Qayam Ali

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday left for New York where she is going to participate in the International Yoga Day event being organised by the Indian Mission at the United Nations.

Swaraj, who left by an early morning Air India flight, tweeted, “Leaving for New York.”

The International Yoga Day event will be attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon among others. The United Nations had in December last year declared June 21 as International Yoga Day.

Gung ho about the International Day for Yoga, various corporates are rolling out a plethora of merchandise and offering packages and deals to mark the event.

Snapdeal has launched a special yoga-themed store featuring over 500 yoga–related products like yoga learning e-guides, mats, modern yoga equipment, yoga-wear and more.

Customers can also avail exclusive offers and promotions on over 150 special products, for the week.

Wellness brand VLCC is conducting free yoga sessions at all its wellness centres and vocational training institutes across the country.

Volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) youth wing today protested outside the residence of Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi, demanding resignation of the External Affairs Minister in Lalitgate.

Over 300 volunteers, including AAP MLA from Palam, Bhavna Gaur, also protested outside Swaraj’s residence in Lutyens Bungalow Zone in central Delhi.

They also demanded sacking of Rajasthan chief Vasundhara Raje.

Ms Swaraj, however, was not present at her residence at that time of protest. The External Affairs Minister has left for the US to attend the World Yoga Day function at the United Nations.

Much to the relief of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation contract employees, the state government has taken a decision to regularize the service of 4,001 contract employees in RTC.

It may be noted that KCR had promised to regularize the service of contract workers, working in various govt sectors, including that of RTC.

On this decision, orders have been issued. Earlier, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had announced 44 per cent of fitment against the demand for 43 per cent.

The overnight toll in the illicit liquor tragedy in a suburban bar here soared to 66 on Saturday morning with the death of 13 more people due to the poisonous brew, officials said.

Another 31 victims are undergoing treatment in various hospitals, and the condition of at least a dozen is said to be critical.

Police on Friday cracked down on the law enforcers by suspending eight officials, including senior Police Inspector of Malwani police station, Prakash S. Patil, three officers and four constables, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni, who is the police spokesperson.

General Motors is adding more than 243,000 compact hatchbacks in the US and Canada to the growing recall for air bags that can explode with too much force.

The company said today that the expanded recall for passenger air bags covers the Pontiac Vibe from 2003 through 2007. The cars were designed by Toyota and made at jointly owned factory in California. They’re twins of the Toyota Matrix, which was recalled earlier.

Scores of passengers waiting at the public bus stand in Kalpetta – a small town lying on the Kozhikode-Mysore National Highway in Wayanad district of Kerala, were left shocked after the TV screens across the KSRTC depot started playing porn. The passengers and bus depot officials were treated to a full 30-minute of X-rated porn on Tuesday morning. A local police officer confirmed to IBTimes India that the incident took place at the KSRTC government bus stand.

 At least 24 children fell ill on Friday after eating the mid-day meal at a government school in Bihar’s Khagaria district, officials said. Their condition is stable.

The Indian Navy on Friday said it is prepared for any assistance as heavy rain gripped Mumbai. “The Indian Navy is fully geared up to provide any assistance to the city of Mumbai,” a Navy official said.

“As per the standard operating procedure, the Navy has deployed naval divers and inflatable boats across Mumbai…along with rescue and medical teams,” the official said.

The official added that Sea King helicopters are standing by at Colaba and the Navy is in touch with BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic authorities.

The Metrological department on Friday has forecasted a heavy to very heavy rainfall in many isolated places of TS and AP during the next 48 hours. Rain or thundershowers will occur at a few places in Rayalaseema on June 20.

After revising the southwest monsoon, the IMD predicted a heavy rainfall during the next three days in places, such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East & West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore district and Nizamabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam and Nalgonda.

Advocating support for the ancient Indian practice ahead of the International Day of Yoga, the World Health Organisation (WHO) today said it brings attention to the need for physical exercise.

“The day will rightly put the spotlight on physical exercise, much needed in today’s world when sedentary lifestyle is becoming a leading cause of illness,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said in a statement.

A community health centre official was caught red handed by the Lokayukta police on Friday when he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs. 15,000 from an Asha health worker.

Asha Dhurve, who is currently working as Asha health worker in Lutmara village, had applied for the post of an assistant at Asha.

Community Health Centre, Ghansour’s Block Community Mobiliser (BCM) Vijendra Daheria was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs. 15,000, Lokayukta Inspector Ajay Sankat said.

Mr Daheria had demanded a Rs. 20,000 bribe out of which he had already taken Rs. 5,000 from Dhurve.

Russia fought honestly for the right to host the 2018 World Cup and the decision should not be called into question, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Swiss judicial authorities are probing the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar as part of a far-reaching corruption scandal that has also raised questions about the 2010 event in South Africa.

“We fought in an honest manner (for the tournament) and we won. We do not think the decision should be questioned,” Putin told journalists on the sidelines of an investment forum in Saint Petersburg.

Brazilian captain Neymar has been ruled out from rest of the Copa America after he was given a four-match suspension by the South American Football Confederation.

Earlier, the striker was given a one-match provisional ban after he was shown a red card after Brazil’s 0-1 defeat against Columbia, thus ruling him out of the game against Venezuela.

The Confederation reviewed the case on Friday and increased the punishment, the BBC reported.

Hosts Chile shrugged off Arturo Vidal’s drunken-driving controversy to power into the quarter-finals of the Copa America on Friday with a 5-0 thrashing of Bolivia.

Two goals for Charles Aranguiz, one each for Alexis Sanchez and Gary Medel and an own goal from Ronald Raldes put Chile’s campaign back on track after Vidal’s arrest following a high-speed crash threatened to derail their tournament.

The win ensured Chile finished top of Group A and gives them a last eight meeting next Wednesday against one of the two best third-placed teams, most likely either Uruguay or Paraguay.

Telecom operator Vodafone India on Friday said that throughout the month of Ramdaan it will support flood-affected poor families in Kashmir by donating 1 paisa from every call made or recharge and Rs 5 out of every new activation on its network in the state.

“Starting from June 19, 2015, it will donate 1 paisa out of every call or recharge and Rs 5 out of every new activation in Kashmir province during the entire month of Ramdaan,” Vodafone said in a statement.

Noting that a new aspirational India expects early results and decisive governance, Finance Arun Jaitley has exuded confidence that with the government undertaking economic reforms, policy changes, pumping in money in key sectors like infrastructure, and with a possible good monsoon, the path to 10 per cent growth is not impossible.

“This (10 per cent growth rate) is reasonably possible. That is where India’s potential is,” Jaitley said after his arrival in Washington on the second leg of his nine-day US tour to attract American investors.

Extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria unleashed a savage rise in violence between 2013 and 2014, according to new statistics released by the State Department.

The Karnataka Lokayukta on Saturday filed FIRs against former chief ministers and BJP and JDS leaders BS Yeddyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy in an alleged illegal land denotification case.

According to RTI documents, Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa have been made, respectively, the number one and number two accused in the case.

Both former chief ministers are accused of denotifying a prime plot to benefit Kumaraswamy’s relative.

“Does Modi do yoga?” That was the question posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started a Ministry of AYUSH.

He was incredulous that a ministry of Ayush, an abbreviation for departments dealing with Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy incorporating indigenous and alternative systems of healing could be set up, and then smilingly asked why anyone would do that. He wondered if the man who wants to spread yoga practice it himself. He was told that it was likely, though he had not publicly said so.

The sessions planned by the Art of Living in Pakistan to mark International Yoga Day on June 21 was cancelled in wake of threat perceptions.

The authorities in Pakistan advised the Art of Living volunteers to cancel the events in the wake of threat perceptions from the extremist groups. “Pakistan Government advised the Art of living centres to cancel programmess because extremists groups had threatened individually all of them,” Art of Living spokesperson Dinesh Godke told.

Terming the latest TV advertisement of the AAP-led Delhi government as a “violation” of the Supreme Court’s order, BJP on Friday threatened to approach the apex court if the commercial was not withdrawn soon.

Pakistan has not taken action against Let as the terror group continues to “operate, train, rally, propagandise and fundraise” in the country, according to a US State Department report which acknowledged today that India remains one of the most persistent terror target.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj maintained silence and refused to offer any comment on resignation speculations or the Lalit Modi issue on Friday.

Senior officials of the government, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, politely told television channel reporters to move away and refrain from asking the minister any questions.

Swaraj has denied the allegations and said on social media she was helping Lalit Modi, who is presently based in London, on “humanitarian” grounds as he needed to visit his “ailing wife” in Portugal.

The south-west monsoon has further advanced into Odisha and heavy rains are expected in the next 24 hours in the state following a low pressure over Bay of Bengal off South Odisha-North Andhra Pradesh Coast.

“The system may concentrate into a depression in the next 24 hours found over west-central and adjoining north-west Bay of Bengal off South Odisha-North Andhra Pradesh Coast,” A K Majhi, director in-charge of the IMD, Bhubaneswar, said.

The MeT officials have also forecasted rains and thundershowers in most places over Odisha due to the phenomenon.