Congress slams govt on appointing officers as 'rath prabhari'
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday accused the government of appointing officers of the ranks of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary as "rath prabhari" and wondered how could officers be used to indulge in "political propaganda".
"How can civil servants be ordered to do political propaganda for a government going into elections? IAS officers will be 'Rath Prabharis'," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said on X.
He shared on X an order dated October 18 of the Department of Revenue in the finance ministry regarding the nomination of officers of the ranks of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary pertaining to various services to be deployed as "rath prabhari" (special officers) in each of the 765 districts in the country, covering 2.69 lakh gram panchayats.
"This is Narendra's Another Megalomaniac Order," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, while sharing Khera's post and hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The order mentioned an internal order of the agriculture secretary of October 14 regarding showcasing or celebrating the achievements of the last nine years of the Modi government through the "Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra" proposed to be organised across the country for disseminating information, awareness and extending services at the gram panchayat level from November 20 to January 25.
"In order to coordinate for the preparations, planning, execution, monitoring of the Rath Yatra, they have decided to deploy joint secretaries/director/deputy secretaries of Government of India as Rath Prabharis (special officer)," the order read.
Modi has set a target of six months to ensure the full saturation of his government's welfare schemes, official sources said on Saturday.
The government, they said, will launch a mega drive -- Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra -- across all 2.7 lakh panchayats in the country to reach out to the beneficiaries and enrol them.
The sources added that the exercise will begin after Diwali next month and continue for several weeks.
Specially-fitted "raths" (chariots) will reach the beneficiaries across the country, they said.
At a recent cabinet meeting, the prime minister exhorted his colleagues to work harder and ensure that the deserving beneficiaries who have still not received the benefits of welfare schemes are reached out to faster, they said.
During a meeting with top officials, Modi underlined the need to expedite the
saturation of welfare schemes.
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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.
