Yoga is very apt for UN: Deputy secretary-general

Agencies
June 21, 2018

United Nations, Jun 21: Yoga is "very apt" for the UN and in today's complex world where stress and delusion are prevalent, the ancient Indian physical and mental practice plays a central role for wellness and peace of the mind and body, UN Deputy Secretary-General has said.

UN ambassadors, diplomats, spiritual leaders, members of civil society and children participated in a flagship Yoga Day event organised yesterday by India's Permanent Mission to the UN.

They enthusiastically participated in the two-hour long yoga session with the theme of 'Yoga for peace', performing different yoga asanas and exercises on colourful yoga mats spread across the expansive North Lawn in the UN Headquarters.

"Today's world is incredibly complex. We are challenged by an erosion of our core values and in many walks of life stress is given, delusion prevails especially amongst our youth…Yoga, deriving from the Sanskrit word of unity, is so very apt for the United Nations," Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, said in her address yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the International Day of Yoga.

Voicing her deep appreciation to India for organising the Yoga Day event, Mohammed underscored the importance of yoga in the overall well-being of individuals and even in various aspects of the world body's functioning.

"In the UN, our three pillars are stressed and therefore require us to be even more resolute in our service to humanity. Therefore, physical and mental health must be at the core of our attention to ourselves. And this is where yoga can play a central role," she said, referring to the three founding pillars of the UN system - peace and security, human rights and development.

She said balance in life is essential to living a long and healthy life and has deep meaning and a commitment to humanity and oneness with nature.

"Key elements of the body, mind and spirit woven into our human being allows us to know peace and tranquillity, giving a space in our minds for reflection which in turn allows us to be so much more productive and serving the values that we stand for," she said.

Mohammed noted that her appreciation of yoga has deepened over the years and given the manifold mental and physical benefits on yoga, she wished she had been exposed to the practice much earlier in her life.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said the growing popularity of yoga over the years and it's global embrace is based on the simple fact that "yoga works" for people across societies, age, gender, ethnicity and profession, by contributing to personal, physical and mental well-being and promoting individual and societal peace and harmony.

"Yoga which began in its home in India is now the common heritage of mankind, a lasting tradition that continues to be of great practical relevance in modern times and in times where we are beset with stress and conflict," he said in his address on the occasion.

Akbaruddin, who joined those gathered in performing yoga exercises and asanas, said yoga has become even more relevant as the world is recognising the critical importance of moving towards more sustainable lifestyles, in tune with surroundings and more in harmony with nature.

Several events have been planned by India's Permanent Mission to the UN at the world body's headquarters to commemorate the Yoga Day.

An exhibition on yoga was inaugurated in the UN building on June 18 and will run through June 22. As in past years, yoga postures were projected through lasers on the North Facade of the UN Headquarters Building.

A video message by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Yoga Day was played at the beginning of the event, which included yoga performance by students from India led by yoga expert Nisha Pushpavanam.

This was followed by songs by the Chinmoy Centre, a yoga session by Swami Parmananda of Sivananda and a talk on yoga by H R Nagendra, Yoga therapist, academic, writer and Founder Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) Deemed University, Bengaluru.

A panel discussion 'Conversation with Yoga Masters', on the theme of ‘Yoga for Peace’ will be held today.

The Indian Consulate General also organised the first International Yoga Conference, bringing together eminent yoga experts, scholars and practitioners from India and other countries to discuss and share ideas on benefits of yoga for personal well being as well as for community welfare and social cause. Indian Council of Cultural Relations President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe led the Indian delegation to the conference.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 1,2020

Mexico City, Aug 1: The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 688 to 46,688 within the past 24 hours, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said.

The number of victims in Mexico is now higher than in the United Kingdom, where 46,119 people have died of the disease. The largest number of fatalities - 153,311 - has been recorded in the United States, while Brazil comes second with 92,475 deaths.

Lopez-Gatell also said on late Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 8,458 to 424,637 over the past day.

A day earlier, the Latin American nation recorded 7,730 new cases of the coronavirus, with 639 fatalities.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, over 17.5 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 677,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 17,2020

Beijing, Jun 17: China said Wednesday it wanted to avoid further clashes with India along their border after the first deadly confrontation between the two nuclear powers in decades.

The two countries have traded blame for Monday's high-altitude brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, with China refusing to confirm so far whether there were any casualties on its side.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted again Wednesday that it was Indian troops who illegally crossed the border and attacked the Chinese side.

This led to "a serious physical confrontation between both sides that caused deaths and injuries", Zhao said at a regular briefing, without providing more details about the casualties.

He said China urges India to "strictly restrain frontline troops, do not illegally cross the border, do not make provocative gestures, do not take any unilateral actions that will complicate the border situation".

But he added that the two sides "will continue to resolve this issue through dialogue and negotiations".

"We of course don't wish to see more clashes," Zhao said.

Comments

Indian baba
 - 
Wednesday, 17 Jun 2020

we have 56 inch chest man as our leader...he alone will fight the war and give victory to india..jai bakth

 

 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 25,2020

Beijing, May 25: China has reported 51 new coronavirus cases including 40 asymptomatic infections, majority of them in the contagion's first epicentre Wuhan, where over six million tests have been conducted in the last 10 days, health officials said on Monday.

The country's National Health Commission (NHC) said that 11 new imported cases were reported on Sunday.

While no new domestically-transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported in China on Sunday, 11 imported cases including 10 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and one in Sichuan province were reported, the NHC said in its daily report.

Out of the 40 new asymptomatic cases, 38 were reported in Wuhan, which is currently undergoing mass testing of its over 11.2 million people after a spike in the asymptomatic cases.

Currently, 396 people with asymptomatic symptoms are under medical observation in China, including 326 in Wuhan, according to the health authority.

Asymptomatic cases refer to the patients who have tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

Wuhan, which earlier had over 50,000 cases between January and March, started a campaign on May 14 to expand the nucleic acid testing in order to better know the number of asymptomatic cases or people who show no clear symptoms despite carrying the virus.

According to the latest figures released by the Wuhan municipal health commission, the city conducted more than 6 million nucleic acid tests between May 14 and 23.

On Saturday, the city carried out nearly 1.15 million tests, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

Nucleic acid testing is a molecular technique for screening blood donations to reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted infections.

As of Sunday, a total of 82,985 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in China with 4,634 fatalities, the NHC added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.