NAMASKAR! A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on All India Radio. This is MANOJ SINGH RANA and with me is RENUKA bringing glimpses of the major developments of the day from across the globe. Over the next half an hour, we shall bring you the latest from the world of politics, economy, sports, entertainment and more.

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THE HEADLINES::

• India gears up to celebrate 8th International Day of Yoga on 21 June; Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the celebrations in Mysuru.

• Around 80 Indian missions and embassies around the world to organise yoga events at iconic locations to mark the day.

• French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance falls short of absolute majority in second round of Parliamentary Elections.

• Indian Army isues notification for recruitment of Agniveers; Registration to be opened from July. Spain and Germany face wildfires amid unusual heat wave in Western Europe.

• World Refugee Day being observed on 20th June to honour refugees around the globe.

• And, India take on the Netherlands in their second match of Under-23 Women's Hockey tournament at Dublin.

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PM-IDY

India is gearing up to celebrate International Day of Yoga on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the celebrations Mysuru. He laid the foundation stone for Naganahalli and Mysuru Coaching complex and dedicated to the nation a Centre of Excellence building at All India Institute of Speech and Hearing in Mysuru. Addressing a public gathering at Maharaja College the Prime Minster highlighted the cultural significance of Heritage city Mysuru. He said, lakhs of people worldwide will connect with Mysuru on Tuesday during International Yoga Day. Prime Minister Modi has asked everyone to make this International Yoga Day a success and further popularise Yoga. The theme for this year yoga day is  - Yoga For Humanity.

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DELHI LOCATIONS - IDY

Ayush Ministry has planned to observe the International Day of Yoga  at 75 iconic sites across India. Out of this,  three sites are located in Delhi. Red Fort Complex, Jantar Mantar and Lotus Temple will be among the locations in the national capital.

Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will lead Yoga Day celebrations from the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat.

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HOTSPOT

In today's HOTSPOT section, we bring you a special programme on AIR News Exculsive - Plans Abroad for International Day of Yoga-2022 celebrations.

Several events are being held across the globe to commemorate the 8th International Day of Yoga. To mark the international Yoga Day, Doordarshan is planning a marathon programme - from 3 am to 10 pm - on June 21. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned the concept of ‘One Sun, One Earth’ during one of his Mann Ki Baat addresses.

The programme, The Guardian Ring, will show images of people doing yoga when the sun rises in their countries. Around 80 Indian missions and embassies around the world will be organising yoga events in those countries on that day. Inauguration of the function at Permanent Mission of India in New York will will be done by President of General Assembly Abdulla Shahid on 20 June. A Yoga-demo session titled “Yoga with the Masters” will be hosted at the North Lawns of the UN Headquarters. According to the official program published by the UN, Organizations such as Indian Raga, Isha Yoga, Bhakti Center and Integral Yoga Institute will host a yoga dance session, yoga sessions and a meditation session during the event. The Embassy of India in Washington DC is celebrating this year’s International Day of Yoga earlier than the official date set by the UN. Yoga celebrations at the Washington Monument Grounds resumed in-person after a two-year hiatus on 18 June. The UN’s theme of “Yoga for Humanity” is being reflected through the yoga practices. Ambassador Sudhakar Dalela, Embassy of India’s Deputy Chief of Mission said that over a billion people see yoga as an enhancer of the physical and mental well-being. The Consulate General of India, Chicago hosted an event to commemorate International Yoga Day on Saturday at Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois. The Ananda Yoga Palo Alto organization is set to host an outdoor celebration of the International Day of Yoga on Tuesday in Downtown Mountain View in the outdoor plaza area of California. The Consulate General of India in Hamburg, Germany will be celebrating the 8th International Day of Yoga at the Hamburg City Hall on Tuesday, 21 June from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. Indian Embassy in Beijing organized International Day of Yoga celebrations at India House on Saturday which was attended by Indian Consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Indian diaspora, more than 500 Chinese yoga enthusiasts and people from other nationalities including diplomats in Beijing. India’s Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat highlighted the essentiality of yoga in the pandemic era in dealing with mental anxiety in a world where “timelines for many events and projects” have lost their sanctity.

On this occasion, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living foundation shared a special message for the yoga day celebration by Indian Embassy in China.

To celebrate the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, more than 75 yoga schools across China were also connected online with the help of various consulates and Indian Yoga Gurus. Indian Yoga Guru N K Singh from Manipur, Founder of 'Om Shiva Yoga' in China conducted the common yoga protocol to the gathering and those who connected online to inhabit the common consciousness of yoga.

Another big event will be held by Indian Consulate in Guangzhou to celebrate the International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21. Indian Consulate in Shanghai will also hold another big mass yoga event on 26th June. Yoga associations all over China were expected to hold the events to mark the International Yoga Day on June 21. Bangladesh is also enthusiastically preparing for the forthcoming International Yoga Day on June 21. Our Dhaka correspondent has filed this report:  

Bangladesh is all set to observe the 8th International Yoga Day on 21 June. Dhaka and several other cities in the country are holding Yoga Day programmes to celebrate this occasion after two long years of restriction. The High Commission of India will hold the programme at the Mirpur Indoor Stadium in which more than a thousand Yoga enthusiasts will take part. The event will be covered live during the Guardian Ring programme during which Doordarshan will live stream Yoga events from across the world. The High Commission of India has roped in Yoga Associations of Bangladesh to take part in the Yoga Day programme. A number of Bangladeshi celebrities including Jahanara Alam of the Bangladesh National Women’s cricket team, renowned actors Zakia Bari Mamo, Mosharraf Karim, Aman Reza, Tareen Jahan and South Asian Games gold medalist in Weight lifting Mabia Akhter will be participating in the Yoga day events tomorrow. High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami will welcome the participants to the programme at the beginning of the event. The popularity of Yoga in Bangladesh is widespread and growing. It is clearly the preferred choice for the youngsters and the elderly, men and women, boys and girls for a healthy, stress free and balanced life. Experience of Bangladesh clearly shows that going beyond limitations of language, religion and culture, Yoga today stands as a symbol of life of  harmony and a world of peace.Rajesh Jha, World News, All India Radio, Dhaka.RAMYA for World News, All India radio.

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PM AWARD-YOGA

The Prime Minister's award for outstanding contribution for promotion of Yoga has been announced for the year 2021. The Ayush Ministry said, two individuals Bhikkhu Sanghasena from Ladakh and  Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues from Brazil and two organisations, The Divine Life Society from Uttarakhand and the British Wheel of Yoga from United Kingdom have been chosen for award. The Ayush Ministry said, the winners will be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and a cash award of 25 lakh rupees.

The award was first by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the second International Day of Yoga celebrations at Chandigarh in 2016.

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HM - CYBER SAFETY

India's Home Minister Amit Shah said that transactions through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) have crossed one trillion US dollar mark in financial year 2022 and today India is first in global digital transactions. He said, India accounted for 40 per cent of the total global digital payments in 2021 and BHIM-UPI are no longer just an Indian app but have become global.

Mr. Shah was addressing the National Conference on Cyber Safety and National Security in New Delhi on Monday. He said, the Digital India not only made people empowered but also brought positive changes in the lives of people. He said, 130 crore Indians get the benefit from the government directly in their bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer. Mr Shah said, the government is committed to protect the nation from cyber fraud and cyber attacks. He said, data and information will have big economic power in the days to come, therefore, steps need to be taken to prepare ourselves for securing data and information.

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PIYUSH GOYAL - WTO

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, India has been able to secure a favourable outcome at the recently concluded WTO Ministerial Conference after many years. Briefing media in New Delhi on Monday, Mr Goyal said, India played a vital role in arriving at all solutions during the Conference. He stressed that India took the lead and was at the center of the conference even though few countries attempted to create false campaign that India is obstinate due to which no progress is being made. The Minister said India on Monday bats on the front foot rather than being fearful on various issues be it Environment, Startups, MSMEs or gender equality.

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FRENCH-ELECTIONS

French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance has fallen short of an absolute majority in the second round of France's Parliamentary Elections on Monday. Provisional results showed that Macron's alliance won 245 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly. An absolute majority would require 289 seats.

According to media reports, Macron's centrist coalition lost dozens of seats in the election that has left French politics fragmented.

Socialist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon's new leftist NUPES coalition secured 131 seats and has become the main opposition force.

In April, Mr Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to be the first French President to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2001.

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ARMY-AGNIVEER

The Indian Army on Monday issued notification for the recruitment for Agniveers under the newly launched Agnipath scheme. The registrations will be opened from July onwards by the respective Army Recruitment Offices (ARO) for various trades. Registrations can be done through Indian Army's website joinindianarmy.nic.in.

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JAISHANKAR AGNIPATH

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday said that Agnipath scheme will result in a fitter, more capable and inclusive armed forces. In a tweet, he said it opens up opportunity not only to serve the nation, but to a future beyond. Dr Jaishankar said pro-reform India has expressed its support strongly and government itself has laid out the future pathways for Agniveers.

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MANDAVIYA - G20

India's Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has said the present pandemic has highlighted the fault lines in the global health governance and has brought to the fore the importance of strengthening Global Health Architecture. He was virtually addressing the inaugural session at the G20 Health Ministers meeting at Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Monday. Dr Mansukh Mandaviya also thanked the Indonesian Presidency for prioritizing the issue of TB and One Health in the meeting and conducting events for the same. India has pledged to End TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global SDG target of 2030.

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NADDA - VIETNAM LEADER

BJP National President J P Nadda on Monday interacted with senior leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Van Nen at BJP Head Office in New Delhi. Mr Nen is the Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam and also the Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. This meeting is in continuation with BJP’s outreach programme “Know BJP” through which the BJP National President is interacting with foreign dignitaries and Head of Missions in India. So far, Mr Nadda has interacted with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Minister for Foreign Relations of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan and also envoys of 47 countries including European Union.

Mr Nen thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India for help during the Covid pandemic. He also thanked India as the statue of great Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh is being installed in front of the Vietnam Embassy on Tuesday.

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SPAIN-GERMANY-WILDFIRES

Spain and Germany are facing wildfires amid an unusual heat wave in Western Europe. The worst damage in Spain has been in the northwest province of Zamora, where over 30,000 hectares have been consumed, according to regional authorities. Experts link the abnormally hot weather in Europe to climate change. Mercury rose above 40 degress Celsius in many Spanish cities throughout the week which is usually expected in August.

A lack of rainfall this year combined with gusting winds have produced the conditions for the fires.

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IRAN-ARREST

In Iran, Police have arrested 120 people for breaking Iran's segregation and morality rules at a party in the forest in the northern province of Mazandaran. The state media reports on Sunday that members of a group were arrested by the morality police and a lawsuit has been filed.

Under Iranian law, only non-Muslim citizens are permitted to consume alcohol for religious purposes.

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RUSSIA-CHINA-OIL IMPORTS

Russia has become China's biggest supplier of oil as the country sold discounted crude to Beijing amid sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

According to media reports, imports of Russian oil rose by 55 per cent from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as China's biggest provider. China has ramped up purchases of Russian oil despite demand dampened by COVID curbs and a slowing economy.

According to data relesed on Monday from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the east Siberia Pacific pipeline and seaborne shipments, totalled nearly 8.42 million tonnes.

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GOLD - BOND

In India, the first tranche of Sovereign Gold Bond, SGB, scheme for the current fiscal opened for subscription on Monday. The SGB Scheme 2022-23 - Series-l will remain open till Friday that is the 24th of this month.  

The issue price has been fixed at 5,091 rupees per gram of gold. Investors who apply online will get a discount of 50 rupees per gram. So, for online investors, the issue price will be 5,041 rupees per gram. The date of issuance is the 28th of this month.

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SRI LANKA- AUSTRALIAN ASSISTANCE

Australia on Monday annonced that it will provide 50 million dollars to support Sri Lanka for meeting urgent food and health care needs. Australian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka David Holly said that Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel. He further said that Australia will contribute an immediate 22 million dollars to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs. Australia will also provide 23 million dollars in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.

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WORLD REFUGEE DAY

20th June is World Refugee Day. It is observed every year on this day, to honour refugees around the globe and to spread awareness and sensitivity towards millions of people who have been displaced due to war, persecution, political turmoil or violence. The theme set by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees  for this year is  ‘Right to Seek Safety’.

Every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror. There are several types of forcibly displaced persons. According to the United Nations report, more than 100 million people have been forced to flee their homes so far due to various reasons including violence, disasters and war, among many others  reasons. India continues to be a generous host to refugees and asylum seekers since time immemorial and many refugee communities have thrived in the country. today, India continues to host about 2,12,874 refugees and asylum-seekers including Sri Lankan refugees. India is also providing refugees essential services, such as the national COVID-19 vaccination and access to health care at par with citizens.

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RIJIJU-CHESS OLYMPIAD

Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said, Chess Olympiad torch relay originating from India is a moment of great pride for everyone in the country. Mr. Rijiju on Monday took part in the hand-over ceremony of the first-ever Chess Olympiad torch relay at the historic Red Fort in New Delhi.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.

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INDIA U-23 HOCKEY

The Indian Women's Junior Hockey team is facing  the Netherlands in their second ongoing match of the Uniphar U23 5 Nations Tournament in Dublin. Both teams  were 2-2 when reports last came in.

In the opening match of the tournament, the Indian team registered a convincing 4-1 win over hosts Ireland on Sunday.

India will play their next match on Wednesday against Ukraine.

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WORLD NEWS CAPSULE

A report from the business desk-  

The Sensex climbed 237 points or 0.46 per cent to finish at 51,598 while the Nifty added 57 points or 0.37 percent to end at 15,350. At global stock markets, Asian share markets traded mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite index added marginally but ended almost flat. Japan's NIKKEI-225 declined 0.7 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.2 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times closed 0.1 percent down. European shares followed logged gains in intra-day trade. Oil prices were stable struggling to reverse last week's losses as the market balanced tightening supplies with concerns about slowing global economic growth. In intra-day trade Brent crude was trading at 113 dollars and 10 cents per barrel. And In the forex market, the rupee appreciated ten paise against the US dollar. The domestic currency closed at 77 rupees and 98 paise against the American Unit.  Gaura Dhawan Lal for World News, All India Radio.

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FPR

Now let us take a look at the major developments around the world, as reported in the Foreign Press.

First we have a look at the press reports on China.

⦁ Xinhua reports Chinese authorities on Sunday issued this year's first red alert for possible mountain torrents in parts of the country.

⦁ The Hindu writes India will not allow any unilateral attempt by China to change the status quo or alter the Line of Actual Control (LAC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, while asserting that through an enormous logistical effort, the country had countered the Chinese at the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

⦁ Xinhua reports China's ruling Communist Party has issued rules to further rein in the business activities of the families of senior government officials, in the latest move to fight corruption.

Now let's have a look at the press reports on Nepal.

⦁ KATHMANDU POST reports that the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives has decided to summon Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba again within this week after he skipped the meeting called for Sunday morning citing busy schedule.

⦁ KHABARHUB reports that a proposal for all-party discussion was made during the meeting of the ruling coalition to discuss the American SPP.

⦁ HIMALYAN TIMES reports that Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka has ruled out the possibility of Nepal's involvement in the SPP.

Now let's have a look at the press reports from Balochistan.

⦁ The Balochsitan Post reports that Pakistani forces in Panjgur district of Balochistan have claimed to have killed six people allegedly belonging to the Baloch Liberation Front armed group during the operation.

⦁ The Express tribune reports that five labourers working at a road construction site in the Harnai district of Balochistan were kidnapped by unidentified persons on Friday night.

Now let's have a look at the press reports from Pakistan.

⦁ THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL reports that President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday has once again refused to sign the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022.

⦁ PAKISTAN OBSERVER reports that Saudi authorities have decided to strictly enforce mah-ram law for women below 45 years of age visiting to perform Hajj.

⦁ PAKISTAN TODAY reports that Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday warned against further inflation and chaos if early and transparent elections are not held soon.  

Now let's have a look at the press reports on Bangladesh.

⦁ The Bangladesh Cabinet has approved, in principle, a draft of the Press Council (Amendment) Act 2022. It has the provision of imposing a fine for "false reporting", reports Daily Star.

⦁ Flood situation in Sylhet remained unchanged on Monday morning, reports Prothom Alo. .

⦁ The Bangladesh cabinet on Monday approved the draft of Universal Pension Scheme Act 2022, reports Daily Sun.

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REPEAT HEADLINES

•  India gears up to celebrate 8th International Day of Yoga on 21 June; Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the celebrations in Mysuru.

• Around 80 Indian missions and embassies around the world to organise yoga events at iconic locations to mark the day.

• French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance falls short of absolute majority in second round of Parliamentary Elections.

• Indian Army isues notification for recruitment of Agniveers; Registration to be opened from July.

• Spain and Germany face wildfires amid unusual heat wave in Western Europe.

•  World Refugee Day being observed on 20th June to honour refugees around the globe.

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And now, before we end, let us listen to Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajan Vaishnav Jan, by artists from GEORGIA.

AND WITH THAT, WE END THIS BULLETIN. WE'LL BE BACK AT THE SAME TIME TOMORROW WITH THE NEXT EDITION OF WORLD NEWS.

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