Around 40 spiritual leaders and intellectuals in the national capital on July 16 urged Indians to check an environment of hate, violence and disregard for the rule of law spreading across the country.

They met under the aegis of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and called upon the government to end impunity, which they noted, was at the root of the atmosphere of fear that stalks the land today. They also said these developments threatened not just secularism, but the country’s Constitution as well as the democratic fabric.

They want people to draw from India’s deep spiritual reservoirs to check increasing cases of lying that have claimed “many innocents of religious and marginalized communities.”

The meeting welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurances to leaders of Opposition parties on the eve of the Monsoon session of Parliament.

However, the leaders noted that lynching in various states on the pretext of protecting cows have shocked majority of Indians from all communities. The Prime Minister must now see that state governments and their police forces acted against the guilty in an impartial manner, they assert-ed. The meeting agreed two of five of urgent program of action:

• The ideology of hate is a reality and needs to be challenged by governments, political parties, civil society activists, the criminal justice system and religious communities in a concerted manner.

• Religious leadership must act at the grassroots to assert the inherent unity of the people. This will help restore public confidence and remove the mutual suspicion that had started growing.

Following intense protests for almost two months, private hospital nurses in Kerala called off their strike on July 16 after the government agreed to enforce a hike in their minimum pay to Rs 20,000.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the representatives of nurses’ associations with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office on July 20 evening. The Chief Minister’s office said that the decision on the wage hikes was unanimous.

“The decision was unani-mous. It has been decided to hike the minimum pay of nurses working in hospitals with a bed strength of up to 50 to Rs 20,000. The government will appoint a committee to decide on the salary of nurses working in hospitals where the number of beds is more than 50,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s office said.

“There will be timely increase in the stipend of nursing trainees. The committee will also consider and submit recommendations on the trainees’ stipend and the period of training. The committee will submit its report in a month,” the statement added.

A cathedral dedicated to St Teresa of Calcutta is due to be consecrated on September 5, the 20th anniversary of the saint’s death. Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Ernest Simoni to be his delegate at the consecration in Pristina, the capital of the partially recog-nised State of Kosovo.

Although the building has been a place of worship for Catholics since 2010, the shrine will be formally dedicated to Mother Teresa at the consecra-tion. The Italianate-style build-ing has been under construction since 2007 and remains unfini-shed. When complete, it will have two bell towers, each standing at 230 feet tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Among the designs on its stained-glass windows are depictions of St Teresa with Pope St John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI embracing Pope Francis.

Jammu-Srinagar Diocese has launched a project to educate young people on the need for peace on the Indian side of the India-Pakistan border where hostilities between the two countries have killed hundreds of people.

The diocese covers the entire Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory between the two neighboring countries. Both India and Pakistan claim the region and each administer part.

The two nuclear-power rivals have fought at least three major wars over Kashmir. The border area is prone to occasional exchange of fire between the armies of India and Pakistan, often adversely impacting the local people living there. The region has been a sensitive issue for both India and Pakistan ever since they become two different nations in 1947 when British rule ended in the subcontinent.

St Xavier’s College, one of the country’s most illustrious colleges run by Jesuits, has started a campus in Mizoram.

This is the first Jesuit college in Mizoram. It will be administered by the order’s Darjeeling province.

St Xavier’s University Kolkata, which is the oldest educational institution of the Jesuits, will offer academic help to the new college. The Bishop of Aizawl, the head of the Catholic Church in Mizoram, had requested Jesuits to start a college in the state to give a boost to higher education.

“The college was inaugurated on July 17. It has started inducting students in both its plus two and undergraduate sections,” said Father Daniel Bara, principal of the college.

A Catholic bishop and human rights groups in India have welcomed a Supreme Court order for a federal investigation into allegations that thousands of people were killed by security forces in the northeastern State of Manipur.

India’s top court July 14 directed the government to engage the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation agency to probe allegations that army, paramilitary forces and police killed without trial 1,528 people in the state between 2000 and 2012.

The court’s decision came while hearing a petition seeking an investigation and compensation. “We welcome the decision and hope the probe will be impartial, devoid of political goals, and bring justice to the victims,” said Bishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, whose diocese covers the whole state.

The entire northeastern region consisting of seven Indian states, bordering China, Bangladesh and Myanmar remains heavily militarized because of insurgency. Some five decades ago the federal government passed the Armed Forces Special Power Act to check insurgency in Assam and Manipur.

The law was later extended to another seven states as the insurgency spread with the government describing the situation in the region as “war-like.”

Rights groups say the law gives sweeping powers to armed forces in their efforts to crush insurgency and results in unchecked violence that includes night raids, rapes and killings without trial or provocation.

The Asian Human Rights Commission estimates there is at least one security personnel for every 20 citizens in Manipur.