New Delhi: The Western Sumi Baptist Akukhuhou Kukhakulu (WSBAK) or the association of western Sumi churches in Nagaland has set a record of sorts with 30 of its female workers becoming licenced ministers, according to a report.
This is the highest number of women as ministers in any church in Nagaland. Being a licenced minister gives one the right to conduct all religious ceremonies such as marriage, funerals, christening and baptism.
Kakheli Inato Jimomi, secretary, women ministry, WSBAK, who has held a licence since 2019, called it a “big breakthrough and a giant leap for all Naga women”. She credited former WSBAK executive secretary Reverend Hevukhu Achumi for providing equal opportunities to women.
Jimomi has also pointed at how the “patriarchal mindset” of Naga culture was deeply rooted even in the church. “For most men, it is difficult to tear away from such a mindset and it becomes visible that they do not support women in higher positions even in the church,” but things are changing, and, she adds, the church can play a major role in bringing about that change.
New airline to connect people with remotest NE corners
Slated to start operations around mid-October, new Indian airline Flybig will connect people with the remotest places of Northeast India under the UDAN scheme.
The airline, which is promoted by the Big Charter Private Limited, has already received a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Flybig’s fleet comprises ATR-72-500s and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Dornier Do-228 (Upgraded) civil aircraft.
Rajarshi Sen, chief financial officer at Big Charter, has said plans are afoot to launch flight services to many sectors in the Northeast that are not airports but airstrips. Sen has also said the 17-seater Dornier Do-228 will be an ideal aircraft to operate from airstrips in the remote areas of the Northeast.
Flybig CEO Srinivas Rao had earlier said seven to nine aircraft will be deployed in the region. The firm is said to have especially proposed sectors in the remote corners of Arunachal Pradesh. It is likely to have a base in Guwahati.
Unique way to avoid human-elephant conflict in Assam
Residents of Jwkhangsree village along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Sonitpur district have found a unique way of driving away herds of elephants invading paddy fields.
All along the area, machans, or raised tree huts, have been strategically placed to offer vantage points for villagers to monitor their fields. Sitting atop these tree huts, they have managed to chase away elephant herds that often stray from the nearby Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary.
They have been practising this “wildlife-friendly modus operandi” for several years now without causing harm to the animals.
“We maintain a mutually rewarding co-existence with the wildlife and spend much time in the tree huts, from where we tactfully chase away the wild elephant herds from the farming areas, but never harm the pachyderms…,” a farmer said.
‘Thanksgiving service’ for recovered Covid patients
Hundreds of candles were lit on the streets of the New Market area in Nagaland’s Kohima Sunday to welcome its recovered Covid-19 patients. The residents also held a short prayer service for the patients.
In the area, 11 people had tested positive, of whom 10, including a four-year-old, have recovered. They were warmly received.
Ruokuobizo Nyusou, chairman of the New Market area panchayat, has been quoted as saying that it was a “joy plus thanksgiving service” for the recovered patients. He also said New Market, with around 500 households, is one of the poorest colonies in Kohima.
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Why convert to Christianity at all in the first place? After conversion this? I am not sure what the point of this article is?