Bhubaneswar: A large number of students, faculty members and others took part in doing yoga at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) in Odisha capital on World Yoga Day on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, vice-chancellor of AOA Prof Ashok Kumar Mahapatra urged the youth to reduce cell phone use and focus on yoga for healthy living. “The young people, who are hooked to mobile phones, are facing the problem of loss of concentration at a time when there is a need for maintaining balance between mental and physical well-being. Yoga can help achieve this,” he said.
The programme was organised by SOA NSS, Wellness Centre and the university which was also virtually addressed by Dr HR Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana. Swami Atmaprabhananda, secretary
of the Ramakrishna Mission in Bhubaneswar called for inclusion of yoga in the school curriculum. Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das, SOA’s Dean (Students’ Welfare), also spoke.
Earlier, the participants listened to the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the World Yoga Day programme organised at Mysore which was live-streamed. SOA’s yoga instructor Akhil Chandra Rana led the students and
faculty members in doing yoga.
The programme was also attended by Sarita Patel, Regional Director of NSS and Prof Bijay Kumar Sahu, Dean of Institute of Agricultural Sciences, SOA’s faculty of agricultural sciences. Prof Nachieketa K Sharma, SOA’s Director,
University Outreach Program and Chief Coordinator, NSS, presented a report on two-month virtual yoga camp organised in the university. Prof Saroj Kumar Mohanty, Programme Officer, NSS, also spoke.
