Current Affairs

Canelo Alvarez signs most lucrative contract in sports history with DAZN to stream fights

Fresh off the biggest victory of his career, unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is now in possession of the richest athlete contract in sports history.

The Mexican superstar helped the all-sports streaming service DAZN continue its rapid expansion into the United States following a September launch by agreeing to a monstrous multi-fight deal early Wednesday, which confirmed the initial report from BoxingScene.com.

Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs), the biggest star in American boxing, signed a five-year, 11-fight deal worth a minimum of $365 million with DAZN, per ESPN's Dan Rafael.

"Canelo is the highest-paid athlete in the world," Alvarez's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, told ESPN. "He's extremely happy."

De La Hoya is expected to announce the deal at Wednesday's press conference in New York to promote Alvarez's Dec. 15 return at New York's Madison Square Garden when he moves up in weight to challenge secondary WBA super middleweight titleholder Rocky Fielding in the first bout of his new DAZN deal.



India's highest tricolour unfurled at Haj House in Mumbai

Mumbai: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday unfurled India’s highest tricolour on the terrace of the majestic Haj House in Mumbai. The national flag measured 20x30 feet and stood 350 feet above the ground level. The BJP leader has shared a picture of the highest tricolour installed on the terrace of any building in the country with such height at Haj House, Mumbai, on Twitter.

The flag atop a 20-metre high mast on top of the iconic building is near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai. The tricolour is made of non-fading polyester and manufactured by The Flag Company, which is famous for manufacturing big flags.



Piyush Goyal To Receive Prestigious Award For Rural Electrification Effort

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Piyush Goyal will receive the prestigious Carnot Prize from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in recognition of his work for rural electrification while he held the power and renewable energy portfolios.

The Carnot Prize is given "for distinguished contributions to energy policy", the Philadelphia-based university said.

"During his tenure (as Power Minister), Goyal directed a fast-track effort to electrify 18,000 villages in remote parts of India, helping bridge the country's vast energy divide," it said.

Mr Goyal, who is now the Minister for Railways and Coal, headed the Power and Renewable Energy Ministries from 2014 to 2017 and oversaw the the big push for rural electrification.

The university cited an International Energy Agency (IEA) report that said that if the pace of electrification continued, India will achieve "one of the largest successes in the history of electrification" by having electricity for all by 2020.

The ambitious electrification goal is driven by the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.

The award is to be presented in Philadelphia by William W. Burke-White, the university's professor of law.



World Wrestling Championships begins in Budapest, Hungary today

World Wrestling Championships begin in Budapest, Hungary today. Asian Games gold medalist Bajrang Punia will be India's best bet for a medal as a 30-member team seeks a strong performance at the event. Bajrang had won a bronze at the Championships in 2013.

The 24-year old Haryana grappler, who is the only seeded Indian in the tournament, will compete tomorrow.
Another Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat is not taking part due to an elbow injury. Her cousin Ritu Phogat will, however, be in action, along with Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, Sandeep Tomar and Mousam Khatri among others.

Olympian Sushil Kumar had pulled out of the tournament.



RBI announces more steps to increase credit flow to NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced more measures to increase liquidity flows to the non-banking financial companies.

The RBI permitted banks to use government securities equal to their incremental outstanding credit to NBFCs, over and above their outstanding credit to them as on October 19, to be used to meet liquidity coverage ratio requirements.

The move will help provide liquidity to housing finance companies (HFCs) and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) which have come under pressure following series of default by IL&FS group companies.

“... banks will be permitted to also reckon Government securities held by them up to an amount equal to their incremental outstanding credit to NBFCs and HFCs, over and above the amount of credit to NBFCs and HFCs outstanding on their books as on October 19, 2018, as Level 1 HQLA under FALLCR within the mandatory SLR requirement,” RBI said in a notification.



Stephen Hawking's final book offers brief answers to big questions, reveals his last fear

Stephen Hawking’s final work, which tackles issues from the existence of God to the potential for time travel, was launched on Monday by his children, who helped complete the book after the British astrophysics giant’s death. Hawking was forever being asked the same things and started work on "Brief Answers to the Big Questions" last year -- but did not finish it before he died in March, aged 76. It has been completed by the theoretical physicist’s family and academic colleagues, with material drawn from his vast personal archive.

"He was regularly asked a set of questions," his daughter Lucy Hawking said at the Science Museum in London. The book was an attempt to "bring together the most definitive, clearest, most authentic answers that he gave. "We all just



Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa to form new govt in Bhutan

The Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) will form new government in Bhutan. The party has won 30 seats in 47 member National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament.

The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) has got remaining 17 seats. The Election Commission of Bhutan has formally announced the results of parliamentary election held yesterday.

According to the commission 71.46 percent polling was recorded in the third general election. DNT President Dr Lotay Tshering won from South Thimphu constituency with a huge margin and he is set to form the new government.

This is the first time in Bhutan’s decade old parliamentary democracy that a new party has been chosen to form the government.

In last two elections the Bhutanese electorates had stuck with the two old parties DPT and People's Democratic Party (PDP).

A total 94 candidates, 47 each from DNT and DPT tried their luck in the final round of general elections. According to the constitution of Bhutan only two parties, which get highest votes in primary round, can participate in the final round.

DNT and DPT had got maximum votes in the primary round election held last month, while ruling PDP came third and failed to qualify for the last round.



Shahi litchi from Bihar gets geographical indication tag

Bihar’s Shahi litchi has received the geographical indication tag, the director of the National Research Centre on Litchi confirmed to IANS on Thursday. The fruit is mostly grown in Muzaffarpur and its neighbouring districts of East Champaran, Vaishali, Samastipur and Begusarai.

“It [Shahi litchi] has officially become an exclusive brand with the GI tag,” said Vishal Nath. “We were informed about this positive development on Tuesday.”



Suheil Tandon wins International Olympic committee award

Social Entrepreneur Suheil F. Tandon has won the International Olympic Committee's Sport and Active Society Commission's Grant Award for his contribution to sports for development. Suheil is the Founder of Pro Sport Development (PSD) and Executive Director of Martha Farrell Foundation.

The International Olympic Committee, which is committed to building a better world through sport, redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world. Worth USD 25,000 each, these grants are awarded to grassroots organisations running effective sport for all programmes in different regions across the world.


The award ceremony was held during the Olympism in Action forum at Buenos Aires.

"I am honoured and humbled to receive this recognition. Playing sports is an excellent way to teach the values of sport. Participants learn about fairplay, about respecting others and develop a sense of responsibility and discipline. Adolescent boys and girls who are exposed to active sports turn out to be better citizens and our endeavour is just that," said Suheil from Buenos Aires after receiving the award.



India 58th most competitive economy in WEF index, rank up 5 places over 2017

India has been ranked as the 58th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index for 2018, which was topped by the US.

India's rank rose by five places from 2017, the largest gain among G20 economies, the WEF said.