Swami Ramdev

Swami Ramdev (1965 - ), also known as Baba Ramdev, is an Indian, Hindu swami. He is particularly well-known for his efforts in popularizing Yoga. His yoga camps are attended by a large number of people. People follow his yoga camps through TV channels and video. He is also one of the founders of the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust that aims to popularize Yoga.

Ramdev was born as Ramkishan Yadav in 1965, in Alipur in the Mahendragarh district of Indian state of Haryana. He attended school till the eighth grade in Shahjadpur. He then joined a gurukul in Khanpur village to study Sanskrit and Yoga. Eventually, he renounced worldly life and entered into Sanyas (monastic living) - taking his present name.
He then went to Jind district and joined the Kalva gurukul and offered free Yoga training to villagers across Haryana.

Ramdev spent many years undertaking an study of ancient Indian scriptures. At the same time, he also practiced intense self-discipline and meditation.

In 1995, Ramdev established Divya Yoga Mandir Trust with Acharya Karamveer and Acharya Balkrishna. Acharya Karmaveer is well-versed in Yoga and Veda while Acharya Balkrishna is a physician with a degree in Ayurveda.

He has also founded the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, an institution for treatment and research in Yoga and Ayurveda, in Haridwar. The trust provides several free services to all visitors.

Ramdev has taught several aspects of traditional Indian scriptures such as Ashtadhyayee, Mahabhashya and Upanishads along with six systems of Indian Philosophy in various Gurukuls. He has helped establish Gurukuls in Kishangarh, Ghashera, and Mahendragarh in India.

His educational show is broadcast on the religious TV channel Aastha, as well as shows on Zee network, Sahara One and India TV. He has been regularly conducting yoga camps all over India and even abroad.

In January 2007, KIIT University awarded Swami Ramdev with an Honorary Doctorate degree in recognition of his efforts at popularizing the Vedic science of Yoga. The degree was presented to him in a ceremony presided over by the respected scientist and Nobel laureate Richard Ernst.

Bharat Swabhiman

For changing governance policies, he has initiated a movement named Bharat Swabhiman along with Rajiv Dixit.

The five goals of Bharat Swabhiman campaign are:

    100% voting
    100% nationalist thought,
    100% boycott of foreign companies and adoption of swadeshi,
    100% unification of the people of the nation and
    100% yoga-oriented nation.

As a part of campaign, Baba Ramdev has been organising yoga camps across India to create awareness amongst people against corruption and black money.

Protests against black money

Swami Ramdev has been associated with the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement and was involved in the Jan Lokpal agitation . He plans to start an indefinite fast from June 4, 2011 to force the government to take steps to curb corruption, black money and bring back Indian money illegally stashed abroad.

In February 2011, he gave the following steps for eradication of black money.:
Withdrawal and demonetizing of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes - so as to avoid misuse of unaccounted money and quick arrest of the entire locally circulated black money, bribing, and fake note traffic.Agree to and accept the U.N. Convention against Corruption – pending since 2006.
 

Death penalty provision for the corrupt persons in Indian Penal Code.
 

Access, monitor and disrupt payment gateway servers enabling corrupt people to manage money in tax heavens.
 

Scrutinizing accounts of people having credit/debit cards of foreign banks without any foreign work/relation.
 

Disabling operations of any bank from a tax heaven country.