Country facing financial emergency-like situation: Congress
New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday expressed concern over what it called the "slowdown" of economy and said the country is facing a situation like that of a "financial emergency".
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi accused the BJP of diverting the people's attention from its failures. Expressing concern over the economic slowdown, Singhvi said the situation is like that of a "financial emergency".
He raised the issue of slowdown in automobile sector.
The trend of the slowdown in the automobile industry did not come all of a sudden. The 31 per cent fall in sales is also the ninth straight drop in monthly passenger vehicle sales, Singhvi said.
"Sales have fallen in 12 out of 13 months since July 2018, underscoring the sharp slowdown in the world's fourth largest automobile market," Singhvi said at a press conference.
He also raised the issues of crashing stock exchange and rising fiscal deficit.
The other issues he raised are falling GDP figures, shrinking labour force, recession in real estate sector, continuous weakening of rupee, and falling foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment.
Criticising the Narendra Modi government, he said, "Ironically, if one looks at between Modi 1 (government) beginning and Modi 2, he or she shall figure that has been a regression in progress."
Singhvi also accused the NDA government of being unable to come up with a "sound" monetary policy.
"It has to consider about the trade-off between unemployment and inflation," Singhvi said.
He also asked "why the rate cuts have been announced by the RBI even after so many days? Only one-third of the rate cuts have been implemented by the banks, the substantial chunk has not reached the recipients of credit".
"Why there is so much noise about selling ailing public sectors but absolutely no progress on the ground," he asked. Singhvi further said that when Prime Minister Modi assumed office, the rupee was at 58.7 against the US dollar.
"However now rupee has further devalued. One USD has reached Rs 71 and is anticipated to cross Rs 72 limit in the coming weeks," he said.
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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.
