Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with United States President Donald Trump. They discussed US Presidency of G-7, the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other issues.
 
During a telephone conversation yesterday, President Trump expressed his desire to include India in the ambit of Group of Seven and invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the next G-7 Summit to be held in USA.
 
According to an official statement, President Trump spoke about the US Presidency of the G-7, and conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India.
 
Prime Minister Modi commended President Trump for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging the fact that such an expanded forum would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world. The Prime Minister has said that India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit.

The Depression over East-central Arabian Sea moved northwards with a speed of 11 kmph during past six hours intensified into a Deep Depression and lay centered at 0530 a.m., over East-central Arabian Sea, about 490 kilometres south-south- west of Mumbai, 280 kilometres west-southwest of Panjim and 710 kilometres south-southwest of Surat.

Coast Guard ship's and Aircraft continue to advice and relay weather warning to the fishermen and merchant vessels out at sea off the coast of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. Besides weather cautioning, the Coast Guard ship's are also engaged in shepherding the fishing boats to safety.

In Gujarat, the deep depression formed in the eastern Arabian sea is moving northwards and is located at 670 kilometres from Surat at present. It is expected to hit the south Gujarat coast by tomorrow. Heavy downpour accompanied by gusty winds is expected in coastal districts of south Gujarat in two days.

Three more states have been included in One Nation, One Ration Card scheme. These are Odisha, Sikkim and Mizoram. Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan announced the inclusion of these states in the scheme on Integrated Management of Public Distribution System.

Under this system, nation-wide portability of the benefits under National Food Security Act through One Nation, One Ration Card plan is implemented to enable the NFSA ration card holders to lift their entitled quota of subsidized food grains from any e-PoS enabled Fair Price Shop of their choice anywhere in the country, by using the existing and same ration card after Aadhaar authentication. The facility is enabled in 17 States and UTs so far. 

They are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and  Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Further, constant efforts are being made to expand the reach of national portability to the beneficiaries of other states.

"The world is facing one of the biggest crisis since the two world wars. Like the world changed pre- and post-World Wars, the same way the pre- and post-Covid world will be different," PM Modi said while addressing the 25th Foundation Day of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences on Monday.

He further added: "I would also like to appreciate the efforts of the Karnataka Government in handling the Covid-19 situation.  The world seeks both care and cure from you."

"At the root of India's brave fight against Covid-19 is the hard-work of the medical community and our Corona warriors. In fact, doctors and medical workers are like soldiers, but without the soldiers’ uniform.  The virus may be an invisible enemy,but our Corona warriors, medical workers are invincible," he said.

PM said, "during the last six years, we in India took many initiatives in health-care and medical education. 

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft with two NASA astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station last night after a historic launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It has marked the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel.

Elon Musk's SpaceX company confirmed the successful docking of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley with the ISS, the orbiting laboratory after traveling 19 hours. They were greeted by fellow NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, who were already on board the orbiting laboratory.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called the station from the space agency's mission control center in Houston, Texas. Bridenstine said, we are so, so proud of everything you've done for our country, and in fact, to inspire the world.

Saturday's liftoff also assumes significance as it marks the launch of humans into orbit from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade. With the liftoff, SpaceX became the first private company to launch people into the orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments the US, Russia and China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share his thoughts with the people in the country and abroad in his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on All India Radio at 11 A.M. tomorrow. It will be the 65th episode of the monthly radio programme.

It will be broadcast on the entire network of AIR and Doordarshan and also on AIR News website www.newsonair.com and newsonair Mobile App. It will also be streamed live on the YouTube channels of AIR, DD News, PMO and Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

AIR will broadcast the programme in regional languages immediately after the Hindi broadcast. The regional language versions will also be repeated at eight in the evening.

Ministry of Labour and Employment under its National Career Service (NCS) project has now started offering free online Career Skills Training for its registered job-seekers. This course on soft skills assists the learners in enhancing personality development with modules on corporate etiquette, improving inter personal skills, making impactful presentation including other necessary soft skills demanded by the industry at present.
 
The training module is available in Hindi and English on the NCS portal. The Ministry is implementing the NCS Project for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job search, career counselling, information on skill development courses, apprenticeship and internships through an on-line portal of NCS.
 
National Career Service has taken a number of initiatives to mitigate the challenges in the labour market due to COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown.

Women peacekeepers from India and Brazil have jointly won the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019 Award.

Major Suman Gawani of the Indian Army, a Military Observer formerly deployed with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer have been chosen for the award.
They will receive the award during an online ceremony presided over by UN Secretary-General António Guterres marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 May.

Created in 2016, the United Nations “Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” recognizes the dedication and effort of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in a peace operation context. For the first time, two peacekeepers will receive the award jointly for their contribution to this important cause.
Major Gawani expressed gratification at seeing her work as UN Military Observer recognized. She said, whatever the function, position or rank, it is their duty as peacekeepers to integrate an all genders perspective to daily work and own it.

Thirteen flights from the gulf region to India are scheduled on Friday as part of the Vande Bharat Mission.

The flights will bring back stranded Indians to various parts of India.
Vande Bharat Mission continues to touch the lives of various distressed and stranded Indians abroad.
13 flights have been scheduled from the Gulf countries to India , more than half of which are from the UAE.There are six flights from Dubai to Jaipur , Kochi, Kannur, Hyderabad , Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.

Another two flights are scheduled from Abu Dhabi to Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.

For Jaipur, it is the first flight from UAE under the Vande Bharat Mission.

From Saudi Arabia, there is a flight Srinagar and Kozhikode. This is also the first flight to Srinagar from the Kingdom.
Kuwait has two flights to Ahmedabad and Kozhikode. Muscat has one flight to Kochi and Doha has one flight to Kannur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday and congratulated him on having completed 50 years since his first term as a parliamentarian in Sri Lanka. Mr. Modi also recalled Rajapaksa's contributions to the development of Sri Lanka in his long political career, and extended his wishes for his future.

Prime Minister Modi also conveyed his condolences at the untimely demise of Mr. Arumugam Thondaman, a prominent leader of the Indian-origin Tamils in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister recalled the role that Mr. Thondaman had played in taking forward the development partnership between India and Sri Lanka. Mr. Arumugan Thondaman was a Ceylon Workers’ Congress leader and a Cabinet Minister in Sri Lanka who passed away on Tuesday after a sudden illness.

Both the leaders discussed the health and economic impact of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and the measures being taken in the two countries to counter them. Prime Minister assured his Sri Lankan counterpart that India stands ready to extend all possible support to Sri Lanka during this challenging time.