Had insightful discussions on governance, reforms at chief secretaries' meet: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a national conference of chief secretaries where he had insightful discussions on various issues relating to governance and reforms, officials said.
The conference marked another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-state partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, they said.
"Had insightful discussions on various issues relating to governance and reforms during the National Conference of Chief Secretaries being held in Delhi," Modi wrote on X.
The event was attended by P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, principal secretaries to the prime minister, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, and chief secretaries of all the states and Union territories.
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Based on the extensive deliberations between the Central ministries, departments, NITI Aayog, states and UTs and domain experts, the conference will deliberate on the theme 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat', covering the best practices and strategies for the states and UTs to follow, over the weekend.
Special emphasis is being placed on five key areas: early childhood education, schooling, skilling, higher education, sports and extracurricular activities.
According to the schedule of the conference, six special sessions will be held over the weekend on deregulation in states; technology in governance: opportunities, risks and mitigation; agristack for smart supply chain and market linkages; one state, one world class tourist destination; Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Swadeshi and plans for a Left Wing Extremism future.
Besides, focused deliberations would be held on heritage and manuscript preservation and digitisation and 'Ayush for All - Integrating Knowledge in Primary Healthcare Delivery'.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, the conference serves as the forum where the Centre and the states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
The national conference of chief secretaries is being organised annually since the past four years.
The first edition was held in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, in June 2022, followed by conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
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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.
