Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (NCFL) in Hyderabad this afternoon. During his day-long visit to the city, Mr Shah will take part in a couple of programmes.

Mr Shah will also address a public meeting on the concluding day of the month-long ‘Praja Sangrama Yatra’ Phase-2 taken up by BJP State President and Lok Sabha Member B. Sanjay Kumar. Mr Sanjay had a month-long Yatra which he started on 14th of last month coinciding with Dr BR Ambedkar birth anniversary. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today approved revised Scales of Accommodation-2022 (SoA) for Defence Services. This will ensure contemporary specifications in future projects and better standards of living for the personnel of the Armed Forces. The Defence Ministry said that the implementation of Scales of Accommodation-2022, would be a tremendous improvement in built facilities, infrastructure and specifications commensurate to contemporary requirements. 

Ministry of Defence has highlighted that this revision will enhance infrastructure development, enable usage of modern technology, give more flexibility to the executives and cater for users’ aspirations. The Ministry added that the enhanced scales will also be in line with the government vision and programmes like Swatch Bharat, Sugamya Bharat, Digital India, Green Buildings, Sustainable Development, Renewable Energy and reduction of Carbon Footprint.

Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw today flagged off the Jaipur-Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jaipur Sainik Express via video conferencing from Rail Bhavan, New Delhi. The train number 14021/14022 - Sainik Express is now extended to Delhi Junction with increased frequency from tri-weekly to daily.

The Ministry of Railways said that this train will boost the rail connectivity of Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. The Ministry highlighted that this train service is especially popular among soldiers. The soldiers residing in this area use Railways for transportation.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vaishnaw said, today is a historic day as this train is being extended to Delhi Junction from Sikar with increased frequency. He said that it will facilitate our Sainik brothers to visit the Capital city.

Bajaj Finserv Limited's Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Bajaj has assumed the office of Confederation of Indian Industry,CII President for the year 2022-23. 

During a meeting today, CII elected its new office-bearers and accordingly Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp Limited Pawan Munjal, has taken over as CII President-Designate. Executive Vice Chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions R Dinesh has taken over as Vice President. 

According to an official press release, Mr. Bajaj has been engaged with CII for many years. He had led CII National Committees on Insurance and Pensions and CII Taskforce on Fintech. 

Union Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said that India went from thirty eight per cent toilet coverage to hundred per cent toilet coverage in rural areas while also building over seventy three lakh household and community toilets in urban areas. He said that the Swachh Bharat Mission became a 'Jan Andolan' that inspired the country towards safe and proper sanitation. Mr. Puri said this at the launch of BHARAT TAP initiative at the Plumbex India exhibition in New Delhi today.

Mr. Puri highlighted the exhibition saying that this exhibition caters to a fundamental service in the development of the nation- water and sanitation and there is no progress or growth without adequate sanitation, which is foundational in the hierarchy of basic services that citizens expect. He further said that there was a paradigm shift in India’s social development after the Prime Minister announced that Swachhata was the key to India’s development.

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the United Nations Development Programme have signed a Memorandum of Understanding wherein UNDP will provide technical support towards Centre’s aspirational Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme (PMFBY) and Kisan Credit Card - Modified Interest Subvention Scheme. 

Under the MoU, UNDP will leverage its expertise in systems and global know-how for supporting the Ministry of Agriculture for the implementation of combined agriculture credit and crop insurance.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar by Chief Executive Officer of PMFBY Ritesh Chauhan and UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda.

The President has appointed Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Rajiv Kumar will assume the charge of office of the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from 15th of May. Sushil Chandra will demit the Office of the Chief Election Commissioner on 14th of this month.

Extended range version of BrahMos Air Launched missile successfully fired from Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft today. The missile achieved a direct hit on the designated target in the Bay of Bengal region.

Defence Ministry said, it was the first launch of extended range version of BrahMos missile from Su-30 MKI aircraft. With this, the Indian Air Force has achieved the capability to carry out precision strikes from Su-30 MKI aircraft. The extended range capability of the missile coupled with the high performance of the Su-30 MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the future battle fields.

As the world gears up to the International Day of Yoga, Indian Embassy in China kicked off the celebrations by holding an “Office Yoga” session at the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing.

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat along with SCO diplomats attended the specially designed session of yoga postures for office goers conducted by yoga teacher Ashish Bahuguna of the “WeYoga Academy” Beijing. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Rawat said this yoga event is yet another instance of India’s proactive contribution to strengthening cultural cooperation among SCO countries. Ambassador Rawat said: “India will assume SCO presidency in September 2022 and is looking forward to playing a very constructive role in enriching the role of SCO in all spheres”. SCO is a unique organization bringing people from different ethnicities, faiths and languages under one umbrella. Yoga also transcends differences promoting harmony and unity, Amb Rawat said.

The National Health Authority, under its flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, has announced successful integration of additional 13 digital health solutions in the mission in the last three months.

With this, so far 40 digital health service applications have been successfully integrated with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission since the national launch was announced in September last year. Union Health Ministry in a statement said that the ABDM partners ecosystem now consists of 16 government applications and 24 private sector applications.

The integration is a technical collaboration between ABDM and health tech service providers that will help bridge the existing gap among different digital platforms, user applications and stakeholders in the digital health space.