Telangana CM Chandrashekhar Rao meets Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram/Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who floated the idea of a non-Congress, non-BJP Front some time ago, met his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan here Monday.
The two leaders, however, refused to comment on the two-hour long closed door meeting which comes with two more rounds to go in the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.
Rao is on a two-day visit to the state, along with his wife Shobha and their two grandchildren.
The meeting, which was held at the Cliff House, official residence of Kerala Chief Minister, was also attended by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs Santosh Kumar and Vinod Kumar.
Rao, who is staying at Kovalam, a famous tourist destination in the state, will travel to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on May 8.
A statement from the Telangana Chief Minister's Office (CMO) earlier said, Rao will meet Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram Monday evening, while he will call on DMK president M K Stalin at his residence in Chennai on May 13.
According to the statement, Rao and Vijayan, who heads the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala, will discuss "contemporary politics".
"In view of the Parliamentary elections, both the CMs will discuss contemporary politics," it said. Rao will visit the Rameshwaram and Srirangam temples before returning home, the statement said.
Discussing the Rao-Stalin meeting, it said, "Both the leaders are likely to discuss current political scenario in the context of ongoing Parliamentary elections."
Learning about his visits to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy also had a telephonic talk with Rao, the statement said.
The chief minister's daughter and sitting Nizamabad Lok Sabha member K Kavitha told PTI recently that regional parties not aligned with the Congress and the BJP will get 120-plus seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and may hold the key to government formation.
She said the TRS is in touch with various parties not part of the BJP-led NDA and Congress-anchored UPA in its efforts to forge a federal front of regional outfits.
A federal front will take good shape after the Lok Sabha election results are out, Kavitha 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.
