International Yoga Day - 21st June 2015 in Seychelles (a background note)
In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly passed an India-sponsored Resolution declaring 21st June as International Day of Yoga. There was an extensive support for the Resolution with 177 out of the total of 193 member states of the United Nations co-sponsoring the Resolution, which was a record and unprecedented in the UN history. Seychelles was among the first to support the Indian initiative.
As the world gears up to celebrate the first IDY next month, India has been entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating the activities globally in close cooperation with the host governments. With less than six weeks left to prepare for this event, the High Commission of India and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture are in the process of finalizing a set of activities to celebrate this occasion in a befitting manner in Seychelles.
The following Action Plan for IDY 2015 has been drawn up:
1.At 0800 hrs on 21 June 2015, an open air yoga session is proposed to be held at Stad Popiler (or Roche Caiman) with about 500 participants joining in for the session. During the 33-minute session simple yoga exercises will be performed. A booklet and DVD has been brought out and circulated to Indian diplomatic missions abroad so as to ensure that the same set of exercises over the same period of time are performed on the same day and time all over the world to set a Guinness world record for such a coordinated yoga session across the globe. The yoga session would be followed by a lecture highlighting the origins and importance of yoga.
2.At 1100 hrs, a small ceremony is proposed to be organized at the High Commission dedicating the Vivekananda Yoga Hall to the people of Seychelles. A plaque is proposed to be unveiled on the occasion. A photographic exhibition on yoga is also to be mounted at the same venue. Attendance at the event, which would comprise several Seychellois dignitaries and prominent members of the Indian community, will be by invitation only. The photographic exhibition would be open for a week thereafter for visitors including youth and school students.
3.From 1700 to 1900 hrs, it is proposed to hold a seminar on yoga at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS). Speakers of the seminar would comprise a yoga expert from India and prominent yoga practitioners in Seychelles. The seminar will be followed by interactive discussions with the audience. The programme will end with yoga demonstration by the yoga instructors and practitioners.
The Government of India is deputing a yoga expert to Seychelles for a period of one week for coordinating with local experts for the yoga session in the morning and the seminar/demonstration in the evening. All yoga experts and yoga-related institutions in Seychelles are invited to join hands with the Indian High Commission and the Ministry of Tourism & Culture in ensuring that the IDY 2015 in Seychelles is a grand success.
The IDY 2015 celebrations and the related events will be formally announced at a Press Conference shortly. The enclosed IDY 2015 logo that has been designed for the occasion will also be officially launched.
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Dr. Arun Khodaskar's Visit to Seychelles in April-2012 In Collaboration with Nation Sports Council (NSC)