Shobhana Narasimhan has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

World Press Freedom Day popularly known as World Press Day is observed annually on May 3. The theme of World Press Freedom Day 2020 is “Journalism without Fear or Favour”.

Yes Bank appointed Neeraj Dhawan as its Chief Risk Officer (CRO) with immediate effect. Neeraj was appointed for a period of three years. He assumed charge on 2 May. He replaced Ashish Agarwal, the current CRO, who will be transitioning to a new role in the bank.

Noted Kannada poet K S Nissar Ahmed passed away at the age of 84 years. He was popularly known as “Nityotsava Kavi” (Nityotsava poet). He has also won the Padma Shri award.

The Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team was dethroned from the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the first time in close to four years after cricket parent’s body announced the latest rankings. India had yielded the top spot for since October 2016.

In the latest update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top ranked side in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place. India are now third with 114 points.

Three Indians have been selected for the prestigious membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this year.

Two of them are in the sciences: Biman Bagchi from the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Shobhana Narasimhan from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru. Kavita Singh, from the School of Arts and Aesthetics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, has been selected for the Humanities and Arts stream.

Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions released the COVID- 19 National Preparedness Survey 2020 (conducted in 410 districts). The objective of the survey is to develop a comparative analysis of COVID- 19 preparedness across States.The reports of the survey are available https://darpg.gov.in.

Chak-Hao, the black rice of Manipur, and the Gorakhpur terracotta bagged the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The information was announced by Chinnaraja G. Naidu, deputy registrar, Geographical Indications.

The state of Chhattisgarh is not under the ‘One Nation One Card’ scheme. There are currently seventeen states and Union territories(UTs) including the five states and UTs added on 1 May 2020 by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The 17 states and UTs are : (i) Andhra Pradesh, (ii) Bihar, (iii) Dadra and Nagar Haveli,  Daman and Diu, (iv) Gujarat, (v) Goa, (vi) Haryana, (vii) Himachal Pradesh, (viii) Jharkhand, (ix) Karnataka, (x) Kerala, (xi) Madhya Pradesh, (xii) Maharashtra, (xiii) Punjab, (xiv) Rajasthan, (xv) Telangana, (xvi) Tripura and (xvii) Uttar Pradesh.

Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launched an e-book titled “Prof. B.B. Lal: India Rediscovered”.

Thangjam Dhabali Singh, Manipuri allopathic doctor, was conferred with “Order of Rising Sun- Gold and Silver Rays” by the Japan government for promoting a better understanding of Japan in India and deepening ties between 2 countries.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has got approval to conduct clinical trials with antiviral drug favipiravir.
The drug is seen as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
Favipiravir, manufactured under the brand name Avigan by a unit of Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp, has been effective, with no obvious side-effects, in helping coronavirus patients recover.

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank(KVGB), a regional rural bank’s chairman P Gopi Krishna has launched ‘Vikas Abhaya’ a loan scheme to provide some relief to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise(MSME) borrowers whose business activities are disrupted on account of the COVID-19 pandemic in Dharwad.

Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, a plant health expert, has taken charge as Director-General of the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) paid tribute to celebrated painter and artist Raja Ravi Varma on his 172nd birth anniversary on 29 April 2020 through a virtual tour. Raja Ravi Varma was born into an aristocratic family in Kerala on 29 April 1848. He was largely a self-taught artist as European techniques go. He was a master at handling the oil medium and achieved magical ease with European naturalism.

The epic mythological show Ramayan, by Ramanand Sagar, has scripted new world wide record of becoming the most watched entertainment programme in the world in 2020 as of April 16. This announcement was made by Doordharshan (DD) on its Twitter handle on 30 April 2020, based on the data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. As per DD, Ramayan has also clocked the highest viewership record on a single day and has reported a viewership of 7.7 crore as of 16 April 2020. Besides this, the record has also contributed to make DD as one of the most viewed channels.

The state government of Kerala has initiated ‘Ayur Raksha Clinics’ at the district and taluk level and has established the Ayurveda bodies at the State, regional and district level for the prevention of COVID19. The ‘Ayur Raksha Clinics’ will provide medicines and other health support. The initiative has been started for the promotion of non-drug therapy and distribution of medications which will help the people to improve their immunity.

The Ministry of Coal has launched Project Monitoring Unit which aims to facilitate early operationalisation of coal mines which have been allocated by the Central Government.

A study by scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology has revealed a 35,000-year history of river erosion in Ladakh Himalayas besides identifying hotspots of erosion and wide valleys that act as a buffer zone.
The study, published in the journal Global and Planetary Changes, showed how rivers in drier Ladakh Himalayas operated in longer time scales.

In a bid to promote skill development, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Tata Technologies limited to set up 2 Centres for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIITs) in the Union Territory(UT), one each at Government Polytechnic Colleges at Jammu and Baramulla.

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza became the first Indian to be nominated for the Fed Cup Heart Award from the Asia/Oceania zone along with Indonesia’s Priska Medelyn Nugrorho.

Gorakhpur terracotta bagged the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The terracotta work of Gorakhpur is a centuries-old traditional art form. In this method, the potters make various animal figures like, horses, elephants, camels, goats, ox, etc.

The Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) submitted its Final Report on the NIP for 2019-25 to the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman. The report holds several recommendations on general and sectoral reforms relating to Infrastructure for implementation by Centre and States in India. The main objective is to improve the project preparation, attract investments both domestic and foreign into infrastructure which will be crucial for the target of becoming a $5 trillion economy by FY 2025.

A 17-year-old Indian-origin girl Vaneeza Rupani has been earned the honour of naming the NASA’s first Mars helicopter, after she submitted her essay into NASA’s “Name the Rover” contest. Rupani, a high school junior from Northport, Alabama, has suggested the name ‘INGENUITY’ for the helicopter, which has been liked and accepted by NASA.

The ‘Bounce Back Loan’ Initiative has been launched by the United Kingdom (UK) for small businesses of the country to help them overcome the economic crisis during the Coronavirus pandemic. The scheme was launched by the Finance Minister Rishi Raunak and will be 100 percent backed by the government. Under the scheme, the small business can apply for a first 12-month interest-free loan to borrow between two thousand pounds to fifty thousand pounds. The loans will be easy to apply online in a short and standardised format which will provide immediate assistance.

Legendary Indian footballer Chuni Goswami, who had captained the 1962 Asian Games gold-winning team, passed away on April 30, 2020 after suffering from a cardiac arrest.

IIT Madras Professor Thalappil Pradeep has been selected for the Nikkei Asia Prize 2020 in the category of ‘Science and Technology’.