Guwahati: On the occasion of the World Health Day, the Ministry of Ayush organised a Yoga Utsav at the iconic 15 August ground at Red Fort here today. The event also kickstarted the 75 days countdown to the International Day of Yoga (IDY).
The event was graced by the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla as the Chief Guest. The event saw active participation from many Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ambassadors of various countries, Yoga gurus, senior officials and volunteers as they performed Common Yoga Protocol (CYP).
The Union Minister of Ayush, Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal; the Union Minister of Tourism, Culture & DoNER Shri G Kishan Reddy; the Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Forest & Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav; the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Smt.
Meenakshi Lekhi; the Union Minister of State for Education and External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh; the Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment and Petroleum & Natural Gas Rameswar Teli; and the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Shantanu Thakur were present. Among Members of Parliament, who attended the event, were Jagadambika Pal, Rajendra Agarwal, Sunita Duggal, Mangala Suresh Angari, C Laltlanthanga, Phangnon Konyak, Topon Kumar Gogoi, Rajdeep Roy and Horen Singh Bey.
A number of dignitaries and officials from Embassies & High Commissions of many countries including Sweden, Hungary, Vietnam, Madagascar, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Togo, Peru, Kyrgyzstan and Zimbabwe participated in the Yoga Utsav ensuring global presence at this ceremonial event to begin the 75 days countdown to the 8th International Day of Yoga this year. The International Day of Yoga is celebrated all over the world on June 21 every year.
While addressing the gathering, the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla outlined the importance of Yoga and said, “Yoga is the symbol of India’s rich cultural heritage. He greeted everyone on World health day and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking yoga to the world.”