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Dutch Defence Minister says finding inner peace crucial for army, thanks India for 'gift' of yoga

News Network
June 22, 2020

The Hague, Jun 22: Finding inner peace is crucial for the armed forces and yoga is a beautiful way to find the balance, Dutch Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld has said, thanking India for the "wonderful gift" to the world.

Yoga has been gaining global popularity in recent years for the many benefits it has on one's physiology, psychology and spirituality.

Bijleveld participated in the online International Yoga Day celebrations organised by the Indian Embassy here on Sunday.

"The minister thanked India for the wonderful gift of yoga to the world," a statement issued by the embassy said on Monday.

She said finding inner peace is crucial for a man and woman in uniform and yoga is a beautiful way to find the balance, it noted.

Bijleveld said yoga has formed a part of the training for the Dutch armed forces for the last 15 years and there are 130 yoga instructors.

The representatives of the Dutch Army joined by the Dutch Police personnel demonstrated their yoga skills as part of the online celebrations, the statement said.

The sixth International Yoga Day celebrations was streamed to 145,000 followers of the embassy's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels as well as on its website. It was also streamed on the website of the non-profit foundation Stichting International Yoga Day.

Ambassador of India to The Netherlands Venu Rajamony inaugurated the celebrations. This was followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video message and 3D animated videos of yoga with him.

The event was participated by a host of prominent Dutch and Indian personalities, including Ambassadors of various countries based in The Hague.

Dutch actress Afke Reijenga, extreme sportsman Wim Hof -- popularly known as 'The Iceman' and singers Charlie Dee and Anouk Maas were amongst the Dutch celebrities who participated in the event, the statement said.

Messages and artistic contributions by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, internationally acclaimed flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, violin maestro L Subramaniam, playback singers Kavita Krishnamurthy and Vijay Prakash, chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and film stars Raadhika, Sarathkumar and Bhumika Chawla featured in the programme.

Cricketer Suresh Raina, tennis stars Ramesh Krishnan and Rohan Bopanna, yoga guru and artist Bharat Thakur, Olympic ice skater Vishwaraj Jadeja and Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna also featured in the event.

The programme included a Kathak recital on 'Ayush' choreographed by Dutch choreographer Leo Spreksel and performed by eminent Kathak dancers Hari and Chetna with Sirisha.

It also showcased Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities who have made yoga a part of their lives.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Washington, Feb 22: US President Donald Trump will raise the issue of religious freedom with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India next week, the White House said on Friday, noting that the US has great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions.

"President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly in private. He will raise these issues, particularly the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration," a senior official told reporters in a conference call.

The official was responding to a question on whether the president was planning to speak to Modi on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or the National Register of Citizens.

"We do have this shared commitment to upholding our universal values, the rule of law. We have great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions, and we will continue to encourage India to uphold those traditions," the official said, requesting anonymity.

"And we are concerned with some of the issues that you have raised," the senior administration official said, in response to the question on CAA and NRC.

"I think the President will talk about these issues in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi and note that the world is looking to India to continue to uphold its democratic traditions, respect for religious minorities," the official said.

"Of course, it's in the Indian constitution -- religious freedom, respect for religious minorities, and equal treatment of all religions. So this is something that is important to the president and I'm sure it will come up," said the official.

Pointing out that India has a strong democratic foundation, the official said India is a country rich in religious, linguistic, and cultural diversity.

"In fact, it's the birthplace of four major world religions," the official noted.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Sydney, Jul 28: Nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other native Australian animals were killed or displaced by bushfires in 2019 and 2020, a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Tuesday, triple the group's earlier estimates.

Some 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs were impacted by the country's worst bushfires in decades, the WWF said.

When the fires were still blazing, the WWF estimated the number of affected animals at 1.25 billion. The fires destroyed more than 11 million hectares (37 million acres) across the Australian southeast, equal to about half the area of the United Kingdom.

"This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history," said WWF-Australia Chief Executive Officer Dermot O'Gorman in a statement.

The project leader Lily Van Eeden, from the University of Sydney, said the research was the first continent-wide analysis of animals impacted by the bushfires, and "other nations can build upon this research to improve understanding of bushfire impacts everywhere".

The total number included animals which were displaced because of destroyed habitats and now faced lack of food and shelter or the prospect of moving to habitat that was already occupied.

The main reason for raising the number of animal casualties was that researchers had now assessed the total affected area, rather than focusing on the most affected states, they said.

After years of drought made the Australian bush unusually dry, the country battled one of its worst bushfire seasons ever from September 2019 to March 2020, resulting in 34 human deaths and nearly 3,000 homes lost.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Washington, Apr 20: The US wants to send a team of experts to China to investigate coronavirus, President Donald Trump has said, a day after he warned Beijing of "consequences" if it was knowingly responsible for the spread of COVID-19 which has killed more than 165,000 people globally, including over 41,000 in America.

Describing the coronavirus as a plague, Trump, during his White House news conference on Sunday, said that he is not happy with China where the pandemic emerged in December last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

“We spoke to them (Chinese) a long time ago about going in. We want to go in. We want to see what's going on. And we weren't exactly invited, I can tell you that,” the President told reporters.

“I was very happy with the (trade) deal (with China), very happy with everything and then we found out about the plague and since we found out about that I'm not happy,” he said.

The US has launched an investigation into whether the deadly virus "escaped" from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He has repeatedly expressed disappointment over China's handling of the coronavirus disease, alleged non-transparency and initial non-cooperation from Beijing with Washington on dealing with the crisis.

“Based on an investigation, we are going to find out,” Trump told reporters.

A day earlier, he warned China that it should face consequences if it was "knowingly responsible" for the spread of the novel coronavirus, upping the ante on Beijing over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If they (China) were knowingly responsible… then there should be consequences. You're talking about, you know, potentially lives like nobody's seen since 1917,” Trump said on Saturday.

The opposition Democratic Party said that Trump has falsely claimed he acted early by restricting travel from China when it was little too late and he continued to downplay the virus throughout February.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the US crossed 41,000 and the total infections were more than 764,000 so far.

New York, the epicentre of the deadly COVID-19 in the US, has 2,42,000 cases and over 17,600 fatalities so far. It has registered a 50-percent decline in new cases over an eight-day period.

The novel virus, which emerged in China in December last year, has killed over 160,000 and infected more than 2.3 million people worldwide.

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