International Yoga Day 2017: Armed forces organise workshops for locals, students in North East

Kolkata: The International Yoga Day was on Wednesday celebrated by the army, navy, air force and NCC at various establishments and several other places in the eastern and North Eastern states.

All stations of army’s Eastern Command including units deployed in counter insurgency and those along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in forward areas observed the International Yoga Day by practising various yoga poses and exercises, a Defence spokesperson said.

The main event was conducted at the Eastern Command headquarters in Fort William, where the threat of a downpour forced the conduct of the event indoors.

Thousands of troops took part in the event across the Command theatre, the spokesperson said.

Locals from nearby areas and students of various schools, who joined in large numbers, were encouraged to develop yoga as a way of living.

The navy organised a workshop conducted by professional yoga instructors in which around 150 service personnel of INS Netaji Subhash and allied units attended.

At the Advance Headquarters of Eastern Air Command in Kolkata, all personnel and their families participated in the yoga sessions.

Around 6,500 NCC cadets under the aegis of NCC Directorate West Bengal and Sikkim participated in yoga sessions at Brigade Parade Ground (Maidan) and Tarakeshwar Degree College, the spokesperson said.

The overall participation from NCC stood at about 39,000 cadets, officers, instructors and other staff at 101 venues, including schools and colleges, in West Bengal and Sikkim, he said.