Amitabh Bachchan buys 10,000 sq ft plot worth Rs 14.5 cr in Ayodhya
New Delhi, Jan 15: Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has bought a 10,000 square feet plot for around Rs 14.5 crore in a project in Ayodhya that is being developed by Mumbai-based realty firm House of Abhinandan Lodha, sources said on Monday.
House of Abhinandan Lodha confirmed the deal but did not share any financial details.
According to the sources, the plot measuring around 10,000 square feet, located in 'The Sarayu' project, was sold at Rs 14.5 crore.
"I am looking forward to embark on this journey with The House of Abhinandan Lodha for The Sarayu in Ayodhya, a city that holds a special place in my heart... I am looking forward to building my home in the global spiritual capital," Bachchan said.
In a statement, Abhinandan Lodha, Chairman of The House of Abhinandan Lodha, said that Bachchan's investment in the Ayodhya project reflects confidence in the city's economic potential and deep appreciation for its spiritual heritage.
House of Abhinandan Lodha plans to launch 'The Sarayu' project on January 22, 2024 -- the day of consecration of the Ram temple. The luxury project, which is spread over 45 acres, will also have a hotel on the banks of the Sarayu river.
The company has signed an MoU with The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts to build a modern palace hotel in Ayodhya.
In January last year, House of Abhinandan Lodha announced its plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh to develop integrated townships. Out of the total planned investments, Rs 1,000 crore will be made in Ayodhya.
The company, which is part of Abhinandan Lodha-led Lodha Ventures, will launch housing projects in Ayodhya, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
