From 1st of April COVID-19 has vanished

It is official that the pandemic that had made life miserable has become a thong of the past. Social distancing has gone, as have new concepts of online education. Students are excited to be back among their friends and not remain cooped up in their under the constant glare of elders. It was a testing tune for the elders who had to adjust to a new culture called work from home. They also missed the office culture of spying on colleagues and pulling the rug from under the feet of some of them.

Life is back to normal as is evident from the traffic on the roads and the hustle and bustle of people. The best part is the sports arena. Right now, it is cricket time and cricket means Indian Premier League IPL – the magic wand that turns youngsters into millionaires overnight. Let us hope another virus like COVID does not strike again.


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Pepsi to withdraw from sponsorship of IPL because of spot fixing scandal

As a fallout of the spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League IPL, the beverage giant PepsiCo has sent a notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In the notice, they have expressed a desire to withdraw as the title sponsor of the tournament. The reason cited is the spot-fixing controversy that has marred the league. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 9 October 2015.

PepsiCo has, apparently, informed IPL’s chief operating officer Sundar Raman about its intention – it had paid Rs 396 crore ($71.77 million) for the title sponsorship for the period 2013-2017. The matter has also been informed to the newly elected BCCI president Shashank Manohar. Incidentally, Pepsi had expressed a desire to withdraw once the spot-fixing case came to light but the BCCI managed to convince it to stick on for another year. PepsiCo is now firm that it will not continue its association with the IPL. This is still more so after the Lodha Committee recommended the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. These are the most important teams that draw the crowds to the venues and the IPL season is one that fans eagerly wait for. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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