ICC bans Sri Lankan cricketer Praveen Jayawickrama
Dubai, Oct 2: The ICC has banned Sri Lanka player Praveen Jayawickrama from all cricket for one year, of which six months are suspended, after he admitted breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, parent body said in a press release on Wednesday. The charges relate to international cricket and the Lanka Premier League.
Jayawickrama admitted to being in breach of the following provision under the Code:
Article 2.4.7 – Obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU, including concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence or may lead to the discovery of evidence of corrupt conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.
As a result of the admission, Jayawickrama has accepted a sanction of a one-year period of ineligibility, of which the last six months are suspended.
The ICC Anti-Corruption Code and the complete decision (which has been redacted to protect the identities of the ICC’s witnesses and other third parties) can be found here.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Prices of cigarettes, beedis, pan masala to rise from Feb 1 with new tax, cess
New Delhi: Cigarettes, beedis, pan masala and other tobacco products will become costlier from February 1 after the Centre notified additional excise duty on tobacco products and a new Health and National Security Cess on pan masala, NDTV reported.
According to a notification issued by the government on Wednesday, the new levies will be imposed over and above the existing Goods and Services Tax (GST) and will replace the compensation cess currently charged on these products.
From February 1, pan masala, cigarettes, tobacco and similar products will attract a GST rate of 40 per cent, while biris will attract 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to a government notification.
On top of this, a Health and National Security Cess will be levied on pan masala, while tobacco and related products will attract additional excise duty.
The Finance Ministry also notified the Chewing Tobacco, Jarda Scented Tobacco and Gutkha Packing Machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2026, which will govern the assessment and collection of excise duty on these products.
Parliament had in December approved two Bills allowing levy of the new Health and National Security Cess on pan masala manufacturing and excise duty on tobacco.
The notification issued on Wednesday formally set February 1 as the implementation date. With the rollout of the new tax structure, the existing GST compensation cess on tobacco and pan masala, which is currently levied at varying rates, will cease to exist effective February 1.
