Inquire how many students in Christian schools have converted to Christianity in 100 yrs: Archbishop
Bengaluru, Apr 28: Archbishop Peter Machado on Thursday asked the Karnataka government to inquire into the number of students, who studied at Christian schools and have converted to Christianity in the last 100 years, as he defended the institution, which allegedly insisted on carrying or studying Bible as part of the curriculum.
He said the institution conducted Bible or religious classes for Christian students before or after the school hours, and such a practice that required them to carry Bible existed in the past, but not now.
Clarence High School, which has been served a notice by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education said it has sought the opinion of legal advisors to respond to it.
"...there is nothing like the Bible or religious education. We impart the same education to everyone. We cannot differentiate between spirituality and morality ," Machado told reporters here.
Noting that 75 per cent students studying in the Clarence school are Christians, he said, "it was prescribed that Bible be brought because, in our Christian institutions we have religion class for Christian students either before or after the class..."
"However, from last year onwards the management has seen to it that no mention is made about the Bible at all and so the Children if they want they can bring," he added.
Referring to the education department order to conduct an inquiry to ascertain whether the Bible was used and religion was taught in schools, the Bishop said, "it is not concerning only this school, but all Christian schools in Karnataka. To take it from one school and paint all schools in the same colour is not right."
"If the government wants to probe, surely conduct an inquiry in this school, and one of the questions they should put forth is how many students have converted in the last hundred years, how many of them have become Christians," he added.
There are also allegations that the school asked parents to give an undertaking that they have no objection to the study of the Bible by their children.
Some parents have objected to it, following which the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti complained to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, B C Nagesh, seeking an investigation.
Principal of the School, Jerry George Mathew said the allegations made of a conduct other than subscribing to the discipline and culture of the school voluntarily, is only an "unfortunate misinterpretation".
The school is conscious of its responsibility, and declaration that is sought at the time of admission is only as per law, he said, adding that "we have also sought the considered opinion of our legal advisors in order to respond to the legitimately issued show cause notice by the Block Education Officer."
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Rishabh Pant's troubles continue as Punjab Kings push LSG towards exit door
Dharamsala, May 4 (PTI): Rishabh Pant lost the grip on his bat and the match simultaneously as Punjab Kings rode on heroics from the two 'Singhs' -- Prabhsimran and Arshdeep -- to literally push Lucknow Super Giants to the brink of elimination with a 37-run win in an IPL match here on Sunday.
It was Prabhsimran's 48-ball 91 that formed the cornerstone of Punjab Kings' unassailable 236 for 5 and any hopes of a remarkable chase was nipped in the bud by Arshdeep's (3/16 in 4 overs) now familiar Powerplay spell which summarily destroyed the opposition top-order.
This time, he got the three top run getters -- Mitchell Marsh (0), Aiden Markram (13) and the ever-dangerous Nicholas Pooran (6) -- to swing the match decisively in Punjab's favour. Ayush Badoni's (74 off 40 balls) effort was a good one albeit it came for a losing cause.
LSG were finally restricted to 199 for 7 in 20 overs and even if they win their last three games and get to 16 points from 14 games, their net run-rate can make things difficult for them.
Punjab Kings are now placed second with 15 points from 11 games and one more win could possibly clinch a place in top four for them.
But what is becoming an eyesore is LSG's Rs 27 crore worth skipper Pant's inexplicable approach which has fetched him a dismal 128 runs in 11 innings at a sub-100 strike-rate (99.22).
On the day, he scored 18 off 17 balls and that he is completely out of sync was evident in the manner he tried to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at an Azmatullah Omarzai delivery. There was no control in his shot as the bat took off on parabolic curve towards square leg and the ball went towards deep point.
Pant's misery was a testimony of LSG's wretched campaign that was lost at the auction table when the owner decided to go with a sub-standard bowling attack based on a half-fit talented pacer Mayank Yadav.
Mayank has already lost at least 10-15 yards of pace post rehabilitation under the watch of Nitin Patel at the National Cricket Academy.
On Sunday, he went for 60 runs off four overs with half a dozen of sixes struck off his bowling.
The pint-sized Prabhsimran packed a mean punch in his strokes as he blasted his way to a 48-ball 91 with the help of six fours and seven sixes.
The Punjab keeper-batter should have got his second IPL hundred but an ambitious switch hit off Digvesh Rathi saw him head back to the pavilion, nine runs short of what would have been a deserving milestone.
Towards the end, Shashank Singh scored 33 off 15 balls to take PBKS to what looked like an unassailable total. There were 16 sixes hit by Pujab Kings with 13 coming off pacers.
Prabhsimran was initially a passive partner as it was Australian Jos Inglis who launched the first attack with a hat-trick of sixes off Mayank Yadav, whose speed has decreased by at least 15 kmph post his intense rehab under Nitin Patel at the BCCI's erstwhile National Cricket Academy to recover from back injury.
However, once Inglis was dismissed, Prabhsimran, along with skipper Shreyas Iyer (45 off 25 balls), took control of the game. They were only helped by some atrocious fielding from Avesh Khan, who would probably go down as the worst fielder in the 18-year history of IPL.
Adding insult to injury, Prabhsimran took the tall MP fast bowler to the cleaners as he was pulled over mid-wicket for back-to-back maximums. Khan went for 57 in four overs and if around 15 runs due to his misfielding is added, he caused the maximum damage for his team.
The duo of Prabhsimran and Iyer added 78 runs in 7.5 overs before Rathi, LSG's best bowler on view, became the first spinner in the current season to account for Punjab Kings skipper's wicket.
But Prabhsimran continued like a man possessed and LSG bowlers were guilty of feeding to his strengths throughout the innings.
