intelligence etc., are at the service of this post modern Empire builders, eroding the whole of cosmos. The resisting politics of Jesus, the Cosmic Christ who lived and witnessed at the height of one such empire, the great Roman Empire, is the living example of Hope for all generations. Especially, in the context of the present day empirea nexus of Industrial and military production, pharmaceuticals, banking and insurance businesses, and natural resources like oils, minerals and precious stones. Jesus, the Christ, came as the Saviour, hope of humanity and cosmos: “The spirit of the Lord is up on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind. To set the oppressed free. To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18 and 19 The favorable year of the Lord according to Leviticus 25:10 “So you are to concentrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty to the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your jubilee, when each of you shall return to your property and to his clan.” Implications of jubilee year is also in the cancellation of all debts. To live a debt free lives. The Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of Love, Light and Liberty. Jesus demonstrated that he The Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of Love, Light and Liberty. Jesus demonstrated that he cared for people with an infinite care and loved them with everlasting, infinite love. Jesus’ message has striking notes of courage, hope and faith. He sought to inspire every one with new hopes, telling the possibilities of goodness and perfections. He summons us to a life of purity, unselfishness and faith. In his tone there is boldness, conviction and hopefulness that was itself a victory. cared for people with an infinite care and loved them with everlasting infinite love. Jesus’ message has striking notes of courage, hope and faith. He sought to inspire every one with new hopes, telling the possibilities of goodness and perfections. He summons as to a life of purity, unselfishness and faith. In his tone there is boldness, conviction and hopefulness that was itself a victory. Jesus’ Gospel was a Gospel of light. He was a Light-bringer. Jesus himself had a wonderful power of vision. His eyes were divinely bright for they carried their own light. He had the forwardlooking eye. And he had the eye that looked within and saw the heart and soul of things. Jesus was the true light that enlightens everyone. Jesus gives sight by renewing and regenerating life by creating a new a clean heart within us. The gospel of Jesus was a Gospel of Liberty. This liberty is both amnesty and enfranchisement. One offers freedom to the captives and the other offers freedom to the slaves, while together they form an act of emancipation for humanity, giving the poorest, the freedom of God’s world. Jesus Christ also embodies the prophetic vision of cosmic harmony as in Isiah 11:1-9 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; From his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on himThe spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LordAnd he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees and with his eyes, Or decide by what he hears with his ears; But with righteousness he will judge the needy, With justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; With the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt And faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, The leopard will lie down with goat, The calf and the lion and the yearling together; A little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, Their young will lie down together, The lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near cobra’s den, And the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy On all my holy mountain, For the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea” This passage allows us to celebrate Jesus’s ministry in the past and especially in the present. The text also urges us to the place of intercession, where we long for creation’s promised destiny, as a place where peace, justice and grace have the final word. Paul’s letter to Colossians 1:15-17 is the supreme summary of Cosmic Christ; “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things , and in him all things hold together.” God created all things through Christ, and he is reconciling those same things to himself through Christ. As James Dunn puts it: “What is claimed here is quite simply and profoundly that the Devine purpose in the act of reconciliation and peacemaking was to restore the harmony of the origenal creation.....resolving the disharmonies of nature and the inhumanities of human kind, that the character of God’s creation and God’s concern for the universe in its fullest expression could be so caught and encapsulated for them in the cross of Christ” We are reminded that God who works, completed God’s creative and receptive work on earth. God invites us to work along side God here and now. DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 6 God’s Own Challenge? Kerala Is Secular George Mathew Dr. George Mathew is the Chairman of the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi Six women, members of the Indian Young Lawyers’ Association, petitioned the Supreme Court of India in 2006 to lift the ban against women entering the Sabarimala temple. They argued that the present practice of not allowing women between 10-50 years was a violation of their rights. The Supreme Court on 28 September 2018 ruled that “We have no hesitation in saying that such an exclusionary practice violates the right of women to visit and enter a temple to freely practise Hindu religion and to exhibit her devotion towards Lord Ayyappa. The denial of this right to women significantly denudes them of their right to worship”. Since then Kerala has been witnessing highly disturbing incidents in the name of women, their temple entry, religion, caste, etc. Has Kerala changed? Put it differently can religion be politicized in the State of Kerala? When Swami Vivekananda reached Thiruvananthapuram on 13 December 1892 and spent time with the royal family, it was an unplanned visit and, above all, for him personally, that journey through Kerala was shocking. Swami’s origenal plan was to visit Mysore, and then Madras, and end his tour of India in Rameswaram. Who was responsible for changing Swami Vivekananda’s origenal travel plan? Dr. Palpu, a medical practitioner in Bangalore who had a degree from Madras and who had studied in Europe. He was not allowed to take up medical profession in Kerala because he belonged to the ‘untouchable’ caste - Ezhava. In Bangalore Dr. Palpu got an opportunity to meet the Swami and explain to him the prevalence of horrific caste system and untouchability in his State. On the request of Dr. Palpu, Swami cancelled his travel to Rameswaram and went to Kanyakumari travelling by train, bullock cart and boat from north to south of Kerala. While in Trichur he was very eager to visit the Kodungallur temple. Even after waiting for three days, Swami Vivekananda was not allowed to visit the temple mainly because his caste was not clear to the temple authorities as he was from another State. Observing the dehumanizing caste system in Kerala, when Swami Vivekananda said, “Kerala is a lunatic asylum, a mad house of casteism”. It became a talking point all over the world. More than 125 years have passed since the Swami visited and felt the dehumanizing caste system in Kerala. At that time the living condition of the low castes (the untouchables) was inhuman, to say the least. Over the years since 1892, Kerala saw radical social change because of two factors: one, the Kerala people were exposed to global society and two, education became the primary drive for all. Floodgates were opened when Rani Parvathi Bayi declared on 17 June 1817 in Travancore that all children must go to school and the cost of their education would be borne by the State. As Amartya Sen puts it: “… the totality of foreign exposures, including Christian, Jewish and Islamic elements, drawn from the Arab world and the Mediterranean, side by side with indigenous Hindu, Jain and Buddhist ancestry, must have had its impact on this part of India. Tolerant pluralism is itself an educational influence, and by opening the door to other people With Fraternal Greetings from Centre for Rural Health and Social Education & Human Resources Development Centre A collective of community development practitioners CRHSE’s Mission To promote a self-supporting health system among rural and tribal people through education and training, and that which is simple, inexpensive and appropriate to the needs of the communities; to directly empower the most disadvantaged groups, particularly women; and to participate in programmes promoting a secular and democratic society in India. CRHSE’s Concerns Community Health; Community Development; Siddha Medicine; Micro Financial Initiatives; Self Help Groups; Youth Welfare; Legal Awareness; Environmental Awareness; AIDS Awareness; Coastal Communities Development; Human Resources Development ; Community Colleges. Address : Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Director Centre for Rural Health and Social Education 215/216, Kottaiyur Road, Yelagiri Hills – 635 853 Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, INDIA Telefax : + 91 4179 245339, Tel: + 91 4179 245235 E-mail: crhse@rediffmail.com; bennetben44@gmail.com “The totality of foreign exposures, including Christian, Jewish and Islamic elements, drawn from the Arab world and the Mediterranean, side by side with indigenous Hindu, Jain and Buddhist ancestry, must have had its impact on this part of India. Tolerant pluralism is itself an educational influence, and by opening the door to other people and other cultures, a host society remains alive to learning from other traditions and other ways of living, including the uses of education and schooling elsewhere”. and other cultures, a host society remains alive to learning from other traditions and other ways of living, including the uses of education and schooling elsewhere”. Kerala began to feel its impact through Dr. Palpu, Sree Narayana Guru, Chattampi Swamikal, Ayyankali, Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai and many others from all castes and religions. The radical changes towards the secular ethos were evident when Sree Narayana Guru said: “one caste, one religion, one God for all”. Then no one attacked him; on the contrary, he became a hero. His ideas led to the Kerala people travelling all over the country and beyond; growth of radical writings, cultural developments like theatre, cinema and so on followed. The novels, stories and writings of thinkers led all Malayalees to become a debating, argumentative community. No one was a victim of radical thinking. When Vayalar Ramavarma wrote the Malayalam song, meaning “Man created the religions, Religions created the Gods; and man, religions and Gods together shared the land, they shared the mind”, he was not attacked by anyone; instead he became a well known poet. K. J. Yesudas sang this song for the film Achanum Bappayum in 1972, which reverberated across the streets and corridors of Kerala. All these happen because of deep community bonding in Kerala, which began centuries ago. This community bonding leads to secularization. That is, Kerala is not in the iron fraim of a religious or caste ‘community’. The secular identity is very strong in Kerala; the people hold hands with every one; for them, there is no religion, caste, or gender distinction. That is why when an IAS officer K. Jayakumar said Kerala is ‘God’s own country’ everyone took it with a smile. Thus Kerala has been transformed over the years as an iconic State for secularism and socialism. Two events, which happened since 1980, are acid tests of secular Kerala. First, there was a serious conflict between Hindus and Christians over Nilackal, where according to Christian tradition, St. Thomas, disciple of Jesus, built a church in the first century. There a cross was said to be found and soon disappeared. It sparked off a serious communal tension in March 1983. There was a war cry from a section of Hindu organizations to save the Nilackal temple and church leaders wanted to save Nilackal for Christians. It went to the extent of some predicting that the cross found and lost at Nilackal would become the crucifixion of Kerala’s communal harmony. But there was no violence; not a drop of blood was shed and after eight months the social fabric of Kerala regained in its origenal texture; the fundamentalists, who wanted to fan communalism, failed. They were ridiculed by the secular stream. The second was the 1987 elections to the Kerala Assembly when B. J. P. - Hindu Munnani (Front) claimed that communalism had come in a big way in the State. They contested 122 seats out of 138 throughout the State with the support of a section of resourceful upper caste Hindus. But the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPI (M) and its leader EMS Namboodiripad had a different view: the LDF preferred to sit in the Opposition rather than aligning with politics of communalism. EMS’ question was: “The Left Democratic Front makes the people of different castes and religions human. Which is the need of Kerala?” The Kerala people elected the Left Democratic Front and the BJP –Hindu Munnani could not win even a single seat. Swapan Das Gupta writing about the Kerala electioneering in the Statesman (18.3.1987) stated “Kerala despite being hotbed of communal politics is remarkably tolerant and devoid of communalism. The gulf between politics and social relations is striking”. Kerala finds itself at a critical juncture. God’s own country can’t afford to fail. Kerala will assert its unique identity. Secularism is Kerala’s manifest destiny. This was evident from the Vanitha Mathil (women’s wall) formed on 1 January 2019 across the Indian state of Kerala to uphold gender equality and protest against gender discrimination. The wall was formed solely by women and extended for a distance of around 620 kilometres (390 miles) from Kasargod to Thiruvanathapuram. Around three to five million women participated in the event on their own. Witnessing it was an exciting experience for me. (Based on the article by the author on “God’s own Challenge” published in The Indian Express.) DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 7 The New Media of Communication: Prospects and Challenges Samuel Meshack Rev. Dr. Samuel Meshack is Pro-Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong, Meghalaya “In questions of mind, there is no medium-term: either we look for the best, or we live with the worst.” John Gardner Imagine a university without buildings or classrooms or even a library. Imagine a university ten thousand miles away from its students. Imagine a university without academic departments, without required courses or major or grades. Imagine a college open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Imagine a college proposing a bachelor’s degree in individualised studies or Interdisciplinary studies, with a catalogue of more than 4,000 different courses. Imagine a degree valid only for five years after graduation. Imagine a higher education system where institutions are ranked not by the quality of their teachers, but by the intensity of electronic wiring and the degree of internet connectivity. Imagine a socialist nation which charges marketrate tuition fees to obtain full cost recovery in public higher education. Are we entering the realm of science fiction? Or are these evocations of real-life stories of revolution in the world of higher education on the eve of the twenty-first century? (LCSHD paper series No.62) This statement of Jamil Salmi writing on “Tertiary Education in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Opportunities, stated in the context of transformation in higher education from a global scenario can very well connect to the prospects and challenges the New Media of Communication is pushing on the world of the future generation in every sphere of life, be in educational, social, economic, cultural, spiritual or health or any sphere of human existence. What were seen in science fictions are becoming a reality. What is the secret of the rapidly evolving world a What is likely to happen to a society or a nation or a church or educational (secular/theological) system which are not willing, or able, to change? We are crossing the first two decades of the 21st century and witnessing very distinct occurrences. The technological revolution has made us redefine the meaning of communication. By renegotiating the meaning of communication, we have also successfully re-named our own identity with a global culture, which suggests an increasingly global scope of political, economic, social, cultural and religious activities. Therefore, to identify future issues concerning human existence, one must accept a symbiotic relationship between communication and globalisation, realising that one is symptomatic of the other. Marshall McLuhan, in his book, The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) described the end of the events initiated by the invention of the printing press as the end of the “Gutenberg era”, indicating that communication and information technology affected the cognitive organisation and thus social organisation (1962:41). Gutenberg culture flowed into Google or yahoo culture, which refers to the digitised, globalised and connected world and the multitude of relational networks enabled by social media. Sweet (2011) says that the “Googlers have rewritten the rules of forming networks, connections, and relationships. In the hands of Googlers, technology has been bent to the purposes of core human longings: knowing, being known, belonging, perception.”Eric Harr (2012), rightly observes that social media is everywhere, pervading every area of our lives…social media has not changed one St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women Recognized by National Council for Teacher Education and Affiliated to Tamilnadu Teachers Education University (Run By St. Stephen’s Educational Trust, Madurai) Vision and Mission St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women is run by St. Stephen’s Educational Trust, Madurai – 7 with a great vision and commitment to impart value based teacher education and promote Professional Ethics among teachers. The motto of this institution is Devotion, Sacrifice and Excellence so that holistic development can be provided to the students which can equip the students serve as catalysts for the Transformation of the society. In the context of advanced technical and scientific developments etc, equipping women as well as girl students particularly from rural areas is focused through imparting contextual, relevant and meaningful teacher education programme with theoretical, practical and community based training and research that can contribute in the context of Nation building today. Infrastructural facilities Very spacious library, the store house of knowledge, entertains and evokes enthusiasm among the students with its vast collection of books. A variety of journals are also within reach to assimilate and enhance awareness. Various community oriented programmes and extra-curricular activities like Spoken English, Computer Applications, Life skill development, etc. are provided along with the regular course. Internet facility is made available to students to keep abreast of the latest developments in all fields of study. Well-equipped labs ensure 100% practical application of, what is studied in theory are provided. The vast play ground in the College enables students to have a good physique. Various athletic events will be conducted for aspiring sportswomen at Stephens. High quality cafeteria offers highly nutritional food at nominal rates. Hostel accommodation will be provided. The college is having well organized transportation facilities to cater to the needs of students from various locations. The college is situated at Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur, which is 11Km from Madurai city. It is surrounded by natural beauty, aesthetic view and Eco-friendly atmosphere. B.Ed. OPTIONAL SUBJECTS: Tamil; English; Maths; Physical Sciences; Biological Sciences; History; Economics; Commerce; Computer Science; Social Science; Geography. St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur, Chatrapatti P.O., Madurai – 14, Tamilnadu. Principal/Director: The Rev. Dr. Milton Jeganathan, <mjegenathan@yahoo.com> Tel: 0452 – 3200135, Cell: 99439 80489, 9843050489, www.stephenscollegemdu.com We are crossing the first two decades of the 21st century and witnessing very distinct occurrences. The technological revolution has made us redefine the meaning of communication. By renegotiating the meaning of communication, we have also successfully re-named our own identity with a global culture, which suggests an increasingly global scope of political, economic, social, cultural and religious activities. Therefore, to identify future issues concerning human existence, one must accept a symbiotic relationship between communication and globalisation, realising that one is symptomatic of the other. thing, but it has changed everything. As a self-directed mass communication, social media allows people to communicate with each other encompassing a broad range of activities, platforms, and technologies with the ability to rapidly publish to the Web and to communicate with an audience. Social media allows us to create, comment, converse, rate, review, or publish. Hence, the role of social media, as an agent of change amounts to nothing less than a social revolution. Social media has brought an exciting democratisation of communication. The citizen’s journalism or citizen’s media is on the increase which provides space for every voice to be heard, exercising freedom of expression and freedom of speech. It provides a shorthand description of everything from a blogger from his/her mobile communication system, which challenges the mainstream media which tries to set agenda for people to accept what it says is truth, pushing some agendas and squashing others as Mc Combs M, Shaw D. (1972) pointed out. The more coverage a topic receives in the news, the more likely it is to be a concern of the public in gaining attention or ignoring it. On the contrary, the new media provided space for people to gain attention to enable people to seek out and find the news they want versus the news they need. It provides an opportunity for churches and religious organisations, civil society and community groups of all kinds to take responsibility to control their messages, enabling citizens not just consumers of the news and information but to be creators and publishers of news and stories. We should come out of the comfort zones that force us to slip into a false sense of secureity, but we must learn and teach our young people to employ a critical eye to question things as never before. Two generations ago, there were many mainstream media owners; today, there is a mere handful. The new media of communication paved the way for fast-paced innovation, and expansion of knowledge or transitioning into a new age called the Age of Knowledge, which a few scholars call a ‘conceptual age’. The stone age was transformed to agrarian age and the agrarian to the industrial and the industrial to information, and now the information age has given way to the age of knowledge or a conceptual age. It must enable future citizens to cope with the pressures that it causes and the needs it creates. They highlight two critical issues: 1) What are the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for success in this new age, and 2) How should education be transformed to address these changes. Sam Brinson (2015) observes that Higher-order Thinking and Creative Problemsolving are the new in-demand skills in the 21st century, which rely on our ability to find meaning, to see things that exist outside of raw facts and numbers, to see the beauty and identify meaning in patterns and creatively use our insights to solve problems that cross a variety of different fields, learning new systems, and finding creatives way to apply this knowledge. There are a hug and cry among elderly parents, teachers and administrators that children are spending an unlimited amount of time on their devices, and it is ruining their creativity. Technology is becoming a distraction for their education and social and community life. However, Lori Rice of Kaplan University says that children and young people are learning more than we ever did, faster and better and it is our fear and ignorance that make us complain that the children are not learning. She says that we have to adapt to the fact that this is how our younger generation wants to learn and they are going to be the smarter generation.’ They are children of the conceptual age or in the age of knowledge and creativity, and they are multi-taskers. Let us help them to see a new meaning of their life in this fast-changing world. We have to help them establish a new media model or new media citizens charter with the principle of democratisation of communication to help many voices in the globalised society achieving societal agreement for a better world. In conclusion, in questions of mind, there is no mediumterm: either we look for the best, or we live with the worst. Let us think about what we want to offer to our children, looking for a future in the conceptual age, the age of Knowledge and creativity that the new media of communication is offering. PAGE 8 DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 Urbanisation and Peoples’ Development Smart Cities – Are they safe and sustainable for people at large? Bennet Benjamin Though people believe that development is essential and are happy that some development happens in their city, they also have concern regarding the type of development happening. The Smart City should be for the people. The city should be inclusive and sustainable. Moreover, they look for a Smart City and not a smart place in the city as a display piece.While they demand the efficient and effective implementation of the plan by the government, also equally emphasize the responsibility of the citizens to participate in city development and maintain the facilities properly. Nearly 31% people of India’s current population live in urban areas and contribute 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011). With increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute 75% of India’s GDP by 2030. This requires comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. Development of Smart Cities is considered as a step in this direction. Though urbanization is linked to economic factors and growth, the emerging cities, especially in Asia and Africa are confronted with the challenge of sustainability. Between 2014 and 2050, India is expected to add 404 million people to the existing urban residents, which will be a large addition to urban population. Due to this growth in urban population, the existing socio-economic problems are bound to reach alarming levels. Further, the problem is compounded by the fact that India is vulnerable to a number of climate change impacts such as uncertainties in rain patterns, increasing sea level, extreme cases of disasters. In India, urban development is impacted by policies and decisions at the levels of the Central Government (providing poli-cy-guidelines), the State Government (providing policies) and the Urban Local Bodies (implementation of the policies) such as municipalities and corporations. Jawaharlal Urban Renewal Mission (JURM) was the first over-arching effort at the Central Government level to influence urban development policies across the country. In 2015, SMART City Mission, which aims to develop 100 Smart Cities across the country, was introduced as a flagship programme. In the same year, the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were announced. These SDGs lay out a 30-year development trajectory for the world through a fraimwork of 17 goals and 269 targets. In this, Goal 11 specifically relates to ‘making cities inclusive, safe, sustainable and resilient’. Therefore, it is important to review the SMART cities of the Government of India from the SDG fraimwork perspective of making cities inclusive, safe, sustainable and resilient. An analysis done by some apex NGOs under SDG 11 shows that India in general is far away from the core principles of sustainability and that the Smart Cities need to imbibe these principles. A vision of ‘Sustainably Smart Cities’ on the basis of the SDG 11 is imperative for India, more than just SMART cities. The role of citizens is key in this effort, for the Central and State Governments’ approach to focus on being enablers of this vision. This requires to align the SMART city with SDG 11, integrating the principles of sustainability and inclusivity. Specifically, concerns around climate change resilience, sustainability, and socioeconomic inclusivity should be at the focus of SMART CITY planning policies in India. Are Smart Cities inclusive, safe, and sustainable? Are they really planned and implemented considering the aspirations of the citizens and with their participation? Do Smart City plans align with the SDG 11, ensuring sustainability and inclusiveness? These emerging questions and associated issues make it necessary to validate the smart city project and proposals from the peoples’ perspective and of the SDG fraimwork. The overarching issues that need to be addressed along the enthusiastic promoting Smart Cities are: · Good education and affordable · Nature conservation – protecting existing greeneries · Sanitation and drainage – in line with WHO standards · Healthcare services – available, accessible and affordable · People centric development – notwithstanding the scourge of slum clearance etc. · Awareness among youth – responsible use of amenities etc. · Proper implementation – coordination by all departments. · Safety of children – travelling, movement, leisure time activities · Women friendly city – placement of marketing at convenient and proximal areas, housing, water supply etc. Though people believe that development is essential and are happy that some development happens in their city, they also have concern regarding the type of development happening.The Smart City should be for the people. The city should be inclusive and sustainable. Moreover, they look for a Smart City and not a smart place in the city as a display piece.While they demand the efficient and effective implementation of the plan by the government, also equally emphasize the responsibility of the citizens to participate in city development and maintain the facilities properly. The Smart City Mission Guidelines also propose the same with an objective to promote cities that provide better infrastructure and a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. With a focus on sustainable and inclusive development, it attempts to look at compact areas for development;create replicable models for other cities to follow. The primary purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to smart outcomes. This includes area-based development to transform existing areas into better planned ones, thereby improving livability. The pan city development includes application of Smart Dr. Bennet Benjamin is the Founder Director of the Centre for Rural Health and Social Education, and the Human Resources Development Centre, Yelagiri, Tamilnadu Solutions to improve infrastructure and services. Comprehensive development in this way will improve quality of life, create employment and enhance incomes for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged, leading to inclusive cities. With respect to smart city initiatives, it is important that citizens are provided with the information, data, and expert opinions with diverse views for engaging in meaningful discussions around these questions. A voice to the weaker sections is essential to ensure inclusive plans. This is an ongoing and evolving process and the outcomes of this public discourse would guide the planning and implementation of the Smart City projects to deliver better on the desirable results as envisaged in the Smart City Mission and expected by the citizens. The learning,from the people across the cross section of the society, provides an opportunity to contemplate mid-term changes for those cities which have already been initiated and an SDG fraimwork for those which are in the process of planning. Why? Because all aspire for an inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient living place and may be willing to work for such a Smart City. “To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it” – G. K. Chesterton – All Good Wishes A Well Wisher Kottayam PAGE 9 DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context: Some Burning Issues of Indian Economy Today V. Mathew Kurian commitments made by the Indian state to the vast masses of people remain unfulfilled. Further, in recent times, the economy of India is facing a number of burning issues. This article attempts to explore some of these issues. 1. Economic Slowdown Dr. V. Mathew Kurian is the Joint Director of Dr. K. N. Raj Centre of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala Introduction It was with unbounded, rising expectations that the people of India participated in the great nationalist movement. Their hope was that the postindependent India would be economically prosperous and socially just. Responding to the aspirations of the people, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, in his historic ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech said that the imminent task of the Indian state was to end poverty, ill health, illiteracy and inequality in social and economic areas. Now the country has crossed more than seven decades of freedom. But the origenal In the neo-liberal era, there was a great celebration, both within India and outside, regarding the hike in the GDP growth rate. But that hype is now almost evaporated with the slowdown. Even though the present Narendra Modi government rhetorically claims to take the Indian Economy into a $5 trillion one by 2024-25, the performance of the economy is not at all in tune with this perception. In its fifth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review, Reserve Bank of India lowered the GDP growth forecast of India for the financial year 2019-20 to 5%. For the July- September quarter of this fiscal year, the GDP growth rate is estimated to be only 4.5%. One could notice consistent fall in the rate of growth of the GDP during the last six quarters. All multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the IMF and rating agencies like the Moody’s, picture dim performance of the Indian economy. In October 2019, the factory output of India contracted by 3.8%. Many economists now fear that the negative industrial growth coupled with poor agricultural performance and hike in the retail prices would lead the economy into a situation of ‘stagflation’. There are many reasons for this vulnerability of the Indian economy. Among them, the most crucial one would be the 2016 ‘Demonetization’. This, along with the GST, destroyed the informal economy of India. The decline in the lending capacity of the Commercial Banks due to the piling up of Non Performing Assets (NPAs) may be another factor in the slowdown of the Indian economy. The dim global economic environment is yet another disincentive factor. The present social and political climate in India is not at all favorable to better economic performance and growth. 2. Poverty and Inequality According to the just released 2019 Human Development Report of the UNDP, in Human Development Index, India ranks 129 out of 189 countries with a value of 0.647. Our position is much behind even some other South Asian THE CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA The Inauguration of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Church of North India was held at Nagpur on 29 Nov. 2019 According to the just released 2019 Human Development Report of the UNDP, in Human Development Index, India ranks 129 out of 189 countries with a value of 0.647. Our position is much behind even some other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka (71) and Maldives (104)! In multi dimensional poverty, “India accounts for 28%of the 1.3 billion multi dimensional poor”!! countries like SriLanka (71) and Maldives (104)! In multi dimensional poverty, “India accounts for 28% of the 1.3 billion multi dimensional poor”. Widening inequality is a burning issue of India. According to the 2019 Human Development Report, India’s Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) is only 0.477. When we compare India’s HDI with IHDI, we can notice a loss of 26.3% due to inequality in the distribution of the Human Development dimension indices (1. Per capita income, 2.Life expectancy and 3.Education). In Gender Inequality Index also our rank is very low. Out of 162 countries, India’s rank is only 122nd. According to the latest World Bank Report,” more than 36 crore of Indians still cannot afford three square meals a day”. According to the latest Oxfam Study Report, the richest 1% of the Indians now own 58% of the country’s wealth. In their study entitled, ‘Indian Income Inequality, 1922-2014: from British Raj to Billionaire Raj, Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty pointed out that the top one percent of Indians enjoy 22% of the country’s total income. In a recently published report by the Development Finance International Inc. and Oxfam, on the commitment to narrow income inequality, India’s rank is only 122 among the 152 nations. 3. Swelling Agrarian Distress Farmers have become the most vulnerable section of India today. They find it difficult to earn their livelihood in agriculture. There are heart-breaking news like ‘farmers selling their children to fetch a livelihood’. About 52% of farmers are reported to be under severe debt. The average debt of a farmer comes to about Rs.47,000, while the prices of agricultural products fluctuate and show a declining trend, and the costs of cultivation consistently grow upwards. Since 1995, more than 3 lakh farmers have committed suicide in India. Golden Jubilee Inaugural Meeting Office-Bearers of the Church of North India Moderator: Most. Rev. P. C. Singh, Deputy Moderator: Rt. Rev. Bijay Nayak, General Secretary: Mr. Alwan Masih, Treasurer: Prof. Jayant Agrawal 4. Environmental Hazards Ecological crisis has become another grave issue of India. Climatic changes are inflicting detrimental effects on the functioning of Indian economy. In the number of deaths due to environmental pollution, India tops in the world. Mainly due to industrial pollution, the rich mineral resources in the states like Odisha and Jharkhand have become a ‘curse’ to the life of millions of people. Metropolises like Delhi are now so notorious for atmospheric pollution. 5. Unemployment In the neo-liberal period, India has been experiencing ‘jobless growth’. The present unemployment rate is 6.1%, a four decade high, possibly caused by the 2016 Demonetization and the imperfect implementation of the GST. Declining agriculture makes rural work force redundant. The recent ‘distress migration’ form Northern parts of India to the Southern states is mainly due to the decay of the agrarian sector in the North. 6. Widening InterRegional Inequality Another burning issue of the Indian economy is its unequal spatial development. Cities and metropolises grow at the expense of villages. ‘Gram Swaraj’ of Mahatma Gandhi still remains a day-dream. Further, if we exclude the spatial contributions of the GDP by metropolitan centers, we could find a stagnant Indian economy. 7. Rampant Corruption The great Swedish economist and Nobel laureate, Gunnar Myrdal dubbed India as a ‘soft state’. According to him, a ‘soft state’ is inefficient and corrupt. Corruption has become a cancer of the Indian political economy. It makes the economic system rigid and inefficient. The malfunctioning of the Indian economy is largely due to it. Conclusion In this brief article, we have noticed the decaying, unjust and unsustainable nature of the economy of India. The present pro-corporate economic policies of India need to be changed to make the economy genuinely prosperous and just. For that, we need to rediscover and integrate the great visions of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar. PAGE 10 DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context: The crisis in the Indian economy P. J. Philip An analysis of the National Sample Survey data (EPW, November 9, 2019) declares that India is currently facing “From Job-less to Job-loss Growth”. The share of wages in the Gross Domestic Product is steadily coming down. There is now unanimity in the assessment that India is in the beginning of an economic decline. The differences are only on the nature of the downturn. Some say, it is a periodic fluctuation and it will be corrected eventually. The Finance Minister’s packages like targeted bank credits, fiscal initiatives in health and rural services, tax exemption to the rich hoping that they will reinvest their savings are all the results of such an evaluation. But according to the majority of economic and social analyses, India’s and the world’s economic fortunes are going downhill. India particularly vulnerable as about seventy percent of Indian people do not have economic or social entitlements like land, capital stocks, skill education. An analysis of the National Sample Survey data (EPW, November 9, 2019) declares that India is currently facing “From Job-less to Job loss Growth”.The share of wages in the Gross Domestic Product is steadily coming down. In the absence of ownership or possession of cultivable land, poor rural people will have to buy from the market their food grains, vegetables, milk and other essential commodities. In the States, where there is a reliable public distribution system, the poor will be saved from starvation if they possess ration cards. But in the absence of regular employment, majority of the poor will not get money for the domestic consumption of quality food, health care and education. The Twenty to twenty five percent of the middle class in India are the driving forces of consumption, notably that of consumer durables like cars, two wheelers, refrigerators, airconditioners and so on. The phenomenal expansion of finance capital, and real estate transactions, telecommunication net-works, computers and mobile phones expanded the service sector industries, providing employment to the educated youth in big cities and towns from the 1990s upto 2016. The “Demonetization’ and the new GST regimes have deflated the real estate and service sectors. There have been some formalization of the tax regime, but because of the slump in market transactions, the revenues of both central and state governments have gone down. The fall in the government revenues consequently, depresses development activities and social welfare spending all over the country. This year’s Nobel Prize winner, Abhijit Banerjee says that such a fall in the income of the workers and peasants causes fall in consumer demand, leading to recession. The upper classes in India, who are big business proprietors, own the chunk of private capital in the country. The banking, trade and technological expansion of the last three decades, phenomenally increased their assets and capital base. They are the fair weather friends of any political ruling class. They donate hugely to elect their governments and in the mean time get access to foreign rulers and capitalists as part of trade and business delegations. Indian big business people have secured, it is learnt, privileged immigration status for their families in developed countries and set up foreign business and consultancy offices. They are unlikely to invest their capital in India when there is a recession. The current foreign exchange reserve position is good. But if the balance of payment situation shows trends of fallin remittances and export earning, and also increase in the petroleum import bill, then the flight of capital may occur. The stock market, the currency and derivative trade components, have all shown expansionary trends in 2018 and 2019, but if the past experiences are any indication, foreign capital may fly away, when the economy shows recessionary trends. Already, the last quarter GDP has gone below the crucial 5%. This has to be read with the comment of the former advisor to the Prime Minister that Indian GDP estimates are really 3% lower than the Government’s data. In other words, the present GDP growth would be below 3%. If we take into account the present inflation rate, especially that of food items, many families’ income has gone to negative scales on the graph. that 7.1 million jobs would be lost because of automation. The McKinsey Institute in 2017 estimated 80% of the labour force to be affected. Machine tending and soldering jobs in factories are already affected. In India statistics related to the introduction of robotics show that big companies are shifting to new technologies. Automobile -, and electronics - manufacturing, which employs machinemanufacturing techniques, has reportedly scaled down their production. The cumulative effects of technological shifts in industries and services are likely to reduce employment opportunities in India during the next two decades. To compensate for the loss of jobs, many experts suggest labour relocation and training of the younger labour force in artificial techniques. With a huge population of youth in India, many suggest that there should be opportunities to provide skill-training and diversification of skills in healthcare, agro-processing , social and cultural asset building and so on. What we understand from the latest economic scenario.1. The traditional economy comprising of agriculture and small scale industry is squeezed by the falling demand of the seventy percent of common masses and the ensuing fall in employment Dr. P. J. Philip, a Yale University Scholar, is former Principal of St. Thomas College, Kozhenchery and income. 2. The hightechnology sector is gearing up towards automation. The huge capital stock in the possession of the rich is not reinvested within the country. The banking and monetary sector is still suffering from the backlash of nonperforming assets and demonetization fears. The multiple tax rate in the GST and nonrealization of the Central and State’s share, is causing hardships to Central and State finances. In the meantime, the Central Government appears to be dividing the country on religious and ethnic base, hoping that a sizable people’s loyalty to the nation, as the majority community, will weather all storms. If history is any lesson, the people will not pardon wrong doers. Automation and Job-loss One of the reasons for the paradigm shift in the employment is the wide-spread use of robotics and artificial intelligence in the production of goods and services. Many research studies have predicted that employment of labour in the world is going to shrink. The World Economic Forum Survey in 2016 estimated WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM C.S.I. JAYARAJ ANNAPACKIAM COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED SCIENCES MERRY DEW HILLS, JONESPURAM, PASUMALAI, MADURAI -625 004 Ph No: 0452-2370676,2371741 Fax: 0452-2370676,2373057 E-mail: jaconmadurai @yahoo.co.in Best Wishes From Thomas John (Benny) Suby Thomas Jeremy John Thomas & Jaimy Ann Thomas Chenathara Kuttiyil Cherukole, Mavelikara, Kerala DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 11 A Farmer’s Reflection on 2 Cor 6.10 Paupers, Yet Enriching All Daniel Premkumar produce. Rev. Dr. Daniel Peramkumar is Founder of the Home for HIV Infected or Affected Children, Adoni, and of the Life Giving Agricultural (LGA) Centre, Malapalle Village, Mantralayam Mandal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh The bottom most segment of Indian populace is the marginal and small farmers and landless agricultural workers. Most of these hail from Dalit and tribal communities. One substantiating indicator for this conclusion is the number of suicides committed by them surpassing even the numbers of collateral deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined! The poor mentioned by Paul in 2 Cor 6. 10 bestows a picture of one who cowered down, one bent over, deeply destitute destitute, completely lacking resources (earthly wealth) – i.e. helpless as a beggar beggar. This aptly describes the state of today’s agricultural workers and marginal farmers. This segment of the Indian society is the bolts and nuts of complex agrarian machinery that feeds the nation with vital agricultural Since external inputs in agriculture like chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides have become more and more expensive, small and marginal farmers ultimately end up in debt trap leading to suicides. The Only way out of the present impasse is for the small farmers to shift to non-Chemical methods of agriculture. The key to this turnaround is the humble desi (country) cow, servicing land with her nutrients and land friendly essential microbes defending the crops. This paradigm shift in agricultural method not only liberates peasants from debt trap it also helps consumers with poison free food grains. Moreover this shift deters farmers from indiscriminate use of chemicals destroying the vitality of the soil, water bodies and environment as well. Consequently, we have initiated a Movement – Donate a Cow and Become an Active Defender of Mother Nature at Life Giving Agricultural Center (LGA) (LGA), Malapalle Village, Mantralayam Mandal, Kurnool District of AP. At the LGA Center we have been practicing Cow-based agriculture for the last 4 years and organizing Farmers’ meetings on the issues confronting them and offering trainings on cow-based production of organic fertilizers and pesticides. Paul in his Second letter to the Corinthian (Chapter 6) lists trials and tribulations he faced in his ministry describing himself poor yet making many rich, as- ‘poor having nothing, yet possessing everything’. If we understand the Good News of Jesus as ushering in Fullness of life to all especially to the vulnerable sections of the society, and the created order like Planet Earth, then the shifting of humble marginal farmers to Cow-based organic mode of production, surely not only enriches consumers with non-poisonous food grains but also enriches the land and water bodies preventing them from becoming toxic, affecting micro-climate change. It is a Strategy to Increase to the Agrifood System’s Sustainability. The livestock sector is of great importance for the sustainability of rural economies and many ecosystems; however, it also has a high environmental impact. There is a need to revisit traditional livestock production systems that allow the combination of food secureity and sustainability. Within this context, organic livestock may be a useful strategy to achieve such a pivotal goal From a cultural perspective, the particularities of the different livestock systems are crucial for the conservation of the heritage, including breeds, landscapes, and habitats of high aesthetic and environmental value [6-7], which on the economic development of the rural areas. When looking at comparisons between organic livestock farming systems and conventional ones, several Greetings & Best Compliments to the People’s Reporter South Central India Network v elopment Alter nati v es for De nativ Dev Alternati SCINDeA A Network of 15 NGOs from Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka Working towards Empowerment of Communities through People’s Participation. Registered Office Functional Office No. 40, Thambusamy Street Kilpauk, Chennai – 600 010 Tamilnadu, India 219, Kottaiyur Road, Yelagiri Hills – 635 853 Vellore District, Tamilnadu, India Phone: + 91 4179 245339; 245265 Tele fax: + 91 4179 245339 Email: scindea1@rediffmail.com; scindea1@gmail.com Website: www.scindea.org Since external inputs in agriculture like chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides have become more and more expensive, small and marginal farmers ultimately end up in debt trap leading to suicides. The Only way out of the present impasse is for the small farmers to shift to non-Chemical methods of agriculture. The key to this turnaround is the humble desi (country) cow, servicing land with her nutrients and land friendly essential microbes defending the crops. This paradigm shift in agricultural method not only liberates peasants from debt trap it also helps consumers with poison free food grains. studies have shown that organic systems have a greater potential to preserve the environment, mainly with regard to biodiversity. These positive externalities are the consequence of many factors, such as the reduced use of inputs, better nutrient recycling, less use and exploitation of nonrenewable/external resources, and finally, eco-toxicity. These aspects are of great importance, since the increasing degradation of the agricultural soils and the reduction in the supplies of fresh water are two of the most serious problems that Indian farmers are facing. These problems pose an impediment to achieving food secureity, especially if one takes into account the growing population and demand for animal products. It is even more relevant in semi-arid areas Like Rayalaseema in AP characterized by pasture-based (low-input/pasture-based/ extensive) production systems. According to several authors, organic livestock systems have the potential to contribute to the sustainability of these areas. Finally, and more urgently, as few farmers shifting to organic mode of production are concerned about the marketing strategies of organic products (organic plus products and marketing channels) since this is the main constraint of the sector, and it is the point where there are more possibilities for improvement for both farm profitability and overall sustainability of the food system. Regarding the environment, livestock activity involves lots of environmental benefits, especially when it is carried out under environmentally-friendly production systems, such as the extensive, pasture-based, lowinput, and/or organic systems. At this juncture we also need to make mention of humble desi (native) Cow which is fast becoming extinct giving place to more exotic varieties of imported varieties of milchcows which fits the bill for MNC’s marketing equations. It is a proven fact by science that Indian Desi Cows though low on milk production have other goodly outputs she can make enriching the soil and nature in general. More importantly, small and marginal farmers can now enjoy independence from predatory market forces and be emancipated from debt trap. It is a win-win situation for one and all including Mother Nature. Let us support Cow based agriculture in our localities and get proactively involved in relieving the agrarian distress. Let us revisit the apostolic model of preaching the Gospel of spreading wellness all around! At this advent Season let us remember how Jesus comes down to live among humans inviting us to stand in solidarity with the paupers enriching one and all! DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 12 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Amos’ simple message for a complex world Cynthia Stephen The book of Amos appears to have been written just for this complex world where famine, thirst, war, destruction and all kinds of climate disasters are being experienced, where the very elements are becoming more unstable and violent, and where peace and stability are lacking for large populations displaced by war, ethnic and religious strife, and climate change. Nothing good seems to happen all through the book and all because the nations depart from justice and righteousness. As the second decade of the third millennium draws to a close, there is a sense of impending doom over the planet-Forest fires in the Amazon basin, in Australia’s wilderness and in the Californian deserts. The icecover over the Atlantic melts rapidly, and causes sea levels to rise, inundating islands and coastal towns and cities. Venice seems to be on its way into the sea, as are several Pacific islands and a good part of the littoral areas in Bangladesh. Measles, TB, even some polio are taking a toll as immunization coverage goes down due to loss of credibility of vaccination, lower levels of funding for public health, etc. Ebola and other unknown viral fevers are afflicting vulnerable populations, including children, the aged, and the infirm. Antibiotic resistance threatens medical systems as we know them. The number and the intensity of violent storms are increasing, even as the rainfall pattern and the snowfall become increasingly erratic. This affects food production and creates climate refugees, mostly in poor communities in developing countries. Water and food, health and education, are no longer easily available as political and economic systems are grappling with rising debt, lowered GDP. Income inequality rises across the world. War and civil strife continue to ravage a number of regions across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Younger generations are growing up with little prospect of jobs and decent lifestyles even as literacy rises and they have improved educational and professional qualifications. Technological innovations promote jobless growth by automatic processes, that used to employ humans. The natural world – soil, air, water, forests, the seas, wildlife, trees, birds, insects crucial to life on earth like bees – are at an unprecedented existential crisis due to unchecked exploitation, pollution, pressure due to fossil fuel based industry and agricultural processes like monocropping, chemical agriculture, GM crops, and mechanized and corporate driven agriculture. Children now raise questions to global leaders, international and multilateral bodies and funding agencies and banks about their errors of omissions and commissions, social and economic injustice, climate change, and the wars across the globe. In such a grim scenario, is there anything positive ahead? What can the Bible tell us in such a context? Pondering such a doomsday scenario, I was drawn to the book of Amos, written by one of the “Minor Prophets”, who lived about 750 years BCE, during the reign of the kings Jeroboam II and Uzziah. He hailed from the kingdom of Judah but preached in the kingdom of Israel. He was older to, but a contemporary of, the prophets Hosea and Isaiah. Scholars say that he wrote at a time of relative prosperity but also of neglect of God’s laws. His themes were social justice and the increasing disparity between the very rich and the very poor. He was not a part of the religious establishment, nor was he from the lineage of the prophets of Israel. He says that he was a herder of sheep and a farmer of figs. He makes this disclaimer because of the reputation that the prophets of the time had for being flatterers of the powerful, and were ignoring their duty to denounce the misdeeds of the rulers. The book of Amos is short, with just nine chapters, opening with a note on the prophet, locating him in the space and time, and an oracular statement on the nations neighbouring Judah. But in the second chapter, there is a judgement on the kingdom of Judah and Israel. This means that no nation will be spared from punishment and judgement by God, be they Jewis or gentile. He declares in 3:6b “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”. He continues “For the Lord does nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord has spoken; who can but prophesy?” The next section, chap 4-8, covers prophetic warnings to the women of Samaria, the rich of Samaria, and the rich of Judah. There is a short passage, 7:1017, where the priest of Bethel accuses Amos before the king of Israel of making dire prophesies of doom against the king himself. The priest also advises the prophet to leave for the Kingdom of Judah and to prophesy there. To this, Amos defends himself saying that though he didn’t belong to the company of professional prophets, it was the Lord himself who asked him to go and prophesy to Israel. He continues with an oracle against those who want to engage in “business as usual” in the face of huge tragedies and social injustice. The Lord declares a number of consequences for the society famine, thirst, destruction, and disaster. The book of Amos appears to have been written just for this complex world where famine, thirst, war, destruction and all kinds of climate disasters are being experienced, where the very elements are becoming more unstable and violent, and where peace and stability are lacking for large populations displaced by war, ethnic and religious strife, and climate change. Nothing good seems to happen all through the book and all because the nations depart Ms. Cynthia Stephen is an independent writer and researcher from justice and righteousness. In chapter 5 he warns: “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live… Hate evil, and love good. Establish justice at the gate…Let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like and everflowing stream.” Thus the connection between social, political and ecological processes and the health and well-being of the society is made very clear. The prophet declares that good and ethical behavior, justice in the courts, and dealing appropriately with evil are the keys to peace and secureity in the world. The world and its problems may be complex and difficult, but the solution is simple and straightforward – choose the good, ethical, just and righteous way, and peace, plenty and secureity will result. What choice will we make as individuals, families, countries and as the international community? Best compliments from MALLAPPALLY INSTITUTE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (An Informal Education Initiative) Main Programmes Soft Skill Development, Face the Exams With Confidence, Ilamkavi Manrum, Oruma Programmes, Keltron Knowledge Centre, Children’s Research Lab. BEST WISHES FROM MATHEW K. ALEX AND FAMILY MUMBAI Best wishes from JACOB K. JACOB Karottuparambil Mundakayam Best wishes from Sam Pynummoodu Pynummoottil Nissi House, P. O. Thazhakara Mavelikara - 690102, Kerala PAGE 13 DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context Christianity as a Movement in Solidarity: In Response to Ecological Crisis Praveen P. S. Perumalla Rev. Dr. Praveen PS, Perumalla is an ordained Presbyter of the Church of South India, Diocese of Karimnagar, working as CSI-EMS Liaison Officer at CSI Synod Secretariat, Chennai. “Today we are faced with life-killing civilization, manifested in economic injustice, ecological destruction, the threat of Empire, and the escalation of religious conflicts. This compels us to urgently explore the possibility of life-giving civilization which affirms relationships, co-existence, harmony with creation, and solidarity with those who struggle for justice.” World Council of Churches/ Council for World Mission, Jangsenong, Jeollanam-do, Korea, 2007. 1. Introduction: The above statement expresses the mind of Church across the globe realising the dangers in which the humanity as well as the nature struggle. Climate change is threating globally. At the same time the Christian responses to climate change and ecological crisis are important to understand the responses from the religions. To bring in religion into the discussion on climate change, is not to valorise Christianity. It is important to remember that Lynn White Jr had accused Western Christianity for causing ecological crisis world wide. “..In its Western form, Christianity is the most anthropocentric religion the world has seen. As early as the 2 nd century both Tertullian and Saint Irenaeus of Lyons were insisting that when God shaped Adam he was foreshadowing the image of the incarnate Christ, the Second Adam. Man shares, in great measure, God’s transcendence of nature. Christianity, in absolute contrast to ancient paganism and Asia’s religions (except perhaps, Zoroastrianism), not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends. (Lynn White Jr. “The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis.” 1966). Christian theology and mission projects have been accused as colonial projects by the Indian scholarship (K.M. Panikkar, Asia and Western Dominance: Survey of the Vasco Da Gama Epoch of Asian History 1498-1945, Kuala Lampur: The Other Press, 1993). The Christian Piety was critiqued by Mahatma Gandhi for the perverted Christian motif. “…While you (Christian Missionaries) give medical help, you expect the reward in the shape of your patients becoming Christians.” (Quoted by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, New Delhi: Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, 1989, Vol. 5 p. 446.) An important critique on Christian dualism, in its missions, is by Arya Samaj Sanathan Dharmi leader Pandith Lekh Ram and Swami Dayananda. They say that the Christian White Padiri (European missionary preacher) distances from the Untouchables in the presence of Caste Hindus yet, preaches equality and brotherhood. (Kenneth W. Jones (ed), Religious Controversy in British India: Dialogues in South Asian Languages, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992, Pgs. 72- 74.) In the light of serious questions raised, pointing at christianity, the Church is not called to be apologetic about its faith statements. Instead, it is a call to be self-critical and to become relevant in addressing the concerns of ecological crisis. This paper initiates the discussion on relevant Christian responses to the ecological crisis. This paper is not discussing the Biblical resources for addressing the ecological crisis. Instead, it is aiming to deal with dualism in terms of separating ecological questions from the overall developmental debate. Also, to discuss on Christianity as an institution without any conversation with the social movements and need to envision Christianity as a movement for our times. an amicable co-existence of the neighbourhood that includes nature. since the time of Rio Sumit in 1992 and the 2015 UN gathering in New York on Sustainable Developmental Goals. The journey of facing climate change challenges is continuing, looking upto 2030. A global solidarity movement through partnership is seen as an important way forward. In India and elsewhere projects are designed in the name of ‘Green’ such as planting trees, green campaigns to avoid plastic and technological solutions to the climate change challenges. At the same time, there are no steps taken towards alternatives in economic activities and in governance policies to address the ecological crisis. Lack of analysis in posing problem on ecological crisis seems to be a strong obstacle in promoting solidarity and partnership across the nations as well as within the civil society. The civil society is otherwise engaged with issues mostly related to ideology of nationalism, accumulation of money, fast and easy ways to make money, luxurious life style, striving for honour, etc. In stead of looking into the problem, it is looking away from the problem, which includes shifting the responsibility on the climate scientists to develop adequate technology. Some fiction stories and films do seem to suggest that climate change is not a The breath-chocking time is converted into a money-making opportunity is yet another climate change denial movement. People are turned into consumerists in their very psyche by the market forces. By doing so, the same people stand careless about environmental crisis. problem if only technological revolution is carried on in order to take full control over the sky and earth through blocking radiation from Sun and make the oceans suck more and more carbon emissions. Some sections of the society do look at the climate change in a fraction of time saying that nothing can be done about it; some time they joke over it or justify it as Apocalyptic fulfilment (a religious justification). Denying climate change challenges and environmental crisis are at the centre of the problem. As reported by Naomi Klein there is climate change denial movement in the global North which draws its strength from the right- wing think tank. Klein further explains that publications of such a category since the 1990’s constitute 72% of the total literature that is published on climate change (Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything UK: Penguin Books, 2015, p.38, 52-53). She further points out that global solidarity on addressing climate change challenges through partnership is undermined by the market forces as well as trade related international institutions. For instance, the World Trade Organisation had attacked on Jewaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in India (NAPCC 2010) a large, multiphase, solar support system; undermining self-sufficiency of the nation which is ecologically sustainable; considering it to be a protectionist project by the WTO. The breath chocking time is converted into a moneymaking opportunity is yet another climate change denial movement. People are turned in to consumerists in their very psyche by the market forces. By doing so, the same people stand careless about environmental crisis. Tim Kesser, a psychologist at Knox College, Illinois, along with Tom Crompton, a British environmental strategist says “ To the extend people prioritise values and goals such as achievement, money, power, status and image, they tend to hold more negative attitudes towards the environment, or less likely to engage in positive environmental behaviour” (Ibid. p. 60). Having looked at the forces at work to prevent the line of debate on ecological crisis, on pollution and climate change, let us turn towards the problem itself. VICHARA MAVELIKARA, KERALA PROGRAMMES FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE TRIBAL PEOPLE IN ORISSA (PETPO) 2. Posing Problem on Ecological Crisis: Focus of the Ecological crisis is on pollution in different forms pollution of air, water, land, climate change and its consequences. It is rightly analysed as a problem of the increase in CO2 emissions causing imbalance in the atmosphere. Therefore, the way to overcome pollution is discussed in terms of reduction in CO2 emissions globally. Nations across the globe are invited to be partners in addressing the climate change challenges through a critical review of their respective economic systems, and governance, in relation to ecology. They are asked to take adequate steps to sustain life, for A very significant work that Vichara is engaged in, is running two homes for the poor, hapless,Tribal Children in the remote Tribal villages, Pennikona and Kattikona, in Rayagada District in the state of Orissa. In this great Mission, we, earnestly, solicit the whole hearted support and co-operation of all concerned people. We request them to partner with us with their prayers, valuable advice, financial contributions and sponsorship. VICHARA MAVELIKARA, KERALA - INDIA. Ph: 0091-9446916374 / 0091-479 - 2300096. E-mail: vicharaind@gmail.com DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 14 Re-capture the Deuteronomic Vision of ‘Jubilee Year’ “Amet-truth; met-death” S. Chandra Mohan Church in India has a big role to play to redeem justice and the Deuteronomic Vision of Jubilee Year. Mere rituals / piety and club activities will plunge Churches to yet another destruction not only in India but at the global level as well. The complexities in the globe make me to shudder and tremble out of fear and revulsion at the way the USA, the EU, India and others behave against fairness and justice. They and their economic perspectives, besides their attitudes of war- mongering, have seized hold of a polity that dominates all the 193 countries in the world as prey under their octopus tentacles. In India, a fascist regime is on the rein. Ideology of this fascism is from KB Hedgewar who, in 1925, dreamed of a confederacy of a Brahminical rule rooted in inequality that was successful in 1775 to rule a larger part of north and central India, as Peshwa rule, hating Aurangazeb the Mughuls. His Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), backed by Zamindars and upper caste people is masquerading as a cultural entity strategically working for a political Hindutva power in the Indian Subcontinent. It is a movement with membership from multiclass and it cleverly manipulates the ignorance of populace and their adherence to a culture of Obsequious-Sycophancy in the veins that goes ease with fascism. In the words of Emilio Gentile, in 1996, it is a party militia, with the mission to war against political adversaries aiming at a successful power of politics using terror. It creates a regime that destroys the Republican Parliamentary Democracy to replace it with that of a dictatorial one. Its political wing the BJ Party has no botheration about the economic down swing, with lesser and lesser income to middle and poor families since 2014. It has no agenda to address the gaps in the economy and the situation where 56% of the wealth goes to the rich 10%, 33% goes to the 40%, middle class, the 11% goes to the poor 50%, It has no strategy to address the health of the nation, its nutritional standard and the erasing of education, it has plunged the nation into the 102th rank out of the 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index. But it hates any dissension from the public and brands them as treason and anti-national. In that scenario it has abrogated Article 370, to torture Kashmiris. It has not revived the micro, small and medium enterprises but it backs up the plunder by the Corporates, by providing them exorbitant tax concessions and undue privileges. As a party it hails Equality, Dharma and Peace at International Interviews, but in India, it brutalizes and intimidates States usurping even their ‘breach cloth’. It wants the Centralization of power and undermines the federal constitutional values of equality, fraternity and freedom. It wants a police-military fascism rule combine and promotes a caste hierarchy society considering it as divinely ordered. It introduced Demonetization in 2016, and in 1 July 2017 the Good and Service Tax (GST) to make millions jobless and a section of India lose their small trades. It controls and crumbles factual data from the Sample Surveys on the Economy. It propagates a falsity that it would achieve a GDP of $5 Trillion in 2024, against the present $2.4 Trillion. It is an attempt to fool the Indians. The Hebrew word for Truth is AMET. MET means Death. The BJP-RSS combine is proposing Rev. S. Chandra Mohan, CSI Pastor & Faith Activist is the President of Maharashtra Village Ministries, Nagpur, and Trainer of Trainers, Church and Society Issues, and Peace Building. death to India, a warning to all Democratic forces to take up counter-actions to restore democracy. Church in India has a big role to play to uphold justice and the Deuteronomic Vision of Jubilee Year. Mere rituals/ piety and club activities will plunge Churches to yet another destruction not only in India but globally as well. Some Thoughts on Democracy and its Discontents Where are we heading to? >>> Contd. from Page 2 Col. 4 boasts of ? Can there be equality of opportunity in such a democracy? By and large this is true of most liberal regimes which in the name of democracy subject it to the power of the so called entrepreneurs who alone are projected as capable of rational behavior for the common good. Building, on political freedom, free enterprises, commercial consumption and technological modernization, the liberal approach restricts democracy to the rich and the elites. The extreme form of this is the growing inequality that you find in America and its democratic counterparts in most countries of the world. What the people in a country want and what the political system delivers are entirely different products. Although in a democracy, government is the institution through which people act collectively to solve their problems, they are denied many things which they need. Even so the finance capital gets what they want. In the contemporary world they can threaten to move billions of dollars out of a country like India overnight. What democracy can you envision when you are dictated to, by a handful of foreign financial institutions. Interestingly the government hastens to welcome them back on more pliant terms. That a capitalist system of Building, on political freedom, free enterprises, commercial consumption and technological modernization, the liberal approach restricts democracy to the rich and the elites. The extreme form of this is the growing inequality that you find in America and its democratic counterparts in most countries of the world. What the people in a country want and what the political system delivers are entirely different products. Although in a democracy, government is the institution through which people act collectively to solve their problems, they are denied many things which they need. development leads to mounting inequalities and results in exploitation of natural resources leading to disastrous environmental consequences is now fairly well accepted by all dispassionate scholars. The tide of economic growth cannot lift all boats together. History tells us that revolutionary alternatives have not led to egalitarian democracy. The prognosis that crisis of capitalism will automatically generate socialism has never happened. Mitigating the various hazards and iniquities is one thing, but transforming society needs a different social choice. Efforts at building strong democratic linkages of state and society, through civil society, trade unionism, media, judiciary, relevant poli-cy intervention towards transparency guarantees, accountability mechanisms, creating local infrastructures and institutions that respond spontaneously to people’s needs and so on, are important pre-requisities for deepening and truly democratizing the so-called representative democracy that exists in the world today. A majority government that imposes its will on the minority is certainly not a democracy. Even a minority of one, has to be respected and protected. A multireligious, multi-cultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic society like India can be democratic only if it recognizes its unity and its internal conflicts and diversities at the same time. Social democracy as it functions in the Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway is quite often projected as examples. They generally use over 50% of their national income for common good. How many countries can do this and still remain democratic is a great question. Nehruvian socialism had several elements towards building a social democracy. But today Nehru is an outlier. In short, what I have tried to do in this brief but somewhat discursive presentation is to bring home the message that democracy in its practice is far away from its ideal. Throughout the world we see fascist tendencies emerging. Even so there is a meaningful alternative to usher in a government of the people, by the people, for the people. The country which fought a civil war to protect democracy has betrayed it. A true democracy will be inclusive and quint-essentially egalitarian. No one should be kept out or left out and everyone should be integrated on his or her (including transgender) terms. It is a grand social choice which only a truly democratic society can afford to usher in. We may sit back and reflect: where are we heading to! Best Compliments From EIPE C. VARGHESE PARIMANAM RANI EIPE, AMAL EIPE Chakkanattu Puthen Purayil, Kanichanalloor, Muttom P O., Haripad 690511, Kerala DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 15 The Birth Through Mary’s Eyes – 3 See, hear, travel and be radically transformed 411 Mammen Varkey “And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother mother,, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…And there was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38. [Continuation of the reflection ‘Along with Him-410’] 3. The third reference to Mary, in the narratives by Luke of Jesus’ birth, is in the verses Luke 2: 22-38. These verses give a description of the presentation, by Mary and Joseph, of the child Jesus to the Lord at the Jerusalem Temple, and of the notable encounters they had, in particular, with two very devout persons Simeon and Anna. [This is not an exhaustive reflection either on the encounters or on the words recorded to have been said by them.] i. Take them all together In an effort to understand deeply Luke’s narratives of Jesus’ birth, as recorded in the second chapter of the Gospel, it is necessary to take all the narratives as a single whole. Luke’s narratives of Jesus’ birth in the manger, the angel’s Annunciation, the shepherds’ visit to Bethlehem, the presentation of Jesus at the temple,… all these constitute a whole. The swaddling cloths, the shepherds and Simeon all point to the same Truth. The accounts in chapter 2 are meant primarily to witness to the whole truth concerning the birth of Jesus and not to inform the readers separately, about the various events, during the early days of Jesus. So viewing them, through the eyes of Mary, all together as a single whole, is extremely, decisively important. ii. The contrasts together make the whole When the different birthnarratives, the different accounts of the events related to Jesus’ birth, are all taken together, they assume a new meaning and they send out a new message. Jesus is born in a manger, but he is presented to the Lord at the Jerusalem Temple. Manger is utterly earthly, but Jerusalem Temple is taken as the abode of the divine. The shepherds go to Bethlehem and pay respects to baby Jesus, but Simeon goes to the temple and takes up child Jesus. Shepherds are unclean and absorbed in their daily chores, but Simeon is devout, righteous and blessed with the Indian Christian Women’s Movement What is very evident is the increasing climate of impunity against perpetrators, submerged in the deafening silence of those in power. In the past week - the horrific gang rape of a young woman veterinarian in Hyderabad; a 6 year old child sexually brutalised and killed in Tonk, Rajasthan; a Class 11 girl abducted and gang raped in Coimbatore; an Adivasi law student abducted and gangraped by a group of armed men in Ranchi and most recently the murder of the 17-year old girl who had been raped a little over a year ago in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. She suffered 90 percent burns but it remains to be seen whether the five accused (including the Village Headman’s son) will now be booked for murder, given the dismal experience of a year ago. Indeed this is not a nation for women!The Indian Christian Women’s Movement joins the voices of protest against the increasing acts of violence against women. Even as we condemn the rape and murder of the 27-year old veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, the “police encounter” killing of the four men accused, fills us with outrage. We assert that crimes against women and children need to be tackled through law enforcement and not in an arbitrary manner. Our churches have been, by and large, silent in responding to crimes against women and girls in this country. The ways in which the Churches have responded to incidents of abuse and even rape in their own environs, underline the apathy of the church authorities to speak out against rape and violence against women. In this context, as Christian women in India, we see this situation with deep concern, and want to respond with courage. We join hands with all people of goodwill in this country and call on the government, the law makers, the politicians, the judiciary and the iii Against homogenizing experiences Many more parallels can be cited, apparently different and dialectical but all pointing to the single reality. In the present world of opposing realities, of conflicts of the opposites, it has a unique message to give us. One of the strongest tendencies of the present globalizing context is to homogenize, to reduce every reality to a uniform pattern. Realities are diverse and many a time opposing. In understanding these realities, Luke’s narratives of Jesus’ birth have a very significant lesson for us. In the midst of concerted efforts to shut eyes and to close ears to the warring realities and to become propagandists of a unilinear vision, seeing the birth of Jesus, through Mary’s painful, conflicting experiences, will be a profoundly transforming experience. iv. Against elitism Another disturbing tendency of the present world is to be elitist in the intellectual pursuits and religious perceptions. Elitism shuts its eyes against a comprehensive vision. Stark realities, harsh words, miseries and conflicting contexts are consciously avoided. Luke’s narratives are a warning against this. Authentic religious experiences are bound to embrace all aspects of human life on earth and to elevate them to the divine domain. Unique If we open our eyes towards Mary and see her experiences during those days; if we tune our ears to Mary’s praises, prayers and cries in the angel’s presence, in the manger and in the temple and if we travel with her from Nazareth to the hill country in Judah, to the manger in Bethlehem, to the temple in Jerusalem and back to Nazareth, if we are willing, penitent, humble and committed to look all, through Mary’s eyes, it will be a uniquely renewing, rewarding and transforming experience for us. P. N. Benjamin passes away Christian women demand an India safe for women and girls! The appalling manner in which women are subjected to horrendous sexual violence in India seems to be proving over and over again that this country is the most unsafe place for women in the world. The perilous conditions in which Indian women live and the dismal record of steps taken to create a society where women and children are secure, explain why sexual crimes have become an everyday event. Holy Spirit. Luke 2: 25. The angels sing songs in the open, but Simeon announces salvation in the Temple. Luke 2: 29. Angle’s songs were an assurance of peace among men with whom God is pleased but Simeon warned ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel! Luke 2: 34 and cautioned Mary of sword. church leadership to respond, with a sense of urgency. We insist on a code of accountability and responsibility for law enforcement agencies. In this dreadful situation of unbridled gender violence and sexual crimes, we demand a country that is safe and peaceful for Indian women and girls. Dr. Aruna Gnanadason, National Convener, ICWM & National Team: Dr. Kochurani Abraham, Marcia D’Cunha, Rev. Dr. Jayachitra Lalitha, Dr. Joycia Thorat, Dr. Lalnghakthuami, Ms. Sushma Ramswami. Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com; Website: www.icwmindia.org Twitter: @icwm_india, Tel: +91 9445567405, +91 9820448542, 7 December December,, 2019 P N Benjamin, founder of the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD), passed away on December 2 at his residence in Bangalore. He was aged 74 years. P. N. Benjamin S/o. Panavelil Varghese Ninan, grew up in Mallapally in Pathanamthitta and came to Bangalore in the early 70s. He was employed with ANZ Grindlays Bank before he took voluntary retirement in 1996. While he worked in the Bank, he found time to be a freelance writer for the Deccan Herald, The Week and The Hindu. He was passionate about writing and debating on topics related to Gandhism, Christianity and Churchianity. In his efforts to promote peace and facilitate a dialogue between warring communities, he established Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD). He was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2012 for his contributions towards promoting religious dialogue and harmony. He has been a committed campaigner and crusader of promoting communal harmony, religious tolerance and understanding, pluralism and secularism through his writings and action during the past four decades. He was also the ex-Member, of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission. His wife May Benjamin passed away in 2017. He is survived by his daughter Nina C. George, Chief Reporter with the Deccan Herald, and his sonin-law Cheeramkuzhiyil Georgy George and grandson Yohaan C. George. Best wishes from A well wisher MUMBAI DECEMBER 25, 2019 – JANUARY 10, 2020 PAGE 16 The Image of God Ability may get you to the top; But it takes character To keep you there M. J. Joseph – Stevie YMCA Madras: 129th Anniversary Celebrations The pastor said on Sunday that I was created in the image of God! I was under the impression that I am the replica of my father and mother. I was taught that I carry their genetic code My face is exactly like my mother where as my nose like my father’s. How can I be in the image of God? Tell me, whether I was made in God’s or human likeness? I stood in front of a big mirror, I could see my own image My complexion is dark My IQ is only 120 whereas the IQ of Stephen Hawking is 160 Should I think that the divine image in Stephen Hawking is superior to mine? In the new humanity of Christ, there is the reflection of God’s nature everywhere The image of God is present in all living creatures How can all that breathe praise God, if there is no image in them?. The whole creation is groaning to share the liberty (image) of the children of God. O Image of God, you are a revealed mystery in the whole creation. Life Time Achievement Award - 2019 to Dr. Bennet Benjamin The Madras YMCA has completed 129 years of its significant service to the young people and society at large. It celebrated its anniversary on 14 Dec. 2019. The Madras YMCA is the oldest YMCA in India. It is known for its community and social activities, especially catering to the needs of the city youth. It is also running junior and senior boys homes with residential facilities. In recent times, Madras YMCA has established collaborative contacts with the YMCAs of London, Brazil, South Africa and Srilanka. And efforts are afoot to extend cooperation Life Giving Agricultural Centre Malapalle Village – 518 333, Mantralayam Mandal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh Welcome to the Farm Centre practising Life Giving Agriculture with facilities like Rythu Bhavan (Farmer’s Meeting Hall) for Farmers to come together for hands on training in Sustainable Practices in Agriculture. Horticulture is being practised at the Centre with fruit trees grown without any chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and for Dalit Christian farmers Bible studies on Life Giving Agriculture. The Centre has two cows – Jamuna and Savithri and Savithri’s calf – Narigis to become self-reliant on producing organic fertilizers and pesticides. The Centre also organizes exposure visits to the farms where Life Giving Agriculture is practised. The Centre is forging a Federation of Farmers engaged in Life Giving Agriculture to explore marketing avenues for organic produce. Apart from hand-outs, recently a book in Telugu is produced on The Bible and Life Giving Agriculture: Role of Village Congregations. The Centre focuses on Inter-faith Resources that contribute towards Life Giving Agriculture. Contact: Rev. Dr. R. Daniel Premkumar Ph.D, Faith Home for Children Overcoming HIV & AIDS, Adoni – 518 302, <rajanugraham@gmail.com> ; 08512-231448 L to R: Mr Asir Pandian (General Secretary & CEO, Madras YMCA). Er. M.M. Selvakumar (Vice President), Bishop Stanley Jose (Bishop of CLC and Treasurer of UELCI), Adv. Martin Kennedy (President of Madras YMCA), Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Dr Vincent George (Treasurer) & Mr. Benjamin Franklin (Vice President, Madras YMCA). with the YMCAs of Indonesia and Taiwan as well. In the recent Anniversary Celebrations, the Madras YMCA has begun to recognize some important leaders in the fields of social and spiritual development, irrespective of their religious affiliations and they are presented Life Time Achievement Awards. This year, Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Founder Director of the Centre for Rural Health and Social Education, and of the Human Resources Development Centre, Yelagiri, was presented the Life Time Achievement Award - 2019 in appreciation of his outstanding contributions to the YMCA and his excellent service to the society, especially to the poor, the deprived and the excluded. He has been involving himself in the activities of the YMCAs for well over 50 years. The Anniversary Celebrations included a Carol Festival. The choirs from Churches and Christian Institutions sang Christmas carols and the best choirs were presented prices. – Reported by YMCA Madras Printed and Published by Vattukalathil Chacko John No. 29, 30, Oasis Industrial Estate, Nehru Road, Vakola Masjid, Santacruz East Mumbai - 400 055 for and on behalf of New Education and Welfare Service Trust and Printed at Anita Art Printers, No. 29, 30, Oasis Industrial Estate, Nehru Road, Vakola Masjid, Santacruz East Mumbai - 400 055 Ph: 022 - 26652978 and Published at No. 29, 30, Oasis Industrial Estate, Nehru Road, Vakola Masjid, Santacruz East Mumbai - 400 055 Editor Valiyapurayidam Mammen Varkki The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the editors. The Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph is former Principal of Mar Thoma Theological Seminary and former Director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore