Shah 'deliberately' skipped flood affected Kerala, chose BJP ruled states for ariel surveys: CPIM
New Delhi: The CPI(M) politburo on Monday claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah "deliberately skipped" the aerial survey of flood-affected Kerala and instead chose to visit BJP-ruled states like Maharashtra and Karnataka.
In a statement, the party expressed concern at the loss of life and destruction of property and livestock due to the floods in various parts of the country.
"The home minister in his aerial survey of flood-hit areas chose to go only to BJP ruled states of Maharashtra & Karnataka. It appears that he deliberately skipped the survey of the badly affected Kerala," it alleged.
"Some elements associated with the RSS-BJP are campaigning on social media, asking people not to donate to the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Political partisanship is least expected in times of natural calamities and unfortunate deaths of people," it said.
Kerala is the worst affected in the floods so far with 76 dead and around 58 missing. An official update at 11 am said 2,87,585 people have taken shelter in 1,654 relief centres in the state.
"Forty lives have been lost in Maharashtra, 32 in Karnataka and 24 in Gujarat. Major rivers like the Tungabhadra, Krishna in AP/Telangana and their tributaries are in spate and continue to cause immense destruction and damage.
"The PB of the CPI(M) calls upon the central government to render all required assistance to the state governments to tackle this calamity," the statement 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.
