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Time of India
20-07-2025
- Time of India
Ludhiana firing linked to California gangster; 2 held, Rs 50 lakh extortion call probed
LUDHIANA: As Ludhiana rural police arrested two sharpshooters for firing at a hardware store owner at Rumi near Jagraon and suspected the involvement of a California-based gangster in the case, the police on Sunday confirmed that Pavittar Singh Batala has been named in the case. Police officials shared that Pavittar Singh, who is allegedly linked with Babbar Khalsa International and is wanted by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), was among eight arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of raids against an international terror network in the United States recently. On January 18 evening, Ludhiana rural police disclosed that they captured 23-year-old Nanak Ram of Anandana village in Sangrur and Deepu Singh of Chatha Govindpur, both accused of firing at Jatinder Singh , a hardware dealer at Rumi village near Jagraon, on July 5. SSP Ludhiana rural, Dr Ankur Gupta, confirmed that Pavittar Singh has been named as an accused in the case. He suggested that the caller, who called the store owner of Rumi two days after firing on him, introduced himself as Pavittar Singh Batala while making the extortion call. A police official among the investigators said that Pavittar Batala was booked under section 308 of BNS (extortion) around two days after the extortion call as the voice sounded to be his. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Up to 70% off | Shop Sale Libas Undo He added that in the call, the suspect is allegedly heard telling the shopkeeper that he got away this time but wouldn't be spared next time, and the caller demanded extortion money of Rs. 50 Lakhs. The police official further said that Pavittar Singh Batala will be questioned in the case once he is extradited to India. He added that as per reports, he was arrested in California on July 10 or 11, and on July 7, he allegedly made a WhatsApp call to the Rumi-based shopkeeper. The police official maintained that as per the preliminary probe, Pavittar Singh Batala might have hired two sharpshooters, arrested recently by Ludhiana rural police, through Serbia-based Lovepreet Singh Lovely, who belongs to Hariau Khurd in the Batala area. He added that they suspect the involvement of Rupinder Singh, a US-based brother-in-law of shopkeeper Jatinder Singh, from Tarewal in Moga, who blames the latter for his divorce from his sister. Police sources said that Rupinder is an NRI in the US and is a rich person with contacts. They added that Rupinder also faces allegations of giving a contract to contract killers for getting his brother-in-law Jatinder killed in 2019 and was also named in two more FIRs lodged by the shopkeeper and his family in January and July this year. Meanwhile, SSP Ludhiana rural said that one of the sharpshooters, Nanak Ram, has three cases against him, including a liquor peddling case. He added that police are scanning the records to determine whether the other accused, Deepu Singh, has a previous criminal history.
New Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Indian Express
Sunjay Kapur: Billionaire who generated a buzz both in life and death
For the Daily Mirror, it was Prince William's pal who was no more. For many news outlets in India, Sunjay Kapur's was the passing away of actresses Karisma Kapoor and Priya Sachdev's husband. For business journalists, it was the death of a tycoon worth $1.3 billion and whose company supplied key components to Tesla and Jaguar Land Rover. Put simply, 53-year-old Sunjay, an American national born in Michigan in 1971 to a Punjabi family, had done enough and more to grab headlines before he collapsed unexpectedly on a polo ground in London on June 12, 2025. His death would go on to be made all the more dramatic by the fact that he appeared to have allegedly swallowed a bee moments before his death. This triggered speculation that the bee had flown into his mouth and stung him, triggering a heart attack. Or was it instead a plain cardiac arrest that claimed his life? A highly sought-after post-mortem, which will provide clarity on the cause of the death, is awaited. Auto component tycoon whom even Elon Musk needed Before his untimely death, Kapur was best known for his leadership at Sona BLW Precision Forgings (Sona Comstar). Sunjay took over the business after the death of his father, Surinder Kapur, the founder of the Gurgaon-headquartered Sona Group in 2015. Under his guidance, the company expanded its overseas presence and grew into a global supplier for the world's biggest automakers. Even Elon Musk came calling as we had mentioned before. Sona has 11 manufacturing and assembly plants spread across India, China, Mexico, and the USA. India serves as the manufacturing hub, while the rest are the final assembly and finishing plants. Kapur, who became the managing director of the company in 2015, spearheaded the expansion into Electric Vehicle (EV) components. In ten years, Sona Comstar has grown into one of world's largest producers of EV traction motor components by volume. In 2021, he led the company through a successful IPO. Sona, under his leadership, also went on to acquire a 54% stake in Serbia-based Novelic for 40.5 million euro and took over Railway Equipment Division from Escorts Kubota. Kapur also served as the President of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) and played a key role in steering the Indian auto component industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. While Kapur was hailed as a visionary for driving Sona Comstar's shift toward EV technology, his leadership faced turbulence. Reports cited clashes with board members over strategy, with some stakeholders criticising his aggressive expansion approach. Tumultuous personal life But what grabbed the headlines here in India was Kapur's tumultuous personal life, particularly his high-profile divorce from actress Karisma Kapoor. The businessman was married three times. He first got into the public eye after tying the knot with Hindi film actress Karisma Kapoor in 2003 in a star-studded ceremony. The couple had two children, Samaira and Kiaan, before they filed for mutual divorce in 2016. Their separation turned into a sour legal battle, with allegations of infidelity, financial disputes, and custody fights. The hostility between the two families was such that Karisma's father and actor Randhir Kapoor called Sunjay Kapur "a third-class man" and stressed he never wanted his daughter to marry him. Before Karisma, Sunjay was married to designer Nandita Mahtani. In 2017, he married former model and actress Priya Sachdev. This marriage also grabbed eyeballs as Priya was earlier married to Vikram Chatwal, the son of Sant Singh Chatwal, an Indian American businessman and founder of the Dream Hotel Group. With Priya, Sunjay has a son, Azarias, and he had also adopted her daughter, Safira Chatwal, from her previous marriage. In the midst of all this, Kapur also found the energy to indulge his passion for polo—right till the end. He was a known figure in the UK's elite polo circles, and played with Prince William and other members of the British royal family. It was during a polo appearance in the Cartier Trophy semi-finals at the Guards Polo Club in England that Sunjay reportedly said "I've swallowed something" before falling one last time. His "tireless enthusiasm", as his polo friends put it, will be missed on the grounds and beyond.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Milos Kerkez 'announces' Liverpool move as Florian Wirtz flies in for medical
Milos Kerkez has jumped the gun and seemingly announced his move to Liverpool. The left-back is expected to leave Bournemouth for Anfield in the coming days in a deal, with both clubs in talks over a deal worth at least £40million. Advertisement It is set to be a busy week for Liverpool, who are set to welcome Florian Wirtz to their Melwood training ground to complete a medical ahead of a club-record-smashing £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen. Kerkez has been tipped as the long-term successor to Andy Robertson, who turned 31 years old in March and is now attracting interest from Atletico Madrid in Spain. All smiles: Milos Kerkez is expected to join Liverpool (Getty Images) Talks between the two clubs are reportedly at an advanced stage, and there is a hope an agreement over a deal will be reached this week. But, at this stage, Kerkez remains a Cherries player. But that has not stopped him greeting his soon-to-be-new fans. Speaking on a live stream with a Serbia-based Liverpool supporters group, the Bournemouth full-back reportedly said: "Hi! Greetings to all Liverpool fans." Advertisement He was also pictured holding up a flag of the Liverpool supporter group. One fan replied with: 'A legend already. He love us (sic).' Another added: 'He's announced himself.' Another support mused that 'he must have signed his contract because these no way he would risk putting the transfer at risk because he couldn't keep his mouth closed (sic.)' One concerned fan offered: 'I hope Bournemouth fans don't get upset with this.... I can imagine the rage if it were Trent ... Except this guy has already signed.' Bournemouth have already signed Kerkez's replacement, announcing the £14.5m signing of Adrien Truffert from Rennes earlier this week. Kerkez would seemingly replace Robertson as first-choice left-back, with Kostas Tsimikas remaining as manager Arne Slot's back-up option.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Time of India
Who was Tijana Radonjic? A model who died due to panic attack while Parasailing in Adriatic Sea in Budva
Tijana Radonjic dies at 19: There has been much discussion and worry since the untimely death of 19-year-old Serbian model Tijana Radonjic during a parasailing shot in Budva, Montenegro. Used to advertise a nearby parasailing business, Radonjic allegedly experienced a panic attack in midair, unbuckling her safety gear and plummeting 50 meters into the Adriatic Sea. Witnesses remember her yelling, "Put me down," just before the deadly plunge, and the disturbing video shows her frantically trying to take off her equipment. Her family contests allegations that she was the cause of her death, while the parasailing firm maintains that she received the appropriate training and displayed no anxiety before. This tragedy brings up important issues regarding adventure sports safety procedures and promotional activities' obligations. Who was Tijana Radonjic? Tijana Radonjic was a 19-year-old Novi Sad, Serbia-based model and social media influencer. She was supposedly taking part in a promotional shot for a local adventure company when she unfortunately died in a parasailing tragedy in Budva, Montenegro. Radonjic seemed to have a panic episode throughout the flight, unbuckling her safety strap in midair. She dropped around 150 feet into the Adriatic Sea, even though she had received pre-flight training and had not previously displayed any signs of concern. Her body was discovered by emergency personnel, and investigators are now looking into the incident's circumstances, including equipment inspections and autopsy reports. Her family has demanded a full investigation and denied allegations that she was to blame for her passing. How did she die at the age of 19? Horribly life lost for a tiktok tiktoker Tijana Radonjić died this week while attempting to take a daring TikTok video by taking off her parasailing harness in a bikini 150ft above the water. On May 28, she was contracted to appear in a short film. She had never heard of parasailing before the film shoot, in which she was supposed to fly over the Budva River in a bikini while being towed by the boat. The purpose of the photo shoot was to help an undisclosed company in Budva, Montenegro, increase their business before the tourist season. As she was hooked into her harness and given the safety procedures, Tijana looked happy and composed in the terrifying video. Witnesses, however, noted a sharp shift in her demeanour after the parasail rose 150 feet above the Adriatic Sea. According to The Mirror US, panic broke out as Tijana started furiously tugging at her safety harness and life jacket. She eventually unfastened her waist belt and tried to squirm away despite the dangerous height. Also Read: Who is Ahaan Panday? Know about his debut in YRF's Saiyaara, age, family, career, and more Family reacted to Tijana's death Mirko Krdzic, the company's owner, expressed his sympathies and said he was "sorry" for the model's passing. He also expressed his desire to meet the model's parents. "We are all in shock following the accident that occurred," he stated. I'm not entirely sure what transpired. "She did not exhibit any fear of flying; she received training, and then the tragedy occurred," he continued. The equipment is undergoing technical checks, and the autopsy's findings are still pending. According to sources, Tijana's family has strongly denied allegations that she caused her death. "You were brave to try to save your young life, but unfortunately, you didn't succeed," a family member wrote on social media in an attempt to refute the narrative. Police and safety officials are investigating the incident. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How college basketball's wave of European imports rose from a recruiting sea change
Miško Ražnatović went to his first Final Four in April. A few years ago, the trip to college basketball's ultimate networking event would have been a waste of time for the agent of Nikola Jokić; most of the young players Ražnatović represents would never have considered coming from overseas to play for a university in the United States. But over four days in San Antonio, he had 70 meetings. Next season Ražnatović will likely represent between 35 and 50 college players. Advertisement '(Ražnatović) used to not even pick up the phone for the NCAA before,' said Dražen Zlovarić, a former college player and coach who is the director of North American basketball for BeoBasket, the Serbia-based agency Ražnatović runs. 'It's basically fair game for everybody now. Like the guys that you never think would come to college are actually coming to college.' The reason is obvious: Money. College basketball's top talents will earn seven-figure salaries next season, and most of the European players who are rushing over the Atlantic to cash in will be leaving behind five-figure salaries. 'They can make in one season what they can make in half of their career by going to college,' said Avi Even, the former sports director for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. who recently became the director of basketball operations for the overseas basketball agency Octagon Europe. 'So there's no reason for them to stay here.' Programs like Gonzaga, Davidson and Saint Mary's recruit internationally on an annual basis and have carved out a niche in college basketball's talent market over the past few decades. In recent years, more schools have explored their options overseas, but it was still difficult to convince the best prospects — particularly those connected to teams in the EuroLeague, the continent's highest level of competition — to leave. The traditional route for these players has been to start with a professional franchise's youth program at an early age. The franchises employ coaches to work with those players, often house and feed them in their teenage years and see the payoff when they eventually play for the top team. But in the past 18 months, permissive NCAA eligibility rulings, opportunistic agents and rising pools of name, image and likeness money have combined to open the floodgates. Advertisement International prospects from some of the top professional leagues in the world are about to become household names at preseason Top 25 programs like Louisville, Kentucky and Purdue. Ražnatović will represent four players on Illinois' roster alone, including 22-year-old Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrović, who was an MVP candidate in the Adriatic League playing for KK Mega Basket, the professional club owned by Raznatović's agency. The result is an increasingly global flavor to college basketball that figures to be even more noticeable in 2025-26. 'Name the five best players in the NBA, and look where they're from,' Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. 'I just think that we continue to follow that path, the NBA path, and then it trickles down.' 'What would Luka (Dončić) have done as an 18-year-old given the opportunities that would be presented to him now?' Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. 'Would he be coming and playing a year of college? Who knows?' As an assistant at Gonzaga in the summer of 2014, Tommy Lloyd got a message from the brother of Lithuanian freshman Domantas Sabonis, asking for wire information so that the family could send money to pay for Sabonis' rent. 'No, no guys,' Lloyd remembered saying. 'He's on scholarship. He's on a full ride.' Housing would be covered. The players who came to play college basketball in the United States then had different priorities. Sabonis was an outlier. Because of his family's wealth — his father, Arvydas, is one of the greatest international players ever and played seven seasons in the NBA — Sabonis had the luxury of taking a path where money wasn't a determining factor. Even when the NCAA loosened its restrictions on NIL rights in 2021, there was some uncertainty on how international prospects would benefit from the opportunity to make money. The F-1 student visa used by many college athletes coming from abroad allows international students to study in the U.S., but they cannot work off campus. Schools like Kentucky found workarounds: 2022 national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe fulfilled NIL deals his visa wouldn't allow while off of American soil. International players can also make money by licensing their NIL rights to their schools. Advertisement Another uncertainty concerned whether players had lost their amateur status under the terms of their relationship with professional clubs in European leagues. To maintain NCAA eligibility, players can only have received 'actual and necessary expenses' — lodging, travel, meals, etc. — and nothing further from teams they played for prior to college. Most coaches would have been hesitant to recruit a player like Croatian center Zvonimir Ivišić, who started playing professionally at 16 and enrolled two years ago at Kentucky. 'He was really the guy that opened up the floodgates because nobody thought it was really possible,' Zlovarić said of Ivišić, who didn't get cleared to play until the 17th game of the 2023-24 season. 'After that, man, it was like everybody wanted to come over.' And then there was the belief that college basketball wasn't the best pathway for top international players' development. Phillip Parun, an agent for Octagon, has often posed the question to college coaches: Which European players went to college and then made the NBA? He can list most of the recent examples off the top of his head — Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen, Svi Mykhailiuk, the Wagner brothers, Jeremy Sochan, Killian Tillie. Now compare that to the number of international players selected in the last 10 NBA Drafts who did not go the college route: 92. (Thirty-four of those players have yet to play a minute in the NBA.) Valentin Le Clezio, an agent with Wasserman, says it's still best for players who are a year or two away from getting drafted to stay abroad. 'College coaches are the best liars on the planet, so you always want to minimize the risk,' Le Clezio said. But that line of thinking could change if imports enjoy the kind of success that Kasparas Jakučionis and Egor Demin just experienced in their one-and-done college seasons. Jakučionis played with FC Barcelona's second team last year, appearing in just one EuroLeague game for the club's top team. After earning second-team All-Big Ten honors at Illinois, he's projected to be a lottery pick this June. Demin starred for Real Madrid's Under-18 team in 2023-24. After one year at BYU, he's also projected to go in the first round. Advertisement Le Clezio estimates that between 60 to 80 college programs were represented at the Under-18 European Championships last summer. 'When you watch a game before (at those events), there was only one or two guys on each team that were high-major players that were going to go to college,' Michigan coach Dusty May said. 'Now the entire team is open to college if the situation's right.' Underwood said Illinois keeps a scouting database with just about every player in every age group overseas. 'Now with the money, everybody has interest,' Le Clezio said. 'Everybody feels like we can get the best kids here.' Relationships still matter, but NIL offers can close the gap, and international players do not care as much about a school's name recognition. 'A lot of times over here, some guys are a little scatterbrained on what's important to them, whether it's style of play, location, whatever,' said Florida coach Todd Golden, who just won the national championship with a starting power forward from Australia, a Nigerian center and a Slovenian guard coming off the bench. 'Whereas (international) guys are coming over strictly to focus on basketball and being part of a program where they feel like they can grow and get better. There's a little less of bells and whistles in their recruiting process.' Petrović and David Mirkovic didn't even visit Illinois before committing. Underwood was in Serbia last week watching Petrović play live for the first time. As the college option becomes more enticing, pro teams abroad feel mostly helpless in the fight to retain talent. EuroLeague sports directors — the analog to general managers in American sports — are frustrated to be losing rotation players to the college ranks. Some of these breakups have been very public. Dame Sarr, who was in the rotation for FC Barcelona, one of the top clubs in Europe, traveled to the Nike Hoops Summit in Portland last month without his club's approval. Sarr and FC Barcelona eventually agreed to part ways, and he's expected to eventually sign with a college team. (He has long been linked with Duke and recently visited Kansas.) Advertisement Other recruitments are happening in the shadows. Take Elias Rapieque, a 21-year-old forward for Alba Berlin who grew up playing for its junior team, averaged 15 minutes per game during EuroLeague play this year and is currently helping Alba Berlin try to qualify for the Basketball Bundesliga playoffs. Alba Berlin sports director Himar Ojeda says he found out during the middle of this season that Rapieque was being recruited by colleges. 'No matter how much I like the youngest guy and how much I'm willing to play him, it's unrealistic that I can pay this guy nothing close by far. By far!' Ojeda said. 'So there's no way we can compete. No one can do it.' Bringing some of the best young international talent to college basketball is great for college basketball, but is it good for the overall health of the game worldwide? Similar to NIL and the transfer portal, this is a development the NCAA wasn't exactly ready for. As far back as February 2024, NCAA officials, conference commissioners, USA Basketball and representatives from FIBA have discussed how to create a clearer transaction process for players who are leaving teams in Europe to come play college basketball. In the current framework, most players are able to get out of their contract because they can say they're leaving for academic reasons. 'The reality is they're not going there for academic reasons; they're going because they will get a nice chunk of money on top of a good basketball development,' says Thorsten Leibenath, the sports director for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany. It's been a disruption to the system for these professional franchises, which use their youth programs to develop their own talent. Omer Mayer, an 18-year-old guard from Tel Aviv, Israel, was one of those players. Mayer was the best young prospect in Maccabi Tel Aviv's system, who started in the youth program when he was 12 and played in EuroLeague games each of the last three seasons. Even, the club's former sports director, says Mayer was the 'next face of the club' — but last month he committed to Purdue. Had Mayer left for another club in Europe or stayed with Maccabi Tel Aviv and eventually been drafted, his next club would have been required to pay Maccabi Tel Aviv for his transfer. The current rate for an NBA franchise is $875,000. Some franchises will choose to wait out a player's contract overseas so that it's not required to pay the buyout, a 'draft and stash' tactic especially popular for second-round picks. Mayer was able to get out of his contract to go to Purdue by paying a small buyout, the amount of which was added to his agreed-upon amount with Purdue's collective. If he does one day get drafted, Maccabi Tel Aviv will not receive a dime. Advertisement 'This is where European teams struggle,' Leibenath said. 'And this is where you would have to ask the question, why do we do this if we continue to not get any kind of revenue out of that or at least compensation? There's nothing in it for us.' Parun has proposed what he thinks could be the solution: The international club loans their players out, retains their rights and gets a small percentage of a player's earnings while on loan, a system similar to the one soccer has internationally. Leibenath believes FIBA needs to be involved. 'In my eyes colleges nowadays are run like pro teams,' Leibenath said. 'They pay their players like pro teams. They make revenue like pro teams. If you consider them pro teams, it would make life a lot easier.' It would also benefit everyone involved if the NCAA would adjust the wording of its requirement that only amateurs are eligible. As it stands, the organization has found policing the gray area difficult. 'People know now I think even more so than they did obviously two or three or five years ago, if you can produce documentation that only shows that an athlete only received actual necessary expenses, that's basically all you need,' said a former NCAA employee, given anonymity so he could speak with candor on how the process really works. 'If there's no other conflicting materials or anyone that can go on the record that has any type of real evidence to show that the club did anything improper, then it's just a matter of time getting through the system that that kid is eligible.' Without subpoena power, the NCAA is rendered helpless in these cases. And why even try when college basketball players are now making money like professionals? 'Five years ago, none of these guys were getting eligible,' McDermott said. 'There was no chance, but because of everything that's happened in our sport and in college athletics, it's really hard to stand firm I think on some of those reasons why guys wouldn't be eligible that have signed pro contracts.' Advertisement The new challenge: How to determine how much college eligibility these players have. The current guide is that a player's year in school is determined by his graduation date. Once a prospect overseas graduates high school, he has a gap year and then he must start studying as his eligibility clock begins. Creighton's Fedor Zugic, for instance, joined the Jays last year as a 21-year-old and was ruled a college senior because he had more than one gap year due to some commitments with his national team; he has filed for another year of eligibility. Purdue coach Matt Painter, who has served on the NCAA's oversight committee and the National Association of Basketball Coaches board, sees an easy solution to the eligibility side. He has recommended to the NCAA that anyone college-aged should be eligible. 'Even if they've been a pro and they've signed, who cares now?' Painter said. 'They're all pros. Everybody's getting paid in name, image and likeness. So what's the difference in having a contract overseas?' Lloyd is one of the experts in this field, because he's been recruiting overseas for multiple decades, first as an assistant at Gonzaga and now as the head coach at Arizona. At both places, he's had players who are immediately successful and some who need a year or two to adjust. Rui Hachimura, for instance, arrived from Japan and played only 4.6 minutes per game as a freshman at Gonzaga. As a junior, he was a second-team All-American and went ninth in the 2019 NBA Draft. 'I think the key to making it work, like anything, is being 100 percent committed,' Lloyd said. 'Understanding that it's not always going to work. You can't take one shot, because there's lots of reasons kids don't work out.' The 2025-26 season could be an inflection point for a lot of college coaches, who will either try to get in on the trend if it works out for the schools at its forefront or tread carefully because of high-profile misses. Advertisement Zlovarić is betting on the former. Last month, he was on the stage with Florida after the Gators won the national championship with one of their clients, Urban Klavzar, on the roster. Klavzar was just a backup, averaging 3.2 points per game, but Alex Condon, from Australia, was a key starter. He trained at the NBA Global Academy, which has long been sending some of its best players to American college. But most of the top Europeans have been off-limits, and the real eye-opener will be when a team wins a national title with an NBA-bound European prospect as one of its stars. 'That's going to happen next year, or if not next year, it is gonna happen after that,' Zlovarić says. '(Recruiting) Europeans is becoming mainstream. And the whole mindset is shifting where now, like, 'Hey, why would I just only look at a St. John's transfer if there is a guy out there that used to not be available but is available to me now and he's just as good, if not better? Why would I not go get it?' 'Up until this point, the most talented went to the draft in the NBA, and the second tier, they went to EuroLeague and somewhere in Europe. But now it's completely changed, obviously, in the approach. Because now, like everybody, we are 100 percent open.'
