President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the Arogya Manthan programme at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh today. President Kovind will also launch several health infrastructure projects. President Kovind reached Bhopal yesterday on a three-day visit to the state. He was received by Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the Bhopal Airport. During his three-day stay, President Kovind will also visit Ujjain and Indore.

AIR correspondent reports that  President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the Arogya Manthan program at Kushabhau Thackeray International Convention Center in Bhopal. The President will also address the gathering on the topic "One Nation - One Health is the need of the present time". The second major program of the President will be held in the evening at Motilal Nehru Stadium in Bhopal. Shri Kovind will perform the Bhoomi-Poojan for 10 urban health institution buildings costing about Rs 182 crore and inaugurate the newly constructed buildings of 4 health institutions costing Rs 72 crore. These include hospital buildings in Bhopal, Indore, Dewas, Jabalpur, Sehore, Morena, Guna and Ujjain. The President will also perform Bhoomi-Poojan for the construction of Regional Institute of Respiratory Diseases and Center of Excellence for Orthopedics in Bhopal. The President will leave for Ujjain in the morning of May 29.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh undertook a sea sortie on a Scorpene class submarine INS Khanderi at Karwar Naval base in Karnataka yesterday. The submarine built at Mazagon Docks in Mumbai was commissioned in September 2019. The Indian Navy operates four submarines of this class with two more likely to join the fleet by the end of next year. Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister said that indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant will be inducted soon to bolster the maritime security of the country and guarantee peace and security in the Indian Ocean region.

According to a press release issued by the Navy, during the sea sortie for over four hours, the Defence Minister was shown the combat capabilities and offensive strength of the submarine. The search and rescue capabilities, underwater operations and stealth features were also demonstrated. During the sortie, a P-81 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and seat King Helicopter were also deployed along with a fly past by MiG-29K fighter aircraft.

Today is the birth anniversary of great nationalist and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly called Veer Savarkar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to great revolutionary leader and social reformer on the occasion. The Prime Minister also shared a video message on the social media platform on the occasion.

Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tributes to Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary. In a series of tweets, Mr Shah said, Savarkar was the epitome of sacrifice and tenacity. He said, Veer Savarkar was given two life terms of imprisonment but the inhuman tortures in dungeon could not deter his resolve to return the ultimate glory of Mother Bharati. The Home Minister said, Veer Savarkar's unparalleled contribution to the freedom movement and his efforts to remove social evil of untouchability from the society can never be forgotten.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel launched the Indian Business Portal in New Delhi this evening. This portal will serve as an international trade hub for Indian exporters and foreign buyers. The portal is a business-to-business digital marketplace to empower small-medium enterprises exporters, artisans and farmers to identify new markets for their products and grow their sales globally.

Speaking after launching the portal, Ms Patel said that this portal will act as an e-commerce marketplace to help Indian exporters get global visibility.

She said, it will address a number of elements that are part of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a commitment of the government like digitizing exporters, supporting MSME and encouraging greater exports of Indian products. The Minister said, various e-commerce platforms showed immense potential in supporting millions of businesses to sustain themselves, despite the challenging time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Films Division complex, which also houses the National Museum of Indian Cinema is getting ready to host the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction and Animation films on Sunday.

The opening ceremony of the weeklong biennial film festival will take place at the Nehru Centre, Worli, while all the festival screenings will happen in the Films Division Complex, which has state-of-the-art auditoriums. (auditoria).

MIFF 2022 has got an overwhelming response from filmmakers across the world, receiving a whopping 808 film entries from 30 countries. Out of these, 102 films will be screened under the Competition Category, 35 in international competition and 67 in the national competition.  18 Films will be screened under ‘MIFF Prism Category’

Highlighting the importance of technology, the Prime Minister said, it has ensured last-mile delivery and with the help of technology, the target of Antyodaya can be achieved. Terming drone technology as an effective tool for delivery of services and improving ease of living, he said, drone technology will take the farming sector to another level and it will ensure the progress of marginalized farmers.

He said, farmers' confidence in the technology has increased in the last eight years and now they are adopting technology without any fear.

He said, the drone sector has immense potential for the generation of employment opportunities in the country. He said, under the Mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', the government used technology as a bridge to bring welfare to the common citizens. He said, drones will play a crucial role in the delivery of medicines and vaccines in the far-flung areas of the country.

In a major boost to the country’s infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for six key projects worth 28,540 crore rupees at a function in Chennai a short while ago. He also dedicated to the nation five projects that have been completed at a cost of 2,960 crore rupees. The total expenditure on all the eleven projects is around 31,500 crore rupees.

Some of the completed projects include the third broad-gauge line connecting Tambaram and Chengalpattu in the periphery of Chennai. Another is the 75-km long Madurai-Theni Gauge Conversion project that has been executed at a cost of over 500 crore rupees.
He also laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Chennai - Bengaluru Expressway worth 14,870 crore rupees, that covers parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Hindi author Geetanjali Shree’s novel Ret Samadhi, Tomb of Sand has won the International Booker prize, becoming the first novel translated from Hindi to do so.

Geetanjali Shree is not only the award’s first Hindi winner, but also it is for the first time a book originally written in any Indian language has won the booker prize.

Geetanjali Shree said  There is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to Tomb of Sand. This is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a lasting energy that retains hope in the face of impending doom.

A Report Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell has won the prestigious Booker prize, the prize money of 50,000 Pounds will be shared between the author and translator equally.

Shree's book clinched the award, where 135 books competed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's biggest Drone Festival-Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 this morning at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

Drones have many functions, ranging from monitoring climate change to agriculture, geo mapping,  carrying out search operations after natural disasters, photography, filming, and delivering goods.

Their use  by the security agencies for reconnaissance, surveillance and in some cases targeted attacks is also well known.
The evolution of complementary technologies like 5G, augmented reality and computer vision is expected to drive drone market growth and improve drone communication and intelligence.

They are also used in fertilizer and pestcide spraying, afforestation, Healthcare delivery, telecom tower inspection, VIP security and High altitude surveillance.

Indian Embassy in Beijing, Consulates General of India in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou celebrated Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by reliving the history of India’s struggle for its independence. A play “The Oudh Quatrain”, a musical revolving around Oudh’s last king Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and his wife Begam Hazrat Mahal’s clash with the British East India Company in 1857 was staged on the occasion.

In a diplomatic outreach by India, Ambassadors of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and the deputy chief of mission of Nepal embassy in China also joined in the celebrations and enjoyed the play at the Indian Embassy in Beijing which was live-streamed from Hong Kong. The top envoys could easily correlate with this piece of history and thanked India’s Ambassador for inviting them over. Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman hailed the shared culture and heritage with India and recalled Indian movies and fine traditions of Indian theatre and dance forms. Nepal’s Deputy Chief of Mission in China, Kaushal Ray said that watching this historic play took him back to his college days while studying Indian literature, theatre, and drama.