SPIRITUAL leader Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by US president Joe Biden for her lifelong commitment to volunteer service. The award has been given by the US president along with Americorps. The certificate that was awarded to her was signed by Biden.
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, the secretary-general of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and president of Divine Shakti Foundation and based in Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh in the state of Uttarakhand in north India, left for India 25 years ago from the US where she was born.
She reached India after graduating from Stanford University and while doing PhD and got involved in selfless service for children, women, survivors of natural disasters, environment, River Ganga and all water bodies and people of every race, religion, colour and creed.
She is a disciple of His Holiness Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, the president of Parmarth Niketan Ashram and founder of many charitable foundations.
In August, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji’s bestselling memoir ‘Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation’ was published by California-based Insight Editions and she shared in it the power of selfless service to heal and transform ourselves and our world.
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.