Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.
Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.
New Delhi, Feb 5: IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has denied any financial dealings with the controversial Rose Valley Group except for it being a sponsor of the side's official jerseys in 2012 and 2013.
KKR issued the clarification after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached Rose Valley's assets worth over Rs 70 crore on Monday. The attached assets include Rs 11.87 crore bank deposits of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd, that owns KKR, in connection with a money laundering probe.
The franchise said it hopes for the matter to be resolved expeditiously.
"Rose Valley Hotels was one of KKR's IPL jersey sponsors for IPL seasons 2012 and 2013. Rose Valley had paid KKR an approx. amount of Rs 11.87 crore as sponsorship fees," KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.
"KKR had no other dealings with the Rose Valley Group including Rose Valley’s micro finance business," he added.
The statement added that in July last year, KRSPL (Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd), received a "witness summon" from the ED in connection with an investigation relating to the Rose Valley Group, particularly its micro finance business.
"The ED continues the investigation of Rose Valley. KKR continues to cooperate with the authorities in all respects," Mysore said.
"As part of the investigative process, sometime in October 2019, the ED placed a lien on the said amount earlier paid by Rose Valley to KKR," he asserted.
The directors of KRSPL include Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan, actor Juhi Chawla's husband Jay Mehta, Mysore and two others.
Mysore was questioned in this case by ED's Kolkata office in October last year.
Apart from KRSPL, the ED attached properties of two other entities -- Multiple Resorts Pvt. Ltd. and Kolkata's St Xavier's College on Monday.
The ED registered an FIR against the Rose Valley group, its chairman Gautam Kundu and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2014.
Kundu was arrested by the agency in Kolkata in 2015 and is in judicial custody at present.
The ED has filed multiple charge sheets in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar courts in this connection and total attachments are now worth Rs 4,750 crore.
The group has been charged by the ED and the CBI with "illegally and fraudulently collecting deposits from public with the intention to cheat them by falsely promising high returns on their investment", thereby perpetrating a ponzi-like fraud.
Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.
In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.
Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.
"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.
The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.
However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.
Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.
Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.
Bhubaneswar: Jul 16: The Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha on Thursday revealed that ace sprinter Dutee Chand has been given Rs 4.09 crore since 2015 and also appointed as Group-A officer in the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) currently drawing a gross salary of Rs 84,604 per month.
On Wednesday, Dutee clarified that she wants to sell her luxury car because she is unable to bear its maintenance cost and it will also aid her training for Tokyo Olympics.
The 24-year-old believes after selling her car she can use that money for training amid the shortage of money due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Rs 3 crore as financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018. Rs 30 Lakhs for training and financial support during 2015-19. Rs 50 Lakhs for training support for Tokyo Olympics (Released In two instalments on 02/08/2019 and 27/12/2019," the statement read.
"The State government appointed Dutee Chand as Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (A Gold Category PSU). She is currently drawing Gross salary of Rs 84,604 (June 2020 Salary) per month. She is not required to come to office so that she is able to concentrate full-time on training. Accordingly, since her appointment in OMC, no official work has been allotted to Chand," it added.
The state government further provided details of the financial support provided by the OMC for her training.
"OMC provided Rs 29 Lakhs to Dutee Chand for Training and financial incentives. The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is 4.09 crores(after 2015)," the statement read.
"The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India may also be providing adequate support for the athlete based on performance," it added.
Earlier, Dutee said she is facing a shortage of funds due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to the next year and is planning to sell her car to meet the expense of her training.
"Training is going quite good so far, I have been training here in Bhuvneshwar. Earlier, there was no problem related to funds for training as Tokyo Olympics were coming up and our state government conferred me, but because of coronavirus the Olympics were postponed and I had spent the money which was given to me by the sponsors. Now, I need money for training, I need new sponsors but because of coronavirus I am finding it difficult to find them. Now I have decided to sell my car to arrange funds," Dutee had said.
Dutee, who has been recently nominated for the Arjuna Award 2020, said COVID-19 had impacted heavily on sports and sponsors are not willing to support her at this time.
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