National News
Yoga a way of life, says Modi after inaugurating Yoga Day celebrations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated along with thousands of people in a Mass Yoga Demonstration at the Mysore Palace ground here on the occasion of 8th International Day of Yoga (IDY) on Tuesday, and said that ‘Yoga has become a way of life’.
Integrating the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with celebrations of 8th IDY, Mass Yoga demonstrations are being organised at 75 iconic locations across the country under the leadership of 75 Union Ministers, along with the Yoga Demonstration by the Prime Minister. The Yoga demonstrations are also being held by various educational, social, political, cultural, religious, corporate and other civil society organisations and will be attended by crores of people across the country.
The Prime Minister’s Yoga programme at Mysuru is also part of the novel programme
‘Guardian Yoga Ring’, which is a collaborative exercise between 79 countries and United Nations organisations along with Indian Missions abroad to illustrate Yoga’s unifying power that surpasses National boundaries.
Since 2015, the International Day of Yoga (IDY) has been celebrated worldwide on June 21 every year. The theme for this year’s Yoga day is “Yoga for Humanity”. The theme portrays how Yoga served humanity in alleviating suffering during the Covid Pandemic.
Governor of Karnataka Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Minister for Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal were among those present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the yogic energy, which has been nurtured for centuries by the spiritual centers of India like Mysuru, is today giving direction to global health.
“Today yoga is becoming a basis for global cooperation and is providing a belief of a healthy life to mankind,” he added. He said, “Today we see that Yoga has come out of the households and has spread all over the world and this is a picture of spiritual realization, and that of natural and shared human consciousness, especially in the last two years of an unprecedented pandemic,” PM Modi stated.
He further said, “Yoga has now become a global festival. Yoga is not only for any individual, but for the entire humanity. Therefore, this time the theme of International Day of Yoga is – Yoga for humanity.” He thanked the United Nations and all the countries for taking this theme globally.
Quoting the Indian sages, the Prime Minister emphasized “Yoga brings peace for us. The peace from yoga is not merely for individuals. Yoga brings peace to our society. Yoga brings peace to our nations and the world. And, Yoga brings peace to our universe.”
“This whole universe starts from our own body and soul. The universe starts from us. And, Yoga makes us conscious of everything within us and builds a sense of awareness,” he underlined.
The Prime Minister remarked that India is celebrating Yoga Day at a time when the country is celebrating its 75th year of Independence, the Amrit Mahotsav.
This widespread acceptance of Yoga Day, the Prime Minister said, “is the acceptance of that Amrit spirit of India which gave energy to India’s freedom struggle. That is why Mass Yoga demonstrations are being organised at 75 iconic locations across the country which have been witness to the glorious history of India and have been the center of cultural energy.”
“The experience of collective yoga at the historical sites of India is like tying together India’s past, India’s diversity, and India’s expansion”, he elaborated.
He also informed about the novel programme ‘Guardian Yoga Ring’, which is a collaborative exercise between 79 countries and United Nations organisations along with Indian Missions abroad to illustrate Yoga’s unifying power that surpasses national boundaries.
“As the sun moves from the east to the west across the world, the Mass Yoga Demonstrations in the participating countries, if seen from any one point on Earth, will seem to be happening one after the other, almost in tandem, thus underlining the concept of ‘One Sun, One earth’. “These practices of yoga are giving wonderful inspiration for health, balance and cooperation”, he added.
Modi pointed out that Yoga is not just part of life for us, today, it has become a way of life. He said Yoga need not be limited to a particular time and location.
He said, “No matter how stressful we are, a few minutes of meditation relaxes us and increases our productivity. Therefore, we do not have to take yoga as an extra work. We also have to know yoga and we also have to live yoga. We also have to achieve yoga, we also have to adopt yoga. When we start living yoga, Yoga Day will become a medium for us not to do yoga, but to celebrate our health, happiness and peace.”
The Prime Minister said that today is the time to realize the infinite possibilities associated with yoga. “Today our youth are coming in large numbers with new ideas in the field of yoga. He informed about the Startup Yoga Challenge by the Ayush Ministry. The Prime Minister congratulated the winners of 2021 winners of ‘Prime Minister’s Awards for outstanding contribution for Promotion and Development of Yoga’.”
International News
India leverages water resources as strategic tool to tighten noose around ‘rogue state’ Pakistan

New Delhi, April 24: India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is not only morally justified in light of continuing cross-border terrorism but also legally defensible due to repeated procedural violations by Pakistan, several experts reckoned on Thursday.
The action, they said, is a sovereign right exercised to protect national interest, security, and the integrity of international agreements, which depend on reciprocity and mutual adherence.
“This step signals that while India has always honoured its international commitments, it will not be taken for granted when the other party – a rogue state like Pakistan – repeatedly breaches the spirit and terms of the agreement,” an analyst opined.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, waters of three rivers – Ravi, Sutlej and Beas – averaging around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of Western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.
Last August, India had served a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the IWT citing “fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances” that require a reassessment of obligations.
In the notice, India had highlighted that, under Article XII(3) of the IWT, its provision may from time to time be modified by a duly ratified Treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments.
India’s notification highlighted fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various Articles of the Treaty. Among various concerns, important ones included change in population demographics; environmental issues – need to accelerate development of clean energy to meet India’s emission targets; impact of persistent cross border terrorism, etc.
However, despite India’s repeated warnings, Pakistan was involved in serious violation of treaty protocols.
The eventual suspension of the treaty came only after persistent violations and was triggered further by national security threats, such as Tuesday’s Pahalgam terror attack, which has claimed 26 innocent lives.
The most critical breach occurred in 2016, when Pakistan unilaterally bypassed the treaty’s graded mechanism of dispute resolution outlined under Article IX of the IWT. This article mandates a stepwise escalation — from technical discussions to neutral expert adjudication and finally, if needed, to a Court of Arbitration.
In 2015, Pakistan initially requested a neutral expert to examine technical objections to India’s Kishanganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects. However, it withdrew this request next year and unilaterally approached the Court of Arbitration, violating the agreed dispute-resolution protocol. This deliberate deviation undermined the legal sanctity of the treaty and indicated a pattern of weaponizing legal mechanisms for political ends.
Recognising this breach, India issued a formal notice to Pakistan on January 25, 2023, calling for the modification of the treaty to ensure that the dispute resolution process could no longer be exploited unilaterally. By exhausting diplomatic options and adhering to procedural fairness, India demonstrated responsibility and restraint.
Pakistan has also invoked the treaty’s dispute resolution provisions three times, not always in good faith.
The first instance involved objections to a hydropower project on the Chenab River in India-administered Kashmir. While Pakistan raised concerns that the project could give Indian engineers undue control over river flows, the World Bank-appointed neutral expert ruled in favour of India in 2007, validating the project’s design and sediment management as being in line with international best practices.
India has already set the stage to tighten the noose around Pakistan with several projects.
The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project on a tributary of the Jhelum was commissioned in 2018 and diverts water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum basin via a 23 km tunnel.
The Ratle Hydroelectric Project on Chenab was revived in 2021 with an 850 MW capacity as Pakistan raised concerns over potential flow manipulation.
The Tulbul Navigation Project on Jhelum was also never really off the table since the Uri attack in 2016 and can regulate water flow through a navigational lock-cum-control structure.
The Shahpurkandi Dam on Ravi was cleared in 2018 and completed in early 2024. It blocks surplus water from flowing into Pakistan, enhancing irrigation and power generation in India.
Similarly, the Ujh Multipurpose Project on a tributary of the Ravi, which was announced in 2020 is currently in the planning stage, combines storage, irrigation, and hydroelectric goals to cut off water flow to Pakistan.
It clearly shows that the IWT may only be temporarily suspended but the pressure is already building on Pakistan.
These developments clearly indicate a concerted effort by India to leverage water resources as a strategic tool in its geopolitical stance towards Pakistan and can have serious implications for the terror sponsors across the border.
Pakistan relies heavily on the Indus River system for irrigation, with about 80 per cent of its cultivated land – approximately 16 million hectares – depending on these waters. The agricultural sector contributes 23 per cent to Pakistan’s national income and supports 68 per cent of its rural inhabitants. Reduced water availability could lead to lower crop yields, food shortages, and economic instability.
The Indus basin also supplies 154.3 million acre-feet of water annually, which is vital for irrigating extensive agricultural areas and ensuring food security. Pakistan’s water storage capacity is low, with major dams like Mangla and Tarbela having a combined live storage of only about 14.4 MAF, which is just 10 per cent of Pakistan’s annual water share under the treaty. The suspension exacerbates these vulnerabilities by cutting off a guaranteed water supply.
The suspension of the IWT will also have significant economic implications for Pakistan, particularly in the agricultural and industrial sectors. It may also affect the country’s power generation capabilities, as hydropower is a crucial source of electricity.
National News
Pahalgam attack: BJP legislators in Bengal stage protest, burn Pakistan flags in front of Assembly

Kolkata, April 24: BJP legislators in Bengal, led by the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday staged protests against the Pahalgam terror attack by burning Pakistan flags in front of the House.
“The widows of both Bitan Adhikari and Sameer Guha, the two killed tourists from West Bengal at Pahalgam on Wednesday, described how the Hindus were selectively killed there. Bengalis, in general, are travel-loving people. I will request them that from henceforth the Hindu Bengalis should make their tour plans after considering the demography of their destination,” Adhikari told the media.
“Be it the recent riot-hit Murshidabad or be it Kashmir, the only aim is to selectively target the Hindus,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
He also said that just like Israeli actions at Gaza, Pakistan will also be taught a lesson by India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
“As long as Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister, everything is possible. Like Gaza, Pakistan will also be reduced to ashes,” Adhikari said.
Earlier, Adhikari also criticised actor-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Asansol, Shatrughan Sinha, for the latter’s comments that there is an attempt to create a narrative that only Hindus are being targeted.
Citing his comments, Adhikari said that the problem is that while terrorists come from outside, their supporters and sympathisers continue to roam around within the country.
“Their first task is to figure out how to trivialise brutality. I pray to God that they never have to stand in front of the barrel of a gun and be asked to recite the Kalma because I don’t want them to realise, even for a minute, the fool’s paradise they were living in, or get the slightest chance to feel remorse. They are not worthy of correction, repentance, or regret,” Adhikari said.
National News
Owaisi urges PM to invite all parties to all-party meeting on Pahalgam

Hyderabad, April 24: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite all the parties, including those having one MP, to the all-party meeting on the Pahalgam terror attack.
Owaisi said that since this is a national issue, everyone must be heard.
The Lok Sabha member posed on X on Thursday that he spoke to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday night regarding the Pahalgam all-party meeting.
“He said they’re thinking of inviting only parties with “5 or 10 MPs.” When I asked why not parties with fewer MPs, he said that the meeting would get “too long”. When I asked “What about us, the smaller parties?” He joked that my voice is anyway too loud,” posted Owaisi.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president stated that this is not a BJP’s or another party’s internal meeting, it is an all-party meeting to send a strong and united message against terrorism and those countries that harbour terrorists.
He asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he couldn’t spend an extra hour to hear the concerns of all parties. “Your own party does not have a majority. Whether it is a party with 1 MP or a 100, they were both elected by Indians and deserve to be heard on such an important matter. This is not a political issue, it is a national issue. Everyone must be heard,” said Owaisi, urging the Prime Minister to make this a real all-party meeting.
Every party with an MP in Parliament must be invited, added Owaisi, the lone MP of AIMIM.
Owaisi on Wednesday strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam. He stated that terrorists killed innocent people after asking about their religion and hoped that the government would teach a lesson to these terrorists.
“This is tragic. This massacre. We are standing in solidarity with the affected families and pray for an early recovery of those injured,” he said.
Owaisi said the terror attack was a result of an intelligence failure. He demanded that the Narendra Modi government recheck its deterrence policy.
The MP said this incident was more condemnable than Uri and Pulwama as terrorists, who have come from the neighbouring country, targeted civilians.
The AIMIM chief said the terror attack was carried out to damage the tourism industry. He said the terrorists who came from Pakistan to spread terror picked up an area which is not even connected by road.
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