By Fernando Velho Old Goa: Unplastered laterite as seen in the facade of the Basilica has historically never been widely used in Goa as an architectural element. And why would it? A porous stone that performs unpredictably when exposed to water, laterite is not suited to the humid conditions ofContinue Reading
Thai Binh: Van Thuoc from Vietnam has a penchant for collecting historical church clocks and has searched for them all across Europe since the past two decades. After buying them, Pham Van Thuoc brings them back home in Vietnam and restores them. HOW MANY CLOCKS DOES PHAM OWN? So far,Continue Reading
Titabor: Spread over more than twelve bighas of land, Goronga Kabarstan, a non-descript burial ground in Titabor sub-division of Assam, has been practising what states like Goa is pushing for – a common cosmopolitan graveyard. The only thing that has come up recently is a “T’ shaped concrete drain, restContinue Reading
Thimphu: The Bhutan Nuns Foundation (BNF), which works to educate and empower Buddhist nuns in the remote Himalayan kingdom, recently offered an update on its conditions and activities amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. It noted some positive outcomes and opportunities have emerged despite the challenges and difficulties for the organizationContinue Reading
By Jessy Joseph Chandpur: Sr. Teslin Poovathanickal is proud of the wounds on her face. “Oh, they are my Ruby’s gift,” the 43-year-old member of the Preshitharam Sisters says as she runs her fingers over the marks. Ruby, a 26-year-old woman with speech and hearing impairment who gets violent occasionally,Continue Reading
Bhubaneswar: The moment the COVID-19 lockdown started, I felt fear deep within. My inner voice was saying “stay at home,” but the cries of the thousands of the migrant workers all over the country kept me disturbed until I went out to help them. Welcoming a stranger is an importantContinue Reading
Tristan: Imagine the remotest place you have visited. Now imagine that remoteness and isolation on an island. Imagine that island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, more than 1,500 miles away from the next closest settlement. Finally, imagine sharing that island with just 245 other people. That isContinue Reading
By Robancy A Helen Mettala: Loyola College of Arts and Science, one of the Jesuit institutions in Tamil Nadu, has come forward to sponsor the academic fees of poor students amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The college is located in Mettala near Salem but in Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu.Continue Reading
By Victor Edwin New Delhi: Waris Mazhari is a traditionally-trained Islamic scholar. He teaches in the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi. He graduated from the Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, one of the largest traditional Islamic seminaries in the world, and did his doctorate from the Department of IslamicContinue Reading
By Jose Kavi New Delhi: Diocesan pastoral centers must conduct programs to educate Christians in “interfaith literacy,” asserts Jesuit Father Victor Edwin, the elected secretary of the Islamic Studies Association (ISA) that has fostered Christian-Muslim cooperation in India or more than four decades. The 54-year-old teacher of Islam in Delhi’sContinue Reading
