Sri Sri Inaugurates ‘Smart Village’ Project In Chikmagalur

Posted on: Wednesday, October 7, 2015 | Posted by: Art of Living Universe


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Art of Living Founder and Spiritual Leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inaugurated a ‘Smart Village’ project in Sadarahalli village, Chikmagalur district on 1st October 2015.

Speaking on the qualities of an ideal village, Sri Sri said, “A village should be free of casteism and alcohol while maintaining cleanliness in its surroundings.Villagers are moving to cities for economic reasons. We should make our villages smarter and bring back our people. Everybody should work for our villages.”

The ‘Smart Village’ aims to have a yoga centre, ayurvedic research centre, digital library, food processing centre, permaculture centre, farmer training center, organic farming facilities herbal garden and a ‘Goshala’ for native cows.

Chikmagalur MLA, Mr. C.T Ravi, Ms. Gayatri Shantegowda MLC, Chikmagalure, Zilla Panchayat President Ms. Kavita Belliprakash, District Commisioner Mr. Shadakshara Swamy were also present.

A second Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purification plant has been set up which will provide pure drinking water to around 10,000 people in Lakya Hobli here. In May 2014, one such plant had already been set up.

“Farmers have been facing problems as the rivers are dried up due to lack of rainfall. We are working on methods that will supply water to the villagers with the same amount of rainfall,” said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar referring to the river rejuvenation projects.

Sri Sri visited the ‘Vedavathi’ Phase II project centre in Chikmagalur. The Art of Living volunteers along with the panchayat and villagers have helped bring up the ground water level from 600 ft to 50 ft over a 377 sq. km (spread across 49 villages) area during the Vedavathi Phase 1. The Phase 2 of the project is spread over 5000 sq km covering 1097 villages. This project which aims at reviving river Vedavathi, targets 100 days of employment to around 60,000 people who are below poverty line.

The Art of Living, which is better known for spreading happiness across the globe, has embarked on a unique rejuvenation programme to instill life into the “dying” rivers across Karnataka and Maharashtra.

In Karnataka, river rejuvenation projects are ongoing for Vedavathi Kumudvathi and Palar Rivers.

In Maharashtra, the organisation’s Jal Jagruti Abhiyan has worked in 11 districts of the state; addressing water issues in a concerted and effective way. The campaign, which is aimed at finding ways to overcome the severe drought situation in Maharashtra, has been working on eleven river projects across the state.

Source: AOL Global Website

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Private Schools Must Reserve 25% Seats for Poor

Posted on: Monday, October 5, 2015 | Posted by: Art of Living Universe


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Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar asked private schools not to be greedy and asked them to ensure that students from the socially and economically-backward sections get their 25% reserved quota in private schools as per the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

The founder of the popular global spiritual movement, The Art of Living Foundation, was invited as chief guest for a national seminar of private schools being hosted by all Goa government recognized unaided schools' association.

"Private schools are doing a good job. But please do not be greedy. See that poor students are given the 25% seats reserved for them. There would be no need to add that clause in the law if schools were already giving seats to poor students. Some private schools are doing it. Others too need to do it," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, speaking to an audience running into hundreds of followers at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao.

The spiritual guru, who has a following in several countries and among those coming from varied religious backgrounds, was speaking at the opening event of a two-day seminar of private schools where they will deliberate on improving the quality of education in India. Provisions of the Right to Education Act will be one of the main topics of discussions. The private schools plan to send their suggestions to the Union human resource development ministry.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told schools not to limit the discussions to only improving quality in the private and city-based schools during the seminar. "As you'll hold the deliberations, also deliberate on the quality of education in government schools and what can be done for them so that good education can reach every village in the country and India can become a vibrant place," said the leader, who runs several schools in rural areas in the country serving poor students.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also asked teachers to work more dedicatedly. "Teachers get two months' vacation annually, unlike any other profession. Their pay too is quite good now. It is one profession where the teacher can live his or her childhood throughout their career through the children they teach. Teachers should not just teach the curriculum and leave. They should bring creativity in their teaching by making use of their individual talent."

Source: TOI

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Dear ones,

Download OCTOBER 2015 Calendar with beautiful picture of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, by visiting the Art of Living Universe website: www.aoluniverse.org/SriSriCalendars. Available in 3 different screen resolution size.

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