Visva Bharati sends fresh letter to CM demanding return of road
Kolkata (PTI): Visva Bharati University Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty on Saturday sent another letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to consider the institution's request for the return of a road lined by heritage buildings on the campus to the university.
The three-km road connecting Post Office More with Sriniketan, was taken over by the Public Works Department of the state government from the university in 2020 "to facilitate better connectivity".
The university has been demanding the return of the road to protect the heritage structures lined along it.
This was the VC's second letter to the CM, after one on September 25, since Santiniketan was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on September 17.
The fresh letter to the CM, a copy of which is available with PTI, read: "The UNESCO tag given to Santiniketan by the International Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is likely to be withdrawn... if steps are not taken to protect the heritage properties lined along the road falling under Visva Bharati property, it will be a big slap not only on West Bengal under your care but also those who worked hard day and night to get this global recognition for our beloved Santiniketan."
Taking a dig at a section of the Ashramites and student union leaders who have been requesting the PWD to retain the possession of the road, the VC said in the letter, "I would like to draw your attention to the fact that those who are insisting on PWD's protection for the road will not take a second to put the entire blame on the Vice Chancellor and his team in case the UNESCO tag is withdrawn. This is the pattern of Visva-Bharati's detractors."
Chakraborty, in his first letter, had stated the road should be returned to enable the central university administration to completely stop the movement of four-wheelers and three-wheelers on the road or the varsity be allowed to at least monitor the movement of the vehicles.
"The road should be made free of vehicles because as per the Archaeological Survey of India, the vibration due to the plying of vehicles (except two-wheelers) adversely affects the building inside the ashram. And the ASI warned that if this is not stopped immediately, these buildings will just collapse in the course of time," the varsity had said in the previous letter.
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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.
