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.
A US court has reserved its ruling on the Congress party's plea for dismissal of a human rights violation case relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence filed by a US-based Sikh rights group.
A man was killed and nine others were injured when five coaches of a suburban train derailed near Titwala in Thane district here Thursday, officials said.
Khushwant Singh, author, journalist, commentator, wit and raconteur par excellence, died at his home here Thursday morning, in his 100th year of birth, after having led a life that, in the words of his son, "touched the stars" and left an indelible and acerbic mark on Indian journalism and contemporary writing.
The electronic visa facility or e-visa is in its final stage of development and is expected to be introduced this year, a tourism ministry official said Wednesday.
BJP veteran L.K. Advani will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Gandhinagar in Gujarat while prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will fight from a second seat from Vadodara in the same state, the party announced Wednesday.
