Former Karnataka minister Venkataramanappa passed away following a heart attack at a private hospital in Bengaluru early Friday morning, according to family sources. He was 80.

Sources said the veteran Congress leader, who had been receiving treatment for age-related health issues, died at around 6 am, news agency PTI reported.

Venkataramanappa was a prominent political figure from Karnataka’s Tumakuru district and served four terms as an MLA during his political career. He also held ministerial positions twice.

Known for his grassroots connections, he was widely recognised as a leader of the oppressed sections and enjoyed significant popularity in the Pavagada region.

A fourteen-year-old Indian-American student, Shrey Parikh, from California won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2026 on Friday after correctly spelling 32 words in 90 seconds. Parikh defeated New Jersey’s Ishan Gupta in the final round of the competition.

A finalist in the 2024 edition as well, Parikh walked away with several prizes, including USD 50,000, the Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal, USD 2,500 from Merriam-Webster, USD 1,000 in Delta flight credits and USD 400 worth of reference material from Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The three-day event began on Monday at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington and featured 247 participants representing all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Department of Defense schools in Europe and five other countries: Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The 71-country benchmarks reveal India outpaces Germany, France, Japan, the UK and Canada in AI race as 72 per cent of global AI users are now in developing countries, it said.

India has emerged as the fifth most digitalised economy and is placed fourth on the CHIPS-AI index, according to the State of India's Digital Economy (SIDE) 2026 report.

"The report documents a fundamental shift in the global digital landscape: 72 per cent of AI users are now in developing countries, with India and China together accounting for nearly two-fifths of worldwide AI adoption," it said.

India generated USD 328 billion in digitally delivered trade and is home to the world's second-largest AI talent pool.

In his first policy address at the inaugural session of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly here on Friday, the Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar announced two key policy decisions of the new government which can have significant impact on the State’s public health -- a new department for senior citizens’ welfare and a health insurance scheme which provides free annual health coverage of Rs. 25 lakh for every family under the “Oommen Chandy Aarogya Insurance Scheme”, one of the main guarantees under the five Indira Guarantees promised by the UDF government

The setting up of a dedicated department for senior citizens’ welfare carries much significance in a State already grappling with the crisIs of demographic transition, where 18.7% of the population is above 60 years and a chunk of whom suffer from chronic multimorbidities. A standalone department is expected to consolidate welfare, health measures which are currently fragmented across Social Justice, Health and Local Self Government departments, enabling its integration so as to provide a continuum of care for the elderly.

The Supreme Court has directed all states and Union Territories to fully operationalise a single emergency helpline number, 112 within the next three months. Right now, people across India use different emergency numbers like 100 for police, 101 for fire services, 102 and 108 for ambulances, 1033 for highways and 1091 for women’s safety. But during accidents or medical emergencies, this often creates confusion and delays in getting help on time.

The Supreme Court has now ordered that all these helpline numbers be integrated into one unified number, 112.

While hearing a petition filed by road safety organisation SaveLIFE Foundation, the top court observed that trauma care is directly linked to the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice AS Chandurkar said that in serious accidents or trauma situations, victims are often in shock and every second becomes critical.

India has marked a historic milestone in its clean energy journey. In a social media post, Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi said that 40 lakh households have now been empowered with rooftop solar under PM Surya Ghar scheme. He added that more than a renewable energy initiative, this transformative scheme is turning citizens from power consumers to power producers. The scheme is also enabling families to reduce electricity expenses, benefit from government subsidies and move towards zero electricity bills. The Minister highlighted that with every solar-powered home, the country moves closer towards energy security, environmental sustainability and the vision of a self-reliant Viksit Bharat.

The Competent Authority has approved the assignment of additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development and Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to Rajesh Kumar Singh (IAS).

Singh is a 1989 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Kerala cadre. Presently, he is serving as Secretary of Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence.

The additional charge will come into effect upon completion of the tenure of Samir V. Kamat on May 31.

According to the order issued from the Department of Personnel & Traning (DoPT) on May 29, Singh will hold the additional responsibility until the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Thiruvananthapuram-based semiconductor start-up Netrasemi has announced the launch of its flagship AI system-on-chip (SoC), A2000. The company said the chip has successfully completed silicon bring-up, a critical stage of laboratory testing, and is being readied for commercial production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in Taiwan next year.

Founded in 2020, Netrasemi is a ‘fabless’ company that designs and sells semiconductor chips while outsourcing their manufacturing to specialised facilities.

The A2000 AI chip targets applications such as smart surveillance cameras, edge AI boxes and intelligent video gateways. The company said on Friday (May 29, 2026) that the chip will enter volume production in 2027 and is expected to help global platform developers bring advanced AI algorithms to small edge devices.

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after spending nearly seven months in space, setting a record for the longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew.

The craft carrying Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang of the Shenzhou 21 crew touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia region in the evening. Their return came as China prepares for its first lunar landing by 2030.

The crew had completed various tasks, from processing and transmitting experimental data to transferring remaining supplies, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the China Manned Space Agency as saying. They also shared their experience with the Shenzhou 23 crew who arrived at the space station on Monday, Xinhua said.

The Andhra Pradesh government has initiated significant steps to strengthen the State’s power infrastructure by establishing a Green Energy Corridor and expanding the electricity transmission network.

As part of Green Energy Corridor Phase-III, proposals worth nearly Rs 22,000 crore have been prepared to integrate 18 GW of green energy into the main power grid.

Reviewing the power sector at the State Secretariat on Friday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu enquired about measures being taken to expand the transmission network under the Green Energy Corridor.