International Yoga Day

International Yoga Day

International Yoga Day Live Updates: June 21 marks the fifth International Yoga Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ring in the fifth International Yoga Day through a mega celebration in Ranchi. Meanwhile, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and others will participate in events across the country to celebrate the event. Several programmes associated with International Day of Yoga are being organised with great enthusiasm in various countries. All Indian missions across the world have been asked to celebrate the International Day of Yoga in a grand manner. A video message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been sent to all embassies for screening at the beginning of the yoga day celebrations. 

President Ram Nath Kovind said he was happy that the International Day of Yoga is being celebrated at Rashtrapati Bhavan. "I'm happy that like previous years, we are celebrating Yoga Day this year too. It's not just an event, but a way to make yoga an integral part of our life," the President said.

Yoga reflects the Bharatiya way of life of co-existing harmoniously with the nature and all other living creatures: Venkaiah Naidu

Yoga aims for ‘balance’ and ‘equanimity’, ‘peace’, ‘poise’ and ‘grace’. It is a sublime expression of the quest for excellence, for synthesis and for harmony. It is an eloquent epitome of the Indian world view: Venkaiah Naidu

Yoga advocates that to the extent we reduce the external paraphernalia in our life, and even clear away the clutter of our mind, the more we will be able to concentrate and find inner peace: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi

Yoga is a way of life that entails simplicity, honesty, compassion, and respect for all creatures and nature. It is a lifestyle based on non-violence at every level – in thoughts, feelings, words and actions: Venkaiah Naidu

Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to International Yoga Day 2019:

1. "Yoga belongs to everyone and everyone belongs to yoga," PM Modi said, addressing the crowd at Ranchi's Prabhat Tara ground. "Today, we can say that awareness of yoga in India has reached every corner, to every section. Drawing rooms to board rooms, From cities and parks to sports complexes, yoga can be experienced today from street to wellness centres," he added. PM Modi reached Ranchi on Thursday night and stayed at the Raj Bhavan.

2. PM Modi said research on yoga needs to be strengthened. "Today when the world is accepting yoga, we also have to further research on yoga; we have to unite yoga with fields of medicine, physiotherapy, artificial intelligence," he said.

3. Four hundred makeshift toilets, over 200 drinking water kiosks, eight medical teams, 21 ambulances, disaster rescue force personnel and more than 100 CCTV cameras are in place at the venue. Twenty-eight giant screens have been installed for live telecast of the event.

4. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended an early morning yoga session at Rajpath in Delhi, along with New Delhi lawmaker Meenakshi Lekhi and a large number of people. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and East Delhi lawmaker Gautam Gambhir attended a yoga session at the Yamuna Sports Complex in Shahdara.

5. The Delhi BJP is hosting around 300 yoga sessions across the capital, in which about 10 lakh people are expected to participate, state chief Manoj Tiwari said. "Senior BJP leaders and union ministers will take part in 40 big events on International Yoga Day," he added.

6. BJP working president JP Nadda too performed yoga, along with other party leaders and workers, at a park across the sprawling headquarters of the party on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg. Newly-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla participated in an event on the premises of the Parliament House complex.

7. The UN General Assembly had declared that June 21 would be observed as International Day of Yoga every year in December 2014 based on a request from PM Modi who has led a concerted effort to push yoga into the mainstream as a symbol of India's soft power in the world.

8.Since 2015, the International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on June 21 with millions participating in events across the world. The slogan for this year is "Yoga for Heart".

9.All Indian missions across the world have been asked to celebrate the International Day of Yoga in a grand manner and a video message from PM Modi has been sent to all embassies for screening at the beginning of the yoga protocol, the External Affairs Ministry said.

10.Last year, PM Modi had marked the day with an event in Dehradun and was joined across the country by tens of thousands in events held from the valleys of Ladakh to the deck of an aircraft carrier floating off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar islands.