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India Gazette
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"Began people's movement worldwide": Bansuri Swaraj lauds PM Modi's efforts in promoting yoga
New Delhi [India],June 21 (ANI): BJP MP from Delhi, Bansuri Swaraj on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts in promoting yoga globally, starting with the proposal for International Yoga Day in 2014 at the United Nations. Swaraj joined thousands of people at Delhi's Purana Qila to celebrate the 11th International Yoga Day, highlighting the significance of this ancient practice in promoting physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. She performed yoga alongside several enthusiasts under the guidance of Yogacharya Tanmay Gaud. The event was organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and featured a large turnout from across the city. 'I extend greetings to all on the occasion of International Yoga Day. When PM Modi put forth the resolution for this International Yoga Day in 2014, he began a people's movement worldwide in this regard,' she said while speaking to ANI. She also expressed gratitude to Guruji Tanmay Gaud and appreciated the Ministry of Culture for hosting the session at a heritage site like the Old Fort, linking India's ancient wisdom with contemporary practice. Swaraj highlighted that yoga is not just a physical discipline but a holistic practice that connects the body and soul, drawing from the core of Indian philosophy. Speaking on this year's theme, 'Yoga for One Earth, One Health', Swaraj said it reflects the need for harmony not only within individuals but also with nature. 'Today, the Prime Minister has rightly said that this theme is about global balance--about aligning mankind with nature, and moving from inner peace to global peace,' she added. Emphasising the significance of June 21, which is the longest day of the year, she said it symbolises the light and energy that yoga brings into our lives. Yoga Guru Acharya Tanmay Gaud, leading the session, said his organisation Nirvana Yogadham conducted yoga programs across various Archaeological Survey of India sites in Delhi to mark the occasion. 'We taught yoga to hundreds at Purana Qila today. Yoga is not just movement--it's a tradition and treasure that has guided humanity for millennia,' he said. Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, he added, 'Yoga is not just about flexibility of the body, but about living life skillfully. Lord Krishna said in the Gita: 'Yogah karmasu kausalam'--Yoga is excellence in action. It is a path to experience joy and uncover our true self.' Meanwhile, 2121 participants held the cobra pose for two minutes and nine seconds while performing yoga in Gujarat's Vadnagar on Saturday and achieved the Guinness World Record. According to Richard Stunning, official adjudicator at Guinness World Records, a record with a title for the most people performing the cobra pose in yoga began on Saturday. The minimum number of participants for the record was 250; they had to hold the Yoga Cobra pose for at least a minute. A total of 2184 participants breached the one-minute timeline; they ended up holding the cobra pose for two minutes and nine seconds. The Guinness World Records discounted 64 participants, after which 2121 participants held the cobra pose for two minutes and nine seconds to clinch the Guinness World Record. 'The Guinness World Records title that starts today is the most people performing the cobra pose in yoga, simultaneously. We set a guideline that everyone had to do it for at least a minute each, and we set a minimum target of 250 participants. Today, they did it for more than a minute, they did it for two minutes and nine seconds, and the total was 2185. We had to discount 64 participants. So the confirmed title is 2121 participants. Given we set a minimum of 250, this is smashing the Guinness World Record. Congratulations to everyone involved, and it's a fantastic achievement', Richard Stunning told ANI. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the main national event on the 11th International Yoga Day from Visakhapatnam. (ANI)
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Over 1.7 lakh vote in Nilambur byelection
More than 1.7 lakh voters reached polling booths to choose their Assembly representative in a byelection held in Nilambur on Thursday. At the close of the polling at 6 p.m., there were long queues of voters at several booths waiting for their turn to exercise their franchise. The fiercely contested byelection, which saw a quadrangular fight involving Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate M. Swaraj, United Democratic Front (UDF)'s Aryadan Shoukath, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Mohan George and Independent candidate P.V. Anvar, ended peacefully. According to the Election Commission, 70.76% of the 2.32 lakh voters had exercised their franchise by 5 p.m. The final figures of voter turnout are likely to cross 75%. The polling percentage of the 2021 Assembly election in Nilambur was 75.20. Polling began on a brisk note at 7 a.m. in 263 polling stations across Nilambur. Three polling booths were inside the forest: at Vaniyampuzha, Punchakolli and Nedumkayam, where tribespeople living in Nilambur forests voted. While the first two hours registered 13.15% polling, it rose to 30.15% by 11 a.m., 46.73% by 1 p.m., 59.68% by 3 p.m., and 70.76% by 5 p.m. Polling was delayed at some booths due to faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs). However, election officials addressed the issue by replacing the EVMs. As many as 1,200 security personnel were deployed for the byelection. Enhanced security was provided for 14 critical booths, including the three stations in tribal areas. After the polling, voting machines were shifted to the strongroom at Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School, Chungathara, where the votes will be counted on Monday, June 23. Mr. Swaraj voted at Government LP School, Mankuthu. Mr. Shoukath at Government LP School, Veetikuth, and Mr. George cast his vote at Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School, Chungathara. Mr. Anvar did not have a vote in Nilambur. Mr. Swaraj and Mr. Shoukath, who are the frontrunners of the electoral battle, met and shared their camaraderie during their visits to polling booths. Talking to media later, both expressed confidence of victory. It was Mr. Anvar's resignation as an Independent MLA of the LDF following his disenchantment with the CPI(M) and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan which necessitated the byelection in Nilambur. Interestingly, Mr. Anvar, who is currently All India Trinamool Congress State convener, is contesting again as an independent. He expressed confidence that he would secure more than 75,000 votes.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
CPI(M) on the back foot as its 1977 alliance with Jan Sangh resurfaces
A new controversy erupted on the eve of the Nilambur Assembly byelection on Wednesday over an alliance between the CPI(M) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the late 1970s. An alleged revelation by CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan during a media interview about the alliance put the LDF on the defensive with the rival United Democratic Front (UDF) seizing the opportunity to capitalise on the dispute. The volatile political rivalry between the UDF and LDF turned more intense on the election eve when both sides sharpened their accusations over allying with communal forces. Former BJP president K. Raman Pillai validated Mr. Govindan's statement that the CPI(M) had contested the 1977 election with the support of the RSS. Mr. Pillai told a TV channel that the CPI(M) had gleefully accepted the RSS support in the wake of the Emergency. The dispute put the LDF on the back foot in Nilambur at a time when it kept on attacking the UDF for taking the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami. In an attempt to turn the table, UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath said that there could be more such alliances during elections in future. Mr. Shoukath said he suspected a tacit understanding between the CPI(M) and the BJP in Nilambur. 'I suspect 100% the chances of an alliance between the CPI(M) and the BJP,' he said. LDF candidate M. Swaraj rejected Mr. Govindan's revelation and asserted that the CPI(M) had never cooperated with the RSS. He said the Left had cooperated with the Janata Party, which comprised groups with different views, against the Congress in the wake of the Emergency. Mr. Swaraj said that CPI(M) ideologue E.M.S. Namboodiripad had openly rejected the votes of the RSS. He alleged that it was the Congress which made an alliance with the Janata Party backed by the RSS. Mr. Swaraj also alleged that the Congress had fielded RSS leaders such as O. Rajagopal and K.G. Marar as its candidates in the State. CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam too rejected Mr. Govindan's revelation, saying that the Left had nothing to do with the RSS, which was the face of majority communalism. According to Mr. Raman Pillai, the CPI(M) and RSS drifted away after 1977. Meanwhile, the BJP said here that both the UDF and LDF were resorting to allegations about the RSS to divert attention from the key developmental issues in Nilambur.
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Nilambur bypoll turns into an intellectual wrestling match; voters still want roads, not rhetoric
MALAPPURAM: As Nilambur heads to vote on June 19 in one of the most talked-about bypolls in Kerala, the real battle isn't just between LDF's M Swaraj and UDF's Aryadan Shoukath -- it's also between two rival camps of writers and 'cultural icons' trying to out-endorse each other. Both candidates are widely accepted as members of Kerala's 'buji' (intellectual) circle -- well-read, well-spoken, and perhaps more likely to be found in a lit fest than a local market. The result? The campaign trail turned into something resembling a literary seminar with political banners. The buzz began when LDF launched a campaign fronted by cultural heavyweights, wrapped under the banner "Samskarika Keralam Swarajinoppam". In simpler terms: 'All the cultured folks are with Swaraj.' A public meet held on June 11 featured an all-star lineup -- K R Meera, Murukan Kattakada, Benyamin, Sheela Tomy, PT Kunjumuhammed and others -- who lent their names and reputations to push for Swaraj.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Cal HC to hear stay plea on new OBC list today
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court will decide on Tuesday whether to stay the state executive order that includes 140 subgroups, of which 80 are Muslims, in the new OBC list. The earlier list, struck down by the HC to a large extent, had 113 OBC subgroups with 77 Muslims and 36 others. Bengal assembly passed the new notification last week after the HC, on May 22, 2024, struck down the categorisation of the prevalent OBC A and B categories made post-2011. A host of petitions challenging the new state executive order were filed in the high court even when the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. The petitioners prayed for a stay on the executive order, calling it a "blatant violation" of a HC division bench order on May 22. A division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha on Monday adjourned the hearing of the matter till 2 pm on Tuesday to decide whether the prayer for a stay by petitioner Purabi Das could be granted. Senior counsel Bansuri Swaraj, supporting the prayer for a stay, pleaded that the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes had violated guidelines set by the division bench for determining inclusion of communities under the OBC category. Citing the division bench order, Swaraj claimed it had directed a "fair, transparent and just" procedure for the process and asked for a survey of the whole population. "The commission held that it would be an absurd and unworkable proposition to conduct a survey of the whole population on each and every occasion the commission considers inclusion of communities under OBC category. The commission instead chose Ashleyan's formula to determine the sample size for the survey," she said. Swaraj cited a nine-bench judgment of Supreme Court (Indra Sahwney vs Union of India) to argue that a survey means a survey of the whole population. Advocate general Kishore Datta submitted that the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the state had to urgently make recruitments and admissions in colleges and universities under OBC category, he said. Justice Chakraborty observed that the state could make recruitments from among the 66 OBC categories before 2010, which the HC didn't touch. Justice Mantha held that the state could undertake a special recruitment drive from among the new OBC list later. "We want to examine the process and its sanctity. We also want to see whether these classes were appropriately represented in the state. Now, if the state jumps the horse before the cart, we are left nowhere," Justice Mantha observed.
