DUBAI: An Indian man in the UAE has won a whopping 14 crores in a monthly raffle and has decided to use the money to pay for the kidney transplant of his close relative, according to a media report.
Mohmmed Kunhi Mayyala, 42, who hails from Kerala and works as a salesman at a garment shop in Abu Dhabi for the last 15 years, initially thought it was a scam when he got the call from the Big Ticket Office regarding his mega win on Wednesday, the Khaleej Times reported.
"A few weeks ago I had got a call from scamsters saying I won a jackpot in an Etisalat raffle draw. I thought this call is also fake. Only after checking the website, I could believe them," Mr Mayyala said.
Mr Mayyala said that the first thing he would do with the 7 million dirham prize money is to pay for the kidney transplant of his close relative. He said his relative who was also working in Abu Dhabi till two years ago went back to India due to his medical condition.
"He is like my own brother. Both his kidneys are dysfunctional, and he has been struggling with weekly dialysis for many years now. I cannot express in words how happy I am that I can now bear the expenses for his surgery and other required medical care," the newspaper quoted Mayyala as saying. Father of two, Mr Mayyala also said that with the prize money he can build a house and start his own business.
However, helping the needy is going to be his first preference, Mr Mayyala said, adding that he will also use part of his jackpot to help the Kerala flood victims.
"I had already contributed whatever I could to the Chief Minister's fund for reconstruction of the state. I am planning to do more," he said.
Several Indians living in the UAE have won lottery in the recent times. Tajo Mathew,30, from Kerala, had hit a jackpot by winning a whopping USD 1.9 million in a monthly raffle in July this year.
Earlier, an Indian driver in Dubai had won dirham 12 million in a raffledraw in Abu Dhabi in April. In January, another Keralite in the UAE had won a dirham 12 million in the biggest-ever raffle prize money in Abu Dhabi.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
