Notes:
Madhya Pradesh has become the first Indian state to announce shifting of its financial year format to January-December starting from 2018, as against the current practice of April-March cycle. The decision has recently taken by the state government in its state cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Thus, the budget session of the next financial year would be held in December-January 2018.

Notes:
Padma Venkataraman, the chairperson of Women’s Indian Association (WIA) and daughter of former President R Venkataraman, has been bestowed with the 2017 Avvaiyar Award by the Tamil Nadu government for her efforts in the areas of women’s welfare and rehabilitation of leprosy-affected persons for the past 30 years. The award which has been instituted to encourage women excel in social reforms, women’s development, communal harmony, arts, science, culture, journalism and administration, carries `1 lakh, a gold medal and a citation.

Notes:
Mark Anthony Selby, an English professional snooker player from Leicester, has won the 2017 World Snooker Championship by beating John Higgins 18–15 in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. With this win, Selby has become the fourth player after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan to claim back-to-back titles in the modern era. Selby is the reigning World and UK snooker champion and is the current world number one snooker player.

Notes:
Soumyajit Ghosh, an Indian table tennis player from West Bengal, has won the 2017 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Chile Open men’s singles event by defeating compatriot Anthony Amalraj in the final at Santiago. This was his first ITTF Pro title and he became the third Indian to win an ITTF event. Apart from this, the Indian duo of Ghosh and Amalraj has also won the Men’s doubles title by defeating Philipp Floritz and Hunor Szocs 4-0 in the final.

Notes:
The Government of Indonesia is hosting the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)’s main event and the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 1-4, 2017. Dawit Isaak, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist, has been bestowed with the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on May 3, 2017. The $25,000 Prize award was given to Dawit Isaak’s daughter “Bethelem Isaak”. He was arrested in a crackdown on the media in September 2001 by the Eritrean government and till date his present location is unknown. The 2017 theme of WPFD is “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies”. The day is observed every year on May 3 to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Notes:
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi will defend India’s record on rights abuses, minority and religious rights at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland on May 4, 2017. He will also defend India’s case against allegations of violations in Jammu and Kashmir, torture, minority rights and recent strictures against NGOs. The UPR is a mechanism within the UNHRC where all UN Member States have to undergo a periodic review of their human rights record once every four years. It is a state-driven process, which gives an opportunity to each state to declare what action they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their countries and fulfill their human rights obligations.

Notes:
The United Nations has marked the first World Tuna Day (WTD) on May 2, 2017 to conserve one of the globe’s most popular fish to be caught and eaten and to highlight the vital socio-economic importance of tuna to people around the world. Tuna plays a critical role in sustainable development, food security, economic opportunity, and livelihoods of people around the world. At present more than 80 States have tuna fisheries, thousands of tuna fishing vessels operate in all the oceans and tuna fishery capacity is still growing in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Day was designated in December 2016 resolution of the UN General Assembly.

Notes:
The Government of Japan is hosting the 50th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors from May 4 to 7, 2017 in Yokohama, Tokyo. The theme of the meeting is ‘Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.’ The event will emphasis issues such as regional cooperation, trade, financial and economic connectivity across Asia and the Pacific, small and medium sized enterprises, sustainable and inclusive cities, and employment.

Notes:
T C A Anant, India’s Chief Statistician and MOSPI Secretary, will launch the new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with a base year 2011-12 on May 9, 2017 with an aim to map economic activities more accurately. The new data is expected to provide a more realistic and reliable growth in production. Currently, the IIP is calculated on base year of 2004-05. The IIP gives a broad outlook on output of various types of goods like basic, consumer and capital ones, which helps in gauging the level of economic progress and investments in the economy. The other leading indicators – Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Value Addition (GVA) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) are already on the base year of 2011-12. The Wholesale price index (WPI) is also in process to be shifted to the new base year.

Notes:
The China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $160 million loan for Andhra Pradesh – 24×7 Power for All project with an objective to strengthen power transmission and distribution system in the state. It is the first credit from the AIIB for an Indian project. The power project is co-financed by the World Bank (WB). The project is part of the Government of India’s Power for All Program that was launched in 2014 to provide an efficient, reliable and affordable electricity supply to all consumers across selected states within five years from the start of implementation of the program in each state.