SRK-MCA officials fracas: Mamata, Bollywood back Shah Rukh Khan; IPL should be closed, Lalu says

May 18, 2012
laluNew Delhi/Kolkata, May 18: Bollywood and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee have come out in support of superstar Shah Rukh Khan after he was banned from the Wankhede Stadium for five years following a scuffle with MCA officials.

The 46-year-old actor and co-owner of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders ( KKR) said that he lost his cool when he saw MCA officials manhandling his daughter and other children.

B-town was all praises for the actor and took to Twitter to say that his action was justified.

Director and friend Karan Johar said, "SRK is one of the best fathers I know and protective about every child. He was being just that, a protective parent!!! Why blame a man who was just reacting as a father... who wouldn't have done the same in his place?"

Actress and new mother Celina Jaitley said, "Speaking even as a new mother of twins, when it comes to one's children a parent will go to any length to protect them, SRK is a good dad. When it comes to my children I would go to any lengths to protect them, he was being a dad at that moment... are stars not human?"

"Kahaani" director Sujoy Ghosh also voiced his support for SRK, saying, "Read about the SRK incident. I think @iamsrk was very decent about the whole thing. I'd have ripped their heads off if it was my daughter (sic)."

Director Anurag Basu said, "SRK's behaviour is completely justified, I'd have smashed their heads if it was my daughter."

Music composer-singer Vishal Dadlani tweeted, "Straight up. Touch my family, I destroy you. No question. SRK was right."

"I've got first hand reports of the fracas with @iamsrk. His daughter was touched and shoved. He protected. Well done Dad!! At Wankhede, SRK was a father, not just an actor... Please don't expect a father to apologise for protecting his baby.. Satyamev Jayate (sic)," TV actor Ronit Roy tweeted.

Mamata calls for reconsideration of ban on SRK

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday called for reconsideration of the decision to ban Shah Rukh Khan, who is the co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders and brand ambassador of West Bengal, from entering the Wankhede Stadium for five years.

"I will appeal please reconsider the decision," Mamata said when reporters sought her reaction on the decision of the Mumbai Cricket Association.

"We love Maharashtra, capital of India's business. We love Shah Rukh, Sachin, everybody. Shah Rukh is our brand ambassador and that is why you are asking me the question."

"I do not know whether it will be proper for me to comment anything about the incident. I do not want to interfere about other states' business."

"I request you not to distort my saying - whatever I am saying. It is a sensitive issue," Banerjee said.

IPL should be closed: Lalu

With the Indian Premier League hit by controversies, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday demanded that the tournament should be closed down.

"IPL should be closed," he told reporters outside Parliament House when asked to react on the spat between Shah Rukh Khan and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials and other controversies surrounding the game.

On the Shah Rukh Khan episode, he alleged that the policemen, who were present when the scuffle broke out between the Bollywood star and MCA officials, were working at the behest of certain political parties.

"All this was done in hatred," Yadav alleged.

Wankhede episode sad but not right for govt to interfere: Salman Khurshid

Law minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said the Wankhede brawl involving actor Shah Rukh Khan was "sad" but it is not right for the government to interfere in every matter.

"These are very sad developments in our society. Clashes between citizens and authorities are always very sad things," he told reporters outside Parliament.

On whether government should interfere in the matter, Khurshid said, "It is not right that government should interfere on every matter. I cannot comment on Shah Rukh incident because the authorities concerned should do something about it. The matter is not before us when it will come we will definitely take it seriously."

Khurshid, however, supported the media role in the whole episode saying media has the right to show this to public as "part of democracy".



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Agencies
March 25,2020

Lausanne, Mar 25: The World Archery has hailed as a 'brave decision' the International Olympic Committee (IOC) move to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until next year due to coronavirus pandemic.

"We commend the conscientious and brave decision taken by Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee to delay this summer's Games in the face of an unprecedented challenge to humanity," Ugur Erdener, the World Archery president, said in an official statement.

The decision to postpone the Summer Olympics was confirmed by the IOC, on Tuesday, after the organising body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the quadrennial event in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is not an easy situation, especially for the athletes who had been training hard for Tokyo 2020. I hope that everyone understands why this decision has been made and I urge archers around the world to retain hope and reset for this new timetable," he added.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Melbourne, Feb 26: On a high after two easy victories on the trot, including one against defending champion Australia, the Indian women's cricket team will aim to inch closer to a semifinal berth when it takes on New Zealand in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

The Indians have hardly broke a sweat in their 17-run and 18-run wins over hosts Australia and Bangladesh in their previous two matches, and they are perched at the top of five-team Group A standings with four points from two matches.

A win against New Zealand on Thursday will take the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side on the threshold of a knock-out stage spot, to be competed among top two teams from Group A and B.

In the two matches so far, the Indian team has been impressive both in batting and bowling.

The 16-year-old sensation Shafali Verma has been the standout batter with a whirlwind 17-ball 39 against Bangladesh, following her 29 against Australia.

One-down Jemimah Rodrigues has also been among the runs with 26 and 34 in the two matches so far.

Only captain Harmanpreet, among the top order batters, has not scored big and she is due big innings.

India is also likely to be bolstered by the return of star opener Smriti Mandhana who missed the match against Bangladesh due to fever.

The middle-order has also done its bit with Deepti Sharma playing a major role against Australia with an unbeaten 49 while Veda Krishnamurthy hit a match-defining 11-ball 20 not out for a late flourish against Bangladesh.

The bowling department has been led admirably by seasoned leg-spinner Poonam Yadav -- seven wickets in the first two matches -- with pacer Shikha Pandey ably supporting her with five scalps so far.

New Zealand, though, have a better head-to-head record against India in recent years, having won the last three matches between the two sides.

Exactly a year back, they had beaten the Indian team 3-0 in a three-match T20 International home series.

India will, however, remember their massive 34-run win against New Zealand in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2018 in the West Indies. Harmanpreet had struck a memorable 103 to lead her side to victory.

New Zealand have some top-class players in their ranks in the form of captain and all-rounder Sophie Devine and top-order batswoman Suzie Bates while pacer Lea Tahuhu and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr will lead the bowling department.

They will go into this match on a high after an easy seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Devine had led her side from the front with an unbeaten 75 off 55 balls at the top of the order in that win.

The Teams:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar.

New Zealand: Sophie Devine (capt), Rosemary Mair, Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Katey Martin (wk), Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Lea Tahuhu.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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