Srinagar:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the International Yoga Day event in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar today, said the number of yoga practitioners around the world is increasing at a rapid rate. 

“We can feel the energy in Srinagar, that we gain through Yoga. I extend greetings to people of the country and people performing Yoga in every corner of the world on Yoga Day. International Yoga Day has completed a historic journey of 10 years. In 2014, I proposed International Yoga Day at the United Nations. This proposal by India was supported by 177 nations and this was a record in itself. Since then, Yoga Day has been creating new records,” PM Modi said. 

“When I am abroad, global leaders discuss Yoga wit me,” the Prime Minister said. “As we mark 10th International Yoga Day, I urge everyone to make yoga part of their daily lives.” 

PM Modi will lead the celebrations of the 10th International Day of Yoga at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar. 

“This year in India, a 101-year-old woman Yoga teacher from France was accorded the Padma Shri. She had never come to India but she dedicated her entire life to creating awareness about Yoga. Today, research on Yoga is being done in prestigious universities and institutions around the world; research papers are being published,” the PM said.

The 30-minute yoga session was supposed to begin at 7 am but was delayed due to the rain. The event is being attended by, among others, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and Ayush Minister Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav.

Jammu:

BJP leader Jitendra Singh, who got a rousing reception on his arrival in Jammu capital city after becoming Union minister for the third consecutive time, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a event in Srinagar in which almost 9,000 people will perform yoga with him on June 21.

Soon after his arrival from New Delhi, Jitendra Singh was welcomed by the BJP workers with garlands and showers of the flowers at the Jammu airport amid sloganeering.

“On 21st June, PM Modi will participate in a yoga event in Srinagar in which almost 9,000 people will perform yoga with him…”, Jitendra Singh told reporters.

He further said there is a plan to connect all the 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir virtually.

“Even if 2,000 people get connected from every district, almost 50,000 people will get connected virtually from J&K. This will have a statewide impact”, Jitendra Singh said.

He said it is a matter of pride for all that such a major yoga even is being organised at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.

Later speaking at a function in the evening, the Union minister said PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme marks the continuity of the prime minister’s conviction and commitment.

In his address at a programme held at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) here to telecast PM Modi’s virtual grant of fresh instalment of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Jitendra Singh said there is a certain pattern of continuity with deep commitment and conviction.

Describing PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme as one such distinct example,Jitendra Singh recalled that the scheme was launched by PM Modi in his first term on February 2, 2019.

Since then, he said, regular programmes of similar nature were held for timely grant of the instalments to the needy farmers and the process continued over the second term of PM Modi. It is now also seen in Modi 3.0 government with the first function happening within just one month of the swearing-in of the ministry for the third term, he added.

Jitendra Singh said as the name indicates, the amount transferred to the accounts of the needy farmers is not only a means of providing financial support but it is also an expression of the society’s respect and acknowledgement of farmer as “annadata” and, therefore, the scheme has been appropriately named as ‘Kisan Samman Nidhi’ scheme.

This also reflects, said Jitendra Singh, Prime Minister Modi’s conscious attempt to introduce in the society a new work culture in polity, which is above the divisions of caste, creed or religion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)