IIT Mandi kickstarts Mega G20 – S20 (Science20) Meet with International Yoga Day
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi kickstarts the G20 – S20 Meet today, 21st June 2023. With an objective to bring together various key stakeholders and experts to engage on various themes and to generate actionable insights that can drive progress towards achieving inclusive and sustainable development.
Clubbing with the International Yoga Day. the inaugural day of the event hosted speaker sessions, panel discussions, and technology demonstrations to celebrate the physical and mental benefits of Yoga, in the esteemed presence of Prof. Prem Vrat, Chairman, Board of Governor, IIT Mandi and IIT Dhanbad.
Speaking about IIT Mandi’s G20 – S20 Meet, Prof Prem Vrat, Chairman, Board of Governor, IIT Mandi and IIT Dhanbad said, “IIT Mandi inaugurating the G20-So event with International Yoga Day is a great initiative by the Institute. Yoga is the oldest Indian ‘dharohar’ that the world is recognizing now. It is the most glorious Indian contribution to the world. It affects our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Today’s event at IIT Mandi will offer a galaxy of speakers who will share insights on the importance of yoga.”
Welcoming the participants to the G20-S20 Meet at IIT Mandi, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT Mandi, said, “I welcome you all to the G20-S20 Meet at IIT Mandi. It is my pleasure to host all the participants on this occasion. The themes of this mega event have been set keeping in mind the need of technological interventions of the state and the country.”
Speaking during his keynote address on ‘Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam: Yoga – The Art of All Work’, Prof. Behera said, “In today’s event, we will focus on the power of Yoga and its importance in our modern lives. When we introspect and mediate ourselves, we experience something deeper which is inexpressible in any language or words. Modern science is still trying to figure out a model that can explain this phenomenon. The art of consciousness is unique. Consciousness is the awareness of internal and external existence. It is the intrinsic power associated with complex mechanisms. Consciousness exists in everyone. Each individual conscious mind expresses itself as a plant, an aquatic, an animal, or a human. Yoga is not a religious ritual but a way of life.”
Day One of this mega event focused on the importance of Yoga in our holistic development. It also included keynote sessions from notable speakers working in the field of Mental Health, Indian Knowledge Systems, and Ayurveda with the relevant involvement of technology among others.
While speaking about the Universal Ideas from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra on Mind & Mental Health, Dr Richa Chopra, Centre of Excellence for IKS, IIT Kharagpur, said, “Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her abilities to work productively to contribute to the society at large. Patanjali’s yoga sutra, also known as the science of mental discipline encompasses the universal ideas on Mindi and Mental health. These yoga sutras lay down a step-by-step methodology towards raised levels of awareness, gaining deeper wisdom and a natural state of peace by unleashing the power and knowledge contained within the mind.”
While speaking about Understanding the Biomedical Psychophysiology of Yoga, Dr Sat Bir Khalsa. Associate Professor of Medicine – at Harvard Medical School, said, “Yoga is an ancient behavioral practice that allows development of the skills of mind-body awareness or mindfulness, and physical fitness. Research on the benefits of yoga practices on physical, psychological, and spiritual functioning is growing at an accelerating pace. The application of yoga interventions is providing psychological and clinical outcomes that are not currently readily available within the purview of modern medicine. Through its multiple component practices, yoga is therefore providing benefits across a broad spectrum of human functioning from the gross level of muscular functioning to deeper characteristics such as improvements in quality of life and spirituality.”
Other key sessions included:
Ø Making Yoga an integral part of our daily lives, by Ms. Paulomi Mukherjee, Regional Director of Art of Living Govt Programs and Projects
Ø Yoga as an integral part of Ayurveda, by Dr. Rajesh Sannd, Assistant Director In-charge Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Mandi
Ø Spreading of universal brotherhood and love through Yoga, by Dr. Suvrokamal Dutta, Senior Expert, Media, and Politics
Along with this, the event also observed a panel discussion on the topic of, Benefits of Yoga within empiric science, to provide insights on how Yoga is interconnected with modern world health practices.
Another highlight of the event included live demonstrations of various Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) based, technologies:
Ø ‘YogiFi’ Smart Mat – A posture-correcting Yoga mat developed by IIT Mandi incubated startup, as Device-Led technology
Ø ‘Smarton’ – Computer Vision based glasses for the visually impaired as assistive technology
Ø ‘Nuverse’ – A market-leading application in Health-Tech for body vitals using Photoplethysmography (PPG), as Experience technology
Ø An Augmented-Reality-based presentation highlighting Himachal Pradesh and its contribution to Ayurveda, Medical Science, and Spiritualism
Under India’s presidency of G20, the mega event being hosted by IIT Mandi is providing an opportunity to bring together a diverse and influential group of delegates from across the globe to create a unique talent pool for collaboration and knowledge exchange.
