NEW DELHI, June 21: Amid chants of ‘Om’ and recitation of ‘Mantras’ for universal peace, millions across the globe today joined in spectacular celebrations to mark the inaugural International Day of Yoga, in a tribute to the ancient Indian spiritual and exercise discipline known to balance mind, body and spirit.
From glaciers of Siachen to the troubled waters of the South China Sea, from Sydney’s popular Bondi beach to the banks of the Thames in London, from obscure parks to the barracks of Tihar Jail, people stretched and bent and sat in quiet meditation as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the occasion as the “dawn of a new era of peace”.
The largest of spectacles unfolded early morning on the imposing Rajpath, where Modi, whose call led to declaration of June 21 as International Day of Yoga by the UN, sprang a surprise as he performed various asanas and pranayams with over 35,000 people, an eclectic mix of top-ranking commanders of defence forces, frontline politicians and the hoi polloi.
The Rajpath event made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga demonstration at a single venue with 35,985 people participating. It also set a new record for the largest number of people of various nationalities—84, performing yoga at one place.
An avid yoga practitioner for many years, 64-year-old Modi, who was not scheduled to perform the ‘asanas’ climbed down the podium after his address to the gathering and joined others seated or sprawling on mats along the boulevard, one of Delhi’s iconic landmarks.
The entire two-km stretch from Rafi Marg crossing near Vijay Chowk to India Gate was lined with blue and red mats over green carpets with people of all ages twisting, bending and stretching on the Rajpath, the venue of the famous Republic Day parade, performing various yoga exercises.
Attired in a loose white shirt and trousers and a tricolour scarf wrapped around his neck, Modi did most of the 21 ‘asanas’ along with thousands of participants as part of the common yoga protocol, following simultaneous instructions in Hindi and English also beamed live on giant digital screens.
Modi expressed his gratitude to the United Nations and 193 countries for their “unprecedented support” in passing an India-sponsored resolution to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga and said a “new era” has begun to train the human mind to scale new heights of peace and harmony. Modi also cautioned against commodifying yoga.
US Ambassador to India Richard Verma was among scores of diplomats who attended the mega event.
Several top bureaucrats, including Secretaries to Union Ministries and officials from the PMO were also present. So were Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung. Locked in a bitter turf war, they were, however, seated in separate enclosures.
Later, addressing a two-day international conference on yoga for holistic health, Modi said, “If we make yoga a commodity, then maximum damage to it will be done by us. Yoga is not a commodity, yoga is not a brand which has to be sold.”
Drawing attention to boards of ‘pure ghee’ shops in the market, Modi said 50 years back these were never seen but today they exist because money is there.
“This should never happen in relation to yoga. Never should a time come when we hear that only my yoga is true and all the rest are uselessly holding their nose and spending dollars. This is not a trade or organisation but a state of mind (vyapaar ya vyavastha nahin avastha hai).”
Under attack from Congress for “usurping” the traditional discipline, Modi said yoga is “not the brainchild of a Government” or the United Nations but a gift from many generations and many traditions from across the world.
The Prime Minister cautioned against oneupmanship on the ancient practice, saying it belongs to all countries and all communities.
Though several Muslim organisations had complained about chanting of Hindu Mantra ‘Om’ and said ‘Surya Namaskar’ (Sun Salutation), a group of asanas, were against the tenets of Islam, quite a few from the community were present at the Rajpath event. The Government had scrapped Surya Namaskar from the protocol and said Muslims could chant ‘Allah’ instead of ‘Om’ during the exercise.
Modi and his team has been insisting on the importance of “soft power” India could wield through yoga.
Yoga is a USD 27 billion industry in the US where over 20 million people practise it.
As Indian soldiers dressed in special weather clothing practised yoga at the frozen heights of Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world at 18,800 ft above the sea level, tens of thousands took out their mats on foreign shores and performed complex yogic postures.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott appreciated yoga’s universal appeal, saying,”For thousands of years, yoga has provided its followers with a guide to bringing their minds, bodies and spirits into balance.”
Melbourne saw over 500 people gather at the Springers Leisure Centre to kick off the day with ‘Surya Namaskar’ and bending and twisting their bodies in complex postures.
Yoga events were also held on Sydney’s popular Bondi beach and in the Australian capital Canberra.
In the UK, the day began with the main event on the banks of Thames as hundreds gathered across cities to celebrate the ancient Indian exercise.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said in his message: “The UK is pleased to support International Yoga Day. We were one of 177 countries to vote in favour of Prime Minister Modi’s proposal and we are pleased to see the enthusiasm with which it is being embraced, both in UK and around the world.”
However, in Pakistan the celebration was muted as it remained confined to the premises of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, with the staff of the mission along with other foreign diplomats in the country performing ‘asanas’.
In China, events were organised at the prestigious Peking University and Geely University where people from different walks of life took part in the exercises.
An event was held in Paris, where people dressed in white sat on mats under the Eiffel Tower and practised yoga.
Reports of celebrations came in from Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Malayasia and the Philippines
June 21 was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the UN in December last year after Modi’s call in his first address to the General Assembly in September 2014.
In an unprecedented move, 177 of the 193 member States of the UN had co-sponsored the India-backed resolution. (PTI)

Excelsior Correspondent

POONCH, June  21: A couple and their child were killed and another member of the family was seriously injured when their car rolled down into the river from hilly road near Mandi in district Poonch this morning.
A police spokesman said that the mishap took place at around 10.30 am when all the four were returning from Shri Buddha Amarnathji shrine  at Mandi. They had travelled hardly 10 kms of distance when their i10 car No. JK02BE/4554,  went out of control and rolled down into Mandi river.
While Karan Dogra (32), son of Vijay Dogra and his wife Sheetal Dogra, hailing from  Hari Market area Jammu were killed on the spot, their 2-year son, Avyaan Dogra,  was washed away in the strong currents of the river water. The fourth victim, Rohit (27), son of Jagdish Lal, resident of Ploura in Jammu was critically injured  and was lying on the bank of the river in the wreckage of the  car.
The police party from Mandi and locals of the area rushed to the spot after they came to know about the mishap. They shifted the dead bodies to Mandi hospital and seriously injured Rohit to District Hospital, Poonch. He was later referred to GMC hospital Jammu.
The police  and locals of the area started search for the child who was washed away in the river. But his body could not be traced till this evening. The victims belonged to business family of Jammu and they had come to perform Darshan at Shri Budha Amarnath ji shrine.

NEW DELHI, June 21:
Seeking to send a stern message to chronic evaders, the Income Tax department plans to take stringent action against them to ensure that they are prosecuted.
This follows a strategy evolved at a recently-concluded national conference of IT brass here where it was decided to go after the evaders with full vigour.
The CBDT had then floated a strategy paper saying taxman should instill the fear of “incarceration, loss of liberty and social opprobrium” in tax evaders and prosecute them in large numbers to create a credible deterrence against the menace of black money.
Figures show the IT department conducted over 1,000 searches and surveys during the last financial year even as they slapped close to 100 prosecution complaints against chronic tax evaders during this period.
“There are a variety of chronic tax evaders like who under report their income every year or who after being slapped with tax demand notice go underground or change address to avoid paying the money or those who do aggressive fudging in their accounts to hide their source of income,” a senior official said.
CBDT Chairperson Anita Kapur has said as part of the Government’s initiative to crack down on black money instances, the department has changed its strategy from just getting unpaid tax and penalty from evaders to going the extra mile of taking them to the courts.
“We try to ensure that our tax regime remains non- intrusive….But there are certain people or cases against whom intrusive action is required. Because not everybody is willingly compliant. We have the powers of search and seizure under the Income Tax Act…We all know that there is large tax evasion happening in certain cases and we have to use that power of search and seizure (to clamp down against such instances).
“We just don’t want to get penalty and unpaid tax from the evader. We don’t want to do that. Because, for us, tax evasion is not only a menace in that sense, it is also spoiling the entire compliance culture (in the country) because the people who are tax compliant feel that the system is unfair,” Kapur told the media during the week.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes is the apex policy making body of the IT department.
The CBDT boss added they were concerned that by witnessing such a system where an evader is let off with light punishment, compliant taxpayers would “waver” from their duty saying why should they pay taxes when others can skip it?
Kapur added that “demonstrative action” by the taxman is required against evaders.
Kapur said not catching the evader “will encourage a system where a person who is outside the tax system will continue to remain outside the tax system.”
She added there was a large population base which is not covered under the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) regime like small traders.
“Such people do not file the return and wait thinking something could be done once the taxman comes calling with a search or a survey. We don’t want that message to go.
“Our focus should not be collection and it should be taken to a logical conclusion which is that an evader not only pays penalty (on the tax evaded) but also be prosecuted,” she said.
Kapur’s comments assume significance at a time when the Government has asked CBDT to bring under tax net at least 25 lakh new assesses every month. At present there are over 4 crore taxpayers in the country.
The CBDT strategy paper added that “if the endemic and rampant tax evasion is to be contained, then search/survey on a few evaders limited to bringing their concealed income to tax can never be the solution. The remedy must lie in creating credible deterrence so that potential evaders desist from crossing the red line.
“Deterrence cannot be built merely by levying tax on concealed income. Deviant assesses take minor financial hiccups in their stride and promptly return to their wayward ways. What scares them is the fear of incarceration and consequent loss of liberty and social opprobrium that it brings. It is to this fear that a search/survey action must address itself,” the paper for financial year 2015-16 said.
Kapur said the new initiative aims to create deterrence.
“I am just trying to say that there has to be deterrence against tax evasion. If my officer is not harsh on a tax evader then I think, you would agree, he or she is not doing their job properly. There is a law in place and there is no place for compassion in law. Law has to be forced fairly and evenly,” Kapur said.
The tax boss said certain tax evaders have the capacity to “create noise” and say that the IT department is harassing or terrorising him or her but a compliant taxpayer keeps “silent” and goes according to law as they believe a good tax regime is their democratic right.
“It is this belief that we have to live upto,” she said.
Kapur added the IT department, at present, was bringing only 1 per cent of cases under the scrutiny category and it was trying to bring in a regime where a taxpayer will have the least human interface thereby reducing instances of corruption and emergence of a grievance. (PTI)