Lionel Messi said he never expected to have such a successful career after receiving his fifth Golden Shoe on Tuesday, for being the top goalscorer in Europe last season. The Barcelona forward scored 34 times in La Liga last season to claim his fifth Golden Shoe award, which is one more than Juventus’s Cristiano Ronaldo has won.

Messi pipped Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah to the prize after the Egyptian netted 32 times in the Premier League. “When I started playing I did not expect all this. My dream was, obviously, to be a professional, but I didn’t imagine so much,” Messi said at a gala in Barcelona on Tuesday.

“This is thanks to hard work and effort and, above all, my team mates. I have the best players in the world in their positions playing beside me and that makes everything easier and lets me win these prizes.” Messi, who also earned the Golden Shoe in 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2016-17, led Barcelona to a league and cup domestic double last season.

The forward leads La Liga’s top scorers chart with 14 goals in this campaign, more than any other player in the top five European leagues.

India will deposit payments for crude oil imported from Iran into escrow accounts of five of their banks held with state-run UCO Bank Ltd. after the two nations agreed on a payment mechanism to overcome US sanctions, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Iran will use part of the deposits for purchasing essential goods from India and to meet expenditure incurred by its diplomatic missions in the South Asian nation, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. All spending will be in Indian rupees.

Continued supplies is crucial for India, a country that imports nearly 80% of its annual crude requirement, as Tehran offers better credit terms than other West Asian oil producers and, in the past, has accepted payments in Indian rupees, rather than US dollars. The south Asian nation purchased crude worth about $9 billion from Iran in the financial year ended March 31.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch on Wednesday GSAT-7A, a geostationary communication satellite, from  Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.

The 26-hour countdown for its launch began yesterday as the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle GSLV-F11 is scheduled to lift-off at 4.10 pm from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota.

The newest satellite will provide communication capability to users in Ku-band over the Indian region, ISRO said adding that the mission life of the GSAT-7A is eight years.

The GSLV-F11 will inject GSAT-7A into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and it will be placed in its final Geostationary Orbit using the onboard propulsion systems. GSLV-F11 is ISRO’s fourth generation launch vehicle with three stages.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has offered his resignation just days after one of his main coalition partners quit in a row over migration.

Mr Michel lost the backing of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) over his support for a UN migration deal signed in Marrakesh last week.

He announced his intention to resign after opposition parties refused to support his minority government.

Mr Michel told King Philippe of his decision late on Tuesday.

The king has yet to announce whether he will accept the resignation.

Belgians were due to go to the polls in May and the king will meet party leaders on Wednesday to decide whether there is any support for early elections.

Interim CBI director M Nageswar Rao, who took over the charge of the agency after its No 1 and No 2 were sent on leave by the government in October, was on Tuesday promoted to the rank of an additional director by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Interestingly, Rao, a 1986 batch officer of the Odisha cadre, was not considered for the rank of the additional director in November 2016 when a review of this batch took place in April 2018. Rao had joined the CBI as a joint director in 2016.

Earlier, while hearing CBI Director Alok Verma’s petition challenging the October 23 government order sending him on leave and divesting him of all responsibilities, the Supreme Court had clipped Rao’s wings and told him not to take any policy decisions until further orders. Despite a restraining order, reports emerged last month that Rao passed an order on November 11 to close a case against chartered accountant Sanjay Bhandari and Income Tax officials.

Before being appointed interim chief, Rao was No. 3 in the pecking order and was handling the Chandigarh branch along with certain branches in South India. After his appointment, the Congress had questioned the reason behind him superceding other officials for the position.

Former Prime Minister of Nepal Tulsi Giri passed away at his residence in Kathmandu on Tuesday. He was 93. 

Dr. Giri was suffering from liver cancer for a long time and he was recently discharged from the hospital. 

Dr. Giri had a long political career. He twice served as the prime minister of Nepal first from 1962 to 1964 and again from 1975 to 1977. 

Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and other senior leaders from various political parties have expressed condolences on Dr. Giri's demise. 

Actor Sonam Kapoor, a vegan, has been named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s Person of the Year for 2018.

Sonam has been feted as she sings the praise of eating vegan diets and because she keeps animal skins out of her handbag line for her fashion brand Rheson, apart from taking other action for the welfare of animals.

“Whether she’s enjoying vibrant vegan meals or rallying her fans to do their part to stop animal suffering, Sonam Kapoor never hesitates to help animals any way she can,” PETA India Associate Director Sachin Bangera said in a statement.

“We encourage everyone to take a page out of her book and live with compassion and respect for all beings,” he added.

In 2016, Sonam was named PETA India’s Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity, and she earned a Compassionate Business Award from the group a year later for her cruelty-free handbag line.

Over three decades after the mass murder of Sikhs in 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Monday sentenced senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to imprisonment for the rest of his life.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said that the riots were a crime against humanity perpetrated by those who enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.

Citing a pattern of mass killings in India since Partition, like in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013, the court said the common thread was the targeting of minorities by the dominant political actors, facilitated by the law enforcement agencies.

“This loophole needs to be addressed urgently,” the court said adding that Delhi Police had turned a blind eye and blatantly abetted the crimes committed by the rioting mob.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching here Tuesday on a day’s visit to Maharashtra in which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 41,000 crore in the state, officials said. Soon after landing at Mumbai, Modi will attend an event organised by a TV channel and later release the book ‘Timeless Laxman’ at Raj Bhavan.

The PM will then lay the foundation stone for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan metro 5 and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander metro-9 at Kalyan in adjoining Thane district.

The Kalyan event will also see the launch of Navi Mumbai town planning authority City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra’s (Cidco) mass housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore, which offers around 89,771 affordable homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi will later proceed to Pune, where he will lay the foundation stone for the third metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, being implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on a public-private partnership basis.

Uday Shankar has been named vice president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2018-19, a statement from the apex body said.

Shankar is currently president, 21st Century Fox, Asia, and chairman and chief executive officer of Star India. Last week, he was appointed chairman, Star and Disney India, and president, The Walt Disney Co. Asia Pacific as part of a leadership reorganization strategy by the company.

Shankar is the first Indian media and entertainment industry executive to assume a leadership position in a national industry chamber like FICCI.

Previously a political journalist with The Times of India, Shankar has served as chief executive officer and editor of Star News, besides spearheading the launch of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak in 2000, and English news channel Headlines Today in 2003. He was also editor and news director of the TV Today Group.

In the past, he has served as chairman of the FICCI media and entertainment committee and president of the Indian Broadcasting Federation, playing a key role in pushing for changes in self-regulation in the media and access for consumers to the digitized distribution.