Civil defence volunteers to be re-engaged for anti-pollution measures from this week: Delhi CM
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Sunday announced that the deployment of 10,000 civil defence volunteers removed as bus marshals last year will begin in the next 2-4 days to assist various agencies fighting air pollution.
A detailed proposal for their permanent engagement will also be sent for approval of the Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena within a week, she said at a press conference here.
The announcements come a day after the LG wrote to Atishi, saying despite his order to immediately reappoint the civil defence volunteers (CDV), he was yet to receive a proposal in this regard.
"Of course, you and your party leaders may continue to do politics of taking credit for their reinstatement, but any more delay in the welfare of these economically weaker and helpless people is not right in any way," Saxena said in his letter.
Around 10,000 CDVs working as marshals in public buses in Delhi were removed from their posts in November last year after objections were raised by the revenue and finance departments.
At the press meet, the Delhi chief minister said that in a meeting last week, the CDVs were already assigned for implementation of various anti-pollution measures undertaken by different agencies.
"Their call out will begin in next 2-4 days," she said.
Atishi slammed the BJP, saying it should stop its "dirty politics" over the issue. She claimed the saffron party would make efforts to block the AAP government's proposal to the LG for the permanent engagement of CDVs.
She hit out at the BJP whose Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva warned that the party would 'gherao' the chief minister if a proposal for the re-appointment of bus marshals was not sent to the LG by Sunday evening.
"I want to ask the BJP leaders to stop their dirty politics on the bus marshal issue. First, their salaries were stopped in April last year and finally they were removed in October, 2023 due to BJP's conspiracy," she charged.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders extended full support to the CDVs after their salaries were stopped and they were ultimately removed from their jobs, she claimed.
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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.
