A street vendor who donated sacks of new clothes for flood-hit people
Kochi: Noushad did not think twice while opening the sealed bundles of new clothes, kept in his godown for Eid sale, and donate it to the distressed people, who are living in relief camps after losing everything in the floods and massive landslides in north Kerala.
He himself stuffed a lion's share of his fresh apparel stocked in huge carry bags and took them on his head to the parked vehicles, to be taken to the relief camps.
Noushad, a street vendor in Kochi, had donated nearly 10 sacks of new clothes kept for festival sale, when a group of volunteers approached him for donation to help people living in relief camps on Sunday, the eve of Eid.
At a time when majority of people prefer to give used clothes and only a portion of their savings to help the needy, Noushad has donated almost all his earnings to bring a smile on the faces of people whom he has neither met nor known, thus showcasing a model of compassion and brotherhood.
The video of the vendor, in his 40s, busy packing the clothes in a narrow godown and transporting them to the vehicles, along with the volunteers, has gone viral on social media.
When Noushad started stuffing new clothes in carry bags, volunteers cautioned him that he was giving away too much and it might effect his festival sales.
"When we depart from this world, we cannot carry anything... my profit is to help the needy... isn't this the way we should celebrate Eid? My Eid is like this...," a smiling Naushad said. He said he was certain the clothes donated would reach to the affected people.
"It is meant for the poor people. I am not bothered about profit or loss", he added.
Film and theatre artist, Rajesh Sharma, who was among the volunteers, posted a video of the noble vendor on Facebook, which had been viewed and shared by a large number of people.
A number of people including state PWD minister G Sudhakaran, Ernakulam district Collector S Suhas and actor Asif Ali have lavished praise on the vendor's selfless act.
State Health Minister K K Shylaja extended her Eid greetings on the social media sharing Noushad's photo and words. The monsoon fury has so far claimed 76 lives and displaced over 2.7 lakh people in the southern state.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
