Learning app Byju's to replace Oppo on Indian team's jersey
New Delhi: The Indian cricketers will soon be wearing a new brand name on their official jerseys with Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo handing over the sponsorship rights to Byju's, a Bengaluru-based educational technology and online tutorial firm.
The deal between the BCCI and Oppo, which was inked in 2017 for a five-year period, was reportedly worth Rs 1079 crore.
Virat Kohli and his men will be wearing the jersey with the new brand name from the upcoming home season, beginning with the assignments against South Africa from September 15.
A Source said that the transfer is a "tripartite agreement" between Oppo, Byju's and the BCCI and will be signed on Thursday.
"The Oppo and Byju's are negotiating among themselves on the possible handover of shirt sponsorship deal. The CoA has been intimated that they are discussing among themselves on the transfer of sponsorship" a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
In March 2017, Oppo won the Indian team jersey rights for a five-year period after outbidding Vivo mobiles' Rs 768 crore bid. As per the deal, Oppo was paying BCCI Rs 4.61 crore per bilateral match and Rs 1.56 crore for an ICC event game.
"Any transfer of sponsorship requires the interested parties to inform BCCI about negotiations. Accordingly Byju's and Oppo have informed about their discussion. The BCCI doesn't stand to lose any money as the new company will pay exactly what the old one is paying.
"The BCCI has a clause which allows transfer of sponsorship. Since there is a secrecy clause, the financial dealings can't be spoken about," the official said.
Another official said the transfer could, in fact, translate into more money for the Board.
"The BCCI stands to gain if there is a transfer of sponsorship. The two parties in question will have to pay an extra 10 percent (between them) and also give a notice of six months. They must be negotiating who will carry the burden of those extra 10 per cent," the official said.
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Cong says LoPs not invited to Putin banquet, takes swipe at Tharoor for accepting invite
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have not been invited to the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and took a swipe at its own MP Shashi Tharoor for accepting the invite.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight's official dinner in honour of President Putin. The two LoPs have not been invited."
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
"There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government," he told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.
Asked about party MP Tharoor getting invited to the banquet and accepting the invitation, Khera said, "Ask Mr. Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable and those who accept such an invite is also questionable," Khera said.
"We would have listened to our voice of conscience," he added.
Earlier, Tharoor said there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited but that practice seems to have stopped from some years.
"It has been resumed ...I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go," the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs said.
On the LoPs reportedly not getting an invite, Tharoor said, "I don't know on what basis invitations were sent. I think the custom that usually used to be followed was for a wide representation. Certainly, I remember in the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs, (but) various other cross section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression."
"I dont know the basis (of invitation), this is all done by the government, by the protocol by the Rashtrapati Bhawan, what do I know. All I can say I have honoured to have been invited. Of course I will go," Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Gandhi on Thursday had alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks had come hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
Gandhi had said it is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following this norm.
"Normally the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time, Manmohan Singh ji's time, it has been a tradition but what happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come and when I go abroad, the government suggests to them to not meet the LoP," Gandhi had told reporters in Parliament House complex.
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