The news that matter in Europe
The news that matter in Europe
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Brazil President Bolsonaro thanked PM Modi for the vaccines (Photo/Bolsonaro on Twitter)By — Shyamal Sinha
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying “dhanyavaad” for supplying the “sanjeevni booti” (the vaccine) against the coronavirus to the South American country, which has reported the second-highest death toll from the Covid-19 disease in the world.
In a tweet on Friday, the Brazilian President said that it was an honour to have India as a “great partner” against the “global obstacle.”
“Namaskar, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) @narendramodi. Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts,” Bolsonaro wrote in a tweet.
“Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad!,” he added.
Brazil, has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the world next only to the United States.
The total number of cases are over 8.7 million and 2,14,000 deaths related to COVID-19 have been recorded.
India is one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the coronavirus vaccines.
India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country.
While Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech.
India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.
According to Hinduism Sanjeevani is a magical herb which has the power to cure serious nervous system problems. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive in any situations where death is almost certain. The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana‘s son Indrajit (Meghnad) hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajita. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dronagiri (Mahodaya) or Gandhamardhan hills, far to the north of the Vindhyas on the slopes of the Himalayas. The mountain of herbs is identified as the Valley of Flowers near Badri in Uttarakhand on the slopes of the Himalayas. It is sometimes called Gandhamardan, and at other times Dronagiri. Upon reaching Dronagiri Parvata or Gandhamardan, Hanuman could not identify the herb and lifted the whole mountain and brought it to the battlefield .
In his tweet, Bolsonaro shared a depiction of Lord Hanuman carrying a mountain with vaccines from India to Brazil. The illustration is inspired from the tale in the Ramayana where Hanuman carries an entire mountain to deliver the Sanjeevani herb, to save the life Lakshmana, the brother of Lord Rama, when he was injured in a battle.
“Dhanyawad, Bharat,” the image read (written in the Latin and Hindi text).
Prime Minister Modi also replied to the Brazilian President saying that it was an honour to be a trusted partner during the pandemic adding that the two countries will continue to strengthen cooperation on healthcare.
“The honour is ours, President @jairbolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare,” Prime Minister wrote in a tweet dated Saturday.
A flight carrying two million doses of India made coronavirus vaccines landed in Brazil on Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced.
“Trust the Pharmacy of the World. Made in India vaccines arrive in Brazil,” Jaishankar tweeted.
India dispatched two million doses of Covishield vaccines to Brazil on Friday. Covishield has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
In the last few days, India has supplied COVID-19 vaccines, being manufactured in the country, to neighbouring countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Large consignments of Covishield vaccine doses were flown in a special Indian aircraft to Seychelles, Mauritius and Myanmar on Friday. Contractual supplies are also being undertaken to Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Morocco, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
source – ANI
The Haryana government Friday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it has withdrawn an order by which it had terminated the services of an assistant technical manager in the Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare. Keshav Kumar was terminated from service on charges of allegedly spreading hysteria against Sikh religion and the government on Facebook.
Kumar, who had been employed on contractual basis at Fatehabad, had challenged the termination order in the high court,
The termination order said that Kumar had tried to spread religious hysteria against the Sikh community and the government with a post on Facebook. On August 4, 2019, an FIR was registered against Kumar at City police station on the complaint of chairman, Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Fatehabad. His services were terminated on the directions of deputy commissioner-cum-chairman, ATMA,
Fatehabad with effect from August 4, 2019. The high court had quashed the FIR that same year.
Kumar, through his counsel, contended that the termination order has been passed without holding any departmental enquiry or granting opportunity to him.
The high court had issued a notice to the state government and director, Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Haryana, seeking their explanation.
Submitting the reply, Vijay Singh Dahiya, Director, Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, informed the court that he has taken a decision to withdraw the order. However, he submitted that the state should not be burdened with wages for the period the petitioner has not worked.
Advocate Anurag Goyal, for the petitioner, also submitted that the Kumar will not press for payment of back wages.
Often labelled the world’s smallest army and founded under Pope Julius II, the Swiss Guards have celebrated 515 years guarding the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
It was Pope Julius II that founded the Swiss Guards in 1506. Often dubbed as “the world’s smallest army”
Founded in 1506, the Swiss guards – a separate entity to the Swiss Armed Forces – are hired by the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Pope, Vatican News reports.
Member of the all-male unit swear loyalty to the Pope in a ceremony at the Belvedere Court in the Vatican.
This ceremony takes place every year on May 6 – to mark the anniversary of the Sack of Rome in 1527.
That year over 150 Swiss Guards were killed defending Pope Clement VII – who escaped to neighboring Castel Sant’Angelo, escorted by 22 remaining guards.
WHY SWISS?
It is said that during the Middle Ages, Switzerland gained a reputation for having the most reliable mercenaries in Europe.
Then Pope, Julius II, who had long admired the Swiss soldiers who defended the King of France.
He requested 200 Swiss mercenaries of his own to use as bodyguards and to defend his palaces. After months of marching, 150 swiss guards arrived in Rome on Jan. 21, 1506 to serve the Pope.
SWISS GUARDS TODAY
In 2015 the contingent was made bigger, from 110 guards to 135 to meet requests.
Each recruit is required to complete, military training in Switzerland.
This is followed by a five-week induction training course in Rome, and finally a period dedicated to training to use the primary weapons that the mercenaries used in the 16th century.
After this, the guards are sworn in and their families are invited to a private audience with the Pope.
Along with the Pontifical Gendarmerie, the Swiss Guards are responsible for ensuring the safety of the Pope both within and outside the Vatican.
They also accompany Pope Francis as he moves around among the people.
“Today the traditional Renaissance uniform is worn by modern, well-trained, young Swiss,” says the official website of the Swiss Guard.
It says the modern guard is connected to his 16th century predecessors by his “firm conviction that he serves Christ’s Church and his Vicar on Earth, the successor of Saint Peter, that he will sacrifice his own life, if necessary, to protect the Pope.
Recruits to the guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces and can obtain certificates of good conduct, writes David Alvarez author of The Pope’s Soldiers.
Recruits must have a professional degree or high school diploma and must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in) tall and they must be able to speak Italian.
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Under a tent in the peaceful environs of a nature park in Port Moresby, leaders and representatives of the diverse religious communities of Papua New Guinea (PNG) achieved on Monday what they had long hoped for: to gather in unity around what binds them all together.
The interfaith gathering marked World Religion Day and was a joint effort among many faith communities in the country. The idea for the event was suggested by the Bahá’ís of PNG last month, which struck a chord with the country’s religious leaders.
Gezina Volmer, Director of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of the country says, “The intention for World Religion Day was to create a space in which we could focus on the sharing of Holy writings around the one point that all agree on—the golden rule of treating others as one would wish to be treated, and, by doing so, highlighting that the purpose of religion is to foster love and harmony. Despite the initial trepidation, this focus allowed everyone to feel quite comfortable in participating.”
Preparing for the occasion and building consensus
Ms. Volmer explains that preparatory meetings were necessary in the lead up to the occasion in order to build consensus.
“The very first meeting was simply about bringing people together,” says Ms. Volmer. “It wasn’t more complicated than that. Because, if we don’t know how to come together, then this is the first step.”
Ms. Volmer continues to explain how the preparatory meetings strengthened bonds of friendship by allowing participants to contribute to some aspect of the program and to be of service to each other. “It was a collective effort”, she says. “There was a lot of joy. We all worked shoulder-to-shoulder.”
As friendships grew stronger, the warm and welcoming environment attracted new participants each week. Ms. Volmer says, “When a new person joined, we would pause to make sure they would be brought up to speed. Everyone embraced new representatives as they got on board.”
A first-of-its-kind gathering
Imam Busaeri Ismaeel Adekunle, head of the Islamic Society of Papua New Guinea, says “As everyone expressed that day, this was a unique occasion and a first in our country.”
Commenting on the atmosphere of the World Religion Day gathering, Zha Agabe-Granfar of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs says, “This was a gathering under the ‘tent of unity’, as everyone listened to each other in an atmosphere of love, respect, and tolerance.”
After weeks of collaboration, the Monday event was an expression of what the religious communities had achieved together. In a peaceful setting in Port Moresby, holy texts from different religions were recited in several languages. When a representative of the Jewish community was unable to attend, a member of another faith who was fluent in Hebrew stepped forward to ensure scriptures of the Jewish faith would be heard.
Cardinal Sir John Ribat, Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese in Port Moresby who collaborated with the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs in organizing the World Religion Day event, offers his observations about the occasion, stating:
“Everyone was sharing the same message [of love] but from a different perspective. What does this mean? For me, the way I understand it is that with love one does not hold anything against another. It’s really the giving of one’s self fully for the good of the other. That it is about sacrificing for the other.
“We are all happy with how things turned out.”
The event was covered by a national newspaper and several online publications, as well as broadcast live on radio.
Walking together on a new path
The participants of the gathering, seeing new possibilities for further collaboration, have already planned to meet next week to reflect on future progress. Ms. Volmer says, “All of those involved have seen this as a precursor to a more profound dialogue on the role of religion in society.
“The reason for this is that in our society religion is an important part of the life of every individual, every family, and even institutions. Yet, people sometimes find it difficult to relate to one another because of the differences in their religious beliefs and practices. As a nation, we talk about being one, but how can we come together as one? The process leading up to World Religion Day and the event itself have given us a powerful example of how this is possible.”
Imam Ismaeel explains that the faith leaders hope that the mode of interaction among them in these gatherings will inspire the members of their communities to act in the same way. “[The event] has come and gone”, he continues, “and now we are going to the next stage. The going is good now.”
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of PNG sees a new path emerging before the faith communities of the country. Confucius Ikoirere, Secretary of the National Assembly, says, “The greater degrees of unity achieved among the religious leaders over the past month represents greater degrees of unity among entire religious communities, and signifies, however imperceptible it may be now, greater unity in our country.”
Ms. Agabe-Granfar says that the connection among those who have walked together through this process is profound. “Just months ago, many religious leaders and representatives barely knew or had yet to meet each other prior to this process. But as is common in Melanesian culture, once we know and understand each other, all arms are wide open.”
Religion News Service (RNS), thanks to a grant from the Guru Krupa Foundation, is pleased to announce that Dr. Khyati Y. Joshi has joined RNS as a columnist covering Hindus and Hinduism. Her first column focuses on Vice President Kamala Harris’ “embodied diversity” and how Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff offer a model for interfaith families.
Joshi is a professor of education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and a social science researcher whose work focuses on the intersections of race and religion in the United States.
“I’m looking forward to writing about current events and emerging issues that illuminate how religion is lived in America. My writing will combine my scholarship with stories from the daily experiences and sensations of being neither White nor Christian in a country where both are normative,” said Professor Joshi.
Joshi’s work has informed policy-makers, educators, and everyday people about race, religion, and immigration in 21st century America. She has lectured world-wide and published ground-breaking scholarly and popular work in her field, while also serving as an advisor to policy-makers and as a leader in the South Asian American community.
“We are excited by Khyati Joshi joining RNS and thank the Guru Krupa Foundation for making this possible. Her column will help RNS cover Hinduism and tell the many stories of the million-plus Hindus living in the U.S. and the many millions who live throughout the globe. Such storytelling is essential for RNS to fulfill its mission of covering the broad landscape of religion, faith and spirituality” said RNS’s publisher Deborah Caldwell.
Joshi joins an exemplary lineup of columnists at RNS. In 2020, RNS brought aboard as columnists Andre Henry (Written in Protest), Jonathan Merritt (On Faith and Culture), and Omar Suleiman (Islam Beyond Phobia).
All join legacy columnists Tara Isabella Burton, Charles C. Camosy, Thomas Reese, Jana Riess, Jeffrey Salkin, Mark Silk, and Simran Jeet Singh.
“Khyati combines her wide-ranging expertise as a scholar of religion with the perspective of a person living her faith in a multi-religious, multicultural world. I look forward to reading her month to month as she brings a ground-level look at the trends that are defining religion in America,” said RNS’s Editor-in-Chief, Paul O’Donnell
###
ABOUT RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
Religion News Service is an independent, nonprofit source of global news on religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS informs readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary, and is relied upon by readers, listeners and viewers in the United States and around the world. Visit ReligionNews.com.
<p class="post-meta">
<span class="date"><i class="icon-calendar"/> Jan 22, 2021</span>
<span class="meta-user"><i class="icon-user"/> <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/author/shyamal/" title="Posts by Shyamal Sinha" rel="author" rel="nofollow">Shyamal Sinha</a></span>
<span class="meta-cat"><i class="icon-book"/> <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/category/breakingnews/" rel="category tag" rel="nofollow">BREAKING NEWS</a>, <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/category/topnews/" rel="category tag" rel="nofollow">TOP NEWS</a></span>
<span class="meta-comment last-meta"><span>Comments Off<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration</span></span></span>
</p>
<hr class="none"/>
By Bureau Reporter
The democratically elected leader of Tibetan people Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay congratulated United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on being sworn in as the 46th President and 49th Vice President of the United States.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Wednesday at the US Capitol.
Dr Sangay expressed hope that the new administration under the leadership of President Joe Biden, will continue the United States’ steadfast support for Tibet and the Tibetan people.
“On behalf of the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan people, I would like to congratulate you on your inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America,” Sikyong said in a congratulatory message.
“For decades now, the US has supported the Tibet cause on various fronts, and we are always grateful to the US and its people. However, today the concern no longer remains only for the Tibetan people; instead, today the concern is for the global democracy and the universal ideals that have come under threat from authoritarian regime such as China.”
Sikyong welcomed President Biden’s message of hope, unity, and democracy in his inaugural speech and said, “I genuinely admire your decades of service to the nation, and your victory is an affirmation of the trust people of the United States places in you and the values that you stand for.. My sincerest congratulations and wishes on a successful term.”
Congratulating the first woman Vice President Kamala Harris, Sikyong said her ascension to America’s second-highest office as the first woman and the first woman of color is pathbreaking and her becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government marks a new era for women in global politics and leadership.
Sikyong also referenced Harris’ Indian heritage, adding that it was a matter of immense pride and inspiration for Indians across the world.
‘As you work towards the imminent challenges of restoring human rights, equality and climate change around the world, we hope that you will lend your pivotal voice to the just cause of Tibet and further strengthen decades-long US-Tibet ties.’
source – cta
<hr class="none"/>
COMECE President concerned for the erosion of Freedom of Religion in the Member States
In a statement published on Friday 22, January 2021, the President of COMECE, H. Em. Card. Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, expresses concerns for a draft law soon to be discussed in Denmark, that could impose undue hindrance on the fundamental right to freedom of religion by demanding sermons and homilies to be provided in the national language.
While respecting national legislative processes, the Head of EU Bishops expresses preoccupation for a broader, increasing trend of neglecting the fundamental right to freedom of religion in the EU Member States.
COMECE comprehends that the goal of the proposal is to prevent radicalisation and counter incitement to hatred and terrorism, but it would have a negative and discriminatory impact, “particularly towards smaller religious denominations, which are often formed of immigrant communities” – states Card. Hollerich conveying the solidarity of the EU Bishops to the Scandinavian Episcopate and other affected communities in Denmark.
COMECE encourages an intense and fruitful dialogue of the relevant public authorities with the impacted Churches and religious communities, and supports the role of the European Commission in helping identifying effective alternatives to invasive and potentially damaging legal solutions.
Photo: M. Migliorato/CCP/Ciric
Media
COMECE Communications Officer
Alessandro Di Maio
alessandro.dimaio@comece.eu
Tel.: +32 (0) 2 235 05 15
The Network for Democracy and Development (NDD) has stressed the need for Nigeria to leverage religion to promote peaceful co-existence in the country. The group, in a communiqué after a virtual press conference, said the high degree of mutual mistrust among Nigerians and the attendant tension that this generates should be a matter of concern for all, as cries of marginalization – real and imagined – are rife across the country.
The communiqué, signed by its National Coordinator, Tajudeen Alabede, said: “It is sad that Nigerians carry on as if the two main religions – Islam and Christianity – as well as the ethnic groups, especially the major ones, are political parties, which are in contest for power. “To a large extent, these issues, rather than good governance and sustainable development, still define our politics. Many Nigerians still care more about having their own people in positions of authority than having the right people who can deliver on the mandate of such offices.
“In 2020, three issues generated avoidable religious controversy on the national stage, namely the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, the death of Alhaja Asiyat Oyedepo and Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah’s Christmas homily. While we have seen a rise in ethnic agitation across the country, the protests by youths against police brutality last October brought to the fore the nation’s fragile fabrics.”
The group, therefore called on the Federal Government, especially the National Assembly, to review the inter-ethnic and inter-religious situation in the country and come up with laws that would guarantee Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and rights of citizens towards the attainment of greater national peace and stability.
“While there should be equal opportunity for all citizens, the policy on federal character should be reviewed to recognise the comparative advantage of states and regions,” it stated.
In order to build a more united and peaceful nation, NDD said that a country as diverse as Nigeria could not rely solely on partisan politics for sustainable governance.
“Thus, in our memorandum to the Ad-hoc Committee of the Senate on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, we recommended the conversion of the upper chamber of the National Assembly to a part-time, advisory body that would comprise cultural, religious, professional and civil society leaders.
“In the alternative, government may establish a permanent structure that will bring the nation’s cultural, religious, professional and civil society leaders into the governance system. Before now, government usually remembers these critical stakeholders at moments of crises. This has to change,” NDD stated.
It therefore recommended the recognition of the six geopolitical zones as the basis for political balancing in the Constitution, equal number of members of the House of Representatives from each of the states, equal number of ministers from each of the geopolitical Zones, and rotation of the office of the president among the six geopolitical zones.
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Under a tent in the peaceful environs of a nature park in Port Moresby, leaders and representatives of the diverse religious communities of Papua New Guinea (PNG) achieved on Monday what they had long hoped for: to gather in unity around what binds them all together.
The interfaith gathering marked World Religion Day and was a joint effort among many faith communities in the country. The idea for the event was suggested by the Bahá’ís of PNG last month, which struck a chord with the country’s religious leaders.
Gezina Volmer, Director of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of the country says, “The intention for World Religion Day was to create a space in which we could focus on the sharing of Holy writings around the one point that all agree on—the golden rule of treating others as one would wish to be treated, and, by doing so, highlighting that the purpose of religion is to foster love and harmony. Despite the initial trepidation, this focus allowed everyone to feel quite comfortable in participating.”
Preparing for the occasion and building consensus
Ms. Volmer explains that preparatory meetings were necessary in the lead up to the occasion in order to build consensus.
“The very first meeting was simply about bringing people together,” says Ms. Volmer. “It wasn’t more complicated than that. Because, if we don’t know how to come together, then this is the first step.”
Ms. Volmer continues to explain how the preparatory meetings strengthened bonds of friendship by allowing participants to contribute to some aspect of the program and to be of service to each other. “It was a collective effort”, she says. “There was a lot of joy. We all worked shoulder-to-shoulder.”
As friendships grew stronger, the warm and welcoming environment attracted new participants each week. Ms. Volmer says, “When a new person joined, we would pause to make sure they would be brought up to speed. Everyone embraced new representatives as they got on board.”
A first-of-its-kind gathering
Imam Busaeri Ismaeel Adekunle, head of the Islamic Society of Papua New Guinea, says “As everyone expressed that day, this was a unique occasion and a first in our country.”
Commenting on the atmosphere of the World Religion Day gathering, Zha Agabe-Granfar of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs says, “This was a gathering under the ‘tent of unity’, as everyone listened to each other in an atmosphere of love, respect, and tolerance.”
After weeks of collaboration, the Monday event was an expression of what the religious communities had achieved together. In a peaceful setting in Port Moresby, holy texts from different religions were recited in several languages. When a representative of the Jewish community was unable to attend, a member of another faith who was fluent in Hebrew stepped forward to ensure scriptures of the Jewish faith would be heard.
Cardinal Sir John Ribat, Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese in Port Moresby who collaborated with the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs in organizing the World Religion Day event, offers his observations about the occasion, stating:
“Everyone was sharing the same message [of love] but from a different perspective. What does this mean? For me, the way I understand it is that with love one does not hold anything against another. It’s really the giving of one’s self fully for the good of the other. That it is about sacrificing for the other.
“We are all happy with how things turned out.”
The event was covered by a national newspaper and several online publications, as well as broadcast live on radio.
Walking together on a new path
The participants of the gathering, seeing new possibilities for further collaboration, have already planned to meet next week to reflect on future progress. Ms. Volmer says, “All of those involved have seen this as a precursor to a more profound dialogue on the role of religion in society.
“The reason for this is that in our society religion is an important part of the life of every individual, every family, and even institutions. Yet, people sometimes find it difficult to relate to one another because of the differences in their religious beliefs and practices. As a nation, we talk about being one, but how can we come together as one? The process leading up to World Religion Day and the event itself have given us a powerful example of how this is possible.”
Imam Ismaeel explains that the faith leaders hope that the mode of interaction among them in these gatherings will inspire the members of their communities to act in the same way. “[The event] has come and gone”, he continues, “and now we are going to the next stage. The going is good now.”
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of PNG sees a new path emerging before the faith communities of the country. Confucius Ikoirere, Secretary of the National Assembly, says, “The greater degrees of unity achieved among the religious leaders over the past month represents greater degrees of unity among entire religious communities, and signifies, however imperceptible it may be now, greater unity in our country.”
Ms. Agabe-Granfar says that the connection among those who have walked together through this process is profound. “Just months ago, many religious leaders and representatives barely knew or had yet to meet each other prior to this process. But as is common in Melanesian culture, once we know and understand each other, all arms are wide open.”
The Chronicle
Joel Tsvakwi, Showbiz Correspondent
BULAWAYO-based minister of religion, gospel artist and leader of the Dumoluhle gospel ensemble, Reverend Dumoluhle Ndlovu of Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) is impressed by the reception his recently launched album is getting.
Titled Makwenziwe Indumiso, the 11-track album which features prominent gospel artist, Bethany Pasinawako on a track titled Ngiyabonga Baba has tracks, Ligcwalise Izwi lakho, Bika Konke KuJesu, Wazithwala Izono uJesu, Wenjenje uYehovah, Ungithwale, Ngikhangele Ngobubele, Shoko Renyu, Nkosi yami ubundithanda, Uphakeme and UThixo Unathi (bonus track).
“The album was launched on Facebook last Saturday and we’re looking forward to releasing it on WhatsApp anytime soon. To expand the album’s reach, we’ve submitted it to radio stations like Skyz Metro FM, Khulumani FM, National FM and Radio Zim, Radio 54 (UK) for consideration for airplay.
“Before the album launch, I did a pre-album release with Khulumani FM and I’m grateful for the support I was given by the station as it made the actual launch a success,” Ndlovu said.
Having dropped his debut album titled Makwenziwe Indumiso in 2019, Ndlovu has not turned back since.
“I’m appealing to fans in the country and those across borders to continue supporting me, even financially, on this new album,” he said.
On how he manages his calling and the demands of his musical career, Ndlovu said it’s all about time management.
“I’m a full time minister at Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and as for balancing the two, gospel music is part of ministering to people so I can safely say it’s a tool that’s used in Ministry. So it’s not that difficult to balance,” he said.
| Thursday, 21 January 2021 |