Ministry of AYUSH in association with Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga will host a television event as curtain raiser of the International Day of Yoga 2020 which will be telecasted on DD News on 10^th June, 2020 from 07:00 PM to 08:00 PM. This will also be streamed live on Ministry of AYUSH’s Facebook page.

The curtain raiser would mark out a 10-day official countdown to IDY 2020. Union Ministers of State for AYUSH Shri Shripad Naik, Minister of State (PMO) Dr. Jitendra Singh and President, Indian Council for Cultural Relation Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, will address the nation through the electronic medium. Secretary, AYUSH Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha will grace the occasion.

In the light of the prevailing health emergency in the country due to Covid 19, this year the IDY is set to go digital internationally. In view of the highly infectious nature of the Corona virus the ministry is encouraging people to practise Yoga at their homes. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also announced a video blogging contest “My life, My Yoga” for the general public.

In the 10 days after the curtain raiser (i.e., from 11th June 2020 to 20th June, 2020), there will be training sessions on Common Yoga Protocol on DD Bharti/DD Sports from 08:00 AM to 08:30 AM. These will be conducted by the country’s premier Yoga teaching institution, the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi.

Yoga Gurus Swami Ramdevji, Sri Sri Ravishankarji, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudevji, Dr. H. R. Nagendraji, Shri Kamlesh Patel ji (Daji), Sister Shivani and Swami Bharat Bhushanji will explain importance of Yoga in our lives and how we can utilise yoga to boost immunity and improve mental health and wellbeing.

Dignitaries from the Ministry will also address the people highlighting key steps taken by the Ministry to enable people to do Yoga at home during the present difficult times of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Director AIIMS, Director AIIA and Director MDNIY will join the panel of experts.

This year the IDY comes at a time when the world is in the grip of the contagious COVID-19. It is significant that the health enhancing and stress busting impacts of Yoga practice is especially relevant to the people in this situation. Therefore, for IDY -2020, it is advantageous for people to participate and learn Yoga from their respective homes— in conformity to social distancing norms. The Ministry of AYUSH  and numerous other  stake holding institutions are providing various digital resources on their portals and social media handles including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, which the public can make use to prepare for the event. Yoga followers all over the world will come together in solidarity at 7 am on the 21^st of June and join a harmonious demonstration of Common Yoga Protocol from their homes.

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MV/SK