Cold wave persists across Odisha; IMD forecasts fog for next five days
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Several parts of Odisha has been reel under cold wave conditions with mercury plummeting to below 10 degrees Celsius mark at 11 places on Friday.
Koraput town in south Odisha was the coldest place in the state for the day with 4.8 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature was 6.3 degrees Celsius at Semiliguda in Koraput district, according to a weather bulletin of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Daringbadi town of Kandhamal district recorded a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius. It was followed by Jharsuguda (7.2 degrees C), Phulbani (7.5 degrees C), G Udayagiri (7.8 degrees C), Rourkela (8 degrees C), Kirei (8.3 degrees C), Nabarangpur (8.5 degrees C), Sundargarh (9 degrees C), and Bhawanipatna (9.8 degrees C).
The night temperature in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Cuttack was 14.6 degrees C and 12.8 degrees C, respectively, on Thursday night.
The cold condition is expected to continue in the state as there will be no large change in the night temperature during the next four days. Then the night temperature would rise gradually, said Manorama Mohanty, director of IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre.
Shallow to moderate fog would occur during morning hours at isolated pockets in several districts during the next five days, she said.
Forecasting dense fog in districts of Kandhamal, Koraput, Kalahandi & Nayagarh on Saturday early morning, the weather office has issued “yellow warning” (be updated) for these districts.
Similarly, yellow warning has been issued for Kandhamal, Koraput, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul & Khurda districts for Sunday morning.
The people in Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts would experience dense fog on December 29 & 30 while a dense fog warning has been issued for Balasore and Gajapati districts for December 31.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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
===================
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.
