Over 300 AMU women students taken to hospital after food poisoning
Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) (PTI): More than 300 women students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were taken to a hospital on Wednesday morning with symptoms of food poisoning, authorities said. They started showing the symptoms after dinner at their hostel the previous night.
By the afternoon, almost all of them were discharged from the university's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, they said.
"The girls started coming in early morning and we have treated about 300 girls. Once they showed improvement, we discharged them. We are constantly monitoring the health of all the girls," the hospital's chief superintendent, Dr Haaris Manzoor Khan, said. They were residents of the Begum Azeezun Nisa Hall, he added.
The Begum Azeezun Nisa Hall of the AMU is a women's hostel with a capacity of accommodating 1,500 students.
As the news of the incident spread, district authorities rushed a team of health officials to take samples of food stored at the hostel's dining area and kitchens.
District health officials and food inspectors have collected food samples from the hostel, an university official said.
An AMU spokesperson told PTI that a three-member committee has been set up to investigate the matter.
Office bearers of the AMU Teachers' Association (AMUTA) will hold a meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the situation.
AMUTA secretary Obaid Ahmad Siddique told reporters that the "enquiry into this serious matter would only be meaningful if it is time bound".
The second issue which has to be probed is the ad hoc manner in which "tenders for food supplies were being cleared in recent months by university authorities", he said.
Siddique claimed that if a high-level probe is carried out, it is "likely to reveal major irregularities in food material purchase procedures".
He also alleged that in the past few months, students staying at other hostels of the university have complained about the quality of food, but such complaints were not addressed.
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.
