Rahul Gandhi appeals to people to donate relief material
Wayanad : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday appealed to the people to provide relief materials to those hit by the devastating floods in his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
Gandhi, currently visiting areas ravaged by floods and landslides in his constituency, posted the appeal on his Facebook page.
"My Parliamentary constituency Wayanad has been devastated by floods with thousands left homeless and shifted to relief camps", Gandhi said.
"We are in urgent need of materials, including water bottles, sleeping mats, blankets, undergarments, dhothis, nightgowns, children's apparel, slippers, sanitary napkins, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Dettol, soap powder, bleaching powder and chlroine," he said.
He also urged people to give biscuits, sugar, green gram, dal, black gram, coconut oil, coconuts, vegetables, curry powders, bread and baby food to the affected people.
Gandhi appealed to donors to send the material to collection centres in Malappuram district, which he listed.
He had on Sunday termed as 'heart breaking",the suffering of people due to floods and landslides in his constituency Wayanad and urged the state and Central governments to provide immediate aid to those hit by the natural calamity in Kerala.
After visiting people affected by floods and landslides in some relief centres, Gandhi had promised to do everything possible to get them back on their feet.
Three assembly segments in Malappuram district form part of Gandhi's Wayanad constituency.
Gandhi, who won with a record margin from the hill constituency in the April Lok Sabha elections, said during his stay he would visit relief camps across Wayanad and review relief measures with state government officials.
The Congress leader had said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Wayanad District Collector and Congress workers in the state on the flood situation in his constituency.
This is his second visit to Wayanad after the election.
Earlier, he had come on a three-day thanksgiving visit when he addressed road shows and public meetings in the constituency.
Gandhi chose Wayanad as his second seat in addition to the party stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, which he, however, lost in the 2019 polls.
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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.
