Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Say No To Padma Award
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Jan, 2015 03:08 PM
Yoga guru Ramdev and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Saturday declined to accept Padma awards, saying the honour could be given to someone else.
Ramdev declined the Padma Vibhushan - India's second highest civilian award - saying that while he was grateful for being chosen for the honour it should be given to someone else and not a "sanyasi".
In a letter to union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, he said he was grateful that the central government thought of his name, which he got to know from media reports, but the honour could be given to some other great person.
"I am a 'sanyasi' and want to serve the country without expecting anything," he said, adding that a recluse must remain the same while he is honoured or disrespected.
"I urge you to give this honour to somebody doing something great. I would be grateful to you," he said.
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also declined to accept the Padma award, saying it could be given to someone else.
The world renowned spiritual guru posted on Twitter that Rajnath Singh called him to inform about it but he declined to accept the award.
According to a statement issued by Art of Living in Bengaluru late Saturday, Ravi Shankar told Rajnath Singh over phone: "I thank the government for considering me for the Padma award. There are many other deserving people. Instead of me, I would like them to honour someone else."
The 59-year-old spiritual guru founded Art of Living in 1981 as an NGO for educational and humanitarian projects with a special focus on stress management.
The organisation operates in 152 countries the world over, benefitting about 370 million people worldwide.
The Indian space programmes are most cost effective and the cost incurred for the Mars mission was less than the money invested to make the Hollywood movie "Gravity", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here Monday.
The government Monday said it will facilitate the return of over 600 Indians from non-conflict areas of Iraq this week, as efforts continued to secure the safe release of Indians in captivity in war-torn areas of the Gulf nation.
Seeking to end an "unseemly controversy" kicked up by his views on sex education, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday denied that he proposes a ban on sex education in schools, saying he supports "pedagogy that is scientific and culturally acceptable".
At least five people were killed when the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed in Bihar early Wednesday, police said. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi ruled out sabotage while his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi asked a top police officer to visit the spot and oversee relief work.
How do you help your backward community living in remote, virtually inaccessible villages to progress if most of them are uneducated? Simple, finish your own studies, train as teachers and then use your knowledge to spread the cause in your home - as these nearly three dozen women are doing.
Amid concerns in the ruling NDA over the impact of rail fare hike on election-bound states, the railways Tuesday announced relief in monthly season tickets and second class suburban fares.
