Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today performed yoga asanas with more than a thousand participants at a mega event organised here as part of International Yoga Day celebrations. Javadekar inaugurated the yoga session at 7 am at the Forest Research Institute premises here along with IFS probationers, officers and faculty members and followed it up with another programme held by Patanjali Yogpeeth at the Rangers Ground where he was accompanied by state BJP chief Tirath Rawat and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Ajay Bhatt. In his brief speech, Javadekar appealed to people to embr

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken on the role of a yoga guru for Chinese Internet users. He is providing his followers on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, a daily lesson of yoga exercise complete with sketches about different poses, and a list of benefits. Modi’s yoga posts are but the latest in a series of sweeping efforts by India to connect directly with the public in China, and try to capitalize on the two neighbors' shared links to Buddhism and other traditions in a bid to build sentimental bridges.

June 21 will be celebrated worldwide as International Day of Yoga, the result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to highlight yoga as India's signature cultural export. An regular practitioner of the discipline himself, Modi set up a new ministry for yoga last year and persuaded the United Nations to celebrate this day internationally. "After the number zero this is India's biggest contribution to society," joint secretary Anil Ganeriwala told Reuters.

New Delhi -- Last month, in front of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang posed for Modi's smartphone and snapped a photo. "It's selfie time! Thanks Premier Li," Modi tweeted to his 13 million Twitter followers. The photo of the two men--together representing nearly 40 percent of the world's population--led the Wall Street Journal to wonder, "Did Modi Just Take the Most Powerful Selfie in History?"

India is preparing for the first ever International Yoga Day which will be celebrated on Sunday. India has taken the lead among the 192 countries that are participating.

Thousands have been preparing for Sunday's main event, where 35,000 people will practise yoga at Rajpath (King's Avenue), in the capital Delhi. The Indian government believes it will be the largest yoga gathering in history and expects the event to find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Foraying into Myanmar and snuffing out militants to avenge the death of Army men killed on Indian soil is one aspect of the Narendra Modi government which has its clutch of takers. While special forces of the Army fight the nation’s battle, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, Culture Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Health Ministry are waging a different battle for the minds, leading to what some historians say is a situation where an entire population could be lulled into thinking and acting on similar lines.

It also said 'surya namaskar' was never a part of the yoga 'asanas' to be performed during the June 21 event.