• Uzbekistan President Islam Karinov arrives in New Delhi to finalise with India the road-map to combat the menace of terrorism.

• Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha proposes concessions for investors, venture capital funds and those availing themselves of the Employees Stock Option Plan (ESOP) and also announces changes in excise and custom duties.
• India firmly rules out military intervention in Sri Lanka but said it was ready to render humanitarian assistance to the strife-torn island nation.

• As part of continued efforts by the Centre to usher in peace in Jammu & Kashmir, five senior Hurriyat leaders including the JKLF chairman, Yaseen Malik are released.
• Lok Sabha passes the Finance Bill after the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha refused to yield to any roll-backs on food and fertilizer subsidies.

 May 5

• Government extends Central assistance in form of wheat and rice for drought-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh apart from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Supreme Court directs the Centre to supply petrol with 0.05 per cent sulphur and one per cent benzene content in the National Capital Region from May 31 and 20 October 2000 respectively for controlling pollution.

• Lok Sabha approves a Constitution Amendment Bill providing for the devolution of 29 per cent of all taxes to the states based on the recommendations of the Tenth Finance Commission.

• The rupee records a fall of 37 paise, touching an all-time low of Rs. 44.08 per dollar which was due to heavy dollar buying from foreign banks and State Bank of India at the interbank foreign exchange market.

• A nation-wide general strike by major trade-unions takes place in protest against the "retrograde" economic, industrial and "anti-poor" policies of the NDA government.
• The population of India crosses the one billion mark.
• Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, K.C. Pant announces a 100-member National Population Commission headed by the Prime Minister. The Commission will review, monitor and give directions for the implementation of the Population Policy.
• India wins the neem patent case in the European Patent Office (EPO).

• Union Cabinet approves three Bills for creation of new states of Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh out of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh respectively.

• Centre extends the ban on LTTE by two more years.
• Trishul, a surface-to-air quick-reaction missile is testfired successfully from Kochi.

• The Jammu and Kashmir Power Minister Ghulam Hasan Bhat and four others are killed in a powerful explosion near Mandipore in Anantnag district.

• The International Cricket Council opens a two-day emergency meeting in London to deal with the match-fixing crisis which has rocked the sport.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announces stringent penalties for those found guilty of match-fixing which may go up to a life ban from the sport.

• India’s former world record holder Karnam Malleshwari bags a gold in the women’s 63 kg snatch but settles for overall third position in the ‘Asian Weightlifting Championship’ at Osaka.

• E-mail based virus "Love bug" hits millions of computers across the globe causing heavy damage.
• Ahmet Necdet Sezer is elected Turkey’s 10^th President in a secret vote by the nation’s Parliament.

• Vladimir Putin takes oath as Russia’s second President and names Mikhail Kasyanove as acting Premier.

• Sri Lankan President turns down the temporary ceasefire offer by LTTE to allow the safe exit of about 40,000 Sri Lankan troops trapped in the Jaffna Peninsula.

• Pakistan is suspended from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for overthrowing a civilian government by the army.

• US proposes to raise the limit on temporary visas for foreign skilled workers to 2,00,000 a year in the next three years, to meet the needs of the booming high-tech industry.

• Indian model Lara Dutta wins the "Miss Universe" title in Nicosia. Miss Venezuela Claudia Moreno is placed second and Miss Spain Helen Lindes finishes third.

• Former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi passes away. He was 62.

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