His Holiness to be conferred Santokbaa Award in Gujarat

DHARAMSALA, Dec 31: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be in Surat, Gujarat on Jan 2 to receive Santokbaa Manavratna Award.

The award, instituted by the SRK Foundation set up by Govind Dholakiya of the Shree Ramkrishna Exports, would be presented to him by Gujarat governor O P Kohli, reported the Times of India Dec 29.

“We are happy that Dalai Lama has agreed to accept the award. He has contributed immensely towards world peace,” the report quoted Govind Dholakiya as saying.

Previous winners of the award include Dr Sam Pitroda, Dr Vergese Kurian, Dr H L Trivedi, Narayan Desai, Poornima Pakwasa and Dr M S Swaminathan.

This will be the Tibetan Nobel Peace laureate’s first visit to the city.