title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: The stadium was a host of UEFA Euro 2016, and was also chosen to stage the 2017 Coupe de la Ligue Final and the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final, in addition to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and football at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Outside football, the ground has also held rugby union and ice hockey matches, as well as musical concerts.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: On 1 September 2008, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas announced plans to create a new 60,000-seat stadium, tentatively called "OL Land", to be built on 50 hectares of land located in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The stadium would also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities, two hotels, a leisure center, and commercial and business offices.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: On 13 October 2008, the project was agreed upon by the French government, the General Council of Rhône, the Grand Lyon, SYTRAL, and the commune of Décines for construction with approximately €180 million of public money being used and between €60–80 million coming from the Urban Community of Lyon. The project was hindered by slow administrative procedures, political interests, and various opposition groups who viewed the stadium as financially, ecologically, and socially wrong for the taxpayers and community of Décines. After landscaping in 2012, stadium construction started in summer 2013.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: Olympique Lyonnais played their first game in the new stadium on 9 January 2016, winning 4–1 against Troyes in Ligue 1; Alexandre Lacazette scored the first goal at the ground.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: In November 2009, the French Football Federation chose Parc Olympique Lyonnais one of the twelve stadiums to be used in the country's bidding for UEFA Euro 2016. It hosted six games at the tournament, including the hosts' 2–1 win over the Republic of Ireland in the last 16, and eventual champions Portugal's 2–0 win over Wales in the semi-finals.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: In September 2016, the new stadium was chosen as the host of the 2017 Coupe de la Ligue Final, the first time that the final had been hosted outside the Paris area. Paris Saint-Germain won 4–1 against Monaco. On 9 December 2016, UEFA announced that Parc OL had been chosen to host the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final on 16 May 2018.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: Parc OL was one of nine stadiums hosting matches at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, staging the semi-finals and the final. It will also be a venue for football at the 2024 Summer Olympics.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: The venue hosted an outdoor Ligue Magnus ice hockey game between Lyon and Grenoble on 30 December 2016. In that game, Grenoble defeated Lyon 5–2; the attendance at that game was 25,142, which turned out to be the all-time record attendance for an ice hockey game in France.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: Parc Olympique Lyonnais hosted the finals of rugby union's European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup in 2016. It is one of nine venues chosen for France's hosting of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.


title: Parc Olympique Lyonnais

text: The stadium has hosted several musical performances, the first being by American singer will.i.am after the inaugural match on 9 January 2016. Other acts who have played there include Christophe Maé, Rihanna, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Phil Collins, Céline Dion, Rammstein, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: "Hot Coffee" is the unofficial name for a minigame in the 2004 action-adventure video game "" by Rockstar Games. While it was not playable in the official game release, the modding community discovered hidden code that, when enabled, allows protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson to have animated sexual intercourse with his in-game girlfriend.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Rockstar Games president Sam Houser wanted to include more role-playing elements in "San Andreas" while also pushing the "Grand Theft Auto" series' controversial reputation. The development team was forced to curtail the nudity and sexual content of Houser's original vision, however, to obtain a "Mature" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Rather than removing the content, the developers made it inaccessible to players. Modders discovered the code on the game's PlayStation 2 release, and when "San Andreas" was released for Windows, modder Patrick Wildenborg disabled the controls around the code. He released this modified code online under the name "Hot Coffee".


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: The discovery of the "Hot Coffee" minigame resulted in intense legal backlash for Rockstar Games and their parent company, Take-Two Interactive. While both companies remained mostly silent on the matter, Rockstar Games released a statement claiming that modders were responsible for the minigame. The ESRB re-rated the game "Adults Only" after an investigation, while the game was banned entirely in Australia until the explicit content was removed. Rockstar Games and Take-Two received a warning from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for failing to disclose the extent of graphic content present in the game, while a class action lawsuit alleged that the company had misled customers who believed the game's content fell along the lines of a "Mature" rating.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: "Hot Coffee" had a major impact on the video game industry. Rockstar Games' refusal to publicly comment on the matter was poorly received by the industry and modding community, while the ESRB announced fines of up to for game developers who failed to disclose the extent of their graphic content. "Hot Coffee" reappeared in future Rockstar Games releases: A similar mod for "Red Dead Redemption 2" was posted on Nexus Mods in 2020 and subsequently taken down by Rockstar Games, while 2021's "", which includes a remaster of "San Andreas", was briefly removed from sale after data miners discovered the code associated with "Hot Coffee".


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, released the action-adventure video game "" for the PlayStation 2 on 26 October 2004. The game was subsequently released for Windows and the Xbox on 7 June 2005. The fifth instalment in the "Grand Theft Auto" video game franchise and a sequel to 2002's "", "San Andreas" expanded upon its predecessor with a virtual world four times larger than "Vice City", as well as the introduction of more role-playing elements. By exercising and feeding the player character, Carl "CJ" Johnson, altering his hairstyle and outfits, and practising shooting and driving, the player maintains CJ's health and street cred. Prior to the release of "San Andreas", the "Grand Theft Auto" series was popular among the modding community, with players known as "modders" hacking into a game's source code and creating modifications, or "mods". By introducing in-game character customisation options, "San Andreas" made game mods more accessible to those outside of the hacking community. Rockstar Games' president Sam Houser told reporters before the game's release that he "wanted to blur the lines more between what was in-mission and part of the story and your 'leisure time' in the game ... all of your actions feel like they have consequences, and you are always in the world".


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: "San Andreas" begins with CJ returning to his home state, the fictional San Andreas, to attend his mother's funeral. Upon his return, he engages in an overarching quest to become a kingpin in the area's criminal underworld. Although there is an overarching plot, "San Andreas" is primarily an open world game, where narrative missions are supplemented by other activities and interactions that have little bearing on the primary mission. One open world task in which CJ may participate is romantic. "San Andreas" contains six unlockable girlfriends that can be discovered either through completing missions or by exploring the virtual world. Each girlfriend has preferences for CJ's appearance and date activities; if CJ impresses the girlfriend by catering to these preferences, the player unlocks certain rewards. When CJ has sufficiently impressed one of these girlfriends, she will invite him home "for some coffee", a euphemism for sexual intercourse. In the unmodified version of the game, while the player hears sexual sounds from inside the house, the camera remains outside the front door and no explicit content is visible.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: The modified version of "San Andreas" replaces this censored cutscene with the unused minigame found in the code. After receiving fellatio from his girlfriend, CJ assumes the missionary position. Both characters remain clothed as the player is instructed to "push the left analog stick up and down in rhythm", which increases CJ's progress on a bar graph labelled "Excitement". Button controls allow the player to change the camera angle or the sex position. If the excitement bar reaches completion, CJ's girlfriend and the game congratulate the player; if the meter empties, the player is criticised for "[f]ailure to satisfy a woman". There is also an erotic spanking mini-game in which the player must press buttons in rhythm, which results in CJ spanking his girlfriend and her excitement bar increasing.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: The first commercially successful game in the "Grand Theft Auto" series was "Grand Theft Auto III". Upon its 2001 release, the graphic violence and sexual content in the game were met with controversy from politicians and other public figures such as Joe Lieberman and Jack Thompson. Both "Grand Theft Auto III" and its sequel "Vice City" received commercial success but faced scrutiny, particularly among those concerned about the impact of violent video games on children. Both games received an "M" ("Mature 17+") rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in the United States, and Houser responded to the criticism by stating that the "Grand Theft Auto" series, and video games as a medium, were not designed for children.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: In an interview with "1Up.com" prior to the release of "San Andreas", Houser told reporters that the game was the "official conclusion to a trilogy" preceded by "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Vice City". Houser and the creative team at Rockstar North faced two major challenges in the development of "San Andreas": First, they wanted to implement more role-playing elements without turning the series "uber-nerdy". Furthermore, they were determined to "do everything possible to exceed people's expectations" beyond previous games in the series. By this point, games in the "Grand Theft Auto" series were expected to contain graphic violence, depictions of crime, and coarse language, and Houser believed that the way to "include new functionality and interaction in line with the 'vibe' of the game" was to branch into more explicit sexual content. The inclusion of sexual content in video games proved challenging for developers, as the medium was still seen primarily as entertainment for children. The inclusion of in-game nudity, for instance, was likely to earn "San Andreas" an "AO" ("Adults Only") rating from the ESRB, and such a rating would curtail the markets in which the game could be sold, putting a great financial burden on Rockstar Games in the process.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On 14 July 2004, Houser emailed Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar Games' director of operations, with a list of the sexual content he planned to include in the game. This included oral sex, sexual intercourse, masturbation, erotic whipping, and dildos, both in-game and during cutscenes. Kolbe responded with concern that the graphic content would result in an AO rating, and the creative team began to research the content limits for video games in the United States. On 16 August, Rockstar Games co-founder Terry Donovan emailed Houser a list of alterations that developers would need to make to ensure that the game fell in line with video game content rating systems in all markets. While certain countries like Spain and Italy had more relaxed guidelines towards nudity and sexuality, the ESRB's strict limits on these situations drastically limited the content that Houser and Rockstar Games could include without receiving an AO rating. Because Houser received this list of alterations so close to the game's intended release date, there was insufficient time to remove any graphic content from the game without compromising the source code. Instead, developers rewrote the code so that the content was still present on the game disc, but controls made this content inaccessible to the player.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Houser emailed "San Andreas" producer Leslie Benzies on 25 November, after the PlayStation release of the game, to see "how hard we can push the sex stuff" on the impending Windows release. Houser's original plan was to release two versions of the game, one with an M and the other with an AO rating, but the sales department was concerned about the financial impact of releasing an explicit game. Instead, Rockstar Games decided to release the game in its M-rated form, with a later patch including more graphic content for players who desired. On 7 January 2005, Rockstar Games submitted the Windows and Xbox versions of "San Andreas" to the ESRB. Because the game was identical to the already-reviewed PlayStation 2 version, the company did not need to send the Board a content disc, and it was automatically given an M rating.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Rockstar Games' decision to release "San Andreas" on the PlayStation 2 before Windows impacted the modding community, as console games were more difficult to hack into and alter than their PC counterparts. Unable to enact any major edits to the console's source code, modders instead accessed the file formats, planning the mods they would create for the Windows version upon its release. In December 2004, a group of modders, including Patrick Wildenborg, uncovered several character animations with file names including "SEX", "KISSING", "SNM", and "BLOWJOBZ". One modder, operating under the screen name Barton Waterduck, was able to preview the animations using character model sheets, and these previews confirmed their sexual nature. To overrule the control toggles around this hidden code, however, Wildenborg, Waterduck, and others had to wait until the game's Windows release.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Wildenborg was based in the Netherlands, where "San Andreas" would be released on Windows and the Xbox three days later than in North America, so he collaborated with a modder in the United States to gain early access to the game files. The American modder sent Wildenborg a copy of the game script, which Wildenborg altered with a hex editor to unlock the minigame and returned. At 11:37 p.m. (CEST) on 8 June 2005, Wildenborg received a video of the minigame that his modifications had unlocked. Wildenborg released the game patch on 9 June to GTAGarage.com, a "Grand Theft Auto" modding website. He named the patch "Hot Coffee" after the euphemism used in the game, and it was downloaded over 1 million times in a span of four weeks.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On the day it was released, Houser discovered the "Hot Coffee" minigame by browsing "Grand Theft Auto" message boards where it was being discussed. On the same day, Doug Lowenstein, then the president of the Entertainment Software Association, discovered the minigame by viewing a viral video of its content. Over the next month, Rockstar Games' public relations team were instructed not to respond to any requests for comment on the controversy. The only communication they offered was to Lowenstein and Patricia Vance, the president of the ESRB. Rockstar Games informed both parties that "Hot Coffee" was the result of a third-party modification and that they would comply with any forthcoming investigation.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On 7 July 2005, Leland Yee, the speaker "pro tempore" of the California State Senate, issued a press release condemning the ESRB for not providing "San Andreas" with an AO rating for its violence and the explicit sexual activity in the "Hot Coffee" minigame. At the time, Yee had been promoting the AB450 bill, which would require the state of California to place warning labels on violent video games and require retailers to check for identification before selling these games to customers. On the following day, while Vance criticised Yee for his "crusade ... to undermine the integrity of the ESRB", she also announced that the Board had opened an investigation into "the circumstances surrounding the 'Hot Coffee' modification". On 12 July, meanwhile, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) announced that it was opening its own investigation into the game at the request of Philip Ruddock, the Attorney-General of Australia. The OFLC had originally rated "San Andreas" MA15+, which limited purchase to individuals aged 15 or older.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: While "Hot Coffee" had been popular among the "Grand Theft Auto" modding community upon its release, Yee's comments drew the public's attention to the minigame. In a statement on his personal website, Wildenborg clarified that although he was not responsible for the creation of any explicit sexual material present in the game, such material was impossible to access without modifying the source code, and thus "Hot Coffee" could "therefore not be considered a cheat, Easter egg or hidden feature but is most probably just leftover material from a gameplay idea that didn't make the final release". On 14 July, Rockstar Games released a statement denouncing any responsibility for "Hot Coffee", stating that the minigame was "the work of a determined group of hackers who have gone to significant trouble to alter scenes in the official version of the game".


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On 20 July 2005, the ESRB announced that all editions of "San Andreas" would be re-rated from M to AO. While acknowledging that Rockstar Games had not intended to make any graphic material accessible to customers, they issued the re-rating on the basis that the material was present "in a fully rendered, unmodified form on the final discs" of the game, which, "compounded by the broad distribution of the third party modification", undermined "the credibility and utility of the initial ESRB rating". As a result, major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Circuit City announced that they would immediately cease all sales of "San Andreas" for as long as it was rated AO. On 29 July, the OFLC stripped "San Andreas" of its classification. Because Australia did not have an 18+ rating at the time, the inclusion of explicit content instead resulted in a complete ban on sales of the game.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: In response to the re-ratings, Take-Two suspended all production of "San Andreas" until they could release a version of the game that prohibited access to "Hot Coffee". On 11 August, Rockstar Games released a game patch disabling access to "Hot Coffee" for Windows customers. By September, "San Andreas" had been edited and released as an M-rated game for Windows and the Xbox. In November, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Special Edition" was released for PlayStation 2 without "Hot Coffee". Outside of the US, Rockstar Games released an edited version of the game in September 2015, which received an MA15+ rating in Australia.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Following the ESRB's announcement that they were investigating "San Andreas", U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to uncover the source of the game's "graphic pornographic and violent content", determine whether the game should receive an AO rating, and "examine the adequacy of the retailers' rating enforcement policies". Clinton further declared that she would begin work on a bill that would make it a federal crime, accompanied by a mandatory fine, to sell violent or sexually explicit video games to individuals under the age of 18. She filed the Family Entertainment Protection Act on 17 December 2005, with backing from fellow senators Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh. In addition to preventing the sale of M- and AO-rated video games to minors, the bill recommended that the FTC check annually for hidden content in existing games, such as the code that led to the "Hot Coffee" mod. The bill was referred to the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where it expired without action at the end of the 109th Congress.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Meanwhile, on 28 July 2005, the United States House of Representatives voted 355-21 to launch an FTC investigation against Take-Two and Rockstar Games with the intent of determining whether the developers had intentionally misled the ESRB on the content of "San Andreas" to avoid an AO rating. The parties reached a settlement on 8 June 2006, with the FTC ruling that Take-Two and Rockstar Games had violated the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 by failing to disclose the inclusion of "unused, but potentially viewable" nude imagery and sexual content in the game, regardless of whether the content was enabled by a third party. The settlement required that Take-Two and Rockstar Games "clearly and prominently disclose on product packaging and in any promotion or advertisement for electronic games, content relevant to the rating, unless that content had been disclosed sufficiently in prior submissions to the rating authority", with violations punishable by a fine of up to . The FTC opted not to fine either company for the "Hot Coffee" incident, but at the time of the decision, Take-Two had already incurred losses of (equivalent to in ) from the earlier recall.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On 27 July 2005, an 85-year-old woman from New York filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games and Take-Two in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The woman had purchased the game for her 14-year-old grandson before it received its AO re-rating, and she alleged that Rockstar Games had engaged in false advertising, consumer deception, and unfair business practices by marketing the game under its initial M rating. A similar lawsuit was filed in January 2006 by the City of Los Angeles, headed by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Several similar claims were ultimately consolidated into one case.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: In October 2006, a federal judge ruled that the initial plaintiff could pursue class action status for her lawsuit. Settlement talks between the associated parties began in February 2007, and the case was settled on 28 January 2008. All customers who purchased the game before its ESRB re-rating were eligible for a claim up to . While "San Andreas" had sold over 21.5 million copies, fewer than 3,000 customers filed claims in response to this settlement. While attorneys had settled the case for , it would take less than to resolve the submitted claims, and most of the settlement cost would be in legal fees. Rockstar Games also agreed to make a charitable donation worth as part of the settlement. Because so few affected individuals pursued settlement claims, a judge decertified the settlement class on 31 July.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: At the time of the "Hot Coffee" controversy, Take-Two was already under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of insider trading involving company founder and chairman Ryan Brant. This investigation culminated in a settlement on 9 June 2005. On 17 February 2006, Take-Two shareholders filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the company's mishandling of various financial aspects had caused a direct, negative impact on their earnings. One example of this financial mismanagement was the company's response to the "Hot Coffee" scandal. Plaintiffs alleged that Take-Two had engaged in a securities violation, as by "merely 'wrapping' rather than removing the Adult Content, Defendants knew that the Adult Content would inevitably be made widely available". This suit was settled on 2 September 2009, with Take-Two agreeing to pay over and enact changes to corporate governance policies and practices that would protect investors from future such issues. By this point, shareholders had voted to oust most of the executive leadership at Take-Two, with Strauss Zelnick named the new chief executive officer.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: The "Hot Coffee" controversy and subsequent legal and financial action soured the relationships among Rockstar Games, the video game industry, and the modding community. By refusing to publicly comment on the ongoing scandal, Rockstar Games was accused of cowardice by Lowenstein, who said, "If you want to be controversial, that's great ... but then don't duck and cover when the shit hits the fan. Stand up and defend what you make." In a 2012 interview, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser responded to the backlash surrounding "Grand Theft Auto"s controversial content, stating, "We never felt that we were being attacked for the content, we were being attacked for the medium, which felt a little unfair. If all of this stuff had been put into a book or a movie, people wouldn't have blinked an eye." The modding community, meanwhile, felt alienated by Rockstar Games' response to the controversy: in addition to taking the blame for the cultural fallout around "Hot Coffee", they were informed that future versions of the game would be "much more mod-resistant". GTAGarage.com voluntarily removed "Hot Coffee" amidst the controversy, but the negative response that the minigame generated resulted in a chilling effect. Some modders feared that all game alterations would be taken as intentionally hidden content, which could in turn lead to more legal restrictions on video games.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: The "Hot Coffee" scandal also had a major impact on the ESRB and video game content rating in the United States, as the Board was forced to refine its submission and rating process to avoid additional scandal. In the year after "San Andreas" was released, "" was re-rated from "T" ("Teen 13+") to M after the ESRB discovered "more detailed descriptions of blood or gore than were considered in the original rating", as well as a locked skin which, if modded, allowed female characters to appear topless. Responding to both the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Elder Scrolls" incidents, the ESRB testified before the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that after that point, manufacturers who failed to disclose mature or explicit content would be punished with fines up to $1 million. In September 2006, Senator Sam Brownback introduced the Truth in Video Game Rating Act, which would require the ESRB to access the full content of games before issuing a rating, as opposed to relying on video demonstrations from game companies. Brownback introduced the bill to both the 109th and 110th Congress, and it expired without action at the end of both sessions.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: In June 2006, Take-Two cancelled "Snow", a real-time strategy game about illegal drug trade that had been in production at its Frog City Software studio. While the publisher provided no reason for this decision, it was believed that it stemmed from the "increased political pressure" Take-Two was under, partially brought about by the "Hot Coffee" scandal.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: Rockstar Games released "Grand Theft Auto IV", the next game in the "Grand Theft Auto" series, on 29 April 2008, to critical and commercial acclaim. Some fans believed that the game included an Easter egg referencing Hillary Clinton's involvement in the "Hot Coffee" controversy. In the game, the Statue of Happiness, a Statue of Liberty-type figure, bears a physical resemblance to Clinton, and the game file for the statue is named "stat_hilberty01.wdr". The "Hot Coffee" scandal was mentioned again upon the 2014 release of "Grand Theft Auto V", in which players could engage in sexual activity with prostitutes from a first-person perspective. Despite this mechanism, "Grand Theft Auto V" received an M rating from the ESRB.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: In February 2020, a modification to "Red Dead Redemption 2" was released on Nexus Mods that drew comparisons to "Hot Coffee". In the mod, protagonist Arthur Morgan meets a prostitute in a saloon and takes her upstairs to engage in sexual intercourse. Rockstar Games, who developed the "Red Dead" series as well as "Grand Theft Auto", issued the modders a cease and desist letter stating that their creation had violated the game's end-user license agreement. The creators insisted that they had not violated service terms, and despite their protest, the mod was taken down from Nexus Mods shortly after its release.


title: Hot Coffee (minigame)

text: On 11 November 2021, Rockstar Games released "". Designed for Windows, the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, "The Trilogy" is a remastered compilation of "Grand Theft Auto III", "Vice City", and "San Andreas". Two days after its wide release, Rockstar Games announced that they were removing the Windows version from online purchase to "remove files unintentionally included"; this primarily referred to the game soundtrack, which included unlicensed songs, but some data miners claimed to have found "Hot Coffee" within the game's code. Three days after its removal, Rockstar Games made "The Trilogy" available for online purchase again.


title: Duke Snider

text: Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers (1947–1962), later playing one season each for the New York Mets (1963) and San Francisco Giants (1964).


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider was named to the National League (NL) All-Star roster eight times and was the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) runner-up in 1955. In his 16 out of 18 seasons with the Dodgers, he helped lead the Dodgers to six World Series, with victories in 1955 and 1959. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.


title: Duke Snider

text: Born in Los Angeles, Snider was nicknamed "Duke" by his father at age 5. Growing up in Southern California, Snider was a gifted all-around athlete, playing basketball, football, and baseball at Compton High School, class of 1944. He was a strong-armed quarterback, who reportedly could throw the football 70 yards.


title: Duke Snider

text: Spotted by one of Branch Rickey's scouts in the early 1940s, he was signed to a baseball contract out of high school in 1943. He played briefly for the Montreal Royals of the International League in 1944 (batting twice) and for the Newport News Dodgers in the Piedmont League in the same year. After serving in the U.S. Navy in 1945 and part of 1946, he came back to play for the Fort Worth Cats that year, and also for St. Paul in 1947.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider earned a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers during their spring training in 1947. He got his first major league at bat in the second Dodger's game of the 1947 season on April 17 and hit a single. He played in 39 more games that season and became a friend of Jackie Robinson before he was sent to the St. Paul team in early July. Snider returned to the Dodgers at the end of the season in time for the World Series against the New York Yankees. Snider (after spring training with the Dodgers) started the 1948 season with Montreal, and after hitting well in that league with a .327 batting average, he was called up to Brooklyn in August and played in 53 games. In 1949, Snider became a regular major leaguer hitting 23 home runs with 92 runs batted in, helping the Dodgers into the World Series. Snider also saw his average climb from .244 to .292. A more mature Snider became the "trigger man" in a power-laden lineup which boasted players Joe Black, Roy Campanella, Billy Cox, Carl Erskine, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Clem Labine, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, and Preacher Roe. Often compared with two other New York center fielders, fellow Baseball Hall of Famers, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, he was the reigning "Duke" of Flatbush.


title: Duke Snider

text: In 1950, he hit .321 and led the National League with 199 base hits and 343 total bases, earning his first All-Star Game appearance. When his average slipped to .277 in 1951 (a season when the Dodgers lost a 13‑game August lead and finished second to the Giants after Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World"), Snider was roundly criticized in the newspapers. Snider recalls, "I went to Walter O'Malley and told him I couldn't take the pressure", and, "I told him I'd just as soon be traded. I told him I figured I could do the Dodgers no good." The trade did not happen.


title: Duke Snider

text: Usually batting third in the lineup, Snider established impressive offensive numbers. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953–1957), and between 1953 and 1956 he averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs, and a .320 batting average. He led the National League (NL) in runs scored, home runs, and RBI in separate seasons. He appeared in six post-seasons with the Dodgers (1949, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1959), facing the New York Yankees in the first five and the Chicago White Sox in the last. The Dodgers won the World Series in 1955 and in 1959.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider's career numbers declined when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Coupled with an aching knee and a right field fence at the cavernous Coliseum, Snider hit only 15 home runs in 1958. However, he had one last hurrah in 1959 as he helped the Dodgers win their first World Series in Los Angeles. Duke rebounded that year to hit .308 with 23 home runs and 88 RBI in 370 at bats while sharing fielding duties in right and center fields with Don Demeter and rookie Ron Fairly. Injuries and age would eventually play a role in reducing Snider to part-time status by 1961.


title: Duke Snider

text: In 1962 when the Dodgers led the NL for most of the season (only to find themselves tied with the hated Giants at the season's end), it was Snider and third-base coach Leo Durocher who reportedly pleaded with manager Walter Alston to bring in future Hall of Fame pitcher (and Cy Young Award winner that year) Don Drysdale in the ninth inning of the third and deciding playoff game. Instead, Alston brought in Stan Williams to relieve a tiring Eddie Roebuck. A 4–2 lead turned into a 6–4 loss as the Giants rallied to win the pennant. Snider was subsequently sold to the New York Mets. It is said that Drysdale, his roommate, broke down and cried when he got the news of Snider's departure.


title: Duke Snider

text: When Snider joined the Mets, he discovered that his familiar number 4 was being worn by Charlie Neal, who refused to give it up. Snider wore number 11 during the first half of the season, then switched back to 4 after Neal was traded. He proved to be a sentimental favorite among former Dodger fans who now rooted for the Mets. On April 16, 1963, Snider recorded his 2,000th hit, doing so at Crosley Field against the Cincinnati Reds on a single off Jim Maloney in the 2nd inning. On June 14, he recorded his 400th home run, once again against the Reds, doing so in the first inning off Bob Purkey. He was named to the All-Star Game in Cleveland, his eighth and final selection. He entered the game as a pinch hitter for Tommy Davis in the top of the ninth inning. Facing Dick Radatz, he struck out looking. For the season with the Mets, he appeared in 129 games while batting a slashline of .243/.345/.401, with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs, 45 walks, and 56 strikeouts. After one season, Snider asked to be traded to a contending team.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider was sold to the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day in 1964. Knowing that he had no chance of wearing number 4, which had been worn by Mel Ott and retired by the Giants, Snider took number 28. In 91 games played with the Giants, he batted a line of .210/.302/.323 while having four home runs and 17 RBIs. He had no triples for the first and only time in his career. He had 40 strikeouts and 22 walks. He appeared in three different positions for the Giants, playing 26 games in right field and 18 in left field for a combined total of 288.2 innings. He made 44 putouts, two assists with one error for a .979 fielding percentage. He retired at the end of that season.


title: Duke Snider

text: He finished his major league career with a lifetime .295 batting average, 2,116 hits, 1,259 runs, 407 home runs, and 1,333 RBI. Defensively, he posted a .985 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider finished second to teammate Roy Campanella in the 1955 Most Valuable Player (MVP) balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He trailed Campanella by just five points, 226–221, with each man receiving eight first-place votes. A widely believed story, summarized in an article by columnist Tracy Ringolsby, holds that a hospitalized writer from Philadelphia had turned in a ballot with Campanella listed as his first-place and fifth-place vote. It was assumed that the writer had meant to write Snider's name into one of those slots. Unable to get a clarification from the ill writer, the BBWAA considered disallowing the ballot but decided to accept it, counting the first-place vote for Campanella and counting the fifth-place vote as though it were left blank. Had the ballot been disallowed, the vote would have been won by Snider 221–212. Had Snider gotten that now-blank fifth-place vote, the final vote would have favored Snider 227–226.


title: Duke Snider

text: Sportswriter Joe Posnanski, however, has suggested that this story is not entirely true. Posnanski writes that there was a writer who "did" leave Snider off his ballot and write in Campanella's name twice, but it was in first and sixth positions, not first and fifth. Had Snider received the sixth place vote, the final tally would have created a tie, not a win for Snider. Additionally, the position wasn't discarded — everyone lower on the ballot was moved up a spot, and pitcher Jack Meyer was inserted at the bottom with a 10th place vote.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider did win the Sporting News National League Player of the Year Award for 1955, and the Sid Mercer Award, emblematic of his selection by the New York branch of the BBWAA as the National League's best player of 1955.


title: Duke Snider

text: Following his retirement from baseball, Snider became a popular and respected TV/radio analyst and play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1971 and for the Montreal Expos from 1973 to 1986. He was characterized by a mellow, low-key style.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider occasionally took acting roles, sometimes appearing in television or films as himself or as a professional baseball player. He played himself in "Hero Father" (1956) in the Robert Young television series "Father Knows Best", made one guest appearance on the Chuck Connors television series "The Rifleman", and played Wallace in "The Retired Gun" (1959). Other appearances include an uncredited part as a Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder in "The Geisha Boy" (1958), the Cranker in "The Trouble with Girls" (1969), and a Steamer Fan in "Pastime" (1990). As recently as 2007, he was featured in "".


title: Duke Snider

text: In 1995, Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud charges. According to the charges, they had failed to report income from sports card shows and memorabilia sales.


title: Duke Snider

text: Besides his selection to the Hall of Fame in 1980, in 1999 Snider was ranked 84 on "The Sporting News"s list of "100 Greatest Players", and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.


title: Duke Snider

text: Snider died on February 27, 2011, at age 84 of an undisclosed illness at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, California. He was the last living Brooklyn Dodger who was on the field for the final out of the 1955 World Series.


title: Duke Snider

text: In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Snider as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.


title: Comparison of rugby league and rugby union

text: Initially, following the 1895 split in rugby football, rugby union and rugby league differed in administration only. Soon, however, the rules of rugby league were modified, resulting in two distinctly different forms of rugby. After 100 years, in 1995 rugby union joined rugby league and most other forms of football as an openly professional sport.


text: The inherent similarities between rugby union and rugby league have at times led to the possibility of a merger of the two variants and experimental hybrid games have been played that use a mix of the two sports' rules.


text: Rugby union was originally referred to as rugby football. During the early development of rugby football different schools used different rules, on many occasions agreeing upon them shortly before commencement of the game. In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Rugby football spread to Australia and New Zealand, with games being played in the early-to-mid-nineteenth century.


text: In 1892, charges of professionalism were laid against Yorkshire clubs after they compensated players for missing work. A proposal to pay players up to six shillings when they missed work because of match commitments was voted down by the RFU. On 27 August 1895, prominent Lancashire clubs declared that they would support their Yorkshire colleagues in their proposal to form a professional organization and the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union (NU), was formed. The rugby union authorities issued sanctions against clubs, players and officials involved in the offshoot group, including amateurs who played with or against Northern Union sides. After the schism the separate codes were named "rugby union" for the RFU code and "rugby league" for the NU code.


text: In 1906, All Black George William Smith joined with Albert Henry Baskerville to form a team of professional rugby players. George Smith cabled a friend in Sydney and three professional matches were arranged between a New South Wales rugby team before continuing onto the UK. This game was played under the rugby union laws and it was not until the team, nicknamed the All Golds, arrived in Leeds that they learnt the new Northern Union laws. Meanwhile, in Sydney a meeting was organised to look at forming a professional rugby competition in Australia. The meeting resolved that a "New South Wales Rugby Football League" (NSWRFL) should be formed, to play the Northern Union rules. The first season of the NSWRFL competition was played in 1908, and has continued to be played every year since.


text: During rugby league's 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, the Northern Rugby Football Union tried to arrange a match in Paris, but opposition from the Rugby Football Union-aligned French Rugby Federation made it impossible. In France rugby league split from rugby union in the 1930s. In 1948 the French instigated the formation of the International Rugby League Board as the world governing body for rugby league. France, New Zealand, Britain and Australia (who joined a few months later) were the founding countries. The International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) had formed prior to the schism in 1886 and remained the international governing body for rugby union, although it originally only consisted of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa joined the IRFB in 1948, France in 1978 and Argentina, Canada, Italy and Japan in 1991.


text: On 26 August 1995 the IRFB, now known as World Rugby, declared rugby union an "open" game and thus removed all restrictions on payments or benefits to those connected with the game. According to "The New York Times" at the time:


text: Thirteen-man rugby league has shown itself to be a faster, more open game of better athletes than the other code. Rugby union is trying to negotiate its own escape from amateurism, with some officials admitting that the game is too slow, the laws too convoluted to attract a larger TV following.


text: Although both rugby codes are forms of football, in many places, it could cause confusion as "football" is understood to mean association football, gridiron football, Gaelic football or Australian rules football depending on the country (or indeed region of the country). In much of the rugby union-playing world, the sport of rugby league is infrequently played and rugby union is commonly known simply as "rugby"; in countries where both codes are played, there is a need to distinguish between the codes of rugby.


text: In the United Kingdom, rugby union or rugby league fans rarely refer to their sport as "football" as in most cases this would refer to association football. Across the United Kingdom, rugby union is usually referred to simply as 'rugby' but in the North of England, the word 'rugby' could refer to either sport, but usually means "rugby league". The nickname "rugger", which developed in England's elite schools, almost always refers to rugby union.


text: In Australia and New Zealand, rugby league is usually known as "league" or "football" with the latter term potentially confusing as Australian rules football and association football could also be called football. Rugby union is often simply referred to as "rugby" without the ambiguity that this term carries in the UK.


text: In France, rugby union is called "rugby à quinze" (rugby with 15) or simply "rugby", whilst rugby league is known as "rugby à treize" (rugby with 13) or "jeu à treize" (game with 13).


text: Since the 1895 schism, changes have taken place to the laws of both rugby union and rugby league football so that now they are distinct sports. The laws of rugby league football have been gradually changed with the aim of creating a faster, more spectator-friendly sport. Player numbers were reduced to thirteen a side, creating more space for attacking play, and rucks and mauls were replaced with a play-the-ball restart. Changes to the laws of rugby union have been less extreme, although there have been adjustments in scoring as the game became more try-orientated rather than focusing on goals. In 2009 major law changes were implemented with the aim of making union simpler and more open. Rugby league historian Tony Collins has written that since turning professional in the mid-1990s, rugby union has increasingly borrowed techniques and tactics from rugby league.


text: Rugby union has more laws than rugby league and it has been described as being a more complex game. Rugby league in turn has been described as a simpler game that is easier for spectators to understand. Mat Rogers, an Australian dual-code rugby international player, has said "Rugby [union] is very complicated and rugby league is much more simple in comparison". England's Chris Ashton, also a dual international, has said that union has "more of a tactical side, more that can happen in a game". Ireland's Tom Court has said "Rugby Union is a complex game with certain closed skills like scrummaging and line-out lifting and rugby league requires a higher level of fitness to compete at the highest level".


text: The two forms of rugby share the same basic rules of the game and use a similar-shaped ovoid ball. The aim is to score more points through tries, conversions, penalty goals and drop goals than the opposition within the 80 minutes of play.


text: Goals are scored when the ball is kicked between the two posts and over the cross-bar, either during open play or as the result of a penalty. A try is scored when the ball is touched down on or beyond the defending team's goal-line. The try-scoring side is given the chance to score two additional points by kicking a conversion similar to a penalty goal attempt from a point along a line which is parallel to the sideline at the same distance from the sideline as the place where the try had been scored.


text: The ball can be taken forward in three ways—by kicking, by a player running with it, or as the result of a set-piece. The ball can be passed from hand to hand between teammates in a backward or sideways direction; it may not be passed forwards although it can be kicked forwards. Dropping the ball in a forwards direction results in a scrum, a set-piece that restarts the game, except on the sixth tackle in league where the game restarts with a handover to the opposition.


text: Only the player holding the ball may be tackled. A rugby tackle is an attempt to bring the ball carrier to the ground or to stop his forward progress. Play restarts with the ball being transferred to another player.


text: The playing positions are divided into "backs"—generally faster and more mobile who score most of the points, and the larger, stronger "forwards" who are involved in the more physical aspects of rugby and generally do more tackling.


text: A big difference in gameplay between the two games is that rugby league has shed from its laws several opportunities for possession to be contested that rugby union has retained: contesting the ball after the tackle, on the ground in rucks and through mauls. When the ball goes into touch, possession in rugby union is contested through a line-out, while in rugby league a scrum restarts play. The lesser focus on contesting possession means there are fewer stoppages of play in rugby league, with the ball typically in play for 50 out of the 80 minutes compared to around 35 for professional rugby union. As the ball is in play more and there are fewer players (13 compared to 15) to cover the field it has been implied that rugby league is the more physically demanding sport.


text: In union the attacking team can hold onto and use the ball for as long as they are able, while the opposition's aim is to take possession of the ball from them. In league each team can be tackled six times before handing over possession; moreover, the action stops after each successful tackle (i.e., the ball is not contested after a tackle). After being tackled five times, the attacking team will usually kick the ball either in an attacking kick or for territory. As the ball can only be contested during a one on one tackle in league there is less scope for a turnover to occur than in rugby union. A study commissioned by the IRB found that between the years 2002 and 2004 possession was retained by the attacking team in 13 out of 14 tackles in rugby union. Collins has argued that the six tackle rule in rugby league offers a more even distribution of possession despite fewer opportunities to contest it. In both games the attacking team loses possession if they drop or pass the ball forward, which results in a scrum being awarded to the defending team.


text: In union possession can also be contested at line-outs (played after the ball has gone into touch) and scrums. In the same study it was found that the team with the ball at a scrum regained possession 90 percent of the time, while the team with the ball at a lineout regained possession 80 percent of the time. League does not have a lineout, but does utilise a scrum to restart play. It is uncommon for modern rugby league scrums to be contested, with the side awarded the scrum almost always gaining possession. Possession can also be contested following kicks to restart play from the halfway, 22 metre in both games (and from the goal line in league). Generally league restarts are likely to go for distance unless possession is needed quickly (usually if a team is behind with very little time left to play). Union restarts are more likely to be short to allow players to contest possession in the air.


text: In both games tackling is permitted to either bring down the player in possession of the ball or prevent him from making forward progress. Tackling or interfering with a player who is not in possession of the ball is not permitted. Tripping with the leg is not allowed in either code. However, in rugby league, if a tackling player has both hands on the ball carrier, he is allowed to use his legs to bring him to ground.


text: In rugby league, a tackle is deemed to be complete when the elbow of the arm holding the ball touches the ground, or the player is held in an upright tackle. The ball cannot be further advanced and a play-the-ball or handover must take place. In rugby union, a tackle is deemed to be complete when the player in possession is held on the ground; that player must play the ball (either releasing it, passing it, or if over the try line grounding the ball) immediately. In rugby league a play the ball takes place after each tackle. In rugby union, play does not stop when a player is forced to the ground in a tackle, as the tackled player must immediately play the ball, and the tackler must roll away, which will generally mean a ruck will form.


text: The laws of rugby league specifically outlaw the so-called "voluntary tackle": players are not allowed to go to ground unless they are effectively tackled by an opponent, though in practice this rule is rarely applied. There was no equivalent law in rugby union, in the past going to ground with the ball and protecting it was practised, but in the modern game deliberately falling on the ground to gain an advantage is outlawed by Law 14: "The game is to be played by players who are on their feet. A player must not make the ball unplayable by falling down." A player who falls to ground with the ball or on it must immediately release or pass the ball, or get up with it.


text: Union and league have the same ways of scoring, but there are significant differences in the points awarded, and a few minor differences in the laws governing the scoring of tries.


text: The try is the main way of scoring in both codes; there are some subtle differences between the two codes, but the most obvious difference is that a try is worth 5 points in rugby union and 4 points in rugby league. In both games, a conversion following a try is worth 2 points. A player tackled just short of the try-line in rugby union can legitimately reach across it and place the ball down for a try. This is not allowed in rugby league unless the momentum of the player continues to take him over the line in one continuous movement. If the tackle is complete, such a move would constitute a "double movement" and the try would be disallowed.


text: A drop goal is worth 3 points in union and 1 in league. A penalty goal is worth 3 points in union and 2 points in league. Due to the increased prevalence of infringements during contesting of the ball, penalties are a much more common occurrence in union than in league. This, combined with the higher number of points with a successful penalty conversion, results in penalties forming a considerably higher percentage of total points in a match of Rugby Union.


text: Use of a penalty box (or "sin bin") was introduced by rugby league in 1980. Rugby union had been experimenting with the same concept since 1979, although it was not formally sanctioned until 2001.


text: In rugby league the ball may be thrown or knocked out of play deliberately, while in union those are penalty offences. Kicking the ball out of play is legal in both codes.


text: When taking free or penalty kicks with a "tap and go" option, rugby league permits a stylised kick with the ball being tapped against the foot or lower leg while union requires the ball to leave the hands of the kicker. This difference in emphasis on a relatively trivial phase of play can be seen as indicative of the core differences between the games. In league, the kick is stylised as its purpose is to restart the game and to move to the run and tackle main play as quickly as possible. In union, where "every" phase of play has some element of competition, the trivial need to release the ball at any kick can result in a fumble that may give the opposition a chance to either contest possession or, if "knocked-on", will cause them to be awarded a scrum.


text: A rugby league pitch is between 112 and 122 metres long by 68 metres wide. The distance between try-lines is always 100 metres. There are lines going across the field which mark every ten metres. An in-goal area extends six to eleven metres beyond each goal line. At the goal line is a set of goal posts in the shape of the letter 'H', used for other forms of point scoring: drop goal, penalty and conversion.


text: A rugby union pitch is between 106 and 144 metres long by 68 to 70 metres wide. The length from try line to try line varies between 94 and 100 metres, with a distance of 6 to 22 metres between the goal and dead-ball lines. Lines are painted at the dead-ball line, goal line, 22-metre line, 10-metre line (broken line) and halfway. Lines are also located 5 metres away from the goal line and touchline and 15 metres away from the touchline. At the goal line is a set of goal posts in the shape of the letter 'H', used for other forms of point scoring: drop goal, penalty and conversion.


text: The dimensions of a rugby league pitch fit within the parameters of a rugby union pitch. Since World Rugby allowed professionalism in 1995, it has been possible for clubs to share facilities, including pitches. One such example was Leeds Rhinos and Yorkshire Carnegie, both part of the Leeds Rugby group, who shared Headingley Stadium.


text: A maximum of 15 players can play rugby union at any one time whereas rugby league permits 13 players. In both games, the positions are divided into "backs" and "forwards".


text: Many of the positions have similar names but in practice are very different. The position known as 'flanker' is not in rugby league; however the second row in rugby league are loose like the flankers in rugby union while the lock / loose forward in rugby league is similar to the number 8 in rugby union. In the backs, rugby league centres are split into left and right centre rather than inside and outside centres.


text: The reduction in the importance of the scrum and the removal of the line-out from rugby league, has meant it is a faster free flowing game. Very different skill sets and body types needed for the different positions has become more obvious as union players specialise more. For instance, props and hookers in rugby union tend to be among the physically strongest and heaviest players with high levels of scrummaging and mauling skills, but traditionally with limited speed and ball-handling skills. In rugby league, props are physically big, straight running forwards whose job it is to set the platform and get the go forward while still possessing agility and good ball handling skills. Locks in union tend to be very tall and high jumpers, as this helps at line-outs; while as this is not a necessity for league; the two second rowers and the loose forward / lock are mobile with speed across the park who can off-load on attack and contain and enforce on defence. They are similar to the loose forward trio of flankers and number eight in rugby union. Depending on their speed and ball playing skills, lock forwards in rugby league can generally play as both a forward and as an extra five-eight.


text: Scrum-half is a specialized position in rugby union and similar to the hooker in league: the number 9 initiates most moves by his or her team and must be an excellent passer of the ball in rugby union as with league. In rugby league any player can act from dummy half, however, in the professional modern game it is a specialised job for the hooker to instigate and direct the forward platform. He must also be able to probe with a running and varied kicking game from dummy half while still possessing strong and effective tackling.


text: The similarity between the two games has meant that players can switch between the two codes. League initially recruited big name players from union, like Herbert "Dally" Messenger in 1907, and the RFU responded by banning any player that played rugby league for life. A push into converting union players to rugby league, such as All Blacks John Gallagher, Frano Botica, Matthew Ridge and Va'aiga Tuigamala, occurred during the late 1980s and into the 1990s. When rugby union became professional league players were allowed to play for rugby union teams, leading to a reversal in cross-code switching. Gallagher, Botica and Tuigamala returned to union, while leading league players such as Jason Robinson, Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers, Lote Tuqiri, Henry Paul and Iestyn Harris, took up rugby union contracts. Sailor, Rogers, Tuqiri, Paul and Harris subsequently switched back to rugby league. Players who play international rugby in both codes are known as dual-code internationals.


text: In 1909, when the new "Northern Union" code was still in its infancy, a match between the Kangaroos and the Wallabies was played before a crowd of around 20,000, with the rugby league side winning, 29–26. With the wartime Emergency League suspended, Leeds Rugby League reverted to rugby union during World War I to play a one-off challenge game against the Royal Navy Depot from Plymouth in 1917. This was precursor to the following Christmas when two Challenge games were organised between the two sides but this time with one of each code. The Navy won the union game, 9–3, on Christmas Eve but proved equally adept at league recording a 24–3 win on 28 December. During World War II, the RFU relaxed its restrictions on rugby league footballers playing rugby union. In 1943, a Northern Command army rugby league side defeated a Northern Command union side, 18–11, at Headingley under rugby union laws. The following year a Combined Services rugby league side beat a Combined Services union side, 15–10, at Bradford again at rugby union. These were the only league v union matches played until 1996.


text: With both sports becoming professional matches between union and league teams have been played. In May 1996, Bath Rugby and Wigan RLFC, who were then England's top union and league sides respectively, made history by playing against each other at both codes of rugby. Wigan won, 82–6, in the first match, played under league rules, and lost the second, 44–19, under union rules. Since then other games have been played between union and league teams using the laws of one of the codes, or in some cases using a different set of laws for each half.


text: Since the two match series in 1996, there has only been one similar endeavour to bring together union and league. In January 2003, St Helens rugby league took on Sale rugby union in a single game played at Knowsley Road, intended to have one half under league rules and the other under union rules. Unlike Bath, who were to all intents and purposes still the amateur side they had been, Sale had the benefit of almost a decade of professionalism to improve both strength and fitness that was necessary for them to adapt to the constant tackling required in rugby league. Sale prevailed against St Helens in front of a fierce St Helens home crowd at Knowsley Road, winning the match 41–39.


text: Traditionally, the two rugbys have been seen as divided along class lines, with union associated more with the middle class, and league with the working class. One of the main reasons for the split was union's enforcement of the amateur principle, meaning that working class players could not afford to take time off work to play the sport.


text: In England, rugby union is widely regarded as an "establishment" sport, played mostly by members of the upper and middle classes. For example, many students at public schools play rugby union. In contrast, rugby league has traditionally been seen as a working class pursuit.


text: In Wales, rugby union is associated with small village teams which consisted of coal miners and other industrial workers playing on their days off.


text: In Australia, the two codes were also strongly divided down class lines. Support for both codes is concentrated in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The same perceived class barrier as exists between the two games in England also occurs in these states, fostered by rugby union's prominence and support at private schools.


text: In New Zealand, rugby union is played throughout the whole country where as rugby league is still considered to be a lower class game by many, or a game for "westies" referring to lower class western suburbs of Auckland and more recently the poorer southern Auckland where the game is popular.


text: In France, rugby union is widely played and has a strong tradition in the Basque, Occitan, and Catalan areas along the border regions between Spain and France. It rivals the popularity of association football. Rugby league has historically been played in much the same region.


text: The balls for rugby are very similar, both a prolate spheroid shaped ball. Rugby league balls are similar in size to Rugby union balls, but are more pointed at the edges. Rugby balls are noticeably larger than a Canadian / American football, and do not have ties for grabbing. Rather than being made of coarse leather as in gridiron, rugby balls are made with a smoother synthetic finish.


text: In the UK, the "two codes" of rugby are very different in scale and turnover. The turnover of the RFL was reported as £19m in 2014. For comparison, the turnover of the Rugby Football Union in 2014 was £150m. The number of rugby union players in England is 1.99 million (predominantly school and children's teams following a RFU drive to increase participation) but which includes 131,000 senior male players. The number of players participating in any capacity in Rugby League in England (including wheelchair users) is about 100,000.


text: In Australia, rugby league had 1,430,367 participants in the sport (including school clinics) and 167,533 registered players in 2013. The Australian Rugby League Commission reported a gross revenue of $185,668,873 and a gross profit of $4,675,845 in the 2012 financial year. Rugby Union in 2012 had 323,115 participants, including 50,000 registered juniors. The ARU in 2012 had gross revenues of $96.6m, but had a net deficit of $8.3m. A significant portion of Rugby Union's revenue is derived from the national team touring overseas and visiting tours, while Rugby League's is largely generated by its strong domestic league.


text: The number of rugby union players in New Zealand is estimated to be 129,000, with 35,721 playing rugby league.


text: Rugby union generally has a broader reach around the world, largely due to the unrestricted spread of the game across commonwealth countries, promulgated by British armed forces, during a time when the armed forces inexplicably banned rugby league in the early 20th century. For example, it is a popular sport in a number of countries such as South Africa and Argentina.


text: The oldest international rugby union competition is the Six Nations Championship, the men’s version, starting in 1883 with games played between England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. France joined in 1910 and Italy in 2000. The women’s version of the Six Nations Championship was inaugurated, 2 years after the men’s version. In 1996 the Southern Hemisphere teams of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand started their own annual international competition known as the Tri Nations; it adopted its current name of The Rugby Championship when Argentina joined in 2012.


text: Rugby union was previously a medal sport at four Olympic games, in Paris (1900 and 1924), London (1908) and Antwerp (1920), and returned to the Olympics in 2016 in the sevens form. Rugby union sevens is a core event at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.


text: The major annual international competition in rugby league is the Four Nations, first played in 1999. It originally involved Britain, Australia and New Zealand before expanding to include a fourth invited nation in 2009.


text: Rugby league introduced its World Cup for men in 1954 and it has been held intermittently since, in various formats, Great Britain won the inaugural men’s version of the Rugby League World Cup, while the women’s version of the Rugby League World Cup was first played in 2000 and New Zealand won the inaugural women’s version of the Rugby League World Cup.


text: Rugby union's first World Cup for men was held in 1987 and both are contested every four years, New Zealand won the inaugural men’s version of the Rugby Union World Cup. The women’s version of the Rugby Union World Cup was first played in 1991, which are held every four years alternating with the men’s version, to avoid clashing with other sporting events: Rugby 7s at both the Commonwealth Games and the Summer Olympics. The United States won the inaugural women’s version of the Rugby Union World Cup.


text: There is a newer version of the Rugby League tournament, which is known as the Rugby League Nines. The inaugural Rugby League Nines World Cup was launched in 2019. Australia won the men’s version of the Rugby League Nines World Cup while New Zealand won the women’s version.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: A vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) is a type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set transverse to the wind while the main components are located at the base of the turbine. This arrangement allows the generator and gearbox to be located close to the ground, facilitating service and repair. VAWTs do not need to be pointed into the wind, which removes the need for wind-sensing and orientation mechanisms. Major drawbacks for the early designs (Savonius, Darrieus and giromill) included the significant torque ripple during each revolution, and the large bending moments on the blades. Later designs addressed the torque ripple by sweeping the blades helically (Gorlov type). Savonius vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) are not widespread, but their simplicity and better performance in disturbed flow-fields, compared to small horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) make them a good alternative for distributed generation devices in an urban environment.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: A vertical axis wind turbine has its axis perpendicular to the wind streamlines and vertical to the ground. A more general term that includes this option is a "transverse axis wind turbine" or "cross-flow wind turbine". For example, the original Darrieus patent, US Patent 1835018, includes both options.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: Drag-type VAWTs such as the Savonius rotor typically operate at lower tip speed ratios than lift-based VAWTs such as Darrieus rotors and cycloturbines.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: Computer modelling suggests that wind farms constructed using vertical-axis wind turbines are 15% more efficient than conventional horizontal axis wind turbines as they generate less turbulence.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: The forces and the velocities acting in a Darrieus turbine are depicted in figure 1. The resultant velocity vector, formula_1, is the vectorial sum of the undisturbed upstream air velocity, formula_2, and the velocity vector of the advancing blade, formula_3.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: Thus the oncoming fluid velocity varies during each cycle. Maximum velocity is found for formula_5 and the minimum is found for formula_6, where formula_7 is the azimuthal or orbital blade position. The angle of attack, formula_8, is the angle between the oncoming air speed, W, and the blade's chord. The resultant airflow creates a varying, positive angle of attack to the blade in the upstream zone of the machine, switching sign in the downstream zone of the machine.


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: It follows from geometric considerations of angular velocity as seen in the accompanying figure that:


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: Thus, combining the above with the definitions for the tip speed ratio formula_12 yields the following expression for the resultant velocity:


title: Vertical-axis wind turbine

text: The resultant aerodynamic force is resolved either into lift (L) - drag (D) components or normal (N) - tangential (T) components. The forces are considered acting at the quarter-chord point, and the pitching moment is determined to resolve the aerodynamic forces. The aeronautical terms "lift" and "drag" refer to the forces across (lift) and along (drag) the approaching net relative airflow. The tangential force acts along the blade's velocity, pulling the blade around, and the normal force acts radially, pushing against the shaft bearings. The lift and the drag force are useful when dealing with the aerodynamic forces around the blade such as dynamic stall, boundary layer etc.; while when dealing with global performance, fatigue loads, etc., it is more convenient to have a normal-tangential frame. The lift and the drag coefficients are usually normalised by the dynamic pressure of the relative airflow, while the normal and tangential coefficients are usually normalised by the dynamic pressure of undisturbed upstream fluid velocity.


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: The 2022–23 season is the 130th season in the existence of Newcastle United and the club's sixth consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the league, they are also competing in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: Newcastle United confirmed they would play friendly matches against Gateshead, 1860 Munich, Mainz 05, Benfica, Atalanta, and Athletic Bilbao as part of their pre-season schedule. Whilst Newcastle United were in Lisbon for their training camp, they played two training matches against Burnley behind closed doors.


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: On 21 October 2022, Newcastle United announced that the first team squad would return to Saudi Arabia for a warm-weather training camp when the Premier League season pauses for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. As part of that visit, it was also confirmed that Newcastle United would play a friendly match against Saudi Professional League side Al Hilal on 8 December 2022. Newcastle United also confirmed they would play a friendly match against Rayo Vallecano on 17 December 2022 before the Premier League season restarts after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: The Magpies entered the EFL Cup in the second round, and were drawn away to Tranmere Rovers. In the third round, they were drawn at home against Crystal Palace. In the fourth round, they were drawn at home against Bournemouth.


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Player(s) who left on loan but featured this season


title: 2022–23 Newcastle United F.C. season

text: ! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Player(s) who left permanently but featured this season


title: Small finance bank

text: Small finance banks are a type of niche banks in India. Banks with a small finance bank (SFB) license can provide basic banking service of acceptance of deposits and lending. The aim behind these is to provide financial inclusion to sections of the economy not being served by other banks, such as small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.


title: Small finance bank

text: The small finance bank shall be registered as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 2013. It will be licensed under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and governed by the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949; Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934; Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999; Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007; Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005; Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961; other relevant Statutes and the Directives, Prudential Regulations and other Guidelines/Instructions issued by RBI and other regulators from time to time. The small finance banks will be given scheduled bank status once they commence their operations, and found suitable as per Section 42 (6) (a) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.


title: Small finance bank

text: The objectives of setting up of small finance banks will be for furthering financial inclusion by (i) provision of savings vehicles primarily to unserved and underserved sections of the population, and (ii) supply of credit to small business units; small and marginal farmers; micro and small industries; and other unorganised sector entities, through high technology-low cost operations.


title: Small finance bank

text: Resident individuals/professionals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance; and Companies and Societies owned and controlled by residents will be eligible as promoters to set up small finance banks. Existing Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), and Local Area Banks (LABs) that are owned and controlled by residents can also opt for conversion into small finance banks after complying with all legal and regulatory requirements of various authorities and if they conform to these guidelines. However, joint ventures by different promoter groups for the purpose of setting up small finance banks would not be permitted. As local focus and the ability to serve smaller customers will be the key criteria in licensing such banks, this may be a more appropriate vehicle for local players or players who are focused on lending to unserved / underserved sections of the society. Accordingly, proposals from large public sector entities and industrial and business houses, including from NBFCs promoted by them, will not be entertained.


title: Small finance bank

text: Promoter / Promoter Groups as defined in the SEBI (Issue of Capital & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 should be ‘fit and proper’ in order to be eligible to promote small finance banks. RBI would assess the ‘fit and proper’ status of the applicants on the basis of their past record of sound credentials and integrity; financial soundness and successful track record of professional experience or of running their businesses, etc. for at least a period of five years.


title: Small finance bank

text: The small finance bank, in furtherance of the objectives for which it is set up, shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities. It can also undertake other non-risk sharing simple financial services activities, not requiring any commitment of own fund, such as distribution of mutual fund units, insurance products, pension products, etc. with the prior approval of the RBI and after complying with the requirements of the sectoral regulator for such products. The small finance bank can also become a Category II Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange business for its clients’ requirements. It cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.


title: Small finance bank

text: The annual branch expansion plans of the small finance banks for the initial five years would need prior approval of RBI. The annual branch expansion plans should be in compliance with the requirement of opening at least 25 per cent of its branches in unbanked rural centres (population up to 9,999 as per the latest census).


title: Small finance bank

text: There will not be any restriction in the area of operations of small finance banks; however, preference will be given to those applicants who in the initial phase set up the bank in a cluster of under-banked States / districts, such as in the North-East, East and Central regions of the country. These applicants will not have any hindrance to expand to other regions in due course. It is expected that the small finance bank should primarily be responsive to local needs. After the initial stabilisation period of five years, and after a review, RBI may liberalize the requirement of prior approval for annual branch expansion plans and scope of activities of the small finance banks.


title: Small finance bank

text: The other financial and non-financial services activities of the promoters, if any, should be kept distinctly ring-fenced and not commingled with the banking business.


title: Small finance bank

text: The small finance bank will be required to use the words “Small Finance Bank” in its name in order to differentiate it from other banks.


title: Small finance bank

text: The minimum paid-up equity capital for small finance banks shall be crore (US$ million). In view of the inherent risk of a small finance bank, it shall be required to maintain a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 15 per cent of its risk weighted assets (RWA) on a continuous basis, subject to any higher percentage as may be prescribed by RBI from time to time. Tier I capital should be at least 7.5 per cent of RWAs. Tier II capital should be limited to a maximum of 100 per cent of total Tier I capital. As small finance banks are not expected to deal with sophisticated products, the capital adequacy ratio will be computed under Basel Committee’s standardised approaches.


title: Small finance bank

text: The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such small finance bank shall at least be 40 per cent. If the initial shareholding by promoter in the bank is in excess of 40 per cent, it should be brought down to 40 per cent within a period of five years. The promoter's minimum contribution of 40 per cent of paid-up equity capital shall be locked in for a period of five years from the date of commencement of business of the bank. Further, the promoter’s stake should be brought down to 30 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of the bank within a period of 10 years, and to 26 per cent within 12 years from the date of commencement of business of the bank.


title: Small finance bank

text: Proposals having diversified shareholding subject to the initial minimum shareholding of promoters and a time frame for listing of the bank will be preferred. However, after the small finance bank reaches the net worth of crore (US$ million), listing will be mandatory within three years of reaching that net worth. However, small finance banks having net worth of below crore (US$ million) could also get their shares listed voluntarily, subject to fulfillment of the requirements of the capital markets regulator.


title: Small finance bank

text: The foreign shareholding in the small finance bank would be as per the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for private sector banks as amended from time to time. As per the current FDI policy, the aggregate foreign investment in a private sector bank from all sources will be allowed up to a maximum of 74 per cent of the paid-up capital of the bank (automatic up to 49 per cent and approval route beyond 49 per cent to 74 per cent). At all times, at least 26 per cent of the paid-up capital will have to be held by residents. In the case of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) / Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), individual FII / FPI holding is restricted to below 10 per cent of the total paid-up capital, aggregate limit for all FIIs /FPIs / Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) cannot exceed 24 per cent of the total paid-up capital, which can be raised to 49 per cent of the total paid-up capital by the bank concerned through a resolution by its board of directors followed by a special resolution to that effect by its General Body. In the case of NRIs, the individual holding is restricted to 5 per cent of the total paid-up capital both on repatriation and non-repatriation basis and aggregate limit cannot exceed 10 per cent of the total paid-up capital both on repatriation and non-repatriation basis. However, Non-Resident Indian (NRI) holding can be allowed up to 24 per cent of the total paid-up capital both on repatriation and non-repatriation basis provided the banking company passes a special resolution to that effect in the General Body.


title: Small finance bank

text: As per Section 12 (2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, any shareholder's voting rights in private sector banks are capped at 10 per cent. This limit can be raised to 26 per cent in a phased manner by the RBI. Further, as per Section 12B of the Act ibid, any acquisition of 5 per cent or more of paid-up share capital in a private sector bank will require prior approval of RBI. This will also apply to the small finance banks.


title: Small finance bank

text: The newly set up small finance banks should ensure that they put in place a robust risk management framework. The small finance bank will be subject to all prudential norms and regulations of RBI as applicable to existing commercial banks including requirement of maintenance of CRR and SLR. No forbearance would be provided for complying with the statutory provisions.


title: Small finance bank

text: In view of the objective for which small finance bank will be set up, it will be required to extend 75 per cent of its Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) to the sectors eligible for classification as priority sector lending (PSL) by RBI. While 40 per cent of its ANBC should be allocated to different sub-sectors under PSL as per the extant PSL prescriptions, the bank can allocate the balance 35 per cent to any one or more sub-sectors under the PSL where it has competitive advantage.


title: Small finance bank

text: The maximum loan size and investment limit exposure to a single and group obligor would be restricted to 10 per cent and 15 per cent of its capital funds, respectively. Further, in order to ensure that the bank extends loans primarily to small borrowers, at least 50 per cent of its loan portfolio should constitute loans and advances of up to lakh (US$,000).


title: Small finance bank

text: After the initial stabilisation period of five years, and after a review, RBI may relax the above exposure limits.


title: Small finance bank

text: In addition to the restrictions placed on banks’ loans and advances to its directors and the companies in which its directors are interested under Section 20 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the small finance bank is precluded from having any exposure to its promoters, major shareholders (who have shareholding of 10 per cent of paid-up equity shares in the bank), the relatives [as defined in Section 2 (77) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rules made there under] of the promoters as also the entities in which they have significant influence or control (as defined under Accounting Standards AS 21 and AS 23).


title: Small finance bank

text: An existing NBFC/MFI/LAB, if it meets the conditions under these guidelines, could apply to convert itself into a small finance bank, after complying with all legal and approval requirements from various authorities. In such a case, the entity shall have a minimum net worth of crore (US$ million) or it shall infuse additional paid-up equity capital to achieve net worth of crore (US$ million). It may be noted that on conversion into a small finance bank, the NBFC / MFI will cease to exist and all its business which a bank can undertake should fold into the bank and the activities which a bank cannot statutorily undertake be divested / disposed of. Further, the branches of the NBFC / MFI should either be converted into bank branches or be merged / closed as per the business plan. The small finance bank and the NBFC / MFI cannot co-exist.


title: Small finance bank

text: Banks are precluded from creating floating charge on their assets. For such NBFCs / MFIs, which succeed in obtaining licences to convert into small finance banks, if they have created floating charges on their assets for secured borrowings which stand in their balance sheets on the day of conversion into a bank, RBI will permit grandfathering of such borrowings till their maturity, subject to imposition of additional capital charge in order to protect the interest of the depositors.


title: Small finance bank

text: If the existing NBFCs / MFIs / LABs have diluted the promoters’ shareholding to below 40 per cent, but above 26 per cent, due to regulatory requirements or otherwise, RBI may not insist on the promoters’ minimum initial contribution as indicated in paragraph 6 of the guidelines.


title: Small finance bank

text: The applicants for small finance bank licences will be required to furnish their business plans along with project reports with their applications. The business plan will have to address how the bank proposes to achieve the objectives behind setting up of small finance banks and in the case of an NBFC / MFI applicant, how the existing business of NBFC / MFI will fold into the bank or divested / disposed of. The business plan submitted by the applicant should be realistic and viable. In case of deviation from the stated business plan after issue of licence, RBI may consider and restricting the bank’s expansion, effecting change in management and imposing other penal measures as may be necessary.


title: Small finance bank

text: The Board of the small finance bank should have a majority of independent directors. The bank should comply with the corporate governance guidelines including ‘fit and proper’ criteria for directors as issued by RBI from time to time.


title: Small finance bank

text: If a promoter setting up a small finance bank desires to set up a Payments Bank, it should set up both types of banks under a Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) structure. However, a promoter will not be granted licences for both universal bank and small finance bank even if the proposal is to set them up under the NOFHC structure.


title: Small finance bank

text: Individuals (including relatives) and entities other than the promoters will not be permitted to have shareholding in excess of 10 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of the bank. In case of existing NBFCs / MFIs / LABs converting into small finance bank, where there is shareholding in excess of 10 per cent of the paid-up equity capital by entities other than the promoters, RBI may consider providing time up to 3 years for the shareholding to be brought down to 10 per cent.


title: Small finance bank

text: The small finance bank cannot be a Business Correspondent (BC) for another bank. However, it can have its own BC network.


title: Small finance bank

text: The operations of the bank should be technology driven from the beginning, conforming to generally accepted standards and norms; while new approaches (such as for data storage, security and real time data updation) are encouraged, a detailed technology plan for the same should be furnished to RBI.


title: Small finance bank

text: The bank should have a high powered Customer Grievances Cell to handle customer complaints. The small finance banks will come under the purview of RBI’s Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006.


title: Small finance bank

text: The compliance of terms and conditions laid down by RBI is an essential condition of grant of licence. Any non-compliance will attract penal measures including cancellation of licence of the bank.


title: Small finance bank

text: The small finance bank may choose to continue as a differentiated bank. If it aspires to transit into a universal bank, such transition will not be automatic, but would be subject to it applying to RBI for such conversion and fulfilling minimum paid-up capital / net worth requirement as applicable to universal banks; its satisfactory track record of performance as a small finance bank for a minimum period of five years and the outcome of RBI’s due diligence exercise. On transition into a universal bank, it will be subjected to all the norms including NOFHC structure as applicable to universal banks.


title: Small finance bank

text: On 17 July 2014, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the draft guidelines for small finance banks, seeking comments for interested entities and the general public. The final guidelines were released by RBI on 27 November 2014. Interested parties were required to submit applications before 16 January 2015.


title: Small finance bank

text: In February 2015, RBI released the list of entities which had applied for a small finance bank license. There were 72 applicants. It was announced that an external advisory committee headed by Usha Thorat would evaluate the license applications.


title: Small finance bank

text: On 17 September 2015, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it had given provisional licenses to ten entities who would have to convert into small finance banks within one year. Eight out of these ten entities were microfinance NBFCs, reiterating RBIs agenda of financial inclusion. Capital Small Finance Bank was the first small finance bank to begin operations, opening with 47 branches on 24 April 2016.


title: Small finance bank

text: On 26 April, 2021, under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the RBI has issued an in-principle approval to Uttar Pradesh based Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited for transition into a small finance bank.


title: Small finance bank

text: Thus, it has become India's first urban co-operative bank (UCB) to transition to a Small Finance Bank (SFB).


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: Joshua Ryan Zuckerman (born April 1, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for playing Mark Cullin in the science fiction TV series "Kyle XY", Eddie Orlofsky in "Desperate Housewives" and Nate Marlowe in the comedy series "Significant Mother". He also had a recurring role as Max Miller in the CW drama "90210". He voiced the lead role of Pony in the Nickelodeon original animated series "It's Pony".


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: Zuckerman was born and raised in Los Altos, California, into a family of five children. He attended Bullis-Purisima Elementary School there. He began formally acting at the age of ten, with a series of roles at the nearby Bus Barn Theater with the Los Altos Youth Theater company. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career after finishing the seventh grade at Egan Junior High School, where he had been elected student body president. He is of Jewish descent.


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: He attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks. In 2003 he attended Princeton University, where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, where he earned the pledge name "Checkers". After his freshman year he did not return to Princeton, deciding instead to focus on his acting career.


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: Zuckerman made his professional on-camera debut in 2000 opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Drew Carey in the Disney Channel musical fantasy "Geppetto", then enjoyed guest roles on the TV series "NYPD Blue" and "Once and Again".


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: Zuckerman's assignments continued during his enrollment as a student at Princeton University, though over time he began to increasingly emphasize big-screen work, notably with supporting roles in the Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini holiday comedy "Surviving Christmas" (2004) and the Evan Rachel Wood dark comedy "Pretty Persuasion" (2005). In 2008, Zuckerman appeared in a multi-episode arc, as Mark, on the ABC Family series "Kyle XY".


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: Later that year, Zuckerman signed for one of his first starring roles, as a teen who ventures out on a cross-country road trip, along with two friends, to meet a girl he's been chatting with online and lose his virginity to her, in the teen-oriented sex comedy-road movie "Sex Drive".


title: Josh Zuckerman

text: He played Eddie Orlofsky on "Desperate Housewives". Zuckerman had a recurring role in the CW series "90210" as Naomi's love interest, Max Miller.


title: Yamuna Expressway

text: Yamuna Expressway is a 6-lane wide (expandable to 8) and 165.5 km long access-controlled expressway in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is presently India's 3rd longest expressway since February 2017. It was built to de-congest the older Delhi–Agra national highway (NH-2) or Mathura Road.


title: Yamuna Expressway

text: The expressway having project value was inaugurated on 9 August 2012 by then Chief Minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav. A total of 13 service roads of about 168 km have been built for local commuters to access the expressway. Yamuna Expressway will be connected with Eastern Peripheral Expressway via an interchange which is being built at Jaganpur Afzalpur village near Noida International University in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.


title: Yamuna Expressway

text: It was conceived with the idea of reducing the travel time between Delhi NCR and Agra. The project was conceived by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2001 (led by Rajnath Singh). But the project could not start because of frequent change of Uttar Pradesh state government till 2003 and also it wasn't financially viable back in 2003. The project was reactivated in 2007 when former Chief Minister Mayawati regained power in 2007 state elections and was renamed from Taj Expressway to Yamuna Expressway in 2008.


title: Yamuna Expressway

text: Yamuna Expressway project was implemented by Jaypee Infratech Limited. In May 2012, Jaypee Group informed state government officials that construction of the expressway had been completed. The Yamuna Expressway was formally inaugurated on 9 August 2012 by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, via video-conference from Lucknow, about two years behind of its original target completion date.