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Good Friday celebrated throughout India

     New Delhi: Early morning masses, special prayers and services in churches across India marked Good Friday, to mark the sacrifice made by Lord Jesus, who laid his life for mankind on this day. Churches conducted special services with priests urging the devotees to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness preached by Jesus Christ. "Its a day when Jesus gave life for the sins of the whole world. And it's said that he rose on the third day, that is Easter," said Bobby, a devotee in New Delhi. The native church in Kerala observed Good Friday as the "Friday of Sorrow." This is very important for the Christians as Good Friday this year falls on March 25 , which is called the "Annunciation Day" and is believed as the holiest day all over the world, after a gap of 55 years. Devotees in Mumbai also thronged churches across the city to offer prayers on the occassion of Good Friday. "Jesus laid his life for us so we would also like to help others in order to repay his debt", said Fatima, a devotee from Mumbai.

     According to legends, on March 25 the angel Gabriel came from the heaven and appeared to the Virgin Saint Mary and said that after nine months, on 25th December, Jesus the saviour is going to be your son. Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the execution of Jesus by crucifixion. It is a day of mourning in church. During special Good Friday services Christians meditate on Jesus's suffering and death on the cross, and what this means for their faith. In some countries, there are special Good Friday processions, or re-enactments of the Crucifixion. The main service on Good Friday takes place between midday and 3pm. In many churches it takes the form of a meditation based on the seven last words of Jesus on the cross, with hymns, prayers, and short sermons. Good Friday occurs between March 20 and April 23 on the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. There are few explanations as to why the holiday is known as "Good" Friday since it commemorates a sorrowful time in Christianity. Some scholars believe that "good" is a corruption of the word "God's" while others speculate that "good" was used to denote "holy". In Eastern Orthodox churches, the observance is known as Great Friday. Good Friday has been observed since about 100 C. E. However, for many years it had no association with Jesus' death but was simply another day of fasting. Since the late fourth century, it has been associated with the crucifixion. Many churches now have mourning services from noon until 3:00 p.m. to symbolize Jesus' last hours on the cross. Some congregations also re-enact Jesus' procession to the cross in a ritual known as Stations of the Cross.

Focus on boundary ahead of Chinese PM's visit (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The boundary dispute between India and China is has taken centre stage ahead of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to India next month. Jiabao is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on a four-day visit from April 9. The importance being attached to this vexed issue can be gleaned from the fact that the Joint Working Group (JWG) created by the governments of the two countries is meeting in Beijing for two days next week (March 30 and 31) to discuss "the guiding principles that could lead to a mutually acceptable resolution." of the dispute. The Chinese PM has already gone on record to say that the boundary question will be one of the three items on his agenda during his discussions with the Indian leadership, as he feels that it is an issue "left over from history". So far, India and China have had 14 meetings in 14 years over the boundary question, but without tangible results. It is also an irony that the JWG was set up 17 years ago with the purpose of arriving at mutual understandings on issues dogging bilateral ties for more than five decades, including the boundary question. Under the Vajpayee-led NDA regime, both countries agreed to appoint special representatives in 2003 to take the talks progressively forward, and so far, four meetings at this level have taken place. According to informed sources here, India's National Security Adviser M.K.Narayanan and his Chinese counterpart and Vice- Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo will convene a fifth meeting ahead of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi to take stock of progress being made on the boundary question and other JWG- related bilateral issues. This being Wen's maiden visit to India, the two countries have already revived a foreign-secretary-level bilateral mechanism to discuss all the issues. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart and use this opportunity "to finalise" the content of several agreements that are likely to be signed during the landmark visit. This could include the adoption of a five-year blueprint for economic cooperation and investment. Besides India, Wen will also be going to Islamabad and Dhaka as part of his four-nation tour. He is scheduled to attend the fourth meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue, which starts on April 6.

Andamans rocked again (Go To Top)

     Port Blair: The Andaman and Nicobar islands were rocked once more today, when a moderate quake, measuring 5.4 on richter scale, shook the region this morning. The quake, epicentred at south of Great Nicobar Island at 6.5 degrees north latitude and 93.9 degrees east longitude, was felt at 0635 hours, said the Meteorological Department. There was reportedly no immediate damage because of the quakes. The Andaman region has been experiencing tremors almost everyday since the devastating earthquake on December 26, off the coast of Sumatra, that trigggered the deadly tsunami.

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