Royal Western India Turf Club Chair VIVEK JAIN returned "after he was voted with the highest number of votes (897) along with his panel of five candidates who were also elected to the managing committee of the Club," at the 98th Annual General Meeting held Tuesday (THE HINDU, 12/18). ... India's first World Cup winning cricket captain, KAPIL DEV, ''will be conferred the Col C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award" for '13 at the annual Board of Control for Cricket in India awards ceremony. One of the "greatest all-rounders of all-time," Dev played 131 Tests for India, taking 434 wickets. He was the first player to complete 5,000 runs and 400 wickets in Tests (PTI, 12/18). ... India cricketer SACHIN TENDULKAR "is the most searched sportsperson and also features among the top-10 most searched Indian personalities of 2013, according to Google." Besides Tendulkar, the other most searched sportspersons are athlete MILKHA SINGH, India cricket skipper MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI, LIONEL MESSI, ROGER FEDERER, SANIA MIRZA, RAHUL DRAVID, CHRIS GAYLE, RAVINDRA JADEJA and SAINA NEHWAL (IANS, 12/18). ... Finnish driver KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN "will be hearing a new voice over the team radio next season" after Ferrari said on Tuesday that Italian ANTONIO SPAGNOLO "would be race engineer to the returning 2007 world champion." Ferrari's announcement means change for Britain's ROB SMEDLEY, "a familiar voice to television viewers worldwide" as race engineer to Raikkonen's Ferrari predecessor FELIPE MASSA. Massa has moved to Williams and Smedley could join him there in a new technical role, "although he has also been linked with McLaren" (REUTERS, 12/17). ... Former wife of Beatle PAUL MCCARTNEY, HEATHER MILLS, has "withdrawn from contention to ski at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi after an issue with her adaptive equipment." Mills "had demonstrated potential as a member of the British Disabled Ski Team, but has now opted to skip the Games" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/18). ... UAE Arabian Gulf League side Al Ahli Manager COSMIN OLAROIU "has the option of appealing his six-month ban" with FIFA or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On Monday, the Romanian was handed a six-month ban and fined Dh 100,000 ($27,226) by the FA’s arbitration panel over his "abrupt summer switch from Al Ain to Al Ahli" (THE NATIONAL, 12/17). ... The Int'l Cycling Union has suspended MICHAEL ROGERS due to a failed drug test at the Japan Cup Cycle Race on Oct. 20 (UCI).
