United States Congressman Joseph Crowley has nominated India's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the Nobel Peace Prize saying that the godman had helped bring peace to thousands of people through his Art of Living Foundation.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP has launched a fresh attack on Rahul Gandhi, questioning his frequent visits to Vietnam. The party's leaders have accused him of spending more time in the Southeast Asian country than his constituency and have demanded an explanation for his "extraordinary fondness" for Vietnam. Gandhi's foreign trips have been a target of the BJP's criticism in the past, with the party portraying him as unserious and unfit for domestic politics.
Shatrughan Sinha has been critical of the party's top leadership on several occasions in the past.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
The opposition party's attack came after Shashi Tharoor, not part of the four leaders nominated by the Congress, was named as the head of a delegation to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
Both services will be attended by family and friends, and will offer an opportunity for loved ones to share intimate memories and thoughts about the musician.
Rediff.com beings you some of Sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar's rare photographs from our archives.
A 100-year-old freedom fighter from Goa, a Dhak player from West Bengal who trained 150 women in the male-dominated field, and India's first woman puppeteers are among 30 unsung heroes who were awarded Padma Shri on Republic Day. Libia Lobo Sardesai, who played an important role in Goa's freedom movement, cofounded an underground radio station -- 'Voz da Liberdabe (Voice of Freedom)' -- in a forested area in 1955 to rally people against the Portuguese rule. She has been awarded the Padma Shri by the President on the occasion of 76th Republic Day. Also among the awardees is Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal who broke the gender stereotype by training 150 women in the male-dominated field. Dey also created a lightweight Dhak type, 1.5 kg less than the conventional instrument, and represented India at various international platforms and performed with Maestros like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain. A vocal advocate of woman empowerment, 82-year-old Sally Holkar transformed once dying Maheshwari craft and founded Handloom school in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, to give training in traditional weaving techniques. Born in America and Inspired by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar's legacy, she devoted five decades of her life to revitalise 300-year-old weaving legacy. She has also been awarded Padma Shri.
Sarod superstar Ustad Amjad Ali Khan pays tribute to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar
He was a formidable musician but seemed utterly human, a Peter Pan who wore his genius with deceptive lightness. Sandip Roy remembers Ustad Zakir Hussain.
'Spirituality, without which India would have become like the Balkan States a long time ago,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, continuing our Independence Day special series where 66 well-known Indians tell Rediff.com what they love most about India.
Eight years ago, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain had narrated how his father Alla Rakha had welcomed him into this world by putting the musical instrument's rhythms into his ears when asked to recite prayers.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from the controversial comments of some of its leaders on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that only the recent CWC resolution and the views expressed by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and authorised AICC office-bearers represent its position. The opposition party's assertion comes in the wake of remarks by leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Hameed Karra and Saifuddin Soz that have triggered a row, with the BJP alleging that some from the opposition party were speaking "Pakistan's language".
Friends, family members and followers, who came to pay tribute to music maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar were welcomed with white roses and vermilion on forehead on Thursday in his hometown Encinitas, in Southern California. Ritu Jha reports.
Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar wore an oxygen mask for his last public performance at the California State University at Long Beach in the US on November 4 as he was suffering from respiratory problem.
The demise of Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar has sent shockwaves throughout the world.
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday sought Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's reply on an application which alleged the spiritual guru had termed its earlier order as "politically motivated".
'Where people in the name of religion kill each other, kill others just to go to heaven, and thinking only they will go to heaven,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
He will be the first spiritual master from India to visit Pakistan on such a mission, a statement from Sri Sri Media Relations said.
'The theory of karma and the principle of dharma go hand in hand,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
'It just pays tribute to the greatness of music, which knows no barriers," claims Dev Anand, about his dream project, Song Of Life.
Lack of understanding, sense of belonging, trust, and probably misinterpretation of scripture are causes of religious extremism, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at an interaction organised by a neo-conservative American think tank. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC
'The spontaneity was always there; it gave me and others a lot of happiness for some time, but it brought sorrow also,' he said commenting on his love life in The Times daily.
Elaborating on this, Dr. Manikantan and Dr. Nisha Manikantan, senior ayurvedic doctors at Sri Sri Ayurveda centre said, "Swine flu invades the body because of a breakdown in immunity. And Ayurveda offers simple & effective remedies to boost immunity & build resistance.
As supporters of Prasad and Sinha shoved each other and exchanged blows, they were quelled by security personnel deployed at the airport.
In an attempt to corner the Centre, the Opposition raised the issue of the Indian Army's involvement in the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living event.
Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar is set to receive a posthumous lifetime achievement Grammy award, organisers announced on Wednesday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and C P Thakur were detained in Patna on Thursday during a protest against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government over Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail and the hike in diesel prices. Several other opposition leaders have also been detained by the police.
The ashes of the late Pandit Ravi Shankar, the noted sitar player who passed away last week, will be taken to Varanasi for the final rites, Lakshmi Shankar, the musician's sister-in-law, told rediff.com at a memorial service held at the Self Realisation Fellowship Ashram Center in Encinitas, Southern California.
With old age leaving its imprint on his health, legendary musician Pandit Ravi Shankar's sitar was growing smaller in size and lighter in weight.
A close aide of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Saturday claimed that the founder of the 'Art of Living' has received death threats in Malaysia from the Islamic State terror group.
Meditation is the key that would help in tackling various challenges that come our way --that's the message that a recently-organised session by the Art of Living Foundation titled 'colours of joy' sought to deliver to around 1,200 children from around the country.
Spritual Guru and member of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that he was deeply pained over the toll of casualties during the Sri Amaranth pilgrimage year after year.
Rekha Gupta, a former DUSU president and a long-time member of the RSS, has been chosen as the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly and will become the fourth woman chief minister of Delhi. She won the Shalimar Bagh seat in the February 5 Assembly polls, defeating her AAP rival Bandana Kumari. Gupta, a BCom graduate and lawyer, has a long history of working for women's welfare, having served as the national secretary of the BJP's youth wing and the national vice-president of BJP Mahila Morcha. The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after over 26 years, ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
The actor-turned-politician whose criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grown progressively sharper, didn't figure on the BJP's list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday dared Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to become prime minister.
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
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