People pay Rs 20 per hour to charge mobile phones in Odisha's cyclone-hit Bhadrak
Bhadrak (Odisha), Oct 27: People in many villages in Basudevpur block of Odisha’s Bhadrak district are seen making beelines before vehicles carrying power generators to charge their mobile phone batteries as the electricity supply has been disrupted by cyclone Dana.
People are forced to pay Rs 20 per hour for recharge of one mobile phone battery and Rs 300 to lift ground water to overhead tanks in houses, said Santilata Panda, sarpanch of Bishnupur panchayat of Bhadrak district.
The local tent houses and other traders who have petrol and diesel-run generator sets are providing the paid services to the people in the locality, she said.
“I have paid Rs 20 per hour to charge my mobile phone. We request the administration to restore the power supply as soon as possible,” said a youth of Nuagaon village of the district.
Meanwhile, Tata Power, which provides electricity across Odisha, said that electricity has been restored in around 92 per cent of the affected areas and it has deployed additional teams to accelerate full restoration.
Engineers, linemen, and support staff are working closely with government agencies and local authorities, the company said in a statement.
It said that teams are working round the clock to restore damaged infrastructure, deploy mobile substations and repair power lines and crucial electrical equipment to expedite the recovery of critical infrastructure amidst blocked roads and waterlogged areas.
Severe cyclonic storm Dana struck the eastern coast in the early hours of Friday, triggering torrential rain and high-speed winds that uprooted trees and electric poles and caused significant damage to infrastructure and crops in Odisha.
The cyclone made landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Dhamra in Bhadrak district.
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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.
