The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, or Ayush Ministry, has sought the Indian Space Research Organisation’s assistance to use satellite imagery of the outdoor events that will be held across India on International Day of Yoga on June 21, PTI reported on Tuesday.
The satellite imagery will help the ministry get an idea of how many people participated in events on that day. In 2017, an estimated 7.5 crore people participated in 18 to 20 formal events on International Day of Yoga.
“We have written to the ISRO chief and asked him if he could help us in mapping the event participation between 7 am and 8 am from across the country using their satellite,” special secretary of Ayush, Rajesh Kotecha, told the Hindustan Times. “He is yet to formally respond to our request but he has given us in-principle approval.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a Yoga Day event at Forest Research Institute grounds in Dehradun. “As per our estimates, about 10 crore people had participated last year across the globe,” Ayush minister Shripad Yesso Naik told the newspaper. “We are expecting nearly 100% increase this year.”
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