CAN ' SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ' BRING A CHANGE TO THE ASIA'S LARGEST SLUM AREA ( MUMBAI) ?

MUMBAI, INDIA – John D'souza hasn't yet seen the much-feted film "Slumdog Millionaire." But he is convinced the film has the power to transform his life.
Mr. D'souza, a social worker who has lived all his life in Dharavi, a grubby slum in Mumbai (Bombay) that is touted as Asia's largest, believes that this film can highlight the invisible lives of slum dwellers and create awareness about their abominable living conditions.
"The film has put Dharavi on the world map," says D'souza, whose shanty has a cameo in the film. "Hopefully, it will help people and [the Indian] government understand that we, too, deserve a dignified existence."
Directed by the British director Danny Boyle and based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel, "Q&A," Slumdog Millionaire has already won four Golden Globe awards and this week garnered 10 Oscar nominations, including one for best film. Set in the fetid alleyways of Mumbai's teeming slums, Slumdog is a Dickensian tale of an orphan who ingeniously cuts away from his wretched existence to become a champion on the TV game show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
Even before its Friday release in India, the film's riveting international success had sparked celebrations – and generated hopes in some quarters of its potential to impact change.
"Slumdog ... is Boyle's gift to Mumbai," Shobha De, a socialite and author, wrote in the Times of India, earlier this month.
"Whether or not Boyle's film wins an Oscar or two is immaterial," Ms. De wrote, unabashedly admitting she had watched the film on a pirated CD. "It should be made compulsory viewing for anybody who wants to understand the shocking, ghastly subtext that deals with the 'other' Mumbai – the one that feeds on abject poverty and paradoxically enough, also on the soaring hope that this same poverty breeds success."
Many observers draw parallels of the film with "Salaam Bombay," a 1998 film by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, which encapsulated the despair and desperation of Mumbai's street kids. Eventually, Ms. Nair set up the "Salaam Bombay Foundation," a charity dedicated to them. Her moving portrayal of street kids helped generate awareness and funds to improve their plight.
Some social workers and nongovernmental organizations hope that "Slumdog Millionaire" will do similar good for slum dwellers.
More than 60 percent of Mumbai's citizens are known to reside in slums. The most visible of them is Dharavi, a labyrinth that is home to more than 1 million people. A majority of them are migrants, and all of them – 17,000 stuffed into each acre – are scrambling for space in a sea of weathered iron shacks and mildewed tenements.
Cholera and other waterborne diseases are endemic in Dharavi. Sanitation facilities are scarce, with one toilet for every 1,500 people, according to the World Bank. Drinking water is in short supply; families of 15 share one water tap.
Many of Mumbai's elite view Dharavi as a blight that must be purged if the city, India's financial and entertainment capital, is to achieve stature as a world-class city. Local politicians have long dreamed of transforming Mumbai into "India's Shanghai."
Sheela Patel, the director of the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers, a nongovernmental organization that works with slumdwellers, is intrigued by the success of "Slumdog Millionaire," but skeptical that it will prompt lasting change.
"Having seen well-made films in poverty from Brazil and South Africa, I believe that like all events on the screen, the film will throw a spotlight on slum life and poverty," she says. "But such focus moves on as new events and news replace yesterday's focus."
The film has also spawned concerns the film, which starkly portrays India's epic poverty, will tarnish the international reputation of the country, well known in recent years for its torrid economic boom. Some critics have derisively labeled it as "poverty porn."
About two dozen slumdwellers on Thursday demonstrated outside the Mumbai home of Anil Kapoor, one of the film's stars, outraged by the insulting title of the movie.
The Times of India, however, called the film "a piece of riveting cinema," urging moviegoers to forget "the twitter about aggrieved national sentiment."
Jubilant about the Oscar nominations – a rarity for films dealing with India – the national daily called the film "a Cinderella-like fairy tale with the edge of a thriller and the vision of an artist."

IS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THREAT TO FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS?

USA ― The implications of a change in administration in the United States could be potentially harmful to some faith-based organizations.
U.S. leadership has supported faith-based groups for the most part in the past and has especially recognized the importance of their service within the last eight to ten years, according to Ben Homan of Food for the Hungry.
Although all major presidential candidates in the recent election spoke in favor of faith-based organizations at some point in their campaigns, the Obama campaign also made movements in another direction. Within his campaign, suggestions were made about creating a nondiscrimination policy within faith-based organizations, therefore barring these ministries from hiring people based on their religion.
As this idea began to reappear, Food for the Hungry, along with World Vision and other major faith-based organizations, began to dialogue with Obama administrators to plead their case against such a decision. Since conversations began, the policy seems to have subsided, and Homan is hopeful that this will remain the case as relationships continue to be built.
"A change in leadership and the burden, the responsibility, that comes with that actually gives the church and faith-based organizations an opportunity to step up and to walk with a new leader," says Homan. "I think one of the callings that we have as followers of Christ is to walk in relationship with leaders and to stay in conversation, to stay in relationship, to stay engaged."
Homan has more reason to hope as both Biden and Obama have expressed the desire to raise the priority of foreign assistance -- a notion supported by other government branches as well. Homan says the new administration seems to have serious interest in helping to stop the growing HIV AIDS pandemic and in dealing with the global food crisis. A more than noticeable amount of the work being done to help solve these issues comes from faith-based organizations.
Regardless of whether new leadership makes alterations or not, Homan says Christians have a responsibility to continue dialoguing with the administration and to continue concern for world affairs. "The important thing in moving our civil society forward, and the important thing in moving the Gospel forward, is to stay in conversation and in relationship with leaders; and we're not always going to agree," says Homan. "I think this is a time for God's people to step up and make a difference."

VHP ACTIVISTS BASH UP CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES AT MAGH-MELA IN ALLAHABAD

ALLAHABAD: Tension erupted here during the ongoing religious congregation Magh Mela here after Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists bashed up a group of
Christian missionaries, including three women, who were allegedly distributing "blasphemous literature".

The incident took place at the Parade Ground, barely a kilometre away from the holy confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, where four car-borne Christian missionaries were distributing pamphlets propagating their faith. "When the news reached the VHP's camp situated nearby, a volunteer was sent to fetch a copy of the pamphlet and to our horror we found all sorts blasphemous things about Hinduism," senior VHP leader Manoj Srivastava said. "We thereafter rushed and caught hold of the missionaries and gave them a good thrashing before handing them over to police," he said.

However, Circle Officer, Magh Mela, Rajesh Kumar said that no case was registered against the missionaries, who were let off after a warning "as the offence was not of a grave nature and the episode also involved women". Meanwhile, the VHP is determined to step up pressure on the Mela administration for taking stern action against the missionaries. "We demand that the missionaries be booked under NSA. Their pamphlets had many derogatory references to the Ganga, the river which is considered holy by millions of Hindus world over. They were audacious enough to distribute such literature at the Magh Mela, of which taking a holy dip in the Ganga is an integral part," Srivastava said.

CATHOLIC PRIEST STOLE ' MILLIONS FROM THE COLLECTION PLATE '

Rev John Skehan, 81, originally from Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, pleaded guilty just hours before the start of his trial to taking money from his church over the course of several years in what authorities say could be the one of the biggest embezzlement scandals to hit the American Catholic Church.
Skehan faces charges with fellow priest, the Rev Francis Guinan, originally from Birr, Co Offaly, who has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say the pair took cash from the offering plate at St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, in West Palm Beach, and stashed it in the church ceiling and in offshore bank accounts.
They then spent the money on expensive homes, gambling trips to Las Vegas with a mistress, even a $275,000 (£200,000) rare coin collection, authorities say.
Both are charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, although church auditors believe the total amount taken could be in the millions.
Police reports say Skehan used $134,075 to pay for his alleged lover's expenses, gave $11,688 to relatives and used another $268,630 for personal expenses such as dental work and credit card payments.
Authorities said Mr Guinan had had an "intimate relationship" with a former bookkeeper at a church where he previously worked and used church money to pay her credit card bills and her child's school fees. They also said she accompanied him on holidays.
Mr Skehan had previously pleaded not guilty but changed his plea on Wednesday.
"Father Skehan accepted responsibility for his actions by virtue of his guilty plea," Scott Richardson, his lawyer, said outside the court. "It's been extraordinarily difficult for him from the beginning."
The scandal broke in 2006, stunning parishioners at the seaside parish.
Mr Skehan, who had been at the church for 40 years, is accused of taking $370,000 between 2001 and 2006, the timeframe covered by the statute of limitations. Auditors think he actually stole more than $8 million over 20 years.
Mr Guigan, 66, is accused of stealing $488,000 during the 19 months after he became pastor in Sept 2003. He is due to stand trial on Feb 18.
Mr Skehan will be sentenced on Mar 20. Both face up to 30 years in jail if convicted.
After the investigation began, Mr Guinan begged the church to stop the audit and "call off the dogs". In a letter released by prosecutors, he said that priests "devote their lives to the church with little thought for personal gain".
Richard Barlow, Mr Guinan's lawyer, said his client had done nothing wrong and that his co-defendant's plea did not affect his case. He said he would prove Mr Guinan spent the money on church business.