Valencia CF prevailed over Girona 2-1, snapping a two-match La Liga losing streak that saw the club drop from second to third in the Spanish-league standings.

Spanish midfielder Cristian Portu, better known as Portu, on Saturday gave Girona the lead eight minutes into the game at Mestalla Stadium when he headed home Johan Mojica’s cross, reports Efe.

Although Valencia struggled to react after conceding the early goal, it began asserting its control of the game after the 15-minute mark against a well-organized rival.

The home side’s insistence paid off in the 27th minute when Portuguese midfielder Gonçalo Guedes penetrated Girona’s defence and got off a shot that led to an own goal by defender Jonas Ramalho.

Each club produced more scoring chances over the next 20 minutes but the score remained 1-1 at the half time.

When the match resumed, Valencia needed three minutes to score the second goal after the referee awarded a penalty for Girona defender Pablo Maffeo’s takedown of defender Jose Luis Gaya in the area.

Daniel Parejo successfully converted the penalty, which proved to be decisive.

With the win, third-placed Valencia now has 37 points, eight behind La Liga-leading Barcelona.

After Twitterati and teammate Cheteshwar Pujara praised Hardik Pandya’s heroic inning in the first test match between Indian and South Africa at Newlands Cape Town on Saturday.

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took his ‘sentiments’ it to another level by comparing Pandya to Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Manjrekar took to micro-blogging site Twitter saying, “Like Amitabh Bachchan used to play those double roles, Hardik Pandya also showed two characters in his superb innings. The modern T20 player along with the orthodox classical Test batsman.”

Visitors were in a lot trouble after the failure of their top order in the first inning of the opening Test match. India’s score was 76 for 5, when Pandya came to bat.

Like Amitabh Bachchan used to play those double roles, Hardik Pandya also showed two characters in his superb innings. The modern T20 player along with the orthodox classical Test batsman.#INDvSA #HardikPandya #SonyTen1

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) January 7, 2018

The Baroda lad scored 93 runs for 95 balls and took India past the 200-run mark.

Pls don’t compare @SrBachchan: a legend, a superstar to a newbie. Pandya need to fulfil many roles to even come close to the great Big B.

— Harris Shahzad (@drharrisshahzad) January 7, 2018

Proved that you are Mr Imperfect

— Thirumal Rao.V (@ThirumalWnp) January 7, 2018

Earlier, after winning the toss, Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis elected to bat and scored a total sum of 286 runs. Following the target visitors inning collapse at the score of 209 runs.

Four national-level weightlifters were killed and two others, including a world champion, were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling met with an accident here in dense fog early on Sunday, police said.

The accident took place at around 4 a.m. near Alipur village, close to Delhi’s Singhu border with Haryana.

The victims were on the Delhi-Panipat highway in a Swift Dzire car which police believe was being driven at high speed although fog had drastically reduced visibility.

A Delhi Police official identified the dead as Tikamchand, 27, Yogesh, 24, Harish Roy, 20, and Saurabh, 18.

They were taken to Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela here and declared dead by doctors, the police officer told IANS.

Saksham Yadav, 28, who won a gold medal in the 2017 weightlifting championship for India, was seriously injured along with another weightlifter, Rohit, 19, a police official said.

These two were rushed to Max Hospital in Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh. Yadav was later shifted to the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where his condition was said to be “extremely critical”.

“Saksham’s condition is extremely critical as he has severe head injuries. He has internal bleeding in the head,” said a senior doctor at AIIMS.

The car, according to the official, first hit a divider and then crashed into an electricity pole. Due to the impact of the crash, the car’s roof was blown away.

“All the deceased and injured are from Haryana and stayed in different places in (north) Delhi’s Timarpur area. They were celebrating Rohit’s birthday on Saturday and had gone to Karnal (in Haryana),” the officer said.

“Prima facie, the car was at very high speed. The driver could not see the electricity pole. Some liquor bottles were found in the car. So the possibility of drunken driving is there,” he added.

The accident took place when the weightlifters were returning to Delhi.

Given a wildcard following his return from a four-month injury-layoff, Frenchman Gael Monfils made full use of the opportunity by annexing the Qatar Open tennis title with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev of Russia.

Monfils’ win on Saturday night was his seventh career title and it was his first title in Doha after losing three previous finals.

Monfils, ranked 46 in the world, got an early break for 3-1 when Rublev made a string of unforced errors — especially off his forehand.

Monfils broke again to wrap up the first set 6-2 to step closer to a first triumph after losing three finals in the past.

In the second set it was déjà vu again. Monfils broke in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead on the back of two consecutive forehand errors from the young Russian.

The next game was a big battle as Rublev tried hard to get back on serve coming up with some terrific forehands.

He led 30-0 and had a couple of break points but Monfils stayed strong coming up with powerful ground strokes of his own and then an ace to complete the hold for 4-1.

Thereafter the games went with serve and Monfils easily wrapped up the win in just 61 minutes with some strong serves.

Rublev elaborated on the reasons for his loss: “I think I was completely tired today. I mean, you can see that even my shots was not the same energy like previous matches. I was doing a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong shots.”

“You can see even I was really slow today on the court. Every time he was move me to one side and most of the time it was almost over, or if I could catch one point then he was always killing me with the second. You can see that today I was really had no energy, no power in the legs and the speed of the ball was not even close like it was previous matches,” he added.

“I mean, previous matches was much faster and all this stuff and really tough for me. Yeah, I’m happy to be seeded. And of course I feel a little bit more confident.”

On the other hand, Monfils was understandably elated after the win.

“I’m very happy. I like this tournament so much, you know. I always come back. And I was very close and finally get it. So I’m just very happy and very proud. It’s been a year and I was waiting for that moment to get back in shape,” he said.

“It was in 2016, I was almost on my top and I had a very good year, finish sixth, and couldn’t really defend my chances in 2017. I had a long rest and come back strong in 2018 was a goal. I wouldn’t say I was expecting to win the first tournament, but I’m more than happy that I did.”

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Tiger Zinda Hai is doing outstanding business at the box-office. The film has crossed the Rs 300-crore mark and in the process has broken multiple records. ‘Tiger’ is roaring at the box-office and with no major release this week, it’s sure to make more money.

The story of the movie revolves around Tiger and Zoya’s dangerous mission to rescue 25 Indian and 14 Pakistani nurses in Iraq.

It’s a TRIPLE CENTURY… #TigerZindaHai refuses to slow down… Crosses #Sultan… Now eyes #BajrangiBhaijaan [₹ 320.34 cr]… [Week 3] Fri 3.72 cr, Sat 5.62 cr. Total: ₹ 300.89 cr. India biz. #TZH

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 7, 2018 at 12:41am PST

Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Tiger Zinda Hai has been breaking boundaries ever since its release on December 22. The film has been appreciated all around the world. It has proved to be the greatest Bollywood blockbuster of 2017.

#TigerZindaHai is Yash Raj’s HIGHEST GROSSER so far… Overtakes #Sultan [now at No 2], #Dhoom3 [now at No 3], #EkThaTiger [now at No 4] and #JabTakHaiJaan [now at No 5]… India biz.

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 6, 2018 at 10:03am PST

In the process, it has overtaken the overall collection of Sultan, Dhoom 3, Ek Tha Tiger and Jab Tak Hai Jaan. It is also Salman Khan’s third movie, after Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, to cross the prestigious Rs 300-crore mark. The other two movies in the list, include Aamir Khan’s PK and Dangal.

‪And as you read this, #TigerZindaHai crosses ₹ 300 cr mark today [Sat; Day 16]…‬ ‪#TigerZindaHai benchmarks…‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 50 cr: Day 2‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 100 cr: Day 3‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 150 cr: Day 4‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 200 cr: Day 7‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 250 cr: Day 10‬ ‪Crossed ₹ 300 cr: Day 16‬ ‪India biz. #TZH‬

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 6, 2018 at 9:41am PST

Tiger Zinda Hai, produced by Aditya Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner, has also become the highest grossing Yash Raj movie of all time.

The film is now all set to break the records of Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

The colour saffron appears to be gradually spreading across Uttar Pradesh, with parts of a nearly 80-year-old police station in the state capital being given a splash of the colour, days after the Haj office here was painted orange.

Ever since Yogi Adityanath took over as the chief minister of UP, the colour seems to have become a defining feature of the state.

It has virtually permeated everything — from booklets and school bags to towels or chairs and even buses. And the Qaiser Bagh police station here seems to be the latest on the list.

The police station was built in 1939 and had the traditional colours of a police station – yellow and red.

But this time around some pillars and certain parts of the building have acquired a bright saffron hue against a light cream background.

“The renovation had started almost two-and-a-half months back as part of an annual programme,” Inspector in-charge D K Upadhyaya told PTI. The renovation work is incomplete as the labourers have recently stopped coming because of the intense cold, he said.

The Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, which houses the chief minister’s office, was painted saffron in October last year.

The facade of the state secretariat was given a saffron hue months after Adityanath took over the reins of the state.

Adityanath loves to see a saffron towel on his seat in his office. Recently, the chief minister flagged off a fleet of 50 saffron-coloured buses.

Besides, the education department had distributed saffron-coloured school bags in government primary schools, replacing the ones that featured former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s picture.

Official booklets that were distributed to mark 100 days and then six months of the Adityanath government had saffron covers and the information diary of the state government, which contains the contacts and designations of various officials, is also saffron.

Interestingly, after the bright saffron shade on the Haj office boundary wall attracted criticism from the Opposition and flak from Muslim bodies, it was given a cream coat by the Estates department recently. The boundary wall originally was green and white.

The Haj office colour prompted opposition Samajwadi Party to accuse the government of “blatant saffronisation” after a series of steps were perceived by it as “anti-minority”.

Morocco defeated Cameroon 3-1 in a football friendly ahead of the African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Morocco will host the African tournament, which features domestic players in the continent from January 13 to Februart 4, reports Xinhua news agency.

In Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca on Saturday, the Moroccan squad dominated the first half, scoring three goals through Mohamed Nahiri, Ayoub Kaabi, Ismail El Hadad at the 31st, 33rd and 48th minutes respectively.

In the second half, Cameroon scored its sole goal at the 48th minute through Frantz Pangop.

Both Morocco and Cameroon are preparing for CHAN, where Morocco will play in Group A along with Guinea, Sudan and Mauritania. Cameroon will play in Group D with Angola, Burkina Faso, and Congo.

Be it Darr, Baazigar, Swades or Chak De! India, Shah Rukh Khan has taken some big risks in his over 25-year-long career and it was this “gutsy” attitude of the superstar that made filmmaker Aanand L Rai believe in him.

The duo have collaborated for the first time on the upcoming film Zero and the director said Shah Rukh still has a lot to offer as an actor.

“I think he is a very gutsy actor from day one, he has always taken up challenges. And that is the reason I am with him. As a director, you should be prepared to take him on a journey and explore such a superstar.

“He says yes to subjects that are extraordinary and puts himself in a space that is new, yet different,” Rai said.

The director is impressed by Shah Rukh’s performance in the movie, which also features Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif.

“This is a blessing that I got to work on a film like this with him. I am happy. He is an intelligent person to play this role. Who else can do this and get into the skin of a character like this? It is tough to take away those two feet, flamboyance, grace and still say ‘let’s romance’,” he added.

Shah Rukh’s last release Jab Harry met Sejal did not work at the box office, but Rai is not worried about the fate of his movie.

“In a decade’s time, he will do so much as an actor but as a visionary he will take the Indian cinema ahead. He doesn’t think like just as an actor. Do expect a lot of newer things as an actor. He has got great plans.

“And with this man, if I feel stressed, (it is) not done.

There is nervousness and I enjoy that. This is India’s biggest VFX film but you will hardly feel that. It will look like any other normal film and yet new, so that is what the VFX is all about.”

Bollywood’s big names such as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi, Rani Mukerji, Kajol, Karisma Kapoor, among others have cameo appearances in the film. But according to Rai, the actors are not placed in the movie deliberately.

“It is a part of the story and it has not been done to increase or give the film a scale. The cameo parts are not done for the sake of it, they have been used (well).

“There is a reason for them to be a part of the film.

They (the appearances) are not structured. It was a delight to have all of them in the film,” he said.

Zero is scheduled to be released on December 21.

Some 600 residents on a tiny island off Papua New Guinea have been evacuated after a volcano previously believed to be dormant erupted and spewed a “continuous plume” of ash, officials and reports said today.

The volcano on the northern island of Kadovar, more than 500 metres (1,640-feet) high, erupted on Friday, the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre told AFP.

“Since then, it’s been emitting a continuous plume out to the west-northwest,” centre forecaster Chris Kearney told AFP.

“It’s been kept mostly over the ocean and still continuing as we speak.”

American Christian non-governmental organisation Samaritan Aviation said all residents on the island were evacuated.

“The reports we have is that all of the residents of the island have been evacuated and that there has not been any loss of life,” the NGO wrote on Facebook yesterday.

Kearney said the volcano was thought to be dormant before the surprise eruption.

“The volcano showed signs of seismic unrest back in 2015, so it was rumbling a bit, but it didn’t erupt at that time, and that’s the only activity in its recorded history apart from the recent eruption,” he said.

The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory told local news site Loop PNG that more than half of the island was “covered in volcanic products”.

“Currently, there are no reports of fatalities,” the observatory added.

PNG sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where high volcanic and seismic activity is the norm

A number of insolvency-bound companies, reeling under huge unserved loans, are scouting for front entities to buy them out in a distress sale under an ‘asset reconstruction’ model with the help of ‘friendly’ IRPs, but have landed themselves under the regulatory scanner.

According to top regulatory officials, some of these firms are approaching senior NBFC executives with a good reputation in the market with a novel idea of setting up their own ‘asset reconstruction startups’ and then bidding for the assets being sold under the insolvency process.

They are also trying to rope in some ‘friendly’ IRPs (Insolvency Resolution Professionals) to help achieve their motive of a ‘front entity’ acquiring the assets on sale, but the regulators and the government agencies have got a whiff of the whole design including with the help of some whistleblowers, a senior official said.

The companies which are currently under scanner include those from the steel, power and textiles sectors, the official said but refused to divulge the names as the investigation is currently underway.

There are apprehensions that more such ‘frauds’ may happen once the individual insolvency regime is introduced as several HNIs may want to follow similar routes to get away from paying debt and still retain some of their assets.

The government is, however, aware of such possible attempts and will keep strengthening the law to check any misuse, officials added.

Around 500 corporates have been admitted for resolution and about 100 companies have commenced voluntary liquidation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which is a little over a year old.

A tentative estimate of the total underlying default amount which formed the basis for initiation of resolution of about 500 corporate debtors is about Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

A significant number of lenders have initiated insolvency proceedings against various companies with regard to stressed assets while proceedings have also been started against realty firms and others.

The government recently amended the law to bar wilful defaulters as well as those with NPA accounts from bidding in auctions to recover bad loans through insolvency proceedings, to prevent unscrupulous persons from misusing or vitiating the provisions of the IBC.

The amendment also makes certain persons ineligible for being a resolution applicant.

The ineligible persons or entities include undischarged insolvent, wilful defaulters, and those whose accounts have been classified as the non-performing asset.

These persons, however, can become “eligible to submit a resolution plan” if they clear all overdue amounts with interest and other charges relating to NPA accounts.

The amendment to the IBC has been brought to address concerns that “persons who, with their misconduct contributed to defaults of companies or otherwise undesirable, may misuse this situation due to lack of prohibition or restrictions to participate in the resolution or liquidation process, and gain or regain control of corporate debtor”.

Moreover, this may undermine the process laid down in the IBC as “unscrupulous person would be seen to be rewarded at the expense of creditors”.

As the amendment bill was getting passed in Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last week that the government has entered into uncharted territory as far as bankruptcy and insolvency code is concerned and would continue to modify the law dealing with the issue.

“Insolvency and bankruptcy is an area in which it is only in the recent years that we have chartered into. It is a learning experience,” he said while winding up a debate on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill.

The government, Jaitley said, has been encountering situations which were not anticipated earlier and assured that it would continue to take corrective action.

Jaitley said banks and unsecured creditors will have to take some haircut during the insolvency process and if the same management comes back, nothing would change.

Jaitley said as far as asset-owning companies are concerned, fetching the best prices is the target and any bid which is not viable can be rejected. It is for creditors to decide how much haircuts they want, he said.

Argentine football great Diego Maradona has urged Boca Juniors fans to welcome back Carlos Tevez after his unsuccessful spell at Shanghai Shenhua.

The former Manchester United and Juventus striker scored just once in 16 appearances for the Chinese Super League side, which he joined from Boca in December 2016, reports Xinhua news agency.

On Friday, the Buenos Aires giants announced the 33-year-old had returned to the club, without revealing details of his contract or the transfer fee.

In a video posted on his Instagram account, Maradona said it was unfair to question Tevez’s loyalty.

“He went to China, made a lot of money and is now coming back to Boca. He hasn’t betrayed anybody,” the 1986 World Cup winner said.

“I would like to know if anybody who is criticizing Tevez would be capable of refusing a salary of $25 million a year.”

With Assembly elections in Meghalaya likely to be announced this week, Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons on Sunday announced a tourism package of Rs 70 crore to develop religious and spiritual circuits in the state.

Denying that the announcement was aimed at wooing voters, especially the Christian community, he accused the Congress government of obstructing the Central government from implementing an inclusive project to bring about religious harmony in the state.

The ninth Meghalaya Assembly comprising 60 members was constituted on March 1, 2013 and its term expires on March 6.

“The government does not come to a standstill if elections are around the corner as it is a continuous process,” Alphons told journalists, adding that various components of projects were proposed by the state government along with the recommendation of the programme division of the Tourism Ministry.

The Ministry had sanctioned Rs 61.38 crore for illumination, landscaping, construction of parking lots and toilets amongst other infrastructure in 37 churches.

Another Rs 8.61 crore will be given out for similar projects for 11 other religious groups including temples, mosques and important sites of the indigenous believers of the Khasi Jaintia and Garo.

Prominent places of worship selected include Catholic’s Cathedral church at Laitumkhrah, Jaiaw Presbyterian Church here, Balupada Baptist convention centre, Laban glass mosque and Gurudwara Sahib, Nartiang Durga temple and Nartiang monoliths.

Expressing surprise at the government refusing to send its officers to a meeting held in New Delhi on Friday to discuss how to create infrastructure for religious tourism, Alphons said: “We have no answers why the state government is against this project?

“Perhaps the Chief Minister has instructed the officers not to turn up. Is it that they do not want the project because they may not be able to swallow the money since a Central agency would do the project?

“Such is the mindset of the Congress government in Meghalaya. However, we are going ahead with the project and we have already sanctioned it. We cannot wait for Chief Minister Mukul Sangma,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

Stressing that the Central government wanted to develop religious tourism by creating infrastructure at different places of worship, Alphons said about 1.6 billion trips have been made to various religious places within the country by Indians in 2017.

Asked if the tourism package could change the hearts of the Christian community as the BJP had as been labelled “anti-minority”, Alphons denied this.

“Before 2014 it was said that churches would be burnt once the BJP comes to power, but there has not been a single incident in the last three years,” he said.

Mark Hughes has been fired as manager of English Premier League side Stoke City, just hours after the club’s shock defeat 1-2 to League Two Coventry City in their FA Cup third-round match.

The club said in a statement on Saturday: “Stoke city can confirm that the contract of manager Mark Hughes has been terminated with immediate effect.”

Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying: “We would like to thank Mark for all he has achieved for the club over the last four and a half years, notably in guiding us to three successive ninth place finishes in the Premier League.”

Stoke City, who have suffered five defeats in seven Premier League games and are third bottom on the table, will “appoint a new manager as soon as possible”.

Hughes, 54, a former Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham and QPR boss, succeeded Tony Pulis at Stoke in May 2013 and was the fourth longest-serving manager at a Premier League club.

Sporting Lisbon announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Wendel on a six-year deal worth 10 million euros ($12 million).

The Portuguese outfit reportedly beat off interest from a host of European clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and CSKA Moscow, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I’m very grateful to the club for fighting to get me here,” Wendel said in a statement on Sporting’s official website on Saturday. “I’m fulfilling a dream by coming here and I hope to help bring success for the fans.”

Wendel played 58 matches and scored seven goals for Rio de Janeiro side Fluminense in 2017 after being promoted from the club’s youth ranks.

Sporting are currently second in Portugal’s first division standings, two points behind leaders Porto.

Four Kashmiri boys were arrested on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district for lining up as Pakistan’s national anthem was played before the start of a cricket match.

After a video went viral showing the players’ conduct in Arin village before the start of the match, police arrested the four.

Police said they were looking for the organisers of the match who arranged the shooting of the video.

In 2016 also, a video went viral showing local cricketers line up to “salute” Pakistan’s national anthem before the start of a match in Ganderbal district.

Police had arrested some of the boys then but they were let off after assurances from the parents.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the move to shift the proposed Coast Guard Academy in Kannur district to Mangaluru in Karnataka.

The Centre should drop such a “unjustified move”, which was against Kerala’s interests, Vijayan said in a letter to Modi, the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement.

The state government had already transferred 164 acres of land for the Academy besides spending about Rs 65.56 crore for providing infrastructure facilities, he said.

Pointing out that the area in Irinive in Kannur district was a rich storehouse of mangrove cultivation, the Union Environment and Forest Ministry had declined permission for construction activities.

However, about 50 acres of land, where there was no mangrove cultivation, was available for construction activities, the Chief Minister said.

In this circumstances, the Prime Minister should send a special team from the Ministry to visit the area and take necessary steps to give clearance for the project, he said.

Play on the third day of the first cricket Test here between South Africa and India was on Sunday called off due to persistent rain.

The ground was almost covered with water due to the pouring rain, with no play possible at Newlands.

“It’s official. Play has been called off! Play to resume at usual time tomorrow. Overs to be bowled on Day 4 & 5 – 98. That’s all we have from here on Day 3 #SAvIND,” BCCI wrote on Twitter.

At the end of the second day’s play on Saturday, South Africa reached 65 for two in their second innings after bowling India out for 209 in their first innings. The hosts have taken a lead of 142 runs.

South African overnight batsmen Hashim Amla (4 batting) and night-watchman Kagiso Rabada (2 batting) kept waiting to go out to resume their innings but the rain refused to relent.