London, Mar 10 (PTI): England batter Harry Brook faces a two-year ban from the IPL after pulling out of his deal with Delhi Capitals ahead of the tournament beginning March 22.

Brook, who has made himself unavailable for the second straight season, apologised "unreservedly" to the franchise and its supporters.

"I have made the very difficult decision to pull out of the upcoming IPL. I apologize unreservedly to the Delhi Capitals and their supporters," Brook wrote on social media.

“It is a really important time for England cricket and I want to fully commit to preparing for the upcoming series.

"In order to do this, I need time to recharge after the busiest period in my career to date. I know not everyone will understand, and I don't expect them to, but I have to do what I believe is right and playing for my country remains my priority and focus."

England will play India in a home Test series in June, which will be followed by the much-anticipated Ashes from November to January.

The 26-year-old Brook had earlier withdrawn from the 2024 edition of IPL following the death of his grandmother.

Any foreign player who missed the IPL after getting picked at the auction faces two-year ban from the IPL unless he is injured.

"Any [overseas] player who registers for [an] auction and, after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season will get banned from participating in the IPL/IPL auction for two seasons," as per the BCCI document shared with teams last year.

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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has approved the establishment of a CoE for AI in Biotechnology at IBAB in Electronics City (Phase 1), here.

The decision, taken by the state Cabinet on Thursday night, marks a significant step towards strengthening Karnataka’s leadership in emerging technologies, IT and biotechnology, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Friday.

The centre will be established over four years with a total outlay of Rs 20 crore, in partnership with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), according to a statement from the minister’s office.

"Karnataka has consistently been at the forefront of technological innovation. As we enter the decade of deep tech, our focus is on building future-ready capabilities at the intersection of artificial intelligence and biotechnology," Minister for IT and Biotechnology said.

"This Centre of Excellence will strengthen our research ecosystem, accelerate innovation and enable Karnataka to lead in high-impact next-generation technologies," he added.

Priyank added that the state government, through the Departments of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, is actively investing in emerging technologies and taking steps to strengthen Karnataka’s AI and deep-tech ecosystem.

The minister said the Cabinet has also approved the transfer of a 51 per cent stake in the Karnataka Technology & Innovation Museum Foundation (KTIMF) to the Unboxing BLR Foundation.

KTIMF was established by the Government of Karnataka as a not-for-profit organisation to promote innovation, technological awareness, startup culture and public engagement in science and technology, aligned with the state’s vision of building a robust innovation ecosystem, he said.

The Technology & Innovation Museum will be developed at the NGEF campus in Baiyappanahalli, Bengaluru, under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with a total project cost of Rs 100 crore. Of this, Rs 49 crore will be contributed by the state government and Rs 51 crore by the private partner, he said.