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.
To celebrate the birth of daughters, the Haryana government has decided to celebrate 'Beti ki Lohri' on Jan 14, a state government spokesman said here Tuesday.
All the top luxury hotels in Delhi have been scanned, the security is being worked out to the last minute detail, and, yes, The Beast will very much be part of the official entourage of US President Barack Obama, chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade.
Over the past fortnight, the thousands who used to throng the pretty Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh's famous tourist attraction, particularly over the weekends, are missing. This Sunday was no different.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday met Hollywood actor Richard Gere here. "Mr. Richard Gere met Prime Minister @narendramodi," read a post from the @PMOIndia Twitter handle.
It's yesterday once more as 53 years on, Indian Army soldiers in the icy Himalayas, to go by a parliamentary panel's report, suffer a crippling shortage of snow boots, ski masks and ammunition, among others - precisely the cause of the crushing defeat inflicted by the marauding Chinese forces in 1962.
