News in Short

• Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has opted out of the Indian Premier League 2020 title sponsorship after a disagreement with India’s cricket board over a discount on the sponsorship fee.
• Top officials in the Board of Control for Cricket in India told ET that Vivo had been looking for a reduction in the sponsorship sum due to the Covid-19 disruption.
• The move came less than 48 hours after the IPL governing council announced that all the sponsors of the league would be retained. Officials said Vivo executives had been trying to get some clarity on IPL since June, but BCCI did not pay any attention.
• Once it was clear that the league would not be played in India, Vivo decided to invoke clauses of their agreement that allow it to renegotiate the deal if IPL moves out of the country.

• France's homecare workers will be granted Covid-19 bonuses under a €160 million package unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron.
• Macron said the French state would put up €80 million and local governments the other half of the package.
• The announcement comes two months after the government issued decrees enacting exceptional bonuses of €1,000 to €1,500 for hospital staff and nursing home workers.
• Last month, unions signed up to a deal giving over €8 billion in pay rises for health workers, with the government admitting the move was overdue in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

• A massive explosion rocked Beirut, flattening much of the city's port, damaging buildings across the capital, and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.
• The blast struck with the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake and it was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus more than 200 kilometres (180 miles) across the Mediterranean.
• The cause of the blast was not immediately known, but initial reports suggested a fire had detonated a warehouse at the port. The explosive such as Sodium and Ammonium nitrate are alleged to have been detonated.

• Theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi, who revolutionised Indian theatre and was the longest-serving director of the National School of Drama, passed away at the age of 94.
• Alkazi was remembered for his contribution towards modern Indian theatre, including bringing in technical aspects of the craft and making the NSD the premier training institute for theatre.
• In his tenure as director of NSD from 1962 to 1977, he mentored students who went on to become great actors, including Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid a foundation stone for the construction of Ram temple at Ram Janmabhoomi site that's been at the center of the country's most politically and culturally divisive land dispute.
• For decades, Hindu groups have campaigned for a temple to Lord Ram be built at the site where a 16th-century mosque stood before it was demolished in 1992.
• After years of legal battles, the Supreme Court in November 2019 granted Hindu groups permission to build the Ram Temple at the centuries-old Ayodhya holy site, effectively ending the dispute.