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CBCI urges PM to lead delegation for Mother Teresa’s canonisation Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE |  Friday, 29 April 2016 AT 12:10 PM IST       Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) ,  Pune ,  PM Narendra Modi ,  President Cardinal Baselios Cleemis ,  Camil Parkhe Pune:  A delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) met PM Narendra Modi recently to urge him to lead India’s official delegation for the canonisation of Mother Teresa in Rome on September 4. The CBCI delegation was led by its President Cardinal Baselios Cleemis and included Secretary General Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas and Deputy Secretary General Joseph Chinnayyan. The CBCI delegation has also requested the Modi to invite Pope Francis to visit India at a convenient date, suitable to both the Government of India and the Vatican. The CBCI delegation has also thanked the Government of India for its efforts to save the life of Fr Tom Uzunnalil in Yemen. The delegation has also assured the P

Civic poll results exposing BJP’s weakness in rural Maharashtra Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE |  Thursday, 21 April 2016 AT 03:03 PM IST       blog ,  civic poll ,  poll result ,  BJP ,  Nagar panchayats ,  Zilla Parishad ,  Panchayat samitis ,  Maharashtra , Camil Parkhe In the recently concluded elections to the newly formed local self government civic bodies (Nagar Panchayats) in Maharashtra, the Congress has emerged as the leading party, the NCP and Shiv Sena have won equal seats while BJP was relegated to the last- fourth place. The number of the Nagar Panchayats in the state which went to the polls was very minuscule, only six and there were also bypolls to a few municipal corporations, Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis. Nonetheless, the poll verdict needs to be taken seriously by all political parties in the state as they are indication of the people’s opinion about these parties. The six Nagar Panchayats had altogether 102 seats, of these, Congress has won 21, N

Maharashtra Newsletter (The Navhind Times, Panaji Goa) Pawar vying for Prime Ministership By Camil Parkhe When the suspended poll campaign was resumed in Maharashtra, the political observers found the State Chief Minister, Mr. Sharad Pawar, a changed person. As he went on his whirlwind tour of the State, Mr. Pawar, through his Press statements and speeches, made it clear that he was very much in the race for the Prime Ministership. The prevalent political situation in the country following assassination for the former Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, has led Mr. Pawar to harbour hopes of occupying the highest executive post in the country. A shrewd and seasoned politician that he is, Mr. Pawar, however, has chosen a very cautious approach while playing his moves. The post-assassination scenario has indicated that the Congress (I) in Maharashtra had only one person Mr. Pawar who could pull crowds and secure votes for the party in the state. Despite the disturbance of the p

The Indian Flavour By Camil Parkhe When the winds of changes in the progressive Catholic Church are strongly favouring the process of inculterasation in the various nationalist, its echoes are felt in some parts of India, too. For one Christian Community of Central Maharashtra, bought into the fold of Christianity only a century ago, presents a beautiful blend of the Christian Religion and Indian Culture. This assimilation of the basic values of Christianity and the Indian culture is most conspicuous especially how on the occasion of the Christmas season. The process of inculturation has been rather spontaneous among these Christians due to their conversations only a century ago as well as for the fact they are a religious minority in this region. Many of the Jesuit priests in this who have been nurturing the Christian faith, especially those hailing from the same community, have also contributed a lot to the growth of the faith without wrongly identifying the religious practi

Fr. Rudolf Schoch. Looking back in satisfaction Pune Plus, The Times of India (1991) By Camil Parkhe From days in the forties and fifties when he went horseback to visit the Jesuits-run 50 schools in Ahmednagar district to his present retirement days in Pune, it has been a period of great challenge and fulfillment for Fr. Rudolf Schoch. The founder of two reputed schools in state, and school principal for 38 years, Fr. Schoch has set a record of a sorts which may shared by only a few. By a strange twist of history, this Swiss-born Jesuit had to choose India as his Karmabhoomi and later, in a similar manner, education as his mission in life. But Fr. Schoch, now 78, says that he has not regretted the two sudden changes In his career which moulded his life in an unexpected way. As the founder of Loyola High School in Pune and Dnyanamata High School in Sangamner in Ahmednagar district and as an able administrator, Fr. Schoch commands respect in academic circles. But that is

BULGARIA Smashing Myths By Camil Parkhe From the very day the first socialist nation came into being curiosity has been gathered into the minds of the people living in the capitalist or non-socialist countries about the pattern of the socialist system and also about the people purportedly living as per the ideals of Karl Marx. Due to the several novels and books regularly published in the West, the curiosity is now mixed with several notions about the socialist pattern such as the uniformity of life-style, close network of the intelligence people on the style of the KGB, total absence of freedom of expression etc. These were some of the notions in my mind too when I was selected for the training course in journalism, organized for the members of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists in Sofia, the capital of Socialist peoples’ Republic of Bulgaria. The short visit to Moscow, capital of Russia before the long stay in different parts of Bulgaria, did give me an opportunit

Pune Municipal Corporation : An August Body By Camil Parkhe Not many Puneites would know that Mahatma Jyotiba Phule – after whom the vegetable market in the city is named – was in the forefront opposing the construction of this market. As a member of the Pune Municipal Council during the later stages of his life, Phule, known for his concern for the downtrodden, had opposed the proposal for the central market demanding that the same money be instead used for providing education to the children who could not afford it. Mahatma Phule is not the only person of national stature who was associated with the more 125-year-old Pune Municipal Council. Notwistanding the recent trend of group wars in the corporation, a glance at the list of mayors, deputy mayors and other representatives of the civic body makes the civic body and Puneites proud. Lokmanya Tilak, who dominated the freedom struggle movement in the country for over three and half decades, also was a member of the Pune Mun

Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniv to be celebrated in a grand manner Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE |  Tuesday, 12 April 2016 AT 10:34 PM IST       Sakal Times  Camil Parkhe ,  Dr Ambedkar ,  Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar ,  125th birth anniversary Hectic preparations are presently on at the national level to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Incidentally, this is for the first time that the birth anniversary of a national leader is being celebrated in a grand manner at the government level as well as by various political parties and organisations. The scale of celebration this time is much higher than IN earlier years and this is mainly because all political parties want to portray themselves as friendly to the Dalit community. Not just the Congress party or Left parties but organisations such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are also seen taking the lead in organising many events to commemorate Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. The country has in the past

Shakuntala Paranjape :  Crusade of a lifetime Pune Plus The Times of India By Camil Parkhe When the list of recipients of national civilian awards was announced on the eve of Republic Day this year, the inclusion of her name among the Padma Bhushan awardees did not strike a loud note. Ironically, some newspapers in Pune, where she has worked as a lone crusader in the field of family planning, did not have a story on her. She was clubbed together with other eminent local persons who were also honoured with civilian awards. Perhaps there was a reason for this omission. The redoubtable Mrs. Shakuntala Paranjape, has been away from the limelight for more than two decades now. To Shakuntala Paranjape, who turned 85 on January 17, goes the credit of launching a long crusade for popularising family planning during the pre-independent era, when even discussing this issue in public was taboo. Many an eye-brow was raised when this lady, from a well-known and respected family (

A radio reporter on a campaign trail Pune Plus, The Times of India By Camil Parkhe Pune, June 13, 1991 : “ This is Sam Miller reporting from Poona; “P” for Paul, “O”, “O”, “N” for New York, “A”. The BBC correspondent was speaking on telephone as soon as he established contact with his office in London. The reason for his arrival in Pune on Thursday – the polling day was obvious. The chief minister of the state, Mr. Sharad Pawar, hailing from Pune district, had emerged as the strong contender for the prime ministerial post.. Within three hours after the polling process commenced, Mr. Sam Miller had already sent his first dispatch from his hotel suite in Pune to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) office at Bush House in London. The 10-minute-long dispatch included information on the poor response of voters in the early stages of polling in the Pune Lok Sabha constituency and Baramati, Mr. Pawar’s home-town, with description of the muddy roads in the rural areas an

A Scribe’s peep behind the Iron Curtain By Camil Parkhe Pune , August 20 : “ And where the official residence of Mr. Mikhail Gorbachov?” one of the members of the Indian journalist’s delegation, visiting Moscow city, questioned the tourist guide. The question was very simple. Neither I nor any other member of the delegation found anything odd in asking where the Russian leader lived. After all, the guide had taken us around several monuments in Moscow which were related to the first communist revolution and also shown many huge buildings which were the seats of power in Russia. The Russian guide was visibly shaken by that question. For a moment, she was silent. But she recovered immediately and once again started speaking enthusiastically about the Red Square, Lenin’s mausoleum and the statues of the great Soviet and communist leaders. It did not take long for us to realize why she had skillfully avoided replying to my journalist friend’s question. The time of our vi