CM 'surprised' over non-inclusion of Punjab in list for flood-situation assessment
Chandigarh, Aug 24: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday expressed surprise over Punjab not being included in the list of states identified for on-the-spot assessment of flood situation by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
He sought immediate inclusion of Punjab in the list as the state has been hit by floods.
The Centre has listed 11 states for IMCT review of the flood damage but Punjab does not find mention in it, even though the state has witnessed large-scale flooding in many areas following unprecedented rains.
The chief minister urged Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately rectify it.
"Surprised on the exclusion of Punjab from the list of states to be visited by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team to assess losses in flood-affected areas in different states. Request HM @AmitShah ji to direct the central team to visit Punjab to assess the huge losses," Singh tweeted.
The IMCT was constituted by the Home Ministry following a decision taken at a high-level committee meeting on August 19.
The panel had decided to break away from the past practice of waiting for the affected state to submit a memorandum seeking central assessment.
The IMCT has been mandated to visit Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala to make final recommendations to the Centre for allocation of flood assistance to the flood-ravaged states.
Singh said he had already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a special flood relief package of Rs 1,000 crore for compensating the losses resulting from floods in the state.
It is estimated, as per initial calculations, that the state has suffered damage worth Rs 1,700 crore.
Singh, who was extensively touring the affected areas, had also urged the prime minister to instruct authorities to waive crop loans availed by affected farmers from banks/financial institutions during the current cropping season.
Recent rains and release of excess water from Bhakra dam to Sutlej river had caused extensive damage to standing crops and had inundated residential areas in several districts including Jalandhar, Kpaurthala, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Rupnagar and Kapurthala.
Meanwhile, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana K P Singh spent the day overseeing the relief and rescue operations in Doaba and Malwa.
Sarkaria said the work of plugging a 175 feet-wide breach near Bholewal village in Ludhiana and a 380 feet-wide breach at Meowal village in Jalandhar would be completed by Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Bajwa donated one month's salary to the CM Relief Fund.
Additional Chief Secretary Vishavjeet Khanna said in Jalandhar that the state government would provide free high-quality wheat seeds to the affected farmers for the upcoming Rabi season.
Khanna, who visited the flood-hit villages in Jalandhar, said the basic motive was to extend a helping hand to the farmers in this hour of crisis.
He said they would be provided high yielding varieties of seed as apart from their crops the flood water also destroyed the seeds.
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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.
