Centre turns down request to supply rice for state scheme citing lack of stock: KH Muniyappa
New Delhi, Jun 23: Union Minister Piyush Goyal has turned down the Karnataka government's request to supply rice for implementation of a poll promise of free rice distribution citing a lack of stock, state Food Minister K H Muniyappa said on Friday.
After meeting Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, Muniyappa said, "The state government has announced 10 kg of free rice. For that purpose, we requested for rice. We are ready to pay the price. But the Minister has said there is no stock and unable to give.
Muniyappa informed in the meeting that there is enough rice stock in the central pool. Against the buffer stock of 135 lakh tonnes of rice, the central pool has 262 lakh tonnes.
"We requested rice for BPL cardholders. He (Goyal) said it is not possible to give. It is politically motivated. The minister is not willing to give even though the rice is available," he told reporters.
Therefore, the state government has identified central agencies like Nafed, Kendriya Bhandar and NCCF to procure rice for the state scheme "Anna Bhagya", he said, and added that the government will fulfil its commitment and distribute free rice to the poor as early as possible.
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There are more than 1.19 crore BPL cardholders and 4.42 crore beneficiaries in Karnataka, he added.
Karnataka and other states which are operating their own state schemes are hit hard after the central government on June 13 discontinued sale of rice under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) to state governments due to inflationary pressure.
In a representation submitted to Goyal, Muniyappa said the Karnataka government has been making use of the OMSS scheme for sourcing rice for state cards that are sanctioned over and above the cards under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and for given one kg of rice as additional entitlement to all ration cardholder for the last seven months.
The state government requires 2.29 lakh tonnes of rice per month for distribution of an additional 5 kg of rice to all beneficiaries of NFSA and state cardholders, he said.
"The sudden discontinuation of OMSS took away the possibility of getting rice from FCI for this state scheme unexpectedly. It is not only difficult to launch the new programme of giving additional 5 kg rice per member per month, but also stopped regular monthly entitlement of foodgrains of 39 lakh beneficiaries of state ration holders," he said.
As kharif procurement season is over in most parts of the country, the state's efforts to source rice from other states or from open market is becoming "challenging," he said.
It may be noted that the Centre is supplying monthly 5 kg free rice per beneficiary under the NFSA at present. Over and above this, the Karnataka government will supply additional 5 kg of free rice.
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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.
