Playing just a day after their team bus was attacked outside the team hotel, it was not easy for Borussia Dortmund's players, Monaco striker Radamel Falcao said.

"It was difficult to deal with everything that happened," Falcao, who captained Monaco, was quoted as saying by ESPNFC.

"We stayed very focused for two days for this game, the attacks perhaps changed the (Dortmund) players' concentration. It's difficult for the Dortmund players, a player was injured, but UEFA decided that we had to play," he added.

The bus was targeted by three bomb blasts on Tuesday, with former FC Barcelona defender Marc Bartra requiring surgery on a broken wrist.

The game on Wednesday night finished 3-2 in favour of Monaco but the French Ligue 1 side were 2-0 up at half-time only to see second-half goals from Ousmane Dembele and Shinji Kagawa pegging the German Bundesliga side back. 

The twin strikes were sandwiched between Monaco's Kylian Mbappe's goal which turned out to be the winner.

"It was a difficult game overall because of our opponents and also the context," Mbappe said. 

"We tried to give the best of ourselves, I tried to give the best of myself. We leave with an advantage, not extremely big, but big all the same. I've always been told that when I get the ball, something has to happen. I try to apply myself every time I play. Today, it went for me. I hope it'll be like that every day.

"I'm a player, when you're under pressure, you have to keep a clear head, be calm. You can get carried away in a game like that. I knew that there would be a chance to take, and it was the second goal," he added.

Meghalaya will start constructing the assembly building to replace a 125-year-old Burmese teak building reduced to ashes 16 years ago, officials said on Thursday.

From March 2001, assembly sessions have been held at the state's central library auditorium and later shifted to arts and culture auditorium within the premises of Brookside, the house where Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore began writing his "Shesher Kobita" in 1919.

On Thursday, a high-powered committee of Meghalaya assembly, headed by Speaker Abu Taher Mondal, met to decide on a company to construct the building.

Mondal said nine firms had presented their architectural designs before the assembly's high-powered committee in the presence of technical staff.

"The committee will select the best among the nine designs and the chosen firm will be asked to prepare the structural design as well as a detailed project report for constructing the new building," he said.

However, the Speaker said the new building would not be a replica of the heritage assembly building in Gothic style built by the British in pre-independent India.

"We (government) targeted to start the construction of the new assembly chamber and the assembly secretariat within this year and complete it by 2019," Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said.

"We need to have an assembly building befitting the aspiration of the people and legacy of the state, keeping in mind that Shillong was the seat of power for a long time both pre and post independence."

Sangma said the proposed new assembly building would be built at the New Shillong Township in Mawdiangdiang, 12 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.

He said the central government had declined to allocate any funds to the State.

"The state government will earmark funds from its own resources for the building, which initial cost will be Rs 70-75 crore," Sangma said.

Amid criticism by Bangladesh's opposition leader Khaleda Zia of the latest deals signed with India, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she hid nothing during the visit, unlike Khaleda did when she held the top post.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson told a press conference on Wednesday that the Prime Minister brought "nothing from India, but assurances".

Khaleda also claimed the people saw the visit as the Bangladesh government's failure to secure its interests from its stronger neighbour, reported bdnews24.com on Thursday.

She was also sceptical about defence deals with New Delhi, saying the Awami League government was advised against these agreements by many political groups and civil society members.

Responding to Khaleda's criticism, Hasina said: "The BNP leader said we kept the people in the dark while signing the memoranda of understanding (MoUs). I have only one question to ask her: Whom did she consult when she signed the defence deal with China? No-one saw what was in it."

"At least, I didn't hide anything like she did," she added at a meeting of the Awami League's Working Committee at the Ganabhaban.

Hasina said the deals were placed for clearance by the cabinet before the signing, according to the report. 

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali spoke about the deals at a press conference before the visit and these were also disclosed in the Bangladesh-India joint statement, said Hasina.

"Now if someone can't see even after having eyes, then I have nothing to do," Hasina retorted, in a dig at her arch political rival.

Hasina claimed Bangladesh has gained by signing the agreements and MoUs with India.

"We will be able to bring power from India, diesel will come through pipeline, LNG will alao be brought to overcome the gas crisis," the Prime Minister said, adding that India extended a credit line of $4.5 billion.

About Khaleda's criticism of the failure to have India sign the Teesta river water-sharing deal, Hasina asked, "Khaleda Zia was also in power, then why couldn't she bring Teesta water?"

Hasina said 11 deals and 24 MoUs were signed between the neighbours during her visit to New Delhi last week.

Over 1.2 billion people use Facebook Messenger every month globally to stay in touch with the people and businesses that matter to them the most.

In the last few months, Facebook has added group video calling, a powerful and fast camera-preloaded with stickers, masks, frames, effects and the ability to share photos and videos to your day, making it easy and fun to share what's happening in your life, moment by moment.

"I keep on hearing powerful stories about how our product is becoming a more important part of your daily lives. So from all of us here at Messenger, a heartfelt thank you to all of you for giving us a chance to build something good and more meaningful for you," said David Marcus, Vice President, Messaging Products, Facebook, in a post on Wednesday. 

The company has also launched Mentions and Reactions to make group conversations on Messenger fun and engaging.

Last month, Facebook Messenger added a new feature Live Location that lets you share — for an hour within a private direct or group message thread — your real-time location on a map.
 

In a bid to avoid closure of liquor shops in the state in the wake of a Supreme Court order, the Odisha government has renamed the state highways passing through cities and towns as 'urban roads'.

The roads passing through the municipal corporations, municipalities, notified area councils and sub-divisional headquarters have been re-designated as "urban roads", said an official on Thursday.

Besides these, the Works Department also classified all road sections falling within the limits block headquarters and tehsil headquarters as "urban roads", said a government notification.

However, the notification did not cover national highways passing through the urban areas.

Following the Supreme Court ban to remove all liquor shops within a distance of 500 metres from either side of the national and state highways by March 31, several states, Maharashtra and Rajasthan to name two, have denotified state highways as city roads to facilitate sale of liquor.

Meanwhile, Odisha Excise Secretary Bishnupada Sethi said the olfficials would examine the notification and take steps accordingly.

He said that the Excise Department has sealed liquor shops located near the state and national highways in the state following the Supreme Court order.

Clearing hurdles for timely implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave nod to four supporting GST legislations.

The four bills, Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, Integrated GST Bill, Compensation GST Bill and Union Territory GST Bill 2017, were passed by the Parliament last week.

The Union government wants to implement the GST from July 1.

Once implemented, the GST will subsume various taxes, including excise, services tax, and other levies. The taxes will be shared between the Centre and the states.

Meanwhile, instead of the goods being taxed multiple times at different rates, goods would be taxed at the point of consumption under the new GST regime.

Evacuations were underway in New Zealand's North Island on Thursday as Cyclone Cook is scheduled to hit Bay of Plenty with full force, the media reported.

People in low-lying areas of Tauranga were asked to evacuate before it got dark, Radio New Zealand reported.

The Whakatane district council earlier asked people in Ohope's West End to leave their homes due to the risk of extreme storm surges and coastal inundation.

The storm is due to make landfall later in the day over Bay of Plenty. Officials have warned of high waves, storm surges and landslides.

It is expected to bring torrential rain and winds gusting at up to 150 km per hour, and has been classified as an extra-tropical cyclone.

It will then move to the South Island early Friday, reports the BBC.

Hundreds of homes in Bay of Plenty were without power, with more than 800 properties in Tauranga affected and 170 more in Waihi.

Parts of the North Island are now under a state of emergency, with residents in the low-lying parts of Coromandel, which has already seen landslides and closed roads, being told to leave immediately.

New Zealand weather officials say that Cyclone Cook will be the worst to hit the country since 1968.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his approval to four supporting legislations related to Goods and Services Tax (GST), paving the way for the roll out of one-nation-one-tax regime from July 1.

The legislations were The Central GST Act, 2017, The Integrated GST Act, 2017, The GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, and The Union Territory GST Act, 2017, officials said on Thursday.

President Pranab Mukherjee on April 12 stressed the need to discover deeper mineral sources to meet future demand and make India self-reliant by reducing dependence on imports.

“The near-surface mineral deposits are depleting very fast. Hence, the geo-scientific community has to step up to meet the demand for future resources by finding deeper sources for the minerals we require,” the President said.

The president was speaking at the National Geoscience Awards 2016 function here.

“While addressing the resource needs of the country, we have to also keep in mind the offshore regions, which hold enormous potential for phosphorites, gas hydrates and seafloor massive sulphides,” Mukherjee said.

It is incumbent on nations the world over, he said, to move in the path of sustainable growth. In this model, growth and development depends not only on the availability of mineral resources but also on their judicious exploitation.

“Exploitation of the available natural resources for centuries has left an irreversible imprint on our environment. Mahatma Gandhi once observed and I quote 'There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed' (unquote),” the President said.

“We have to ensure that our approaches are sustainable. We have to nurture with care our Mother Earth as she has been supporting life on earth through the geologic ages,” he said.

Geo-scientists can help provide solutions for maintaining growth without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own requirements, he added.

Mines Minister Piyush Goyal said that geoscientists play an important role as future of humankind depends on the findings from geology.

“The natural resources explored by them are for the use of next generations in newer ways and that makes human life more exciting,” he said.

“Geoscientists are the stewards of the national resources and they plan the better land use and better utilisation of minerals and materials, he said. Mining industry is currently reform oriented and going through a transformative change, with more transparency and sustainability,” he added.

After an emphatic win in the Assembly elections in five states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has yet again climbed the ladder of victory by winning Assam, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh bypolls.

The BJP's Manjinder Singh Sirsa won the Delhi assembly byelection from the Rajouri Garden constituency, defeating rival Meenakshi Chandela of the Congress by a margin of nearly 14,000 votes. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi came third in the bypoll with just over 10,000 votes and suffered a humiliating defeat just a few days ahead of MCD polls.

Himachal Pradesh too has been clinched by the BJP's with Anil Dhiman winning the Bhoraj assembly constituency, defeating Congress' Parmila Devi by a margin of over 8,000 votes.

In Assam, the party tasted victory with Ronoj Pegu defeating Congress’ Babul Sonowal in the Dhemaji assembly constituency.

As per early trends, the BJP was leading ahead of the Congress in the two assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, BJP's Shobha Rani is leads by 22,602 votes ahead of Congress candidate Banwari Lal Sharma.

In West Bengal and Karnataka, however, the numbers seem to reflect a different trend. As per the vote counting trends, West Bengal Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya is leading by over 20,000 votes ahead of her rival Sourindramohan Jana of the BJP. Congress's KN Keshavamurthy currently leads by 17,416 votes in Karnataka. In Jharkhand's Litipara constituency, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Simon Marandi is leads by 1,032 votes ahead of BJP’s Hemlal Murmu.

Counting of votes started earlier in the day across 10 assembly constituencies across eight states – Delhi, Karnataka, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.

Bollywood’s Rockstar Ranbir Kapoor is known for his choice of roles and experiments with different genres. He is again set to conquer the big screen with his portrayal of the actor Sanjay Dutt.

Dutt, who has been on and off screen owing to his court trials and imprisonment has become a story inspiration for filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra to make a biopic on him.

Ranbir will be seen essaying the role of Sanjay Dutt in a biopic.

Some of the recent pictures from the shoot are making rounds on social media where Ranbir can be seen sporting a moustache and a receding hairline.

Ranbir was last seen in I playing the role of young man. He looks almost unrecognizable in these pictures.

If reports are to be believed, then the actor will sport six different looks according to different phases of Dutt's life.

Recently, Ranbir announced that over 60 percent of the shoot is complete.

Gordon Ramsay was served justice in court when his father-in-law Chris Hutcheson pleaded guilty to hacking the computer system of his restaurant company Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd.

The pair have been feuding since 2010 when the TV chef fired him from the business.

The 68-year-old father of Gordon Ramsay's wife Tana confessed to conspiring to access data from a computer illegally and was charged under Operation Tuleta; the investigation of allegations surrounding computer hacking that originally related to the News International phone hacking scandal, reported BBC.

Chris Hutcheson's sons; 46-year-old Adam Hutcheson and 37-year-old Chris Hutcheson Jr.; also pleaded guilty to the offence, while daughter 45-year-old Orlanda Butland denied the same charge.

According to reports, no evidence was offered for Butland's case, suggesting that she was not prosecuted.

The family grouped at the Old Bailey to answer charges relating to hacking Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. between October 2010 and March 2011.

Following the hearing, the defendants were released on bail and the court adjourned until June 2nd.

The feud between Chris Hutcheson Sr and Gordon Ramsay began when the former allegedly borrowed a massive 1.5 million pounds from the company accounts without Ramsay's knowledge. After numerous court appearances, Ramsay ended up settling that particular incident with 2 million pounds.

Since the incident, wife Tana has not been in close contact with her parents.

The BJP retained the Dhemaji assembly seat on Thursday when its candidate Ranoj Pegu won the by-election to the assembly, defeating Babul Sonowal of the Congress by a margin of over 9,000 votes.

While Pegu polled 75,217 votes, Sonowal garnered 65,932 votes, the Election Commission website showed. Jadu Hazarika of the CPI-M received 4,944 votes, among others.

By-poll to the assembly from the Dhemaji constituency held on Sunday recorded close to 68.23 per cent voter turnout.

Of the 219,751 registered voters in the constituency, 148,658 votes were valid.

"I accept my victory and express my gratitude to the people… Our BJP government is completing one year in Assam and my victory indicates that people have accepted the party's government," said Ranoj Pegu after the results.

Dhemaji is Scheduled Tribes (ST) constituency and the by-poll was necessitated after the BJP's legislator Pradan Baruah vacated the seat upon winning the poll for the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat.

A senior tribal politician, Ranoj Pegu headed the regional political party, Gana Shakti. He resigned from Gana Shakti in March and joined the BJP to contest the by-poll.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which is in alliance with the BJP along with Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF), did not field any candidate in the Dhemaji by-poll.

Chunky Pandey has stunned everyone as a menacing guy in Begum Jaan trailer, and the actor says he was not sure if he would get that part in the film.

“After the release of Housefull, I was auditioning for Begum Jaan and people on the sets were telling me to say dialogues like Aakhri Pasta (his character in Housefull). At the back of my mind I thought I would not get the film,” Chunky told.

“But Srijit was sure he wanted me to play this evil part. He wanted me to lose real Chunky Pandey… he wanted the world to see my evil side. He saw the evilness in me and he wanted to bring that out in 'Begum Jaan',” he says.

Chunky, who is known for his comic timing, is playing a villainous character of Kabir in the Vidya Balan starrer but the actor says it was not tough for him to get into the dark zone.

“He is not a villain… this is the face of evil. Evil will always exist in this world. I always had a wicked streak in me, the sadist side in me also comes in my comedy films. But to do something like this is crazy. It came very naturally to me and I am most scared about that,” he says.

Sporting a bald pate, kohl-lined eyes and tobacco- stained teeth, Chunky reveals his wife failed to recognise him in this new avatar.

“My wife couldn't recognise me. The whole personality has changed. She always thought I am a villain and I had to prove her right so I did 'Begum Jaan',” he says.

“I was little resistant (about the look) after seeing myself I was happy. You don't get a film like Begum Jaan everyday in your career. Srijit compelled me to lose my identity, with this creepy, almost-bald look.

“I was earlier asked to cut my hair short, later Srijit just took all my hair off he also asked me to shave off my eyebrows. I told him no as I was travelling for work and could be stopped at immigration.”

He believes his 'repulsive role' will get him critical acclaim, something he says he misses since his Tezaab days.

The film also features Naseeruddin Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi and Gauahar Khan.

Calling them power house performers, Chunky says, “These are actors with whom you have to be on your toes. You have to up your performance. I had to be best. It was a delight to work with them.”

Srijit's 1947-set film Begum Jaan which is a remake of his Bengali movie Rajkahini, will release this Friday.

With lack of awareness on Parkinson's Disease, 60 per cent of people mistake its symptoms for those of old age, thus causing a delay in diagnosis and leads to irreversible position of the disease, doctors said on April 12.

"People misunderstand Parkinson's Disease to be old age problems whose symptoms are similar, like shakiness in limbs, tremors, slowed movements, loss of automatic movements. Parkinson's Disease affects only one side of the body unlike in the case of age-related problem where affects the complete body.

"This misconception leads to delayed diagnosis causing complications worse to treat. Our idea is to create awareness among all," said Sumit Singh, director and head of Neurology at city-based Artemis hospital at a awareness lecture on Parkinson's Disease.

The neurosciences team has started a special OPD only for Parkinson's Disease patients from April 10 to 16 at the hospital between 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. where patients will be getting free consultation. 

According to Parkinson's Disease Foundation, more than 10 million people worldwide are living with the disease. Medication costs for an individual are $2,500 annually, and therapeutic surgery can cost up to $100,000 dollars per patient.

Aditya Gupta, director, neurosurgery at Artemis hospital said as the stage advances, the effect of medication tends to stop and hinder quality of life and the frequency of medication increases due to several on and off phases. 

"This leads to end the medicine effect unpredictable and hence people with advanced stage have to go for deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. It is most often offered to people with advanced Parkinson's who have unstable medication responses. DBS can stabilize medication fluctuations, reduce or halt involuntary movements (dyskinesias), reduce tremor, reduce rigidity, and improve slowing of movement," said Gupta.

The secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India on the Indus Water Treaty in Washington have been delayed, a media report said on Thursday.

The talks were scheduled for April 11-13 but are now likely to be held in the last week of April, official sources told The Nation daily on Wednesday.

Last month, Federal Minister for Power and Water Khawaja Asif had confirmed that after the US' intervention, the secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India for resolving two controversial hydropower projects, including Kishanganga hydro electric project (330MWs) and the under-construction Ratle hydro electric project (850 MWs) was scheculed to be held in Washington in April. 

When contacted, Commissioner Indus Water Treaty Asif Baig said that they have submitted their response to the World Bank and now they will contact India regarding their response. 

When asked why the meeting was postponed, he said, April 11-13 was not the scheduled date for the meeting as it was just the proposed dates. 

He said that the World Bank with the consensus of both countries will provide fresh dates of the meeting. He said that he does not know about the new dates, reports the daily.

Pakistan has been protesting over the design and construction of the two projects on the tributaries of the Indus in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 and involves six rivers: the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. 

Brokered by the World Bank, the treaty gave the right to use waters of the first three rivers to India and of the other three rivers to Pakistan.

India has said it has the right under the treaty to set up hydropower plants on the tributaries of the rivers flowing through its territory. 

Pakistan fears this might reduce the water flow of the rivers into its territory. 

Baishakhi marks the beginning of the Sikh New Year and is the beginning of a solar new year. The festival is widely celebrated by farmers and people take this opportunity to thank God for the harvest season. One of the reasons why this festival holds great significance for Sikhs is because on Baishakhi, the tenth Guru Gobind Singh Ji organised the order of the Khalsa.

Obviously, Baisakhi also means that friends and family would be getting together to celebrate. People also send a lot of messages and Whatsapp and Facebook.

Here are the best SMS, Whatsapp, Facebook messages to send to your dearest on Baisakhi:

• Tussi Hasde yo sanu hasaan vaaste; Tussi rone yo saanu rovaan vaaste; Ek vaar rus ke ta vekho sohneyo; Marr javange tuhanu manaan vaaste. Baisakhi da din hai khushiyan manaan vaaste. Baisakhi diyan vadhiyan!
• Khushboo teri yaari di saanu mehka jaandi hai, teri har ik kitti hoyi gal saanu behka jaandi hai, saah taan bahut der lagaande ne aun – jaan vich,har saah ton pehle teri yaad aa jaandi hai. Happy Baisakhi!!

• Sunhari dhup barsat ke bad, thodi si khushi har baat ke baad, usi tarah ho mubarak aap ko ye nayi subah kal raat ke baad. Happy Baisakhi!!

• Has deyon Doston nu hasaan vaaste, marr java Doston ko manaan vaaste, baisakhi hai khushi manaan vaaste. Baisakhi ki vadhiyan saare parivar nu. Happy Baisakhi!

• Get into the festive mood and let your heart dance to the rhythm of the drums. Happy Baisakhi!!

•  May you come up as bright as sun, as cool as water and as sweet as honey. Hope this Baisakhi fulfill all your desires and wishes. Happy Baisakhi!!

• I wish you a very Happy Baisakhi. May Wahe Guruji accept your good deeds, bring all the years full of love and contentment.

• Has deyon Doston nu hasaan vaaste, marr java Doston ko manaan vaaste, baisakhi hai khushi manaan vaaste. Baisakhi ki vadhiyan saare parivar nu. Happy Baisakhi!

• Khalsa mero roop hai khas, Khalse me haun karaun niwas, Khalsa mero mukh hai anga, Khalse ke haun sad sad sanga, Vaisakhi diya lakh lakh vadhaiya.

• Baisakhi de is paawan parv diyan sabnu vadhaiyyan. Wahe Guru Ji sab da bhala karein. Happy Baisakhi!