nice photos

nice photos City Beautiful appears to have got its traffic in order, if the number of licence suspensions over the past three years is taken as an indication. Sample this: the driving licence suspensions reduced by half (50%) this year from 689 in 2023 to 352 in 2024. In 2022, the figure was even higher at 1,139. The dip coincides with the launch and implementation of the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) in March 2022. Senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Sumer Pratap Singh said, “The latest technology has made people wary of breaking the law. Also, most violators challaned were from outside the city.” There are 225 (ITMS) cameras installed at 47 junctions under Chandigarh Smart City Limited. These cameras take note of traffic violations, and a challan is generated on the registration number of the traffic violator. Riding a two-wheeler without a helmet and drunken driving were two violations that led to most driving licence suspensions in the city this year. This year, 225 licences were suspended for not wearing helmets, followed by 78 suspensions for drunken driving. There were 25 driving-licence suspensions for speeding, nine for use of mobile phone while driving, six for dangerous driving, five for triple riding and two for jumping the red light. Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, read with Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, recommends the suspension of driving licences for up to six months for violations such as the use of mobile phones while driving, speeding, drunk driving and jumping the red light. For riding without a helmet, the licence is suspended for three months, and a fine is imposed. The traffic police had started suspending licences for speeding in 2016 on the directions of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety. The committee had issued directions to suspend the driving licence on the first offence. However, as per the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the licence is to be suspended after the second violation.An animated game, anyway. The real game takes place at Madison Square Garden, where Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs face the New York Knicks in a game televised on ABC and ESPN and streamed on Disney+ and ESPN+. The special alt-cast, the first animated presentation of an NBA game, will be shown on ESPN2 and also stream on Disney+ and ESPN+. Madison Square Garden is a staple of the NBA's Christmas schedule. Now it merges with a bigger home of the holidays, because the "Dunk the Halls" game will be staged at Disney, on a court set up right smack in the middle of where countless families have posed for vacation photos. Why that location? Because it was Mickey Mouse's Christmas wish. "Basketball courts often have the ability to make a normal environment look special, but in Disney it can only turn out incredible," Wembanyama said in an ESPN video promoting his Christmas debut. The story — this is Disney, after all — begins with Mickey penning a letter to Santa Claus, asking if he and his pals can host a basketball game. They'll not only get to watch one with NBA players, but some of them will even get to play. Goofy and Donald Duck will sub in for a couple Knicks players, while Mickey and Minnie Mouse will come on to play for the Spurs. "It looks to me like Goofy and Jalen Brunson have a really good pick-and-roll at the elite level," said Phil Orlins, an ESPN vice president of production. Walt Disney World hosted real NBA games in 2020, when the league set up there to complete its season that had been suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those games were played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The setting for the Christmas game will be Main Street USA, at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Viewers will recognize Cinderella's castle behind one baseline and the train station at the other end, and perhaps some shops they have visited in between. Previous alternate animated broadcasts included an NFL game taking place in Andy's room from "Toy Story;" the "NHL Big City Greens Classic" during a game between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers; and earlier this month, another NFL matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys also taking place at Springfield's Atoms Stadium as part of "The Simpsons Funday Football." Unlike basketball, the players are helmeted in those sports. So, this telecast required an extra level of detail and cooperation with players and teams to create accurate appearances of their faces and hairstyles. "So, this is a level of detail that we've never gone, that we've never done on any other broadcast," said David Sparrgrove, the senior director of creative animation for ESPN. Wembanyama, the 7-foot-3 phenom from France who was last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, looks huge even among most NBA players. The creators of the alternate telecast had to design how he'd look not only among his teammates and rivals, but among mice, ducks and chipmunks. "Like, Victor Wembanyama, seeing him in person is insane. It's like seeing an alien descend on a basketball court, and I think we kind of captured that in his animated character," said Drew Carter, who will again handle play-by-play duties, as he had in the previous animated telecasts, and will get an assist from sideline reporter Daisy Duck. Wembanyama's presence is one reason the Spurs-Knicks matchup, the leadoff to the NBA's five-game Christmas slate, was the obvious choice to do the animated telecast. The noon EST start means it will begin in the early evening in France and should draw well there. Also, it comes after ABC televises the "Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade" for the previous two hours, providing more time to hype the broadcast. Recognizing that some viewers who then switch over to the animated game may be Disney experts but NBA novices, there will be 10 educational explainers to help with basketball lingo and rules. Beyond Sports' visualization technology and Sony's Hawk-Eye tracking allow the animated players to make the same movements and plays made moments earlier by the real ones at MSG. Carter and analyst Monica McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast, donning VR headsets to experience the game from Main Street, USA. Other animated faces recognizable to some viewers include NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who will judge a halftime dunk contest among Mickey and his friends, and Santa himself, who will operate ESPN's "SkyCam" during the game. The players are curious how the production — and themselves — will look. "It's going to be so crazy to see the game animated," Spurs veteran Chris Paul said. "I think what's dope about it is it will give kids another opportunity to watch a game and to see us, basically, as characters."

NoneBob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the White Sox would love to trade Luis Robert Jr. , so could the Yankees be a potential suitor? While the Juan Soto sweepstakes rage on, the scenario where the team fails to retain the star outfielder looms, and deep down you have to imagine that Brian Cashman and his team have thought of ways to successfully pivot to acquire someone else. It would make sense on paper to acquire Robert via trade, he’s an inexpensive player who oozes upside, but his play this past season leads me to think it would be a disaster. With an 84 wRC+ and regressing defensive abilities, the injury-prone outfielder looks completely lost at the plate and the slew of injuries he’s dealt with haven’t gone away either. If the Yankees had to replace Juan Soto, trading for Luis Robert Jr. would be the wrong route to go down. Why Luis Robert Jr. Is A Poor Fit For the Yankees Once considered an elite player who could contend for multiple MVP awards, Luis Robert Jr. has struggled to live up to the high expectations placed on him as a rookie. Dubbed “La Pantera”, the 27-year-old outfielder burst onto the scene after putting up a 155 wRC+ with 13 home runs in 68 games for the 2021 White Sox, playing elite defense with a 3.5 fWAR and looking like a star in the making. While 2022 wouldn’t be the year he hoped for, a 111 wRC+ and 2.2 fWAR in 98 games is far from bottoming out, and in 2023 we saw the star outfielder put it all together for a full season. He played a career-high 145 games with a 128 wRC+, 38 home runs, 13 Outs Above Average, and a 4.9 fWAR as we began to see his star shine brighter than it ever had before in the big leagues. That ascent quickly turned into a career-worst year in 2024, where he posted a putrid .278 OBP and hit just 14 home runs across 100 games, but there were greater concerns than just his poor play at the plate. He accumulated 1 OAA across 827.2 innings in centerfield, the lowest he’s had in a single season as a Major Leaguer, and while defense isn’t as sticky year-to-year as offense, this still displays some alarming trends. Furthermore, the White Sox would have every right to ask for the moon in return, as they’ve held off on trading the star outfielder before and may hold off on doing so this winter as well. Luis Robert Jr. is under control for up to three seasons after 2024, and the Yankees would have to headline their trade offer with someone like Jasson Dominguez to land his services. While trading away a top prospect for a player with superstar upside isn’t the worst idea in the world, would the Yankees be best taking such a drastic gamble of trading Dominguez away? For the right player, anyone should be available, but Luis Robert Jr. doesn’t strike me as the kind of player who would entice them to move off of their top prospect. Perhaps someone with a more proven track record or with greater upside could better serve as a potential option for trading away Jasson Dominguez, someone like Garrett Crochet. Granted, the bevy of suitors with better farm systems would likely remove the Yankees from any bidding war, but Robert Jr. wouldn’t be that kind of addition. Not only is he probably not worth obliterating the farm system for at this point, but he’s also not the kind of player who can reasonably replace Juan Soto’s production or even come close to it: These two players don’t belong in the same sentence, much less the same tier, and Juan Soto is a year younger than Luis Robert Jr. as well. While the Yankees would have a lesser financial burden in this scenario, it’s not as if the Yankees are paying pennies on the dollar either. Since the CBA changed the way that the Luxury Tax is affected when you acquire a player via trade, Luis Robert Jr. would have the Luxury Tax hit of the AAV of the money remaining on his deal. Owed $15 million this season with two club options at $20 million a year, the Yankees would be looking at a $15 million hit to the Luxury Tax this year and two $20 million hits for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. If he plays like a superstar its a bargain, but if he’s an injury-prone player who doesn’t accumulate more than 2-3 WAR in a single season, then he’s being paid right around his market value on top of requiring a massive prospect commitment. The moral of the story? Sign Juan Soto. Don’t make your life difficult Yankees. This article first appeared on Empire Sports Media and was syndicated with permission.

6 adults, 4 children taken to hospital following suspected Carbon Monoxide exposure in VanierThings are off to a heated start between Ryan Garcia and Rukiya Anpo. Garcia and Anpo are set to face each other in an exhibition showdown at RIZIN’s Decade event on Dec. 30, and on Tuesday, the first press conference for the event took place in Los Angeles. And while Garcia press conferences often have a potential to turn wild, it was Anpo who brought an aggressive energy to the proceedings. After initial statements to open the press conference, Anpo took to the podium with a pre-written speech that the Japanese kickboxer delivered to Garcia before crumbling it up and throwing it at the former WBC interim lightweight champion. “We all know Ryan Garcia’s issues,” Anpo said. “Missing weight, alcohol, ... lack of professionalism, no sportsmanship, no respect. Yet he dares to call himself ‘King.’ On fight day I’ll show him the true code of bushido. We fight for honor and legacy. I’ll bring the real Japanese samurai spirit and show him exactly where he belongs. “F*ck you! F*ck you!” Anpo’s aggression seem to catch Garcia off guard, who admitted that he was not taking this event too seriously. “It’s waking me up,” Garcia said. “I just kind of looked to this like, it’s going to be a little exhibition, I’m going to enjoy the ride, enjoy the festivities in Japan, it’s New Year’s, but now it’s kind of waking the dragon up. It’s making me a little excited to put a whooping on this dude. I’m looking to knock hi out now. Before, I thought it was going to be a relaxing, family event. It’s not anymore.” Garcia and Anpo continued to trade words back-and-forth as the press conference continued with both men making threats to one another before ultimately facing off for the first time. And given the tenor of the presser up until then, it’s no surprise that things got a little heated during the face off, with Garcia pretending to hit Anpo, and Anpo responding with a shove of his own. Rukiya Anpo got in Ryan Garcia's face during the first #RIZIN_DECADE press conference in LA pic.twitter.com/4myxbqh2l1 A former interim WBC lightweight champion, 26-year-old Garcia is one of the most popular boxers competing in the sport today, but has had as many outside the ring troubles as successes lately. Most recently he won a majority decision victory over Devin Haney back in April that was later overturned to a No-Contest after Garcia tested positive for Ostarine. Garcia is currently serving a one-year suspension for the failure. The 29-year-old Anpo is a former K-1 champion who most recently had an impressive performance against Manny Pacquiao in a three-round exhibition boxing match back in July. You can check out the tense staredown above.

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