'Anna Bhagya' and 'Gruha Jyothi' guarantees of Karnataka govt come into effect from Saturday
Bengaluru (PTI): Two more "guarantee" schemes of the Congress government in Karnataka -- cash for beneficiaries in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice under 'Anna Bhagya' scheme, and 200 units of free electricity to households under 'Gruha Jyothi' scheme, has come into force effective from Saturday.
The government has already implemented one of its five poll guarantees, "Shakti", by providing free services for women in public transport buses.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said payment of money to beneficiaries under Anna Bhagya scheme for this month is likely to begin after July 10; while the Gruha Jyothi scheme has come into effect from today and the electricity bill for the same for this month will come in beginning of August, as per the billing cycle.
"We have said July month's amount (under Anna Bhagya scheme) will be paid to beneficiaries in July itself, instead of rice. We had not said, we will pay it on July 1st itself...most likely we will start making the payments after July 10. This month's amount will be deposited into bank account of the beneficiaries within this month," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The Gruha Jyothi scheme will begin from today, so from this month it will be free (upto 200 units), but the bill will come in August."
Facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice required to fulfil its poll guarantee, the state government decided to pay cash to beneficiaries at the rate of Rs 34 per kilo, for the additional 5kg of rice under the free rice scheme, which is applicable to every member of a BPL household.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa said, amount will be transferred to the bank account of the beneficiaries in a week or 10 days.
"90 percent of beneficiaries have a bank account....5kgs per person means, the benificary will get Rs 170," he told reporters in Devanahalli.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Chikkamagaluru regarding 'Gruha Jyothi' , Energy Minister K J George said, registration for the scheme is going on, and about 86.5 lakh consumers have registered.
"Free current (up to 200 units) is applicable from today itself and the bill to this effect will come in the beginning of August," he said.
The Minister said consumers who want to avail the benefit of Gruha Bhagya scheme will have to register online. To avail the benefit this month, one can apply till July 24 or 25, as bill for same will be generated in August.
One has to apply for the Gruha Jyothi Scheme on 'Seva Sindu' website or can apply through assisted mode also made available at Grama One, Karnataka One, Bangalore One centers.
The benefit is calculated based on average consumption for Financial Year 2022-23, plus 10 percent increase, but total amounting to less than 200 units.
The remaining two guarantees which the government is taking steps to implement soon are -- Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi); and Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (Yuva Nidhi).
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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.
