Dry day observed across Ernakulam

Yoga enthusiasts participating in a mass session organised as part of the International Yoga Day celebrations on S.G. Law College Grounds in Ballari on Sunday. | In Ballari, the district administration, the Zilla Panchayat and the AYUSH Department organised a large-scale yoga programme at the S.G. Law College grounds under the theme, “Yoga for Healthy Ageing”.Participants performed Surya Namaskar, Pranayama and various yoga postures in a synchronised manner.A unique feature of the celebrations in Ballari was the integration of voter awareness with yoga.The district administration and the District SVEEP Committee used the occasion to create awareness about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.A team of yoga practitioners led by Mahesh Babu of the Department of Yoga, Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, demonstrated yoga postures resembling the letters “SIR”, urging eligible citizens to enrol in electoral rolls and rectify errors in voter records.The initiative drew considerable public attention.Addressing the gathering, Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Zubair said that the Election Commission has launched the Special Intension Revision exercise to prepare updated and error-free electoral rolls and appealed to citizens to cooperate with Booth Level Officers by providing the necessary information.Municipal Commissioner P.S. Manjunath urged people to actively participate in the electoral rolls revision process to ensure preparation of a comprehensive and accurate voters list.District-level officers, students and members of the public participated in the event. The Forest Department distributed saplings to participants.In Vijayanagara district, more than 2,000 yoga enthusiasts took part in a grand Yoga Day programme organised jointly by the district administration, the Zilla Panchayat, the AYUSH Department, the City Municipal Council and various organisations.Speaking on the occasion, Additional Deputy Commissioner E. Balakrishna said that good health is the greatest asset in life and encouraged people to adopt yoga as a daily habit.“No matter how much wealth a person accumulates, only good health will stand by them in old age. Yoga is essential for maintaining both physical and mental well-being,” he said.Municipal Council president N. Rupesh Kumar said that yoga should not be viewed merely as a form of physical exercise but as a way of life capable of preventing lifestyle diseases and improving overall quality of life.Yoga trainer Balachandra Sharma led the participants through various yoga practices during the event.At the district-level Yoga Mahotsav at the Koppal Taluk Stadium, Member of Parliament K. Rajashekar Basavaraj Hitnal described yoga as a powerful means of uniting the body and mind and connecting human beings with nature.Highlighting India’s contribution to the world through yoga, he said that the ancient practice has gained global recognition after the United Nations adopted June 21 as International Yoga Day with support from 177 countries.“Yoga is not merely about physical flexibility or weight reduction, it strengthens immunity, relieves stress and promotes mental peace. It should become an integral part of our daily lives,” he said.MLC Hemalatha Nayak said that yoga symbolises India’s rich cultural heritage. It has attained worldwide popularity through sustained efforts to promote its benefits.The programme also featured special yoga demonstrations by children, which received appreciation from the audience.The AYUSH Department distributed medicinal giloy (Amrutha Balli) cuttings among participants t

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with Baba Ramdev in a mass yoga session during the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada on June 21, 2026. | N. Rao Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday (June 21, 2026) asserted that the transformation of Andhra Pradesh into a healthy, wealthy, and happy State was possible through spirituality and practice of yoga.International Yoga Day 2026 LIVE updates - June 21, 2026Participating at a celebrations events in Vijayawada, Mr. Naidu expressed his resolve to have permanent yoga centers constructed in Swarna Grama and Ward Secretariats, appoint district and mandal-level officials to supervise yoga programmes, and form an expert committee to create standard yoga protocols. Baba Ramdev performs an asana during the International Day of Yoga celebrations in Vijayawada. | N. Rao The CM led the State-level celebrations alongside yoga guru Baba Ramdev at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation stadium in the early hours of Sunday (June 21, 2026).He also announced that the government would organise the next International Yoga Day celebrations event in 2027 in Tirupati.Mr. Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought global recognition to yoga and was positioning India as a rising power on the international stage, for which the people should thank him. Hundreds of schoolchildren, government employees, yoga practitioners and members of the public joined the event led by CM Naidu and Baba Ramdev | N. Rao He said India was a ‘Vishwa Guru’ due to its potential to guide the world in diverse fields and that yoga enhances physical and mental fitness, and praised Baba Ramdev for taking yoga closer to the masses.The CM said the future lies in the combination of technology and spirituality and called upon the public to strive to make AP a 'Spiritual Andhra Pradesh’.He noted that A.P. created a world record by organising Yoga Andhra-2025 in Visakhapatnam in the presence of Mr. Modi. The State government was committed to ensure that yoga reached every household thereby improving public health, he added.Mr. Naidu went on to say that the government was promoting natural farming on a large scale so that people have the chance to consume chemical-free food, and integrate yoga in the Sanjeevani project. Published - June 21, 2026 11:20 am IST

India’s reservoirs can host about 102 gigawatt (GW) of floating solar capacity, according to the first comprehensive national assessment of the technology’s potential by the NISE. | The report titled ‘Solar PV Potential of India (Floating Solar)’ frames panels on water as a way around one of the most intractable obstacles in the solar sector — land.The 121-page assessment, however, contains no calculation of what it would cost to realise this potential in India. Its only cost reference is a 2021 benchmark from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which the report cites to note that floating plants typically cost about 25% more upfront than ground-mounted ones, owing to floats, anchoring and waterproofing.“We are in discussions with the Finance Ministry to promote floating solar and agri-photovoltaics,” Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, MNRE said at a press conference on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) to launch the report. Agri-photovoltaics refer to farm beds that are sheltered by structures on which solar panels are mounted.Acquiring landGround-mounted solar systems, which dominate India’s roughly 100 GW of installed solar capacity, require three to four times more area per megawatt than the panels themselves occupy. Land acquisition, which is costly, slow and prone to conflict with agriculture and habitation, has historically and continues to be a chokepoint as India pursues 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030. Floating solar is “land neutral”, the report underlines.NISE arrived at its estimate by passing India’s inland water bodies through six geospatial filters: lakes and reservoirs larger than 10 hectares, water present for at least 11 months a year, depths between 3 and 30 metres, solar irradiance above 4.5 kWh/m²/day, and proximity within 10 km of both roads and substations.Demonstrated on Odisha’s Hirakud reservoir, the filters whittled 499 sq. km. of water down to 99.5 sq. km. of usable surface. Applied nationwide, they yielded 1,946 sq. km. of feasible area, with a self-imposed cap of 20% of any reservoir’s surface, translating to 102.18 GW. Maharashtra (16.28 GW), Madhya Pradesh (14.89 GW), Karnataka (13.69 GW), Odisha (12.81 GW) and Telangana (10.72 GW) account for the bulk.Flagship solar parkIndia’s flagship is the Omkareshwar floating solar park on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district — at 278 MW, the country’s largest, with plans to scale to 600 MW. Yet NISE’s own field observations there recorded loosening float joints, misaligned platforms and uneven buoyancy, alongside reports from developers of electric cables breaking.Globally, floating solar reached about 9.6 GW by 2024, nearly 90% of it in Asia. China leads, with installations such as a 120 MW plant on a fish farm in Poyang Lake; Singapore’s 1 MW Tengeh reservoir testbed has supplied much of the field’s performance data; and the Netherlands accounts for roughly three-fourths of Europe’s capacity, built largely on quarry lakes. Published - June 10, 2026 09:55 pm IST

Danasari Anasuya | Revanth Reddy as part of the State’s Women’s Week celebrations to be held from May 25 to 31, said Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka).Reviewing arrangements at a high-level meeting at the State Secretariat, the Minister directed officials to organise Women’s Week on a grand scale across Telangana under the Praja Palana-Pragathi Pranalika programme.Officials informed that a series of programmes has been planned for each day of the week. On May 25, 100 completed Indira Mahila Shakti (IMS) buildings will be inaugurated, while foundation stones will be laid for eight more across the State. As many as 82 Anganwadi centres will also be inaugurated. Programmes will include distribution of Indiramma Mahila Shakti sarees and district-level loan fairs.On May 26, 553 RTC buses operated by women self-help groups will be flagged off, and a working women’s hostel will be inaugurated in Hyderabad. Special campaigns against child marriage will be launched under the ‘Balya Vivaham-Batuku Aagam’ initiative, alongside awareness and mobilisation drives. Several other programmes will also be organised as part of Women’s Week. Published - May 24, 2026 06:55 pm IST