FC Barcelona striker Neymar da Silva Santos Jr has expressed a desire to win the Ballon d'Or one day, adding that he is not in a hurry to do so.

"To win the Ballon d'Or is something that I've set as a goal, it would be a personal victory. But I'm not in a hurry," the Brazil star told Russian publication Sport-Express.

"Personal goals are not the reason I'm in football. I play for pleasure. I like to help my teammates and my team. If everything goes well, the individual awards will come." Ballon d'Or is presented to the best football player in the world for the year.

When Barca made an improbable comeback to defeat Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 6-1 in their Champions League round-of-16 second-leg match to win 6-5 on aggregate earlier this month, Neymar played an influential role by scoring twice.

The former Santos man has been a key figure for his country as well. His performances helped Brazil become the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia earlier this week.

Speaking about his relationship with Messi and Ronaldo, Neymar said, "Relationships are important off the field, we are friends. On the field, we complete each other. Messi and I play on the wings, Suarez in the middle."

"Messi is a player that I've admired since I came to Barcelona. He's helped me since the moment I arrived. I've always admired his determination and attitude," he added.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won the Ballon d'Or, or its earlier version, every year since 2008.

FC Barcelona striker Neymar da Silva Santos Jr has expressed a desire to win the Ballon d'Or one day, adding that he is not in a hurry to do so.

"To win the Ballon d'Or is something that I've set as a goal, it would be a personal victory. But I'm not in a hurry," the Brazil star told Russian publication Sport-Express.

"Personal goals are not the reason I'm in football. I play for pleasure. I like to help my teammates and my team. If everything goes well, the individual awards will come." Ballon d'Or is presented to the best football player in the world for the year.

When Barca made an improbable comeback to defeat Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 6-1 in their Champions League round-of-16 second-leg match to win 6-5 on aggregate earlier this month, Neymar played an influential role by scoring twice.

The former Santos man has been a key figure for his country as well. His performances helped Brazil become the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia earlier this week.

Speaking about his relationship with Messi and Ronaldo, Neymar said, "Relationships are important off the field, we are friends. On the field, we complete each other. Messi and I play on the wings, Suarez in the middle."

"Messi is a player that I've admired since I came to Barcelona. He's helped me since the moment I arrived. I've always admired his determination and attitude," he added.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won the Ballon d'Or, or its earlier version, every year since 2008.

Around 10,000 trucks have gone off the road in Maharashtra in solidarity with the nationwide truckers strike that began on Saturday.

Protesting against the sharp increase in third-party insurance premium, goods vehicles owners across states started the indefinite strike on April 1.

Thousands of trucks originating or passing through Maharashtra daily stopped plying to the southern states which are currently on strike, Maharashtra State Truck/Tempo/Tanker/Bus Transporters Confederation Senior Vice-President Raman Khosla said here on Saturday.

"We are fully in support of our brethren on strike and so we are not sending any vehicles from here to cross over to the southern states," Khosla told IANS. 

The trucks daily carry all types of cargo, ranging from foods, fruits, vegetables, industrial good, general and consumer goods for the markets there, Khosla said.

Trucks from other states that are not on strike come upto Maharashtra with their cargo and return without exiting to the southern states with the support of all truckers unions and associations, he added.

Around 10,000 trucks have gone off the road in Maharashtra in solidarity with the nationwide truckers strike that began on Saturday.

Protesting against the sharp increase in third-party insurance premium, goods vehicles owners across states started the indefinite strike on April 1.

Thousands of trucks originating or passing through Maharashtra daily stopped plying to the southern states which are currently on strike, Maharashtra State Truck/Tempo/Tanker/Bus Transporters Confederation Senior Vice-President Raman Khosla said here on Saturday.

"We are fully in support of our brethren on strike and so we are not sending any vehicles from here to cross over to the southern states," Khosla told IANS. 

The trucks daily carry all types of cargo, ranging from foods, fruits, vegetables, industrial good, general and consumer goods for the markets there, Khosla said.

Trucks from other states that are not on strike come upto Maharashtra with their cargo and return without exiting to the southern states with the support of all truckers unions and associations, he added.

US President Donald Trump wants former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to testify to Congress to seek an immunity deal against allegations that he colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential elections, the White House said on Friday.

"I think he believes that Mike Flynn should go testify," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a press briefing on Friday. 

"He should go up there and do what he needs to do to get the story out," The Hill magazine quoted Spicer as saying.

Asked whether the White House is concerned about what Flynn might say to congressional investigators, Spicer said "nope".

Spicer disputed the notion that Trump's advice to Flynn means he believes the retired Army lieutenant general committed a crime in his dealings with Russia.

"Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media and Democrats, of historic proportion!" Trump tweeted earlier on Friday.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly needled Clinton aides who reportedly sought immunity in a federal investigation into her use of a private email server. He expressed his belief that immunity details were a sign of guilt, the Hill magazine reported.

"The reason they get immunity is because they did something wrong," he said in September. "If they didn't do anything wrong, they don't think in terms of immunity. Five people. Folks, I'm telling you: Nobody's seen anything like this in our country's history."

Flynn's lawyer told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that, in exchange for the promise of not being prosecuted, he is willing to talk to the House and Senate Intelligence panels as part of their probes into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

The panels have not, thus far, accepted the offer. 

US President Donald Trump wants former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to testify to Congress to seek an immunity deal against allegations that he colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential elections, the White House said on Friday.

"I think he believes that Mike Flynn should go testify," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a press briefing on Friday. 

"He should go up there and do what he needs to do to get the story out," The Hill magazine quoted Spicer as saying.

Asked whether the White House is concerned about what Flynn might say to congressional investigators, Spicer said "nope".

Spicer disputed the notion that Trump's advice to Flynn means he believes the retired Army lieutenant general committed a crime in his dealings with Russia.

"Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media and Democrats, of historic proportion!" Trump tweeted earlier on Friday.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly needled Clinton aides who reportedly sought immunity in a federal investigation into her use of a private email server. He expressed his belief that immunity details were a sign of guilt, the Hill magazine reported.

"The reason they get immunity is because they did something wrong," he said in September. "If they didn't do anything wrong, they don't think in terms of immunity. Five people. Folks, I'm telling you: Nobody's seen anything like this in our country's history."

Flynn's lawyer told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that, in exchange for the promise of not being prosecuted, he is willing to talk to the House and Senate Intelligence panels as part of their probes into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

The panels have not, thus far, accepted the offer. 

India's double-Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar will not be joining the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after its vice-President Canyon Ceman revealed that things did not work out with him despite extensive talks.

WWE had approached Sushil in October last year, something that was confirmed by the iconic wrestler himself. However, the talks did not materialise.

"I was happy to meet with him. This clearly is a guy who commands respect. He is a national icon. but it was hard for us to convince him, from being a national icon of India to come to America where there are no guarantees that he is going to make it through this very competitive system," Ceman, WWE vice president (talent), said.

"So it was hard for us to tell him that 'you leave this amazing life in India and come and risk it all in America where we are not sure of anything'. The conversation was definitely of mutual interest but it did not work out eventually," he added.

WWE is still very much open to signing an Indian amateur wrestler of Sushil's stature as it will enable the NYSE listed company to make further inroads into the country's market.

No Indian has gone on to become a big name in the WWE ever since The Great Khali left the scene.

"Absolutely. It has to be at the right time in their lives. It has to be the right time in our system. Look we want to serve our Indian audience and out India audience is large and passionate. So we know we need to find that guy or those three guys or that women who can make it big.

"There is a female wrestler Kavita, who is coming to Dubai for the WWE tryouts. We are going to have future Indian stars, I can guarantee that but it is hard to say where they are going to come from," said Ceman.

He has high hopes from Lovepreet Singh Sangha and Satendar Yadav, the two Indians who have been based at WWE's Performance Centre for the past few years but are yet to earn their first major fight.

"They both (Lovepreet and Satendar) are world class athletes. They have been here for two years. They have got a long way to go. They have got to love this to succeed at it.

They have natural skills and charisma. The question is can they commit to this (WWE) for their entire lives.

"Only time will tell whether they go on to become as big a star as Khali. He was larger than life. He had the awe factor while these two guys' game is based on skill."

With India being one of WWE's biggest markets outside the United States, Ceman said the country should be represented by at least six to eight wrestlers.

He further revealed that promotional events will be held in India every year, unlike the odd one in many years as it used to be the case.

"We will be having annual events in India. The dates will be announced in sometime. The reason to do that is simple.

India is a very important market for us, it is also a challenging market to get things done but we are committed to it. We have six people of Indian heritage right now. So about six to eight is the right number.

"We have 10 people who speak Mandarin, eight of them are Chinese nationals. India is the next country below that alongside Australia, UK and Japan," he said.

"There are 1.3 billion, so there is plenty of big people in India. It is a matter of finding the ones who have the right athletic background with a dash of charisma," added Ceman.

As the 10.89-km Chenani-Nashri tunnel all set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh on Saturday termed the project as a game changer in J-K.

"It will be game changer. If someone doesn't welcome it they aren't working for people's interest," he said.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari termed it as growth engine in development of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It will be a growth engine in development of J-K. Hurriyat should give support on this historical event," he said.

The 10.89-km-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel, which will bypass three major stations — Kud, Patnitop and Batote — on the highway, will be inaugurated by PM Modi on Sunday at 3pm and Union ministers Gadkari, Jitendra Singh and MP Jugal Kishore will accompany PM Modi.

Known as Asia’s longest bi-direction road tunnel in J-K, the project is completed at a cost of Rs.2,519 crore and will reduce the distance by 31 km.

With 124 CCTV cameras installed inside the tunnel, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has taken care of security inside the tunnel and a team in the control room will monitor activities of the travellers.

Equipped with world-class safety features, the tunnel was built in a record four years on the hilly terrain of Jammu and Kashmir.

Seventy-five years after it was set up to manage the currency of Nizams, the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) on Saturday became part of history with its merger with the State Bank of India (SBI).

It was the identity and an integral part of the rich legacy of this historic city and one of the last remnants of the Asaf Jahi dynasty of the erstwhile Hyderabad state.

The curtains were drawn on Saturday on the last of the famous symbols built by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh and last Nizam of the then largest and wealthiest princely state.

The bank was a contribution of Osman Ali Khan, the architect of modern Hyderabad who also developed railways, airlines, postal services, High Court, Osmania University, Osmania Hospital, reservoirs, irrigation projects and industry.

Considered world's richest man of his times, he set up 'Hyderabad State Bank' on August 8, 1941.

As the central bank of the princely state, it managed Nizam's currency — the Osmania Sikka, public debt and commercial banking operations.

The bank opened its first branch at Gunfoundry in Hyderabad on April 5, 1942.

When Hyderabad State acceded to the Indian Union in 1948, the bank had nearly 50 branches spread over Telangana and parts of the present day Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The Hyderabad State Bank became State Bank of Hyderabad and was taken over by the Reserve Bank of India in 1956. In 1959, it became a subsidiary of the SBI.

After formation of Telangana in 2014, SBH was the lead bank of the newly created state.

SBH's headquarters at Gunfoundry was an iconic building and one of the city landmarks.

SBH's total business stood at Rs 2.60 lakh crore as on December 30, 2016. 

Nothing will change for customers of the bank, which had about 2,000 branches and the life will also be same for its 19,000 employees.

However, for Hyderabadis this change in the identity is a huge loss. "It is a sad day. It is one more deletion from our history," heritage activist P. Anuradha Reddy said.

She recalled the iconic building was designed by Muhammad Fayazuddin, who was Hyderabad state architect and India's first town planner, who designed many other lanmark buildings in the city.

Reddy points out how Hyderabad is losing one institution after the other having strong identity with the city and its history.

Deccan Airways started by Hyderabad State was also absorbed into Indian Airlines Corporation.

"My father Sreeram Bhoopal who was from Hyderabad Civil Service had an account in Hyderabad Bank. It had a unique system where one can deposit his valuables in safety box even during night time and the next day move it to his bank locker," said Reddy, a member of India National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

"The development has come as a shock for us," said Mohammad Safiullah, a city historian who was planning an exhibition to mark platinum jubilee of the bank.

Deccan Heritage Trust wanted to display its collection of currency of Nizam and India.

Safiullah feels sad that the name of Hyderabad has been dropped for forever from the bank, which had strong link to the city and its history.

After being trolled on several social media platforms, Twitter has now changed its default profile photo from "Twitter Egg" it has used since 2010 for users who do not upload their own photo, to a new human silhouette.

The reason for the change is that the "Twitter egg" is now associated with Twitter trolls, the kinds of users who create accounts simply to harass and bully others. Twitter wants to eliminate that connection, ReCode reported on Friday.

"This has created an association between the default egg profile photo and negative behaviour, which is not fair to people who are still new to Twitter and have not yet personalised their profile photo," Twitter wrote in a blog post. 

"It was important to explore alternate head shapes. We reviewed many variations of our figure, altering both the head and shoulders to feel more inclusive to all genders," the company wrote.

India on Friday marginally cut the natural gas price paid to producers to $2.48 per million British thermal unit (mbtu), according to an official notification.

"The price of domestic natural gas for the period April 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017 is $2.48 per mbtu on Gross Calorific Value (GCV) basis," a Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell notification said.

The gas price for the last six-month period ending March 31 was $2.5 per mbtu. As per the new gas pricing formula approved in October 2014, gas prices are to be revised every six months.

The government also raised the ceiling price for gas exploration in difficult areas like deep seas which are unviable to develop as per the existing pricing formula.

The cap for the April 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017 period will be $5.56 per mbtu, up from $5.3 per mbtu.

Domestic gas prices are calculated by taking weighted average price at Henry Hub of the US, National Balancing Point of the UK, rates in Alberta (Canada) and Russia with a lag of one quarter.

Panic gripped Srinagar city on Saturday after gunshots were heard following reports that two militants had entered a hotel building, police said.

Shops were shut in Lal Chowk and Maisuma areas, but it was not immediately clear what the origin of the gunshots was.

"There is no evidence of militants having entered the hotel," a senior police official said.

"It seems that a security man must have fired speculative shots in the air," he said.

Youths in Maisuma started pelting stones at the security forces who were trying to control the situation in the area.

Few days after Facebook got a Snapchat-like "Stories" update that lets users add effects to their photos and videos, Snap Inc has introduced a "Search" option that would give users power to search through the content they posted on its app.

Snapchat will enable users to search for photos and videos known as "Snaps" posted to the "Our Story" option on the app, by creating new "Stories" using machine learning technology, the company said in a blog post on Friday.

For instance, users can use the search feature to find "Snaps" related to events such as local basketball games and topics such as puppies.

The search feature, which was rolled out in some cities on Friday, is an addition to curated "Stories," where public "Snaps" about major events like Wimbledon or the Coachella music festival already appear.

First introduced by Snapchat, "Our Story" feature is a slideshow of user content that disappears after 24 hours.

Earlier this week, social media giant Facebook gave its users access to the new Facebook Camera feature in its app that lets them add effects to their photos and videos.

Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp already got "Stories" update before Facebook rolled it out to its users.

After this update, the Facebook users could now share their content to a Snapchat clone called 'Facebook Stories' that appears above News Feed on mobile and works similar to Instagram's 24-hour slideshows.

The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission has declared the MPPSC preliminary exam results 2017 on the official website www.mppsc.nic.in.

Candidates trying to get MPPSC result 2017 have to visit the official website and enter the required information in the blank space including roll number, registration number, date of birth and other required information in the webpage.

MPPSC 2017 examination took place across the centers on February 12 and lakhs of candidates entered the examination hall. As per the updates, about eight thousand eight hundred candidates have passed the examination.

It has also been informed that the candidates trying to get the state services preliminary examination, state forest service preliminary examination may face technical issues in getting the result. Due to the huge number of visitors on the MPPSC official website candidates are unable to get the results.

In relation to this we had a conversation with few candidates and came across that the MPPSC result website is not working and they are facing issues in getting the results.

We advise candidates to stay calm and refresh the MPPSC 2017 result website in a short interval of time to get the results.

It was pure nostalgia. The sun was setting, and the smell of warm, roasted potato wafted through the bylanes in the small hamlet on the outskirt of the town… 

The staple food of many different cultures across the world, potato is considered fattening by many. But it is only a myth, as studies have proved it wrong. In fact, it is considered among the world's healthiest foods.

The popular root vegetable is rich in carbohydrate, fibre, potassium, Vitamin C and other vital minerals, Hence, it has many health benefits. However, owing to its high starch content, fitness-conscious people try to avoid food made of potatoes. But one can make the best of it by opting for healthier way of preparing it. Those wanting to lose weight should avoid potatoes in fried forms and go for roasted, boiled or baked ones.

Here are a few goodness of potatoes cited by several stuides and reports, when prepared and consumed in the right way:

Potatoes protect the skin from early aging. Regular intake of potatoes makes the skin glow and raw ones can treat pimples and skin blemishes.

Owing to its nutritious content, it strengthens the immune system and keeps you healthy and strong.

Because of its high-fibre content, it helps in food digestion and helps maintain the bowel system.

The potassium found in potatoes is said to reduce cholesterol level, blood pressure and controls heart problems.

It also prevents many types of cancer with its high vitamin A and C content that have antioxidant elements.

It maintains fluid balance and reduces inflammation in the body.

If you are suffering from insomnia. it is said that regular intake of potatoes can help you sleep better.

The calcium and magnesium content in potatoes can help ease rheumatism.

TIPS: Avoid green and sprouted potatoes as it is poisonous and harmful for health

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak on Saturday called on President Pranab Mukherjee.

"India-Malaysia Partnership continues to forge ahead. PM Najib Razak calls on the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan (here)," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Razak paid tributes at Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi at the Rajghat and also called on Vice President M. Hamid Ansari.

Razak, who arrived in Chennai on Thursday, is on a five-day state visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Razak at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday. He was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour.

Third seeds Sania Mirza and her partner Barbora Strycova beat Martina Hingis and Yung-Jan Chan in 6-7 (8), 6-1(10-4) in a thrilling last four tie to reach the final of the Miami Open.

Friday’s match had extra motivation for Sania, as her former partner Hingis had knocked her out of the Indian Wells Open en route to winning the title in their last meeting.

And the fifth seeded duo of Hingis-Chan took the initiative in the match as their Indo-Czech opponents looked to be stuck in second gear in the opening set. Despite some inconsistent displays, Sania and Strycova pushed the set into a tiebreak, which after an epic see-sawing battle, went Hingis and Chan’s way.

The second set, however, was something else as Sania and Styrcova raced into a 4-0 lead, breaking their opponents twice early to take the set 6-1. It was all power and precision packed into one unstoppable package and before Hingis and Chan knew it, the match was level at one-set all.

With the momentum well and truly in their favour, the supertiebreak saw Sania and Strycova waltz through, avenging their loss at the Indian Wells Open in the process.

Mirza-Styrcova will play the unseeded duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan, who beat in the final on Sunday, who beat fourth-seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai 7-6 (8), 6-1 in their semifinal clash.