Southern Asia Division of Seventh-day Adventists

Christians have opposed the court’s decision handing death sentences to 11 people convicted of serial blasts on Churches in 2000. “We would welcome harsh punishment.” Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore said, but he pointed out that Church teaching opposes capital punishment, “no matter how severe the crime is.” The sentences should be seen as “a lesson” to people involved in repeated attacks on churches. “Whether the death penalty stands or not, I am happy that a severe punishment has been announced in the case, particularly in the context of growing attacks on churches,” Archbishop Moras said. The Global Council of Indians Christians (GCIC) meanwhile urged the government to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment. Its president, Sajan K George said, Christians cannot support capital punishment as “we believe life is a pure gift” of God. Capital punishment was awarded to 11 and life sentence to 12 others by a local court in November, in connection with the year 2000 serial blasts in Churches across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.

Justice at last

ORISSA: An estimated 10, 000 people have been named in 746 cases lodged during the Kandhamal violence this year with 598 of the accused put behind bars, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik informed the Assembly. All these cases were being investigated and those arrested had been forwarded to court. In the 2007 violence, about 800 families were affected and all were given compensation, he said. The evidence of involvement of 1,453 have been obtained by the investigating officers in 127 cases, and 193 of the accuses have so far been arrested, the Chief Minister said. Patnaik said that the Government has received reports of 4,215 houses either damaged or burnt in the flare-up in 2008.

PRAISE GOD that due to the economic downturn in the US, church attendance has increased.

PAKISTAN, AN INTERNATIONAL MIGRAINE’: Counting many elements, including terrorism and nuclear weapons, in Pakistan as causes of international worries, a former top US official has described the South Asian country as an “international migraine”.

CYBER CRIMINALS: Cyber-criminals thrive by siphoning off goods and services worth millions of dollars with credit cart information, a report by global security solutions provider Symantec reveals. They create 276 million dollars-worth Internet underground economy

PIRACY IS TERRORISM: The golden age of piracy has returned and a new generation has emerged, armed with grenade launchers and assault rifles, to threaten trade.

“BAPTISMS IN AFRICA outnumber those in Europe, North and South America combined,” notes CRI Executive Director Fred Palmerton, “and those choosing to become Christian in Asia do so at a rate five times greater than Africa. Yet, the average pastor in those nations doesn’t own a Bible.”

PRO-ABORTION GROUPS ATTACK RELIGION: More than 60 organizations have issued a 55 page report advising the incoming Obama administration on the need to provide more money of abortion-related services. Significantly, it endorses the Freedom of Choice Act, the most radical abortion-rights bill ever proposed.

SOMALIA: Somalia has the highest level of malnutrition in the world. As we are in the grip of a global food crisis, this is clearly a country in deep need.

MALAWI: Malawi’s food production is regularly affected by erratic rainfall, leading to floods in some areas and drought in others.

DEADLY NIGERIA CLASHES PUT AND WORK ON HOLD: At least 400 people have died and 25,000 others have been made homeless in an outbreak of post-election Muslim-Christian unrest in Nigeria.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

More than a million people are homeless in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province due to conflict.

CHILD MORTALITY: India’s one million children die within the first 28 days of life. This is one quarter of the four million global neo-natal deaths. 55 million or what is one third of world’s underweight children under five live in India. Uttar Pradesh contributes 26.4 pc to India’s total mortality figure.

4,100 TERROR ATTACKS SINCE ’74: India scarred, scared.

DIVORCE RISES: 30% rise in divorce in 3 years, half the cases in the city are from IT/BPO industries.

DOWRY DEATHS: one-fourth of dowry death cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh (2, 076 cases). Bihar came second in this list with 1, 172 cases while the national capital has 138 dowry deaths.

TORTURE BY HUSBAND: There was a 20.3 per cent increase in cases of torture by husband and relatives with Andhra Pradesh again leading the pack with 1, 225 cases out of the 62, 128 incidents.

SUICIDES: Fourteen people commit suicide every hour in India due to various reasons, ranging from failure in relationships, bankruptcy, illness and social disrepute. One among every three suicide victims is a youth and one among five is a house wife. (Times of India) The highest number of such cases were reported from Kerala (39), followed by Andhra Pradesh (34) and Madhya Pradesh (!2). (Times of India).

INDIDA IS ‘MURDER CAPITAL’ OF THE WORLD: India has earned the dubious distinction of being the country where the maximum number of murders take place in the world, three times more than its neighbor Pakistan and double the figures in the United States. There were 32, 719 incidence of murder recorded in India, whereas there were 16,692 in the US –Sulekah.com News.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: In India, there were 44, 159 incidences of sexual assault and 22, 814 robbery and violent theft related incidences.

PRISON POPULATION: According to the latest government data, the total capacity of 1,336 jails in the country is 2,63,911 but they lodge 3, 73, 271 inmates, including over 3.58 lakh men which is 96.1 percent of the total prison population.

Christians can bring peace

MUMBAI: The Governor of Maharashtra, S C Jamir, has said that Christians in India could play a pivotal role in restoring peace, harmony and unity in the country under the prevailing turbulent scenario. For this purpose, they must awaken their conscience and assert their faith in the doctrines of Christianity, he advised.

Barack Obama on Tuesday became the first US president to swear on the Bible that Abraham Lincoln used for his inauguration 147 years ago.

CONGO: REBEL ARMY TORCHES CROWDED CHURCH: Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army has reportedly torched a church crowded with worshippers holding a prayer vigil in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the BBC, Human Rights Watch says the LRA has killed at least 620 Congolese civilians and abducted more than 160 children since Christmas Eve.

BURMA CRACKSDOWN RANGOON CHURCHES: A serious crackdown on churches in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma, is taking place with local authorities in the city ordering at least 100 churches to stop holding worship services, according to the Mizzima new agency.

SRI LANKA: A year since Sri Lankan forces started their offensive against the Tamil Tigers and there’s no sign of a let-up in the fighting. Some 250,000 people have been forced from their homes and the UN Refugee Agency says it is concerned about the deteriorating situation.