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At the end of player auction ahead of the inaugural season of the <keyword id="5282220" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Womens-Premier-League" source="Orion">Women's Premier League</keyword>, <keyword id="13880" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mumbai-indians" source="Orion">Mumbai Indians</keyword> owner Nita M Ambani hailed the auction as "a very special day for women's cricket". "Auctions are always exciting but today was really special. It was the first auction (for WPL), so today was really a historic day. More than all the names and figures today, it was overwhelming to see everyone cheering and celebrating the wonderful talent of women cricketers," she said. <keyword id="7024" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nita-ambani" source="Orion">Nita Ambani</keyword> was joined by Akash Ambani at the auction alongside Mahela Jayawardene, Global Head of Performance, MI, and the newly-formed coaching team for the women's team - <keyword id="114076" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Charlotte-Edwards" source="Orion">Charlotte Edwards</keyword> (Head Coach), <keyword id="68865" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jhulan-Goswami" source="Orion">Jhulan Goswami</keyword> (Team Mentor and Bowling Coach) and <keyword id="4962444" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Devieka-Palshikaar" source="Orion">Devieka Palshikaar</keyword> (Batting Coach). Given her passion for sports and commitment on encouraging more women and girls to play sports, Nita Ambani was happy with the player selections and securing the India captain very early. "As a team, we are very happy with the way the auction panned out. We are very happy to get the Indian captain at Mumbai Indians, where we already have the men's captain. We are also very excited to see Nat (Sciver-Brunt) in the team, Pooja (Vastrakar) and all the talented women who are joining the MI family." The upcoming edition of the IPL will also mark the tenth anniversary of Rohit Sharma taking charge of the franchise and Nita Ambani was extremely enthused about the prospect of having both the Indian captains turn out for the MI family. "I have seen Rohit (Sharma) grow from a player to captain at Mumbai Indians and this year, we complete 10 years of Rohit as a captain for Mumbai Indians. We are now welcoming Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) to the MI family." She also drew parallels between two of the most successful captains in the history of T20Is. "Both of them come with great experience, professionalism and a winning mentality. They are a huge inspiration to all our youngsters. So, we are really excited to have both these players." She further hailed the achievements of both the U19 as well as the senior Women in Blue. "Our U19 women's cricket team won the World Cup and that has brought so much joy to the nation. My congratulations to them. Our (senior) women's team, too, did so well in their opening match at the T20 World Cup." The first Indian woman to be a part of the International Olympic Committee, Nita Ambani said that the WPL could be a potential turning point for the sporting landscape for women in India. "In India, sports for women is at a turning point. All our young girls are doing so well and I feel so proud just looking at them." Reliance Foundation has been a big supporter of sportswomen over the years and Mrs Ambani said that the support to them make her immensely proud. "More power to these young girls. It is a matter of great pride that we are able to support and promote women in sports and in cricket, not only in India, but internationally." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-enterprises-posts-820-crore-net-profit-in-q3-gautam-adani-says-current-market-volatility-temporary/articleshow/97914997.cms">Adani Enterprises posts ₹820 crore net profit in Q3: Gautam Adani says current market volatility temporary</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-heres-what-the-big-boys-bought-between-october-and-december/articleshow/97912443.cms">Top stocks: Here’s what the Big Boys bought between October and December</a>

Very special day for women's cricket says Nita Ambani after WPL auction

From touching the lowest ebb after the ODI World Cup snub in New Zealand last year to hitting the winning runs in victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 global event, <keyword id="5954893" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jemimah-Rodrigues" source="Orion">Jemimah Rodrigues</keyword> has done brilliantly to turn the corner in less than 12 months. <keyword id="60049" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rodrigues" source="Orion">Rodrigues</keyword>, who hit a match-winning 38-ball unbeaten 53 in a seven-wicket win in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s Women's T20 World Cup opener here on Sunday, said at one point of time she even contemplated quitting the game. "I think this time last year when I was at home and I was not in a good headspace because I was dropped from (India's) 50 World Cup squad. That was the toughest time for me, but there was so many people who helped me throughout this time," Rodrigues said at the post-match press conference. "Honestly, many a time I had nothing to tell myself. I had, there were so many times I had given up, you know I didn't have the strength to carry (on) and I know a lot of people say you need to back yourself you need to motivate yourself but when a person is going through, they only know what they're going through," an emotional Rodrigues bared her heart during the interaction. The support system is very important, she said. "I was blessed that I had people who believed in me and helped me push through that time so I am just grateful to them. It felt like that was that was one of the lowest phase of my life but it turned out to be the reason why I could come here today." Rodrigues was grateful to her surroundings, especially her personal coach Prasanth Shetty and her father, to help her get out of that difficult phase. She went back to her basics and played against U-14 and U-19 boys at dusty Azad Maidan rank-turners, a decision which worked wonders. "Yeah, so I had, like I said I taken a break, then I went back to my coach Prashant Shetty and my dad (Ivan) also, so both of them together. We worked out a plan, like, in a week I had to play two games, like more match time, and the rest I would practice. Sunday was my off-day. "It is very challenging, in the morning there's so much dew. So, in that condition I had to play under-19 boys. So, putting myself in such situations actually helped me, getting out of my comfort zone," she said. Playing against U-14 boys, Rodrigues was determined not to lose her wicket. "I played with under-14 boys. And the pressure of me being an India player playing with under-14 boys if I lose my wicket - it's embarrassing. I believe all these little things just build up and make you the player you are." Rodrigues still regrets missing last year's 50-over World Cup in New Zealand and the time it took for her to come to terms with the snub. "I mean, we worked really hard during that time, and I remember that, I was not okay mentally. I had taken a break, because cricket is something I love playing for is something I love to do, love to play and the World Cup is a dream for every cricketer and missing out on that, it took me a while." Talking about her poor run of form before the match-winning knock against Pakistan, she said: "I think as a batter when you're not getting scores that's like, you know, it's not an enjoyable time definitely, but I was working really hard in the nets I knew I was putting in the efforts. "What is in my control is my efforts my hard work, and I made sure that every time I was on the field I was doing that I was doing it repeatedly but I was not seeing results, it was very tough. (But) I had to keep pushing myself." Rodrigues said it special to score runs in front of her parents, who witnessed the Indo-Pak clash from the stands. "Yeah, this this feels sweet you know, like when it mattered the most it came and like I'm grateful to Jesus and my parents were here today so it's even more special. They've never experienced an India Pakistan game. The first time in the stadium they're experiencing and it was very special for me." Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh (31 not out off 20) shared an unbeaten 58-run stand for the fourth wicket to take India home while chasing Pakistan's 149 for 4. "She's (Richa) matured a lot in recent times. Definitely, you know, I love batting with Richa and even the last warm up game actually gave us both a lot of confidence. We knew any target is chaseable as long as we are there," she praised the teenager. "I was confident throughout even when I think I remember it was 24 balls 41. I knew any target is achievable if we just keep doing the simple things correctly. I took it over by over." Rodrigues said she can't wait to play in the inaugural Women's Premier League, the auction of which is scheduled on Monday in Mumbai. "Honestly, I just want to play the WPL. I am not bothered which team is going to pick me and I just want to be a part of it, because it's a dream come true for everyone in India and we waited very long for this and it's finally happening."

WC snub was lowest phase of my life, contemplated quitting game: Jemimah Rodrigues

<ul><li>12 years since its inception, IPL is still a hot favourite for advertisers. </li><li>According to a report, IPL reaches 77% more women than any prime time Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC). </li><li>Advertisers overall are expected to spend more than ₹2,000 crore during IPL. </li></ul>It's just a few more days left until the country starts chanting for the Indian Premier League. Advertisements featuring the cricketers with new slogans for each time have already hit television screens across the country. The enormous popularity of the Indian Premier League – the 20-over cricket match with players from across country teams – is evident in the sold out stands seen at stadiums, high television ratings and recurring prime time slots, with nearly half of the audience being women. Yet, the majority of Indian commercials aired during IPL continue to target just men, a reflection of the typical gender stereotyping still common among advertisers. Even a cursory look at the latest numbers on viewership should make Indian brands sit up and evaluate why they need to switch their strategy – and do so urgently. According to a new report by BARC, IPL reaches to 77% more women than any primetime Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC). The report added that IPL reaches out to 262 million women in just 51 days as opposed to a top GEC channel which manages to garner 200 million in a year. Overall, women today hold a 47% television audience share during IPLs. It’s been 12 years since IPL launched and it still manages to be a big favourite of advertisers, attracting big spends. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/rs-2000-cr-ad-spends-set-aside-for-ipl/articleshow/67767108.cms">ET</a> report states that for <keyword id="6128971" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2019">IPL 2019</keyword>, advertisers are expected to spend more than ₹2000 crore, which is a jump from Star India’s last year’s revenue of ₹1,750 crore from IPL ads. From shaving companies to fairness creams for men or ads presented as locker room scenes and even indirect advertising for liquor featuring male actors continue to take centre stage during the primetime spots or even as tickers during matches. While not all top brands that cater to both men and women have stereotyped advertisements during cricket matches to be only for men, the general notion has been to sell a product to men during matches. Brands that hit a six with advertisements in 2018 According to a report on <a href="http://www.adageindia.in/marketing/news/ipl-2018-are-brands-scoring-enough-in-terms-of-creativity-this-season/articleshow/63807101.cms">AdAge India</a>, the brands which made a mark during IPL ads in 2018 were Vivo, Reliance Jio, Colgate, Amul, Coca-Cola, MakeMyTrip, Dream11, Kent, Berger Paints, Asian Paints, Crompton, Blue Star, Voltas, Haier, Luminous, Dollar, Vimal Pan Masala, Ceat Tyres, Pidilite, Vanessa, Sleep Well, Parle Agro, Parle Products, Polycab, Vu TV, AMFI, Dollar, Domino’s, Ford, Elica, Onida, Linkedin, Tata Nexon, among others. Popular phone manufacturer Vivo Electronics Corp <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ZBNS9iU91o4k7CN2b8826I/Why-IPL-continues-to-charm-audiences-advertisers.html">paid </a>₹2,199 crore for a five-year sponsorship of IPL, a big big jump from Pepsi’s ₹400 crore 5-year deal. Additionally, IPL has always been a great time to launch new advertising campaigns, and has already seen many success stories in India. One of the most successful ad campaigns that took off during IPL is Vodafone Zoozoo. The Zoozoos took off from the second season of the IPL and also went on to win <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/vodafones-zoozoo-campaign-wins-award-71192-2010-04-07">awards</a> for successful marketing strategy. Even startups like Swiggy witnessed a <a href="https://www.exchange4media.com/ipl-news/swiggys-ipl-ad-campaign-yields-25growth-in-orders-during-ipl-90467.html">growth</a> of 25% thanks to their advertising during the IPL matches. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/rs-2000-cr-ad-spends-set-aside-for-ipl/articleshow/67767108.cms">ET</a> report states that for IPL 2019, advertisers are expected to spend more than ₹2000 crore, which is a jump from Star India’s last year’s revenue of ₹1,750 crore from IPL ads. Meanwhile, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/coca-cola-takes-lead-in-advertising-by-signing-deals-for-ipl-world-cup/articleshow/67968570.cms">Coca Cola </a>has already taken a lead in the advertisement race during IPL with a committed ₹135 crore deal with Star India. So for brands who are making more efforts to be gender neutral, or take on sexist messaging in their approach, IPL venues could be a great starting point. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-is-building-the-worlds-largest-cricket-stadium-bigger-than-the-one-in-melbourne/articleshow/67421201.cms">India is building the world’s largest cricket stadium–bigger than the one in Melbourne</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/4-things-we-learned-from-the-recent-auctions-for-the-epl-and-indian-cricket-broadcasting-rights/articleshow/63911554.cms">Here's what we learned from two recent auctions about the future of sports broadcasting</a>

Brands can no longer ignore Indian women during the country's most popular sporting event

The Viacom18 secured the Women's Indian Premier League (<keyword id="6354312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl" source="Orion">IPL</keyword>) media rights value for the 2023-2027 cycle for a whopping Rs 951 crore which means per match value of INR 7.09 crore for next 5 years. The <keyword id="6354756" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bcci" source="Orion">BCCI</keyword> will unveil the five <keyword id="4804667" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wipl" source="Orion">WIPL</keyword> franchises on January 25. The news comes as a massive development for women's cricket on Monday as <keyword id="15065481" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="women-indian-premier-league" source="Orion">Women Indian Premier League</keyword> (WIPL) media rights was auctioned. The news was confirmed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary <keyword id="210899" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jay-shah" source="Orion">Jay Shah</keyword> on his Twitter account on Monday. "Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the Women's @IPL media rights. Thank you for your faith in @BCCI and @BCCIWomen. Viacom has committed INR 951 crores which means per match value of INR 7.09 crores for next 5 years (2023-27). This is massive for Women's Cricket," Jay Shah tweeted on Monday. Viacom has pledged INR 951 crore, and INR 7.09 crore for each match, for the next five years. The Women's T20 Challenge was initially held as an exhibition tournament, but the BCCI last year eventually made the decision to introduce the WIPL, with the first season's opening match scheduled for March. The BCCI has not officially released the tournament's schedule, but it is widely believed that the first season, which would consist of 22 matches, will take place between March 5 and March 23. Uncapped cricketers have been given two alternatives, while players with caps--those who have represented India or are currently on a central contract--can select either Rs. 30 lakh, Rs. 40 lakh, or Rs. 50 lakh as their base pricing (Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 20 lakh). Prior to the WIPL, the base price has been separated into five categories, ranging from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh. The auction's registration cutoff date is January 26. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/india-creates-world-record-for-highest-margin-win-in-odi-cricket/slidelist/97021299.cms">India creates world record for highest margin win in ODI – here are India’s biggest wins</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/ipl-2023-schedule-time-and-match-details/articleshow/96572695.cms">IPL 2023 schedule, time and match details</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/here-are-the-most-expensive-players-sold-at-the-ipl-2023-mini-auction/slidelist/96473422.cms">Here are the most expensive players sold at the IPL 2023 mini-auction</a>

Viacom18 wins Women's IPL media rights for ₹951 crore for 2023-27

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced that men's IPL teams Mumbai Indians, <keyword id="66" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="delhi" source="Orion">Delhi</keyword> Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, along with the <keyword id="6367820" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="adani-group" source="Orion">Adani Group</keyword> and Capri Global have won bids to own the five Women's Premier League (WPL) teams. The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League is expected to be played in March this year. The home teams of the five winning franchises will be Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Lucknow respectively. The auction was held in Mumbai earlier in the afternoon. The five winners were revealed after opening the bids. While Adani Group, through Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd got the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of INR 1289 crore, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired the Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crore. Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams with winning bids of INR 901 crore, INR 810 crore and INR 757 crore respectively. Honorary Secretary Jay <keyword id="1858" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shah" source="Orion">Shah</keyword> had earlier said that a whopping INR 4669.99 crore came in as total bids for owning teams in the upcoming Women's Premier League (WPL), which he added has broken the record of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008. "Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of the inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid." "This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity." "The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder. The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin....," wrote Shah in a series of tweets on Wednesday. Bangalore, the runners-up of 2009, 2011 and 2016 IPL, tweeted their excitement of owning a Women's Premier League team. "Breaking barriers, making history, and playing bold! Royal Challengers Bangalore are the <keyword id="68809" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="proud" source="Orion">proud</keyword> owners of the Bengaluru Women's Premier League Team." Parth Jindal, Director of JSW Sports, who jointly owns the Delhi team in the IPL with GMR Group, was ecstatic about buying a franchise in the Women's Premier League. "Proud to announce that @TheJSWGroup GMR Group and @DelhiCapitals are the proud owners of the Delhi Womens IPL team. This marks a historic moment for Indian cricket and for the women's game and we could not be more proud to own the Delhi Capitals WIPL franchise!" he tweeted. Earlier, on January 16, Viacom18 Media Private Limited won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027. Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crore, which translates to a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore. It is believed that 22 matches could be held for the first three seasons with a possibility of increasing the matches to either 33 or 34 from 2026 onwards. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/womens-premier-league-gets-total-bids-worth-4669-crore-across-five-franchises/articleshow/97309552.cms">Women's Premier League gets total bids worth ₹4,669 crore across five franchises</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/india-vs-new-zealand-t20-to-begin-from-january-27-squads-match-dates-and-head-to-head-record/slidelist/97301912.cms">India vs New Zealand T20 from January 27 – squads, match dates, and head-to-head record</a>

Women's Premier League: Adani group, Capri Global, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals & RCB win bids

<keyword id="210899" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="jay-shah" source="Orion">Jay Shah</keyword>, the Honorary Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that the organisation has gained a whopping INR 4669.99 crore as total bids for owning teams in the upcoming Women's Premier League (<keyword id="3796649" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wpl" source="Orion">WPL</keyword>), which he added has broken the record for the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008. "Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of the inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid." "This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity." "The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder. The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin....," wrote <keyword id="1858" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shah" source="Orion">Shah</keyword> in a series of tweets on Wednesday. The BCCI is all set to unveil the five franchise owners, along with the home cities, for the WPL later on January 25. It is learnt that 17 parties, including seven men's IPL franchises -- Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, <keyword id="6354467" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kolkata-knight-riders" source="Orion">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword>, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, <keyword id="1494441" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sunrisers-hyderabad" source="Orion">Sunrisers Hyderabad</keyword> and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- are in the fray for owning teams in the five-team WPL. The cities which are shortlisted as home cities for the WPL, as per multiple reports, are Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Indore, Lucknow and Mumbai. The inaugural edition of the WPL could be held in March this year, with the player auction expected to happen early in February. Earlier, on January 16, Viacom18 Media Private Limited won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027. Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crore, which translates to a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore. It is believed that 22 matches could be held for the first three seasons with a possibility of increasing the matches to either 33 or 34 from 2026 onwards. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/india-vs-new-zealand-t20-to-begin-from-january-27-squads-match-dates-and-head-to-head-record/slidelist/97301912.cms">India vs New Zealand T20 from January 27 – squads, match dates, and head-to-head record</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/vijay-deverakonda-turns-co-owner-of-hyderabad-black-hawks-volleyball-team/articleshow/97301643.cms">Vijay Deverakonda turns co-owner of Hyderabad Black Hawks volleyball team</a>

Women's Premier League gets total bids worth ₹4,669 crore across five franchises

<keyword id="4277435" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber-dreams">Uber Dreams</keyword> is an eCommerce start-up platform built to fulfill people’s ‘’dreams’’ announced the launch of their auctions platform - ‘Uber Dreams Auctions’. The auctions would be available on www.uberdreams.com. No entry or participation fee is required to participate in any auction and you simply need to come to the website sign-up, verify account via email and start bidding. 
 Uber Dreams will feature <keyword id="4277437" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="yoga-wellness">Yoga &amp; Wellness</keyword> weekend with <keyword id="99676" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shilpa-Shetty-Kundra">Shilpa Shetty Kundra</keyword> as their debut auction. The online auction will take place from March 10 – 15, 2017 and The highest bidder and a partner of his/her choice will get to fly to Jaipur and experience an all expenses paid, 2 nights, 3 days Yoga &amp; wellness weekend as VIP guests of <keyword id="6358615" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shilpa-Shetty">Shilpa Shetty</keyword> Kundra and get to interact with her. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/women-hosts-have-earned-over-10-billion-on-airbnb/articleshow/57576447.cms">ALSO</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/women-hosts-have-earned-over-10-billion-on-airbnb/articleshow/57576447.cms"> READ: Women hosts have earned over $10 Billion on Airbnb</a> 
 Uber Dreams has been launched with the intention to enable people to interact in-person with eminent personalities from across various domains like Business, Movies, <keyword id="6356028" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sports">Sports</keyword>, Television, Brands and so on. 
 
The basic idea here is to bridge the gap between dreams &amp; aspirations of the country. 
 The first few auctions will include personalities such as Shilpa Shetty, Mohit Burman of <keyword id="6373748" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dabur-India">Dabur India</keyword> /Aviva <keyword id="6406875" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-insurance">Life Insurance</keyword>, Anupam Mittal of <keyword id="40561" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="shaadi">Shaadi</keyword>.com / People group. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/hyperloop-one-asks-indians-to-identify-the-first-busy-route-where-it-can-bring-ultra-fast-transportation-system/articleshow/57551789.cms">ALSO READ: Hyperloop One asks Indians to identify the first busy route where it can bring ultra-fast transportation system</a> 
 
Other interesting auctions include: 
 1) Bid to be a model in a full page advertorial of <keyword id="27220" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rolling-stone">Rolling Stone</keyword> magazine 
 
2) Get a chance for internships with leading corporates, 
 3) Get a six-course romantic meal cooked by Chef <keyword id="268619" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vicky-Ratnani">Vicky Ratnani</keyword> at your home, 
 
4) A 3 min role in movies &amp; TV series,

	 
	5) Net sessions with top cricketers, Dinner with Movie Stars, 
	 6) Exciting auctions with <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> franchises and so on. 
	 
	 Savan Daru, Co- Founder &amp; CEO, Uber Dreams told <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>, “Our endeavor will always be in curating bucket list experiences/auctions at competitive pricing. Part of the revenue generated by both the experiences and auctions platform will go to charities of the involved celebrities’ choice like People for Animals, CRY, <keyword id="6354486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Virat-Kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> Foundation, Reef watch, Voice of Martyrs, NAB and others.” 
	 
	<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/bloomsbury-unviels-the-harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-illustrated-edition/articleshow/57539590.cms">ALSO READ: Bloomsbury unveils the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Illustrated Edition</a> 
	 Uber Dreams will soon be launching an app on <keyword id="75489" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IOS">iOS</keyword> and android play store.

Here's a first-of-its-kind startup auctioning 'A Weekend Yoga Retreat with Shilpa Shetty'

India spinner <keyword id="200030" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ravichandran-Ashwin">Ravichandran Ashwin</keyword>, England captain <keyword id="1440669" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Joe-Root">Joe Root</keyword> and West Indies batsman <keyword id="1183580" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kyle-Mayers">Kyle Mayers</keyword> are in the shortlist for the <keyword id="46227" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-cricket-council">International Cricket Council</keyword>'s (ICC) player of the month for February. England's <keyword id="1130150" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tammy-Beaumont">Tammy Beaumont</keyword> and <keyword id="2163143" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Natalie-Sciver">Natalie Sciver</keyword> and <keyword id="22501" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>'s Brooke Halliday are in the list for the women's player of the month. Ashwin, 34, has been in stellar form since India's Test calendar restarted with their tour of Australia. He played a crucial role with both bat and ball as India won the series 2-1, which included them becoming the first team since 1988 to beat Australia in a Test match at the Gabba in Brisbane. England captain Joe Root scored three back-to-back <keyword id="725415" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Test-Centuries">Test centuries</keyword> against Sri Lanka and India, two of which were double hundreds. He has scored a total of 333 runs and took 6 <keyword id="199290" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="wickets">wickets</keyword> overall in the 3 Tests that he played against India. Mayers scored an extraordinary unbeaten 210 in the fourth innings of his debut Test to lead West Indies to a record chase of 395 in their first Test against Bangladesh. Beaumont's unbeaten 72 helped England to a comfortable seven-wicket win against New Zealand. She played three ODIs and scored a century in each of these against New Zealand, totalling 231 runs. Halliday of New Zealand also played three ODIs against England and scored a total of 110 runs and took a total of 2 wickets in these games. Sciver was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series between New Zealand and England, and added an innings of 63 in the second match that England won. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/gautam-adani-naveen-jindal-anand-mahindra-and-kumar-mangalam-birla-increased-their-net-worth-in-2020/slidelist/81290572.cms">Gautam Adani, Naveen Jindal, Anand Mahindra and Kumar Mangalam Birla increased their net worth despite COVID-19 wreaking havoc</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/the-indian-government-reaped-a-record-77000-crore-on-the-first-day-of-2021-telecom-spectrum-auctions/articleshow/81290489.cms">India reaps a bounty on the first day of spectrum auctions – but it's a lot less than what the government wanted</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/these-are-the-best-national-highways-in-india-in-terms-of-efficiency-safety-and-user-services/slidelist/81291257.cms">These are the best national highways in India in terms of efficiency, safety and user services</a>

Ravichandran Ashwin, Joe Root, and Kyle Mayers shortlist for ICC's Player of the month

Mumbai, Viacom 18 has bagged the <keyword id="6391629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bcci-media-rights" source="Orion">BCCI media rights</keyword> in both TV and digital for the next five years, announced Jay Shah, the <keyword id="6354756" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bcci" source="Orion">BCCI</keyword> Honorary Secretary. Viacom18 beat competition from Sony Sports Network and Disney Star in an e-auction held on Thursday. "Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the @BCCI Media Rights for both linear and digital for the next 5 years. India Cricket will continue to grow in both spaces as after @IPL, and @wplt20, we extend the partnership @BCCI Media Rights as well. Together we will continue to capture the imagination of Indian cricket fans," said Shah on the social media platform "X". Viacom18, a relative newcomer in the broadcasting world through its TV channel Sports18 and digital platform Jio Cinema, is also the holder of TV and digital rights to the Women's Premier League (WPL) till 2027. It also has the rights to Cricket South Africa matches to be broadcasted in India from 2024-31. Viacom18 has taken the BCCI bilateral media rights from Disney Star, who had won the television and digital rights for the 2018-23 cycle for INR 6138 crore. Disney Star had won the rights to the 2012-18 cycle of broadcasting Indian cricket in the country for INR 3851 crores. "Also, a big thank you to @starindia @DisneyPlusHS for your support over the years. You played a key role in making India Cricket reach its fans across the globe," added Shah, also the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The BCCI has opted for an e-auction for the bilateral media rights, with a base price of INR 25 crore for India digital and rest of world TV &amp; digital rights and INR 20 crore for India television rights, continuing the trend from IPL media rights auction. It brought the combined rights value to INR 45 crore per game for a total of 88 matches for the 2023-28 cycle. Viacom18's cycle of showing India's matches will begin with the three-match ODI series against Australia from September 22-27, a preparatory series before the Men's ODI World Cup. --IANS nr/bsk

Viacom 18 bags BCCI media rights in both digital and TV for next five years

New Delhi, There was no surprises in store as all the marquee players, including Mumbai Indians' Harmanpreet Kaur, Delhi Capital's Meg Lanning and Royal Challengers Bangalore's Smriti Mandhana, have been retained by their respective Women's Premier League franchises (<keyword id="3796649" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="wpl" source="Orion">WPL</keyword>), the league announced on Thursday. The window for the five franchises to retain players for the WPL 2024 season came to an end on October 15. While 60 players, including 21 overseas cricketers, were retained across five franchises, 29 players were released from their existing squads. Besides Kaur, who led MI to title triumph in the tournament's inaugural edition this year, the team has retained Hayley Matthews, <keyword id="7003888" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="yastika-bhatia" source="Orion">Yastika Bhatia</keyword>, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr and <keyword id="16747274" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isabelle-wong" source="Orion">Isabelle Wong</keyword> among others. The Delhi-based franchise, which finished runners-up in the first edition, retained a total of 15 players, including 5 overseas players. The UP Warriorz, who finished third, have retained their core group and have decided to hold on to the services of five of their overseas players, while the South African ace pacer Shabnim Ismail has been released. Also released from the squad are Devika Vaidya, <keyword id="1089092" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="simran-shaikh" source="Orion">Simran Shaikh</keyword> and <keyword id="13655028" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shivali-shinde" source="Orion">Shivali Shinde</keyword>. Speaking about the players released from the team, Delhi Capitals' head coach Jonathan Batty said, "It wasn't an easy decision at all for us to let go of these players. They were all a crucial part of our very memorable inaugural season, and I wish them all the very best. "We've got a solid squad in place, and will aim to make it more complete at the upcoming auction." The following players from the five WPL franchises were retained and released from the squad: Delhi Capitals: Retained Players: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu Released Players: Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhter, Tara Norris Gujarat Giants: Retained Players: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwer Released Players: Annabel Sutherland, Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham, Hurley Gala, Kim Garth, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Sabbineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley, Sushma Verma Mumbai Indians: Retained Players: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Humairaa Kaazi, Isabelle Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia Released Players: Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham, Neelam Bisht, Sonam Yadav Royal Challengers Bangalore: Retained Players: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine Released Players: Dane Van Niekerk, Erin Burns, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar UP Warriorz: Retained Players: Alyssa Healy, Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Lauren Bell, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, S. Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia Mcgrath Released Players: Devika Vaidya, Shabnim Ismail, Shivali Shinde, Simran Shaikh.

On expected lines, franchises retain top guns ahead of WPL-2

Insider launched its first <keyword id="11902482" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="asia" source="Orion">Asia</keyword> bureau in January 2021. Since then, our small but mighty team of reporters in <keyword id="11895291" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="singapore" source="Orion">Singapore</keyword>, and our network of writers across Southeast Asia, has written about everything from the anti-work trend sweeping across <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword> to Singapore's ravenous otter population. We've examined the economic outlook for China's growing middle class, interviewed a man who bought a crumbling, $430,000 mansion in Sri Lanka, and spoken to Chinese millennials to better understand who they, as a generation, are.And that's just the beginning. Below, you'll find 16 of the most popular features the Singapore bureau worked on in 2021. Enjoy!<h1>16. <a href="https://www.insider.com/singapore-quarantine-experience-tips-photos-food-hotel-2021-2">I moved to Singapore alone during the pandemic and spent 14 days quarantining in a tiny hotel room — here's what it was like</a></h1><div type="image" title="food tray with white foods on it" height="2667" width="3518" msid="88867740" hostid="261"></div>On January 6, nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, I boarded the longest flight in the world.It was the dead of winter when I left New York City's JFK airport. For ten months, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeline-history-major-events-2020-3">as borders opened and closed and COVID cases around the world surged</a>, two coworkers and I had been delaying a move overseas to launch a new bureau for Insider. Now, a mere 19 hours on the world's longest flight stood between me and my destination: Singapore.<h1>15. <a href="https://www.insider.com/malaysia-farmers-durian-raub-pahang-legal-battle-king-fruit-2021-7">A battle is unfolding over the world's smelliest fruit, and farmers in Malaysia say their entire livelihood is being wiped out at the worst possible time</a></h1>In Southeast Asia, the durian is the undisputed king of fruit. While the fruit's smell is divisive, it's a special treat in Asian households, and, at as much as $13 a pound, it's not cheap.Durian is also the subject of an increasingly bitter year-long battle between Malaysian farmers who cultivate premium durian trees and a government-backed consortium that's trying to cash in on the beloved fruit. At the center of this dispute is one specific breed of durian: the Musang King. It's been called gold that grows on trees, and a single tree can earn farmers up to $1,000 a year.In mid July, the state forestry department finished chopping down 15,000 durian trees, including the entirety of one farmer's 13-acre plantation.<h1>14. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-middle-class-starting-to-look-like-americas-2021-12">China's middle class is starting to look a lot like America's, and that's not a good thing</a> </h1>China's middle class has grown explosively in the past twenty years. In 2000, roughly 3% of the country's <a href="https://chinapower.csis.org/china-middle-class/">population was classified</a> as middle class. By 2018, more than half of China's population — 707 million people — had entered the country's middle-income bracket.As China's middle class has expanded, it has in many ways also started to look like America's.Housing is increasingly unaffordable for China's middle class, and household debt levels are rising. China's middle class now also faces a new crisis: the real possibility of not being able to do better than their parents.<h1>13. <a href="https://www.insider.com/disenchanted-chinese-youth-join-a-mass-movement-to-lie-flat-2021-6">More and more Chinese 20-somethings are rejecting the rat race and 'lying flat' after watching their friends work themselves to death </a></h1>It's 8 a.m. in Shanghai. Scores of office workers are pouring into the dizzying network of the city's metro lines, toting heavy briefcases and steaming cups of coffee. Meanwhile, Zhiyuan Zhang, 27, is tucking himself into bed. "8 a.m. means it's time to lie down," Zhang told Insider. "Though I don't have a job to go to, so I can lie down anytime. It's great." Zhang is a Chinese millennial who has joined the ranks of a social movement called 躺平主义 — the "lying flat movement." It's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3134633/chinas-gen-z-are-laying-flat-does-new-work-life-attitude-pose">a mindset, a lifestyle, and a personal choice</a> for some disillusioned Chinese youth who have given up on the rat race and are staging a quiet rebellion against the trials of <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/01/04/china-996-work-culture-pinduoduo-death/">9-9-6 work culture.</a><div type="image" title="sang culture pepe the frog" height="3772" width="5029" msid="88867741" hostid="261"></div><h1>12. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/squid-game-reflects-reality-south-korean-household-debt-charts-2021-11">6 charts that show the tough reality of life in South Korea, where household debt is among the highest in the world and where house prices in the capital rose by 22% last year</a> </h1>In the South Korean <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-netflix-tips-and-tricks">Netflix</a> hit "Squid Game," 456 people are in so much financial strain that they are driven to join a deadly survival game. While the show has become an <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> sensation, many South Koreans are less than entertained by what they say is an accurate portrayal of an unforgiving society.The average <keyword id="11944254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-korea" source="Orion">South Korea</keyword>n, for example, couldn't pay off all their debt even if they saved every cent for a year. And property price gains in South Korea have outpaced wage gains. Real estate prices in the capital city of Seoul — where about <a href="https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&amp;Seq_Code=155892">half the population lives</a> — saw a spike of 22% in 2020, real-estate consultancy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seoul-home-prices-rising-pandemic-south-korea-report-2021-4">Knight Frank</a> estimates.<h1>11. <a href="https://www.insider.com/fake-rural-chinese-town-full-of-fake-farmers-2021-6">Photos show China's most surreal tourist spot— a fake Instagram-worthy town full of pretend farmers and phony fishermen</a></h1>An idyllic sunrise dawns over Xiapu County, a rural town in Fujian, China. From Xiapu's beaches, you can see a lone fisherman rowing his boat toward the endless horizon. And venturing deeper into the county, you might catch strains of a buffalo lowing and spot chickens scurrying about the lush farmland. Photos of these scenic spots in the county abound on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.The catch? Most of them are manufactured.<div type="image" title="Buffalos and farmers walk under a tree in Xiapu, Fujian." height="715" width="954" msid="88867742" hostid="261"></div><h1>10. <a href="https://www.insider.com/singapore-otters-killing-thousands-of-dollars-of-koi-fish-2021-9">Singapore is being terrorized by the country's growing population of adorable otters, who've eaten thousands of dollars' worth of expensive koi fish</a> </h1>They leave a path of misery, destruction, and fish carcasses in their wake.Singapore's otters have shown no mercy on locals' pet fish — and have taken to eating the expensive koi that many Singaporeans raise in private ponds.It's hard to say just how many otters live among the nation of 5.7 million people — official counts hover <a href="https://coconuts.co/singapore/news/no-singapore-isnt-being-overrun-by-otters-otterman-biologist/">near 100</a> — but residents have documented an increasing number of attacks from the 10 or so otter families that are thought to live on the island.<h1>9. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/phu-quoc-vietnam-island-travel-tourism-success-or-mistake-2021-9">Vietnam's biggest island long held onto a seductive image as the country's 'last paradise.' Then came the clubs, a casino, and a safari.</a></h1>As recently as the early 2000s, much of Phu Quoc, <keyword id="11906679" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vietnam" source="Orion">Vietnam</keyword>'s biggest island, was covered with forest ecosystems. There were no more than 45,000 residents, and their key occupations included fishing, producing Vietnam's best seafood and fish sauce, cultivating green pepper, and farming pearls.Now, Phu Quoc is on steroids with the kind of development that's already threatening its seductive image as the "last paradise" of Vietnam. Thousands of hotel rooms, condotel units, and row upon row of cookie-cutter shophouses, villas, and residences are being built as far as the eye can see.Insider spoke to Vietnam's real estate, hotel investment, and relocation consultants, as well as tourism players, sustainable development experts, and locals in Phu Quoc to find out what's lost when an island completely changes its identity in the course of 20 years.<div type="image" title="An empty beach in Vietnam" height="2909" width="3879" msid="88867744" hostid="261"></div><h1>8. <a href="https://www.insider.com/south-koreas-millennials-lives-arent-different-dire-realities-squid-game-2021-10">South Korea's millennials say their lives aren't that different from 'Squid Game' as they face a crisis of mounting debt, unaffordable homes, and dead-end jobs</a> </h1>Stuck in dead-end jobs, with piling debt and no real means of buying a home, many South Korean millennials think of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-netflix-tips-and-tricks">Netflix</a>'s hit drama series "Squid Game" as a grim reflection of their own experiences."If someone told me that right now, you could gamble your life to have your debt cleared and become a billionaire, I'd do it without hesitation," Kim Keunha, a millennial who moved to Seoul eight years ago, said. "Though if I'm being brutally honest, the game masters might think my life probably isn't even worth that much."<h1>7. <a href="https://www.insider.com/meet-the-typical-chinese-millennial-income-housing-ambitions-2021-7">Meet the typical Chinese millennial, who makes $22,000 a year but has no student debt, grew up in an economic boom, and has learned how to outhustle everyone else</a> </h1>There are 400 million millennials in China, five times the number in the US. A quarter of them have degrees, but they rarely have student debt because going to college is cheap. Insider spoke with six millennials in China, as well as financial and generational experts, to better understand the generation.What we found was that millennials are the first generation to grow up with privilege in China. The pressure to succeed, though, <a href="https://clb.org.hk/content/demands-deliver-work-hazards-and-pressure-imposed-china%E2%80%99s-millennials">can be soul-crushing</a>. Millennials in China are expected to own an apartment, get a high-paying job, and find a spouse <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/dae2c548-4226-11e8-93cf-67ac3a6482fd">by the time they hit 30</a>. The country's major tech companies celebrate working <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/technology/china-996-jack-ma.html">six days a week, 12 hours a day, as part of a "hustle culture."</a><h1>6. <a href="https://www.insider.com/bali-villa-renovation-photos-oasis-compound-canggu-2021-9">A French couple bought a villa in Bali in 2011 without ever having set foot on the island and spent 2 years turning it into a private compound. Take a look inside.</a> </h1>Buying a home sight unseen on the other side of the world could be an unsettling move for some people. But for one couple who split their time between the US and France, it seemed like a perfectly good idea. When a friend told them in 2011 that the property next to her home on the Indonesian island of Bali was for sale, they didn't need to know any more. They bought it."It's a simple story," Margaux (not her real name) told Insider. "We wanted a place where we could spend time with family and friends."What they didn't realize until they arrived in Bali was that they had purchased an oasis. Close to the surf breaks of Canggu's Echo Beach and surrounded by rice-paddy fields, they had stumbled upon a true hideaway.<div type="image" title="the bathrooms open up to the outdoors and include free standing tubs and natural wood accents" height="2596" width="3461" msid="88867746" hostid="261"></div><h1>5. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abandoned-house-renovation-japan-diy-before-after-photos-2021-8">A couple bought an abandoned farmhouse in rural Japan for $30,000 and has spent 2 years renovating it. Here's how they turned it into their dream family home.</a></h1>Jaya Thursfield and his wife, Chihiro, bought an abandoned traditional Japanese farmhouse in 2019. The traditional Japanese farmhouse, known as a minka, had sat empty for several years after the previous owner died and the family declined their inheritance of the property."I remember the first time I saw it in person, it was quite spectacular, and I was really blown away by it," Thursfield said.They ended up winning the auction in a blind auction with a bid of 3 million Japanese yen (about $30,000).The couple had been able to take only a quick look at the house before buying it, so they were happy to find that it was in good enough condition that they could renovate it instead of tearing it down.<h1>4. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-empty-homes-real-estate-evergrande-housing-market-problem-2021-10">China has at least 65 million empty homes — enough to house the population of France. It offers a glimpse into the country's massive housing-market problem</a></h1>If you drive an hour or two outside Shanghai or Beijing, you'll find something odd. The cities are still tall, and they're still modern. They're also, generally, in good condition. But unlike their bustling, Tier 1-city counterparts, they're basically empty.These are China's ghost cities.As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-housing-market-explainer-cost-debt-wealth-evergrande-impact-2021-9">China's real-estate market</a> has risen to the forefront of the global conversation with Evergrande's $300 billion debt looming large, ghost cities have become a renewed source of interest. While they're a testament to China's reliance on real estate as a driver of economic growth and in its belief in the sector as a safe investment, their exact quantity is hard to define.<h1>3. <a href="https://www.insider.com/mansion-restored-sri-lanka-renovation-photos-2021-7">4 friends bought a crumbling, 100-year-old mansion in the Sri Lankan jungle for $430,000 and spent years restoring it. Take a look</a> </h1>It was in 2010 when the interior designer Dean Sharpe first glimpsed the crumbling mansion on the Sri Lankan hillside near the town of Weligama. In its glory days, Halala Kanda — known as Firefly Hill to locals — played host to guests such as Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and the legendary Australian cricketer Keith Miller.But when Sharpe first saw it, the tired relic with its crumbling plaster looked as if it had been lost to the jungle. The coral and stone walls had collapsed, bats were roosting in the rafters, the windows were boarded up, and a tree was growing through the roof of the entryway."It was a ruin of what it once was," Sharpe told Insider. "But we walked in and fell in love with it."In 2011, he and three friends bought the crumbling, 100-year-old villa and two acres of land for $430,000.<div type="image" title="the home before it was restored" height="869" width="1158" msid="88867749" hostid="261"></div><h1>2. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-image-likable-nerdy-philanthropist-fell-apart-2021-5">Bill Gates crafted a public image as a likable, uncomfortable, nerdy do-gooder. Office affairs, workplace behavior, and Epstein ties reveal cracks in his facade.</a> </h1>For decades, Bill Gates crafted the public persona of a nerdy but pleasant philanthropist. In contrast with the likes of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/13-crazy-elon-musk-quotes-things-he-believes-2016-10">Tesla's Elon Musk</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fabulous-life-of-billionaire-jack-dorsey-taking-square-public">Twitter's Jack Dorsey</a>, Gates was likable, relatable, nonthreatening.Gates continued to cultivate this personality — pledging to give away half his wealth through <a href="https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=199">The Giving Pledge</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-11565953">investing heavily in healthcare and addressing the climate crisis through the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</a> — as his money multiplied.But May reports about the tech founder in the wake of his pending divorce from his wife of 27 years offered a less flattering picture of the man. Reports from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/business/bill-melinda-gates-divorce-epstein.html">The New York Times</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-directors-decided-bill-gates-needed-to-leave-board-due-to-prior-relationship-with-staffer-11621205803">The Wall Street Journal</a> indicate Gates, at times, treated the workplace like a pickup spot, making advances toward women who worked for him.<h1>1. <a href="https://www.insider.com/japan-ghost-towns-population-vacancy-rates-akiya-banks-2021-6">Japan is trying to lure people into rural areas by selling $500 homes, but it's not enough to fix the country's 'ghost town' problem</a></h1>While the US<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-homeownership-driving-housing-shortage-prices-new-builds-2021-4"> faces a shortage of homes</a>, <keyword id="6355311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="japan" source="Orion">Japan</keyword> is experiencing an altogether different issue: There's a glut of unoccupied homes throughout the country's rural areas. <a href="https://www.stat.go.jp/data/jyutaku/2018/pdf/g_gaiyou.pdf">Japan's Housing and Land Survey</a>, conducted every five years, logged a record high of 8.49 million akiya in 2018.These abandoned houses have created "ghost villages" in Japan's rural prefectures where homes can neither be filled nor knocked down. In some areas, nearly one out of every five homes is empty. The government is offering incentives like $500 homes and tax breaks to entice residents to move from urban centers into rural areas like Wakayama, but cheap housing may not be enough to bridge the cultural divide and the bureaucratic difficulties that moving to a small town create.

Japan's ghost town problem, the bleak reality of 'Squid Game,' and how Vietnam destroyed its last paradise: our most popular stories from Asia

Come 2014 and former <keyword id="989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-tennis-player">Indian tennis player</keyword> <keyword id="6394569" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mahesh-Bhupathi">Mahesh Bhupathi</keyword> will reveal something very exciting for both <keyword id="6356028" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sports">sports</keyword> and <keyword id="6355515" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Business">business</keyword>. A proposed marriage between <keyword id="6355013" type="SPORT" weightage="100" keywordseo="tennis">tennis</keyword> and the world of business, International Premier Tennis League (<keyword id="1685851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="IPTL">IPTL</keyword>) aims to model itself after the grandiosity and market intelligence of other <keyword id="879680" type="SPORT" weightage="100" keywordseo="international-league">international league</keyword> sports. Businesswise, too, it makes sense. After all these years of hardcore sports that we have seen, the world has started looking at sports in a way that’s beyond the actual <keyword id="17101" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports-events">sports events</keyword>. 
 In a global village, we are well aware of the fact that sports events are no longer limited to <keyword id="756385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sporting-activities">sporting activities</keyword> alone. For a player, it is definitely about winning (if possible) some coveted events and competitions that are pitted to receive some hyped up <keyword id="36914" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Media-coverage">media coverage</keyword>. Then things move onto a different league, literally. <keyword id="65389" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sponsorship">Sponsorship</keyword> is part of a sportsperson’s life, if he dreams of making it big, nationally or internationally. Therefore, when business houses support <keyword id="1969519" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Budding-sportspersons">budding sportspersons</keyword>, the underlying message is never just encouragement or philanthropy. 
 With the grand success of the <keyword id="6354831" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Indian-Premier-League">Indian Premier League</keyword> (IPL) where cricket reached a new height and stirred up the kind of frenzy we had never seen before, other sports are just waiting to join the big league. Tennis and <keyword id="1226" type="SPORT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Golf">golf</keyword> are glamorous games as well, with a plethora of international events providing the much-needed exposure to sportspersons. And when a champion like <keyword id="39497" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Andy-Murray">Andy Murray</keyword> decides to entrust Bhupathi (one of his chief business managers) with the entire <keyword id="1969521" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Branding-exercise">branding exercise</keyword>, it won’t be wrong to surmise that tennis is just waiting to be ‘discovered as a brand’ in countries that are yet to witness its full potential from every aspect. 
 Bhupathi is a heady mix of sports and sheer business acumen – a rather uncommon and prized combination in the arena. As a winner of multiple <keyword id="6410539" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="doubles">doubles</keyword> and mixed double Grand Slam titles during the days when the media didn’t pay much attention to tennis, he had seen the world slowly take note of the business sense that sports made. The winners are already basking in <keyword id="1969522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Media-limelight">media limelight</keyword> for their achievements and this means instant familiarity with the viewers. 
 At his swanky office on Linking Road in upmarket Mumbai, Bhupathi sits to unravel the equation between <keyword id="1969517" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tennis-and-business">tennis and business</keyword>. Here, the sport will be packaged as entertainment and sold to the excitement-hungry crowds. An ideal content for the mass media would be up for grabs, sooner than later. 
 
What would it pack apart from excitement? The joy of watching the tennis stars live as they sweat it out on the courts. Right now, we don’t get to see too many of them. Players will be soon chosen through an auction, which is scheduled to take place before the Australian Open in January. And bidders, depending on their choice and capacity, can pick up the players across five price categories. 
 Players at the IPTL will be categorised based on their <keyword id="41681" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ranking">ranking</keyword>, popularity and potential. Not a single element that makes for the market would be left out while considering the categorisation! So who all will be there on whom you can feast your eyes? Of course some big names – both men and women – would be roped in to add zing to this project. Former tennis stars might be seen here too, whipping up some action on-court and bringing back the good old days of pure sport. 
 But what about the <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> behind this? For starters, Bhupathi says that there will be five-set matches lasting for three hours in all and teams of 6-10 players. He has also worked out a ballpark figure for a sports event of this stature and it is going to be around $4-10 million in franchise alone, including salaries of the players across the table. 
 Viewed as an elite <keyword id="5189" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="competition">competition</keyword> that will feature the world’s best through six franchisees across the nations, IPTL has surely raised high expectations and excitement among the tennis fraternity. 
 The potential of this project is immense. Going by world No. 1 <keyword id="55696" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Novak-Djokovic">Novak Djokovic</keyword>’s response, this plan is ‘revolutionary’ and Bhupathi is not among those who would want to see the excitement wane. Now that expectations are running high, he knows that he should get cracking with the plans at the earliest; else this can fall flat on the face. 
 
Curtain will go up on the IPTL in November 2014 or latest by December that year. Till then, Bhupathi and his team hope to keep up the excitement, starting with the bidders and holding events relating to the inauguration. 
 Interestingly, the event will be held at the hot seat of fashion and arts. <keyword id="106" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paris">Paris</keyword> has been chosen to play host to IPTL’s inaugural event. Now all ye tennis lovers, you know where you are going to be when the event takes place. Book your tickets, Now! 
 
Image: Indiatimes

International
Premier Tennis League: Will It Be An Ace Or Love?

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">AP Photo/Mark Garfinkel, PoolChristian Karl Gerhartsreiter, originally from Germany and who calls himself Clark Rockefeller, is lead by court officers into municipal court for a pre-trial hearing in Boston Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.</div></div></div>Editor's note: In the summer of 1998, the then-aspiring novelist Walter Kirn met and befriended a pecular man who called himself Clark Rockefeller. It turns out Rockefeller wasn't part of the famous clan at all and was, in fact, a con artist and a murderer. Here's what happened when Kirn went to see his former friend in jail, as explained in Kirn's new book "<a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Blood-Will-Out/">Blood Will Out: The True Story Of A Murderer, A Mystery, And A Masquerade</a>."
There weren't many men in the line outside the jail; mostly it was young women, scores of them, most of them with children, quite a few with babies. I wanted to tell them to run away, and fast, and remind them that moving toward danger was perverse. The men they were here to see weren't worth it, particularly not the boyfriends and the husbands. Ditch them while you still can, I wanted to say.
But what did I know? My errand this Sunday morning was a one-time thing and purely voluntary, experimental. Surprisingly, I was underdressed. Maybe a lot of the women had come from church, or maybe they were headed to church afterward, but they had on their finest. I was wearing a T-shirt. I thought it would help me blend in. I wasn't thinking straight. If you're free and you visit a prison, you don't blend in, and no one is looking at you anyway.
Our meeting started awkwardly. I hadn't seen him from the front for years, and here he was on display for me, framed in a window of plate glass or plastic, seated in a long row of other men in identical loose blue smocks that made them look like hospital orderlies. The heavy, beige, old-fashioned plastic phone receivers that allowed for conversation through the glass didn't switch on for a few minutes, forcing us to mouth inaudible greetings while gazing at each other from such close range that I could see light-colored, flecked irregularities in the iris of Clark's left eye. The proximity felt uncomfortably intimate, and the temptation to stare was irresistible, so I compensated with a broad smile that felt falser and fiercer by the second. To keep it fresh, I shifted my lips and cheeks. Clark approached the problem differently. He tilted his head up at a submissive angle and fixed me with a dreamy, unblinking look that seemed sweet at first, then mildly terrifying. The standoff grew absurd.
The planes and curves and hollows of his face became abstract, like a scaled-down Easter Island monolith, while my struggle to keep my own face meaningful felt animalistic and insane. Worse, a feeling of competition developed.
"You're my very first visitor," he said when the phones came on. He asked after my children, now a creepy courtesy, and then, with two other prisoners crowding him from their adjacent conversation stations, he pushed his pale forehead up against the glass and asked for my help finding a literary agent. His new novel, written in pencil while in prison, was eight hundred thousand words long, he told me, and covered the entire swath of European history between the end of World War One and the 1960s.
He outlined the story for me. It sounded boring, a monolith of insufferable pedantry born of unconscious aggression toward its readers, whoever Clark imagined them to be. I lied, and said I'd look into the agent thing. He seemed to believe me, which I found interesting. Pathological liars, I'd heard somewhere, could not be lied to, but I'd soon learn that the opposite was true, that they were avid consumers, not just producers.
I'd arrived with questions, endless questions, but I put off asking them, preferring to let him run. The scratched slab between us seemed to magnify and fix him, turning him into a specimen, an exhibit, and bringing out the cold researcher in me. Prison, he said, had finally freed him as a writer, both by forcing him to write by hand ("the interference of screen and keyboard" had cramped his imagination, he'd concluded) and by minimizing interruptions. He said he particularly liked composing sonnets, both Petrarchan and Elizabethan, and he asked if I'd send him a book on sonnet structure or, if a book were too expensive, I could print out an article from the Internet. I promised a book.
This seemed to energize him. He propped his hands under his chin and faced me squarely; the crow's-feet around his pink-rimmed eyes appeared to be packed with fine black dust or soot. Did I know of "a good one-volume Shakespeare in paperback?" Not offhand, I said, but I could find one. "Walter, that would be wonderful," he said. That's when his face changed, like a creature in a fairy tale. It softened, blurred, grew candle-lit, adoring, the face of a good little German boy at Christmas. "Truly," he said, "I would be forever grateful."
I pulled back from the trance. It helped that my right leg was numb; I must have been sitting tensely on my chair. Two spots down from me a teenage girl was pressing her squalling baby up to the glass, tilting it upright hospital-nursery style. I'd seen her in a kiosk in the waiting room swiping a credit card in a machine that transferred funds to inmates. I understood now: prison walls aren't solid. They're penetrable by persuasion, by attraction, which passes through them like gamma rays. The inmates beam their wills into the world, adjusting the intensities and wavelengths, tuning the dial until they get results.
That soft, glowing face Clark had summoned out of nowhere must have worked on someone else once, but when and on whom I didn't want to know. I resolved not to send the books; not a chance. His magic had to be thwarted, or it might spread.
It was time to ask questions. I started with the most general: Why had he spent his life deceiving people, and why should anyone believe him now?
"Consider me a drug addict," he said. "A drug addict who's recovered. Not literally, of course; I don't even drink coffee. But hiding and lying are just what addicts do."
The answer felt pat and tailored to its audience, me, the abstaining alcoholic, but I had to admire how quickly he'd come up with it. Not a pause, not a twitch, and full eye contact throughout. In what parallel, sped-up dimension did he perform his calculations and how did he send them so swiftly back to this one?
I asked him next about his art, his gorgeous collection of Motherwells and Rothkos. "Fakes," he said. "All fakes, Walter. But very good ones." He gave me the name of a man who, so he claimed, had pressed the paintings on him in the belief that their possession by a Rockefeller would provide them with "provenance" and allow them to be sold as genuine. He said the man was living in Peru now and that they'd met at an "Old Masters cocktail hour."
Then, from a hidden fold in his green prison smock, he produced a scrap of paper-tiny, the torn-off corner of a page-and a pencil stub barely long enough to hold. He wrote the man's name down and held it to the glass, a trick for bypassing the phones, which, he'd confided to me earlier, were bugged. Because I'd been forbidden to bring a notebook, I had to memorize the name, and I wondered why Clark was so eager for me to have it. Did he want me to contact the man? I cocked my head, inviting him to explain, in code if necessary.
Instead, he made another request of me. The paintings, along with all his other possessions-most notably, some "very nice old furniture" and "all Snooks's drawings"-were stored, he said, in a locker in Baltimore that he could no longer afford to pay the rent on. Would I be so kind as to keep them in Montana while he appealed his case? It wouldn't cost me anything; a few of the antiques were going to auction soon and he'd reimburse me from the proceeds. If I wished to, I could also sell the paintings. They were worthless in themselves, he said, but perhaps their status as "Clark Rockefellers" (he spoke the words flatly, without irony) would lend them appeal for a certain type of buyer. I might get two thousand dollars apiece for them. Or I could keep them. It was up to me. The main thing was Snooks's little drawings. And her toys. Would I think about it?
I said I would. I was humoring him; the whole idea was both infuriating and mad. Though maybe it was appropriately mad. As a souvenir of our relationship, a phony Rothko might be nice. I could hang the thing in my office above my desk, a totem, a trophy, a conversation piece. There were all kinds of closure, most of them illusory, but this might be the rare exception. The notion, once again, was growing on me. I had to stop it. I'd lost track of time. We only had thirty minutes and I still hadn't asked about the murder.
There seemed no point. I'd fantasized on the drive over that I might get a confession-headline news!-but now this seemed unlikely; Clark was still portraying the man I'd known, a patrician Lotos Club member, unceremoniously displaced. Also, I was shy. I'd never asked such a question of a person and wasn't certain I could form the words. This bothered me. It seemed cowardly and weak. But what bothered me more was that if I didn't ask, Clark would discern my weakness and might exploit it, in the psychic realm, if not the physical. Before today's visit this might have seemed absurd-an astral assault conducted through the ether-but now that we were head to head, possibly near enough to generate crackles of blue static, I worried. I'd erred in coming; I wasn't a materialist. My faith in glass partitions wasn't strong enough.
I blamed my years as a Mormon, a ghostly sect rife with otherworldly folklore-golden plates translated by second sight, plagues of crickets stopped by prayer-but I also blamed my mother's recent death, which had opened holes in my reality. I'd seen an unusual number of crows since losing her, messenger birds that appeared at Poe-like moments, when I was alone and she was on my mind. Symbolic spoked wheels kept turning up as well, in songs, in poems, in art. They seemed to be versions of the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, an ancient Native American rock altar located on a mountain in Wyoming, that I was heading off to visit the day I got the news of her collapse.
"Tell me about the murder."
There, I'd done it. I'd shown the devil I was brave.
"Oh, that," Clark said. "Well, there's not much I can say. I'm innocent. It wasn't me. That jury, you see, never liked me very much. They would have convicted me of anything. The Kennedy assassination. Anything. It was all a mistake. They'll have to overturn it. I'm absolutely confident they will."
"So who killed John Sohus?"
Out came the secret pencil. He didn't use it right away. First, he denigrated his attorneys, particularly Denner, who he said was too old and frail to practice law. He lowered his voice conspiratorially and leaned closer to the glass. "He may have had a stroke during the trial." The charge was horrible and patently false; the act of speaking it left a ratty ring around his mouth. His next target was Linda Sohus. She'd killed her husband, he said, and fled the country, probably to Mexico. "We've turned up some leads," he said. We. The pronoun fit. There were many of him, all sharing the same skull. The psychotic "we." He started writing. Block letters again, like on a ransom note. He held up the scrap of paper so I could read them:
"Occult Witch."
I spoke the words aloud, for the bugged phone. I wasn't supposed to, which was why I did it.
"You're a very good guesser," he said. "That's what she was."
We'd run out of drama but not out of time; the minutes must have subdivided themselves. He used this to his favor, turning off the nastiness and smoothing his way toward a less disgusting exit by talking about his hopes for an appeal and the chance that he might see his daughter again, somehow. He wrote her a letter every day, he said. He didn't send them, but someday she'd get all of them. It might be soon. The trial had been a farce. The verdict would be overturned.
"So this is all temporary?" I swept my hand around.
"Absolutely," he said. "A minor inconvenience."
I had another question, a writer's question, imprecise and difficult to phrase but essential, I felt, if I could just define it. "I'm curious how you see people," I said. "I'm curious what your career-your life, I mean, you know, succeeding as an impostor-has taught you about-"
"What?"
"Human nature, I guess."
"I really don't understand."
"I'm making it too complicated. What is it you look for in people? What's the key? The key to manipulating people?"
He almost laughed. "Too easy. That's too easy." Then nothing. A long, bored sigh. To make me beg. "Fine, but I want to hear it from the expert."
He liked this; it drew fresh black ink into his pupils.
"I think you know," he said.
"I'm asking you, though."
"Vanity, vanity, vanity," he said.
But it still wasn't over. I couldn't make it end. We talked about prison life. I asked about the food. He told me that the trick was insisting on eating kosher. Finally, right before the phones turned off-I still don't know how he timed it, but he did-he thanked me for coming and asked when I'd be back.
Excerpted from <a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Blood-Will-Out/">Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade</a> by Walter Kirn. Copyright © 2014 by Walter Kirn. With permission of the publisher, Liveright Publishing Corporation.

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