1.Shyam Sundar Pattnaik was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the Odisha State Open University (OSOU), Sambalpur by Governor and Chancellor Raghubar Das, Thursday.

2.Putting all speculations to rest, BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the future of his party and his successor will be decided by the people of Odisha.

3.Southwest monsoon made an early onset over Kerala and the North East Thursday, setting the stage for the four-month rainy season crucial for country’s agriculturebased economy.

4.As many as 10 persons died in a span of six hours in the Steel City here reportedly due to intense heatwave conditions, Thursday.

5.The Special Task Force (STF) unit of Odisha Police arrested a notorious drug peddler from Mayurbhanj district Thursday.

6.Senior IPS officer Ashish Kumar Singh Thursday underwent a medical examination at the AIIMS here, as per directions of the Election Commission.

7.As part of continuous efforts to promote Malaysia as a preferable tourist destination, Tourism Malaysia, in collaboration with AirAsia announced direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur, recently.

8.World No Tobacco Day is observed every year May 31 to raise awareness about the health risks of using tobacco.

9.A court here Thursday sentenced Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan to 10 years of imprisonment in an eight-year-old case of forcibly vacating a house and beating the owner.

10.Kerala has decided to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in school textbooks and as a result, over four lakh students in Class VII will study the nuances of AI in the new academic year beginning next month.

11.The CBI has taken over investigation into the killing of five Meghalaya residents and one forest guard of Assam 18 months ago at the two states’ disputed border after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by Assam’s forest guards.

12.At least 22 people were killed and 57 injured after a bus carrying pilgrims skidded off the road and rolled down into a gorge in Jammu district Thursday, officials said.

13.Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who initially directed the central probe agency to file its response to Kejriwal’s plea by Saturday, later fixed the matter for June 7 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought more time to respond.

14.At least 300 vehicles were gutted after a fire broke out at the Wazirabad Police Training Centre ‘malkhana’ (yard) in northeast Delhi, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said Thursday.

15.Assam’s flood situation worsened Thursday with over 1.98 lakh people affected in nine districts, and one person drowning to death as the water level of major rivers rose following incessant rainfall in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal, officials said .

16.Major Radhika Sen, an Indian woman peacekeeper who served with the UN mission in Congo, was Thursday honoured with a prestigious military gender advocate award, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres describing her as a true leader and role model.

17. A Hong Kong court Thursday convicted 14 pro-democracy activists in the city’s biggest national security case under a law imposed by Beijing that has all but wiped out public dissent.

18.Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country’s military said Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory’s entire land border.

19.Indian economy is projected to grow at 7 per cent -- the fastest among major economies across the world -- in the current fiscal year, underpinned by a sustained strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its latest annual report Thursday.

20.The share of `500 denomination currency notes in overall currency has jumped to 86.5 per cent at the end of March 2024, as against 77.1 per cent in the year-ago period, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Thursday.