Q/ Prime Minister Modi has put yoga on the world map. How do you look at the nine-year journey?
A/ Ever since the declaration made by the UN General Assembly in 2014 following the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the International Day of Yoga (IDY) is celebrated globally, on June 21 every year. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness about the many benefits of practising yoga and to promote its global significance for individual well-being and holistic health. This was the ninth edition of the IDY and all editions have seen record mass participation. Successive observation of the IDY has resulted in establishing this event as a global one in all its essence, thereby taking the ancient science of yoga to every nook and corner of the world. This has positioned India as a champion of good health and well-being across the globe.
The nine-year journey has seen many firsts, which testifies that the inherent all-embracing appeal and efficacy of yoga surpasses all limiting concepts that have divided mankind for eons. Yoga is accepted by people of all ages, religions and ethnicities, and has established itself as a perennial gift of Indian wisdom to the world.
Major international institutions like UNICEF, the WHO and the United Nations, along with Indian missions abroad and national and international yoga institutions, have been actively engaged in making it a success. The event organised on IDY 2022 saw a massive participation— almost 22.13 crore people in India participated. And the global outreach through the various initiatives was recorded to be around 125 crore. We are expecting this number to increase this year.
This story is from the July 09, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 09, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Chase For The Mace
The next three years throw up a gamut of challenges for Indian cricket; winning the World Test Championship is the most important
Two-horse race
Can the NC-Congress alliance reshape the future of Jammu and Kashmir?
Man-eaters don't spare women
Critics say Narendra Modi’s decade-long rule has been one of jobless growth. Factories produced more, companies earned more, owners profited more, the government earned more; but fewer hands were hired, or those who were hired got work for fewer days. Putting the last two together, economists said the Indian economy generated fewer ‘man-days’.
Decolonising the mindset
The vision of a Viksit Bharat hinges on India T breaking from the shackles of a colonial mindset and embodying the freedom of being unapologetically Indian. The laws of any nation are the cornerstone of its growth. The legal system offers the stability and adaptability essential for a country to thrive. The laws must be simple to understand and specific in their consequence.
The making of India's Mr Difficult Words
When my publishers at Aleph invited me to put together a book on words and language, I hesitated for a brief moment.
Couture's creepy corridors
If one is spending a summer in New York, any summer in New York, an absolute must-do is to spend an afternoon at the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the edge of Central Park, just gawking in gobsmacked awe at the annual fashion exhibition the museum’s Costume Institute puts together.
Stree 2 has given us hope
The unprecedented success of Stree 2 is the best news we have had in the recent times and with an unabashedly feminist agenda, has comprehensively out-performed Sandeep Reddy Vanga's toxic masculine star-studded Animal at the box office is (to me, at least) kind of the cinematic equivalent of Awadhesh Prasad winning Ayodhya-it redeems my faith in the inherent decency of Indians.
BRANDS BEYOND RAMPS
Whether through carpets, fragrances or home interiors, Indian couturiers are defying their own limits
RESERVOIR OF WORRIES
India has a robust dam management systém on paper, but inadequate maintenance and climate change pose serious threats
INTER-STATE ISSUES HAVE NO EFFECT ON DAM SAFETY
INTERVIEW: KUSHVINDER VOHRA INTERVIEW Chairman, Central Water Commission
