On 20 June, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena and his wife Sangita Saxena, for the first time hosted the Bengali community in the national capital at Raj Niwas to celebrate West Bengal’s Statehood day. In 1947, an undivided Bengal Assembly passed a resolution to join India after the Partition. It was the Prime Minister’s wish to commemorate this occasion in West Bengal as well as in states with a sizable Bengali population. According to Bengal Association leaders, over 20 lakh Bengalis live in Delhi-NCR. While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee crossed swords with Governor CK Ananda Bose on ideological grounds for celebrating the occasion, LG Saxena quietly celebrated with the Bengali community’s leaders of Delhi. Local school students performed cultural songs and dances at an event organised in the Raj Niwas auditorium and cultural foods such as the bengali “singara”(samosa), roshogulla, sandesh and “misti dohi” were also given to guests. The LG announced at the gathering that Bengal’s Foundation Day would henceforth be celebrated every year at Raj Niwas.
Government employees get ‘Y’ breaks
To popularise yoga, the Centre has asked their employees to take a “Y” or yoga break. Similar to a lunch or short tea break, employees can take small breaks while sitting at their desks to perform yoga. Employees have been advised that they do not need to go out and that they can take lessons from YouTube to perform yoga while sitting at their desks.
Yogi in focus at Minister’s daughter’s wedding
Several top Ministers and leaders were in attendance at Union Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s daughter’s wedding in Gwalior. Among those present were Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP party President JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. When the UP CM was greeted by the crowd chanting his name- as if he were addressing a public meeting- as he went to bless the newlyweds. This was a significant indicator of CM Yogi’s popularity beyond Uttar Pradesh. Notably, most of the wedding guests were BJP party leaders from across the country.