In the Indian Coast Guard, a new air squadron was created in Chennai yesterday by the name 840 Squadron, initially with an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark-III aircraft. The aircraft was received with the traditional water cannon salute, in presence of Inspector General AP Badola, Commander of the eastern Coast Guard Region. This is the first such aircraft to be positioned by the defence force in the eastern region.

Three more ALH aircraft will be added in the inventory of the new Squadron shortly, says the Coast Guard. The aircraft are having Beyond the Visual Range detection, using modern radars. It is equipped for target neutralisation operations, using its mounted Heavy Machine Gun.

The ALH is an indigenous aircraft designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, in line with the government’s push towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

The 8th edition of International Day of Yoga is being celebrated today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the mass Yoga demonstration at Mysuru in Karnataka. Over 15 thousand participants are expected to do yoga along with the Prime Minister. Crores of people will participate in various International Day of Yoga programs being organized in India and the world. 

The theme of this year’s International Day of Yoga is ‘Yoga for Humanity’. As the International Day of Yoga is falling in the year of  'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', Yoga Day is being celebrated in 75 iconic places across the country. As part of the Guardian Ring initiative, the movement of the Sun from east to west will be celebrated through Yoga. Indian Missions in different countries will organise Yoga programmes at sunrise according to the local time there.

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh AK Abdul Momen arrived in India on a three-day official visit yesterday. He will attend the 7th Round of Joint Consultative Commission, JCC between India and Bangladesh today evening. The JCC will be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Mr Momen. This will be the first physical JCC meeting after the Covid-19 pandemic. The previous edition was held virtually in 2020.

The JCC will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including cooperation in the wake of Covid-19, border management and security, trade and investment, connectivity, energy, water resources, development partnership and regional & multilateral issues.Tomorrow, Mr Momen will call on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated the main tunnel and five underpasses of the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit Corridor Project to the nation in New Delhi. The project has been built at a cost of more than 920 crore rupees, entirely funded by the Central Government. It is aimed to provide hassle-free and smooth access to the new world-class exhibition and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Modi said, this tunnel is part of the campaign to transform Pragati Maidan according to the needs of the 21st Century. He called the project a big gift from the central government to the people of Delhi. Mr. Modi recalled the enormity of the challenge in completing the project due to the traffic congestion and the pandemic. He credited the new work culture of New India and workers and engineers for completing the project.

Union Minister of State  Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and MoS PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh yesterday said that Agnipath  is a scheme which has been brought for the interest of the  unemployed  youth of the country. The scheme is to provide them an opportunity to serve the nation and get employment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi yesterday. This year, for the very first time, International Chess Federation, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch, a part of the Olympic tradition. India is the first country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed over the torch to Prime Minister, who in turn handed it over to Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand. This torch will be taken to 75 cities in a span of 40 days before the final culmination at Mahabalipuram near Chennai. At every location, chess grandmasters of the state will receive the torch. The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai from 28th July to 10th August, 2022. 

Government has cleared the appointment of new chief justices in five high courts. Law and Justice Ministry has notified the appointment for Uttarakhand, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gauhati. Justice Vipin Sanghi of the Delhi High Court will be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, while Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of Telangana High Court to Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed of the Bombay High Court will take over as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court and Justice Shinde Sambhaji Shiwaji of Bombay High Court has been apointed as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Justice Rashmin M Chhaya of the Gujarat High Court has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. The Ministry said, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has been appointed to the Delhi High Court.

Air Marshal S K Jha has said that the registration process for first batch of Agniveer will start from 24th June in Indian Air Force. 

Addressing a Joint Press Conference of the tri-services in New Delhi yesterday, Air Marshal Jha said, the first batch will be enrolled by December.

Lieutenant General Anil Puri has said that future wars will be different and they will be based on technology. He said, for this the country need different kind of people and they are our India's youth. Lieutenant General Puri said, we need youth profile because by 2030, 50 per cent of the people in the country will be under the age of 25.

Yoga rehearsals are being held across the country, as the nation is gearing up to celebrate the 8th International Day of Yoga tomorrow.

In Uttar Pradesh, many events and functions will be organised today to motivate people to participate in yoga sessions that will be held across the state tomorrow on international day of yoga. More than 3.5 crore people in state are expected to take part in yoga practice today. Ayush minister of state Daya Shankar Mishra Dayalu told AIR news that yoga sessions will be organised at all heritage sites, ponds and historic places.

Yog abhyaas program is also being organised in Uttarakhand today. In Haridwar a large number of people are participating in Yog abhyaas program at Patanjali wellness center under the  guidance of Swami Ramdev this morning. Meanwhile Yog abhyaas program is also being organised in other parts of the state. A cycle Rally is being organised in the state capital Dehradun today.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a virtual summit of the leaders of the BRICS countries on June 23, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The Summit will be held in virtual format under the theme of “Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development”, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa in the virtual meet next week, which will mark the first summit of the leaders following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin on Wednesday held a second phone conversation since the invasion, with Beijing saying it would support Russia’s sovereignty and security.