Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation in Bengaluru is back in the news over an extortion call. Art of Living spokesperson Gireem Govind told rediff.com that the ashram had got calls demanding Rs 42 crore, failing which the organisation would be defamed.
Self-styled godman Nityananda Swami has courted fresh trouble for allegedly using kerosene meant for poor families during his meditation for 'penance' and may face a seven-year jail term if convicted.
The Bangalore police have formed two teams to investigate the attack on spiritual leader Shri Shri Ravishankar. On Sunday evening, an unidentified gunman shot at the convoy in which Ravishankar was traveling. He fired one bullet, which injured a devotee. Shri Shri Ravishankar was unhurt in the incident. While the devotees at the ashram suspect that it could be a terror attack, the police have ruled out such a possibility.
A Bihar court on Thursday awarded 10 years imprisonment to Praduman Kumar, locally known as 'Father Teressa', head of Lok Seva Ashram, an orphanage in village Chakwaja under Patedhi Belsar block in Vaisali district, for sexually abusing children.
"The Baba was hiding in a saree of his female devotees when we arrested him at 4.15 am." said G K Plillai, home secretary while talking to rediff.com. He said Baba is on his way to Hardwar in police custody, and he is calm and cooperating.
Sahim Salim travels to villages flooded by an overflowing Yamuna and assesses the damage that it has caused
No official estimate is available about the number of sadhvis and sanyaasins at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, but there is no dearth of women who have left their families behind and 'surrendered themselves to God's service'.
'Gods of different religions haven't warred, so we shouldn't either.'
He said 'in 2011, 2012 and 2013, lynching cases were much more than three years of our government, but no one raised questions then'.
The father of the girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Asaram Bapu, has been threatened by an unidentified person to withdraw the case or face dire consequences.
Vehicular movement came to a virtual halt as motorists were stuck in serpentine jams at almost all the arterial roads across the capital tonight following heavy rains that led to waterlogging and breakdown in traffic signals.
The Bengaluru police are investigating the alleged threat call made to spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar's Art of Living organisation three days ago.Recently, the AoL lodged a complaint alleging that someone had demanded Rs 42 crore from the organisation and threatened to tarnish its reputation if it failed to pay the amount.A day later, non-resident Indian Paul P alleged that AoL grabbed 15 acres of land on Kanakapura Road near Bengaluru where the AoL ashram is situated.
'Operation Green Hunt is nothing but an operation to get the tribals out of their villages. The paramilitary forces and Salwa Judum are attacking innocent old men, women and children,' says Gandhian Himanshu Kumar.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati may have spent thousands of crores from the state government's exchequer to fund the massive memorials, statues and parks paying tribute to her mentor Kashiram and herself, but she has no plans to offer any monetary compensation to the families of those killed in Thursday's stampede at an ashram in Pratapgarh.Most victims of the stampede, which claimed 63 lives, belonged to families living below the poverty line.
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered monetary compensation of 2 lakh ruppes to each to the families of those who died in Thursday's stampede in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has no plans to offer any relief to them.
This year, the United Nations will issue special stamps commemorating Yoga Day.
American terror suspect David Headley had visited the Osho Ashram located near the German Bakery in Koregaon Park -- where eight people were killed in a terror attack on Saturday -- twice in 2008 and 2009.The area also houses a Jewish prayer house. According to the probe by the National Investigation Agency, Headley had moved to Pune from Goa to conduct a reconnaissance of the area around Koregaon Park.
For little orphans, who are inflicted with HIV+, life in itself is no less than an obstacle. But thanks to people like Dr Manorama, who has been selflessly working for their welfare for a more than a decade now, hope blooms in those insecure hearts. Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier visits Dr Manorama's newly created home for these little angels -- Ananda Illam.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Salopek is on an intercontinental journey of 24,000 miles, tracing humankind's movement out of Africa right down to South America.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, whose killing last year had triggered riots, had rejected the police's request for deployment of security personnel within the campus of Jalespeta ashram on the grounds that it would not suit its atmosphere.
I want to make this clear again that the CAA is not about taking away anybody's citizenship, but about granting citizenship, Modi said.
No official estimate is available about the number of sadhvis and sanyasins at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela, but there is no dearth of women who have left their families behind and 'surrendered themselves to God's service'.
Foodgrains supplied to government -run residential schools in Maharashtra's tribal areas were "infected" and not fit for consumption, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Bombay High Court on Monday. Following the High Court's earlier orders in the case, CBI teams collected samples of foodgrains supplied to `ashram shalas' in the areas on June 18-19.
Ramdev's Patanjali is a low-cost, low-margin business that gets away with pretty much what it wants because wily old Ramdev knows how to get around all politicians, says Vir Sanghvi.
Amidst allegations of land grabbing, the Art of Living has decided to come clean and explain in detail as to how the land owned by it came into their possession in the first place.
The party will launch its 'Sevagram Se Sangram' likening its fight against Modi-led government to the freedom struggle against the British.
The officer, Dr Seema, said she had gone to the village on the directions of the DPRO to review developmental works.
'We have gathered the ECG details from different stages of Gandhiji's life and recreated his heartbeat on the digital medium. This will be a very interesting feature for the public,' says museum director A Annamalai.
The Uttar Pradesh government recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the murder of prime witness Akhil Gupta in a rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
American terror suspect David Headley stayed at the Osho Ashram in Pune twice during his visits to the city in 2008-09 but did not register himself as a foreign national with the police, a top official said on Tuesday.
Kripalu Maharaj, whose ashram witnessed a stampede killing 63 people, fled from the complex two hours after the tragedy and is untraceable, a district official said on Friday.
The victim's father said the alleged conversation was recorded eight months ago and he had got the tape from Kripal Singh, the slain key witness in the Jodhpur rape case.
Sanatan's managing trustee Virendra Marathe in a notice titled "There is no place for such people in Sanatan" published in its mouthpiece Sanatan Prabhat has said that "seeker having any type of anti-social attitude should not stay with Sanatan." Also, they should not have any association with sanatan, he added.
The intelligence alert that was received first was that terror outfits would target Chabhad House and Osho Ashram since there were many foreigners in these places and terror groups would be trying to get international attention. However, the plans were changed at the last minute, as they were not able to intercept these places. Based on the advisories and the alerts that were issued, the security in these two places was beefed up.
Addressing media persons after visiting the blast site and the Sassoon Hospital, where the injured have been admitted, Chidambaram said: "Many soft targets need to be monitored. The best police officers have been put on the job and the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad have taken over case."
A private helicopter carrying self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's son Narayan Sai and three others crash-landed, apparently due to a technical snag, in a cemetery at Gomatipur area in Ahmedabad, police said.
'As long as there is misery, as long as people let themselves be exploited by rogues, this will continue.'
Oscar winner Roberts along with her twins Hazel and Phinnaeus joined for mass lunch, reports suggest.
These gals are laughing all the way the the bank!
From Lord Ram's birthplace to where Sita was held captive by Ravana, this trip will be full of mythical stories.
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