Give Indian citizenship to Tamil refugees: TN Chief Minister takes up initiative given by Guruji

Bangalore: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has backed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's call to give Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India.

Ravi Shankar said that his Art of Living Foundation had taken up the matter since August this year.

"We are conducting a signature campaign in support of this issue. We have over a lakh of signatories. We were about to bring this to the chief minister's attention when we learnt he is already taking up this matter with the central government," Ravi Shankar said.

"We hope that citizenship will be granted soon to the Tamil refugees," he said, adding that the foundation was now terminating its signature drive.

Several thousands of Tamils have taken refuge in Tamil Nadu since fleeing the war in Sri Lanka.

Worship of Cow and the Ganga integral to the nation-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

"The cow and Ganga are the eyes of the nation. But both these eyes are in danger today. The government statistics say that there will be only 20 cows against 1,000 people in the country by the year 2011. These are government statistics, the real situation may be more alarming. We cannot even imagine this situation in our country," said Sri Sri Ravishankar. He was talking to mediapersons in Bengaluru on September 15. The Press conference was organised by the Vishwa Mangal Gou Gram Yatra Samiti at the Art of Living International Centre. Sri Sri Ravishankar has extended full support to the Vishwa Mangal Gou Gram Yatra beginning from Kurukeshtra from September 30. Sri Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji of Ramchandrapura Muth and Sri Balagangadharanatha Swami were also present at the Press conference. Read More

War & peace, it’s in the mind

Islamic scholar and peace advocate Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Hindu spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talk about jihad in the Qur’an and Kurukshetra in the Bhagavad Gita.

Sadia Khan, the Maulana’s 24-year-old granddaughter, adds a youthful perspective with her questions. The dialogue was moderated by Narayani Ganesh Read More

Mysore Dasara festivities begin on traditional note

MYSORE: The 10-day long Dasara festivities began on a traditional note atop the Chamundi Hills on Saturday with special prayers being offered to Goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysore.

Sri Sri Ravishankar, founder, Art of Living Foundation, Bangalore, inaugurated the celebrations by lighting a traditional lamp and offering flowers to the idol of the goddess. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Minister in-charge of Mysore Shobha Karandlaje and Minister for Information Technology Katta Subramanya Naidu were among those present.Read More

Wing to Mysore for weekend

The first flight will taxi down with CM B S Yeddyurappa and Sri Sri Ravishankar of the Art of Living Foundation, besides others, for the inauguration of Dasara, tourism minister G Janardhan Reddy told reporters here on Wednesday. Depending on the response, KSTDC will work out chartered tourist packages to Mysore. To begin with, the packages will be on weekends, from Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. Read More

Chief Minister Invites Guruji to Inaugurate Dasara Festivities

Mysore, Sept. 12 (MRS)- Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa yesterday extended official invitation to Sri Sri Ravishankar Guruji of Art of Living to inaugurate the Dasara festivities this year.

The Chief Minister arrived at the Ashram of Guruji at Udayapura near Kanakapura at 9.15 pm and felicitated him with a traditional Mysore Peta, shawl and a garland of Mysooru Mallige and extended the invitation.

Yeddyurappa, who thanked Guruji for accepting the invitation, gave details about the programmes arranged during Dasara and sought the Guruji's blessings for the success of the festivities.

Guruji told the Chief Minister that his devotees, numbering about a thousand, will also attend the inaugural ceremony. They will travel in 20 buses.

The State Government will provide a helicopter or a chartered flight for the Guruji to travel to Mysore.

Mysore District in-Charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje, MLC Siddaraju, former MLC G. Madhusudhan, former MLA A.R. Krishnamurthy, Deputy Commissioner P. Manivannan and Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal accompanied the CM.

The Guruji blessed the Chief Minister and the dignitaries with shawls and garlands. Yeddyurappa and the accompanying dignitaries had dinner at the Ashram.

Guruji, who is of the view that the event should be celebrated in a grand manner, will inaugurate the festivities atop Chamundi Hill on Sept. 19. (Kind Courtesy Star of Mysore)

Taming stress through proper breathing

SHOPWISE President Bienvenido “Donnie” Tantoco III has found a means to take control of stress. Learning breathing techniques and understanding his needs and capabilities have enabled him to keep this demon at bay.

He discovered these skills at an Art of Living (AOL) foundation, a non-profit, non-denominational organization that aimed to strengthen society by empowering the individual. This is achieved through AOL programs (tel. 2166139 and 0917-8484898; e-mail info@artofliving.org.ph) that combat stress, foster friendships, and revive values.

“It’s a way of life started by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose main philosophy is non-violence and love. I heard about it through a friend. I noticed he was calm. Normally he was hyper. Read More

Guruji to inaugurate Indian Travel Congress

Delhi/ Hyderabad, 5th September 2009: Travel Agents Association of India’s (TAAI) Annual Conference- The Indian Travel Congress, 58th Convention and Exhibition which is scheduled to be held in Dubai from 29th September to 2nd October 2009 just got bigger and better!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the renowned Art of Living Foundation will inaugurate the special session on the 30th of September at Festival City Convention Center. To read more click this link Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to be a part of the ‘Indian Travel Congress’">

Global congress of spiritual scientists from October 2

BANGALORE: Varied views and theories on meditation, enlightenment practices and consciousness, all under one roof -- that is the Global Congress

of Spiritual Scientists, 2009. Scheduled to be held from October 2-5, the residential conference will take place at Pyramid Valley that houses the world's largest meditational pyramid, near Bangalore.

The event will be inaugurated after a keynote address by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It includes practical techniques, panel discussions, meditation sessions and interactive exhibits, with half-day and full-day modules. A demonstration on plant consciousness -- a plant's response to music -- is expected to be a main attraction Read More

Sri Sri Academy ready to open its doors in Feb

KOLKATA: A new-age school in the city, inspired by the philosophy of Sri Sri Ravishankar, is ready to open its doors to students.

At the Sri Sri Academy, which will give students an opportunity to broaden their vision and deepen their roots, admission at the pre-primary and primary levels have commenced for the first batch of students. Distribution of forms has started from September 1. Read More

Watch Guruji on UTV on Saturday and Sunday

The C-DOT Alumni led by its Founders Sam Pitroda, G.B. Meemamsi and M. V. Pitke celebrated the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of C-DOT in the month of August 2009. C-DOT is credited with starting the Telecom and IT revolution in India. Vandna and I are also C-DOT Alumni and were a part of the organizing team of the celebrations.

There was an event in Bangalore on Aug 29, in which Guruji along with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Sam Pitroda and others spoke on ‘Transforming India – Reaching the Bottom Half of the Pyramid’.

The event is being telecast on UTVi – it has been titled as Second Wave. The telecast timings are:

Saturday 5th September 2009 1:30 pm

Sunday 6th September 2009 10:00 am, 08:00pm

Second Wave videos will also be available on http://www.utvi. com/utvi- tv/tv

Guruji to Inaugurate the Dussehra at Mysore this year

Ms. Karandlaje said Sri Sri Ravishankar of the Art of Living Foundation had been invited to inaugurate the Dasara festivities atop the Chamundi Hills on September 19. The list of cultural events to be held at the Mysore Palace was ready, while the schedule for Yuva Dasara and other events were in the final stages of completion, she added. Read More

Leadership and love go hand-in-hand.

BANGALORE: "After connectivity, the next challenge is to benefit from the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution to improve education, health, agriculture, financial services and e-governance, and bring growth to the doorsteps of those at the bottom of the social pyramid," National Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda said on Saturday. Towards this end, India Think Tank, a non-profit initiative by alumni of the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), has been set up. Announcing its formal opening on Saturday, former president APJ Abdul Kalam said: "Vision drives a nation. Without a clear vision, a nation is akin to a balloon without air. Vision needs passion and passion will transform vision into action.'' Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder, Art of Living, said: "Leadership and love go hand-in-hand. Only a leader who loves his people naturally, selflessly and unconditionally will reap success."

Source : Times of India