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Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Nearly one in every four persons in India incorporating yoga, reveals Ayush ministry survey
National Cadet Corps cadets practice Yoga ahead of International Day of Yoga in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) NEW DELHI: India has been holding yoga events every year on June 21 since 2014, when UN adopted India's resolution to mark the day as International Day of Yoga (IDY). Celebrating IDY was first proposed by PM Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Highlighting yoga's universal appeal, he suggested the Summer Solstice - June 21 - as the appropriate day for the purpose. With 177 UN member states co-sponsoring the resolution, the proposal received overwhelming support, with IDY being first celebrated in 2015. A survey commissioned by Ministry of Ayush has found that this exercise has led to nearly one in every four persons in India incorporating yoga - which includes asana sequences, breath control exercises and meditation - into their lifestyle. While 11% of the respondents - 30,084 people from across the country - said they practise yoga daily, 13% said they do it sometimes. However, 75% of people still don't practise yoga. To encourage such people, the survey report suggests complementing high-visibility flagship events such as IDY with grassroots mobilisation, digital platforms, and institutional partnerships. One of the moves by govt in this direction is a plan to upgrade existing parks in various panchayats (rural) and municipalities (urban) into Yoga parks where people can practise yoga every day. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The Ayush ministry report also calls for embedding yoga instruction within school and university wellness programmes to foster early habit formation among young adults (18-24 years). The middle-aged groups can benefit from flexible work arrangements and digital access, which offer opportunities to scale virtual and office-based yoga interventions and convert occasional participants into consistent practitioners, the researchers suggest. They highlighted that nearly 17% of the elderly - the highest of any age group - practise yoga regularly. "The elderly people recognise the benefits of yoga, but they face barriers in including the practice in their daily lives. To address this, senior citizens-focused modules-such as chair-based asanas, balance exercises, and guided breathwork- should be delivered through community health centres and assisted-living facilities, ensuring that older adults can safely and confidently integrate yoga into their daily routines," said Raghvendra Rao, director of Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN). He also stressed the need for more yoga trainers and accessibility to yoga classes, offline or through digital mode. Subhash Giri, professor of medicine at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital, stressed that yoga provides numerous physical, mental, emotional, and long-term health benefits. Saima Wazed, regional director of WHO Southeast Asia said: "The benefits of yoga are well-documented. Studies have shown that 77% of people report feeling physically stronger after practising yoga regularly; 82% of patients with chronic inflammation experienced a nearly 50% reduction in symptoms after just six weeks of daily yoga. A study by Harvard Medical School found 60% of participants with depression experienced a significant reduction in symptoms after practising yoga twice a week for eight weeks".
The Star
14-06-2025
- General
- The Star
Death toll in Indian plane crash climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies
A crane lifts the tail of the Air India plane, which crashed on Thursday, from the roof of a building in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. -- AP Photo/Ajit Solanki AHMEDABAD, India (AP): Search and recovery teams continued scouring the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters for a third day after the Air India flight fell from the sky and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday. The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived. Recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris, officials said. Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds. "He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' Gameti said Saturday. Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable. Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process. "Where are my children? Did you recover them?' asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. "I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions." Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative's body would be handed over to the family for last rites. "Give us the body,' the relative insisted. Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government says it has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee to examine the causes leading to the crash. The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future and "will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement. Authorities have begun inspecting Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday in New Delhi at his first news briefing since Thursday's crash. Eight of the 34 Dreamliner aircraft in India have already undergone inspection, Kinjarapu said, adding that the remaining aircraft will be examined with "immediate urgency.' The government is eagerly awaiting results of the crash investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and all necessary steps will be taken without hesitation, Kinjarapu said. Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, which was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had started working with "full force' to extract the data. The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape. Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, the engine lost power, alarms were going off inside the cockpit and if the plane's crew correctly logged information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said. Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said. Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts. - AP (Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi contributed to this report.)
The Star
14-06-2025
- General
- The Star
‘Bird strike a possible cause'
The tail of the airplane is seen stuck in a building at the site of an airplane that crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Investigators will need to understand the nature of a mayday transmission from an Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday, but a possible cause could be a bird strike, preventing the plane from achieving the optimum speed for take-off, aviation experts said. Aviation professional Hemanth DP said that the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had a spotless record. 'If a plane of this calibre and size has to crash at such a low height of about 600 feet (183m) minutes after take-off, it must have been a catastrophic failure,' said Hemanth, chief executive officer of Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy in Hyderabad. Air India Flight AI171, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was heading to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. Hemanth said it was too early to tell with certainty what had happened, based on amateur videos of the crash taken from the ground. He said it would take a very large flock of birds, and both engines ingesting the birds simultaneously, to bring the plane down so quickly after take-off. A bird strike is considered one of the most common wildlife hazards in aviation. It tends to happen during take-off, landing, or low-altitude flight, when planes are most likely to encounter birds. Bird strikes can be dangerous, especially if birds are ingested into aircraft's engines or hit critical components such as the windscreen or wings. Over 90% of bird strikes occur at low altitudes during take-off and landing. When a bird strike occurs, pilots may declare a mayday emergency. The Air India pilot made a mayday call before the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation said. A bird strike was believed to be a factor in the crash of a Jeju Air plane in South Korea in late December 2024, which killed 179 people. Feathers and blood were found in both engines. The Boeing 737-800 plane, which departed from Bangkok for Muan county in south-western South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport's runway, bursting into flames after hitting an embankment. One of the pilots reported a bird strike and declared an emergency shortly before trying to land. In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The plane, an Airbus A320, had flown into a flock of geese, severely damaging both engines. Michael Daniel, managing director of consultancy Aviation Insight, said the nature of the mayday emergency transmission will be crucial information for investigators. Video footage shows the plane's landing gear was down and the flaps retracted. 'This would be counter to normal take-off procedures unless the 'declared' mayday affected the take-off,' said Daniel, who is also a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators. 'Normally, (raising) the gear up is one of the first items to do soon after rotation, in order to gain airspeed.' Rotation refers to the point when the pilot takes off from the surface of the runway, raising the nose of the airplane to fly. While it would be presumptuous at this point to draw any conclusions, he added that the video footage will give some indication of the data to be used in investigations. 'Setting aside the search and rescue efforts, the investigators will need to locate and interpret (what is on) the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder,' he said. — The Straits Times/ANN
The Herald Scotland
12-06-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Ahmedabad plane crash kills 241, including 52 Britons, Air India confirms
It is one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed. One British man survived the crash, and his relatives said he had 'no idea' how he escaped the aircraft. In a statement Air India said: 'The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew. 'The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. 'The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital. The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national. 'The survivor is a British national of Indian origin. 'Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is believed to be the only survivor of the crash. (PA Graphics) Speaking outside the family home in Leicester, his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, said: 'We were just shocked as soon as we heard it. 'I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We're devastated, just devastated. 'He said 'I have no idea how I exited the plane'.' Speaking to Sky News, Nayan said: 'He video-called my dad as he crashed and said, 'Oh, the plane's crashed. I don't know where my brother is. I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane'.' Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Mr Ramesh, said: 'He was disorientated, with multiple injuries all over his body. But he seems to be out of danger.' Video footage on social media and Indian news sites appears to show Mr Ramesh walking away from the site shortly after the crash. Three Britons who died in the crash were named by the Gloucester Muslim Community on Facebook as Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their four-year-old daughter Sara. People stand around the debris of the plane (Ajit Solanki/AP) British couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre, were also reportedly killed. A video on Instagram taken before take-off showed them laughing and joking as they told of a '10-hour flight back to England'. In an earlier post they told of their 'mind-blowing' trip to India and their intention to make a vlog about it. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has chaired a Cobra meeting of senior ministers about the crash, the PA news agency understands. Images taken after the incident showed debris from the plane scattered around the area, including parts of the fuselage, tail and landing gear embedded in the BJ Medical College building. Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, told the Associated Press that at least five medical students had been killed and about 50 were injured when the plane hit the college. The plane hit a college in Ahmedabad (Ajit Solanki/AP) Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10 million rupees (around £86,000) to the families of each of those killed in the crash. The company said it would also cover the medical costs of the injured and provide support in the 'building up' of the medical college. UK officials are being deployed to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. The King said he was 'desperately shocked' and Buckingham Palace said he was being kept updated. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was in constant contact with Indian authorities. He said: 'I think it is important for all friends and family to contact the Foreign Office so we can roll out this as quickly as possible, but it is an ongoing investigation. It'll take some time. 'But you know, our hearts and our thoughts are absolutely with the friends and families of all those affected who are going to be absolutely devastated by this awful news.' Sir Keir Starmer makes a statement at Downing Street (PA) It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after racking up billions of pounds of losses. The airline's UK operations are based at Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow, with routes to a number of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It started operating flights to Gatwick in March 2023, with 12 weekly departures including five to Ahmedabad. Gatwick said there was no impact on wider flight operations at the airport, but a Thursday evening flight to Goa had been cancelled. The FCDO said any British nationals requiring consular assistance, or who have concerns about family or friends, should call 020 7008 5000.
South Wales Argus
12-06-2025
- General
- South Wales Argus
Ahmedabad plane crash kills 241, including 52 Britons, Air India confirms
Air India confirmed 241 of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed on Thursday when the aircraft crashed into a medical college shortly after its take-off from Ahmedabad Airport. It is one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed. One British man survived the crash, and his relatives said he had 'no idea' how he escaped the aircraft. In a statement Air India said: 'The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew. 'The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. 'The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital. The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national. 'The survivor is a British national of Indian origin. 'Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is believed to be the only survivor of the crash. (PA Graphics) Speaking outside the family home in Leicester, his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, said: 'We were just shocked as soon as we heard it. 'I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We're devastated, just devastated. 'He said 'I have no idea how I exited the plane'.' Speaking to Sky News, Nayan said: 'He video-called my dad as he crashed and said, 'Oh, the plane's crashed. I don't know where my brother is. I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane'.' Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Mr Ramesh, said: 'He was disorientated, with multiple injuries all over his body. But he seems to be out of danger.' Video footage on social media and Indian news sites appears to show Mr Ramesh walking away from the site shortly after the crash. Three Britons who died in the crash were named by the Gloucester Muslim Community on Facebook as Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their four-year-old daughter Sara. People stand around the debris of the plane (Ajit Solanki/AP) British couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre, were also reportedly killed. A video on Instagram taken before take-off showed them laughing and joking as they told of a '10-hour flight back to England'. In an earlier post they told of their 'mind-blowing' trip to India and their intention to make a vlog about it. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has chaired a Cobra meeting of senior ministers about the crash, the PA news agency understands. Images taken after the incident showed debris from the plane scattered around the area, including parts of the fuselage, tail and landing gear embedded in the BJ Medical College building. Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, told the Associated Press that at least five medical students had been killed and about 50 were injured when the plane hit the college. The plane hit a college in Ahmedabad (Ajit Solanki/AP) Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, said it would provide 10 million rupees (around £86,000) to the families of each of those killed in the crash. The company said it would also cover the medical costs of the injured and provide support in the 'building up' of the medical college. UK officials are being deployed to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. The King said he was 'desperately shocked' and Buckingham Palace said he was being kept updated. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was in constant contact with Indian authorities. He said: 'I think it is important for all friends and family to contact the Foreign Office so we can roll out this as quickly as possible, but it is an ongoing investigation. It'll take some time. 'But you know, our hearts and our thoughts are absolutely with the friends and families of all those affected who are going to be absolutely devastated by this awful news.' Sir Keir Starmer makes a statement at Downing Street (PA) It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after racking up billions of pounds of losses. The airline's UK operations are based at Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow, with routes to a number of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It started operating flights to Gatwick in March 2023, with 12 weekly departures including five to Ahmedabad. Gatwick said there was no impact on wider flight operations at the airport, but a Thursday evening flight to Goa had been cancelled. The FCDO said any British nationals requiring consular assistance, or who have concerns about family or friends, should call 020 7008 5000.
