Centre shortlists 5 cities, including Mysuru, for International Yoga Day event
New Delhi: The Centre has shortlisted five cities -- Delhi, Shimla, Mysuru, Ahmedabad and Ranchi -- for holding the national programme of the International Yoga Day this year.
It will be the government's first mega public event after Narendra Modi became prime minister for a second term.
Names of the four cities have been sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) which will finalise the venue of the main function of the International Yoga Day to be held on June 21, official sources said.
"We have already started the preparations and the event will be organised in a large scale," a senior AYUSH ministry official said.
If national capital is selected as the venue, it would be hosting the event for the second time. Delhi had hosted the main event of the Yoga Day in 2015.
In the lead-up to the event, a two-day yoga mahotsav is being organised in Delhi by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga starting Saturday. It will be attended by about 10,000 people, including yoga teachers, professionals, enthusiasts among others.
"The aim is to build an atmosphere of yoga in the lead-up to the main event and sensitise the people about the June 21 function," the official said.
The United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in 2014 after Modi called for the day to be adopted as a global celebration of yoga, an ancient practice that began in India more than 5,000 years ago.
Last year, the main event of the International Day of Yoga was held at the ground of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated.
The first International Yoga Day celebration was organised at Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015, in which representatives of 191 countries took part. In 2016, the main function was held in Chandigarh and in 2017 it was held in Lucknow.
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Three militants arrested in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): Three militants have been arrested in Imphal East and West districts of Manipur, while 16 IEDs have been seized in a separate operation near the India-Myanmar border, a police statement said on Sunday.
Three cadres of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (PWG) outfit have been apprehended from different locations in the twin Imphal districts on Saturday.
An insurgent, identified as Thangjam Yaiphaba Meitei (32), was arrested from his residence at Yumnam Patlou Mamang Leikai in Imphal East district, while Laitonjam Ramakanta (35) was apprehended from Khurai Arambam in the same district, the statement said.
The third militant, Thongam Herojit (39), was arrested from his residence at Tendongyang Mayai Leikai in Imphal West district.
Meanwhile, security forces seized a cache of arms and explosives near Yangoubung village in Moreh police station area in Tengnoupal district on Friday.
An AK-47 rifle with a magazine, two 9mm pistols with magazines, 16 IEDs, four detonators, a safety fuse, and eight batteries, along with Myanmar currency of 16,800 Kyats, were seized during the operation, it said, adding the IEDs were defused on the spot.
