News in Short

• The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the examination for admission to undergraduate medical degree programmes, which was scheduled to be held on May 3, has been postponed.
• The decision has been taken in view of the hardships faced by parents and students due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.
• It is now likely to be held in the last week of May, though no exact date has been decided as yet, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA).

• Earth Hour, which is observed annually on the last Saturday of March, will still be celebrated this year today digitally.
• With public events cancelled due to the pandemic, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is encouraging people to switch off the lights from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm as per their local time.
• The idea is to refrain from the use of non-essential lighting to save energy in a symbolic call for environmental protection.

• Ajax star Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a friendly against Werder Bremen almost three years ago, has recovered from coma.
• The footballer, who suffered permanent brain damage, is now being treated from home. Nourie had collapsed during Ajax’s pre-season friendly against German club Werder Bremen.
• Nouri made 15 appearances for the Dutch club last season, including three in the Europa League, though he did not play in the final, a defeat to Manchester United.

• Former Union Minister and Samajwadi Party founding member Beni Prasad Verma died in Lucknow. He was 79.
• Verma was the telecom minister between 1996-1998 in former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's cabinet and was the steel minister in the Congress-led UPA-II government.
• In 2009, Mr Verma formally joined the Congress and contested the Lok Sabha election from Gonda seat, but lost.
• He quit the Congress and in 2016 re-joined the Samajwadi Party, which sent him to the Rajya Sabha.

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating at Downing Street.
• Johnson experienced mild symptoms after he answered at the prime minister's weekly question-and-answer session in parliament's House of Commons chamber.
• Johnson is the second high-profile person in the UK after Prince Charles to have tested positive for coronavirus.