Congress to stage protest against Centre over rice supply issue on June 20
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said the Congress will hold protests at all district centres against the BJP government at the Centre on June 20, as he accused it of ensuring that the state doesn't get the required amount of rice to implement its 'Anna Bhagya' scheme, which provides additional 5 kg of rice for BPL families.
Noting that the state government is making all efforts to procure rice from other sources and from producing states, he indicated that there may be slight delay in rolling out the scheme against the scheduled date of July one.
"I want to congratulate BJP national President J P Nadda, as they (BJP) have walked the talk", Shivakumar said sarcastically. "It was reported in the media quoting him that if BJP loses the election central schemes to the state will get affected, he has kept up his word. Even as the Prime Minister speaks about federal structure..."
Speaking to reporters here, he said, the BJP government at the Centre is indulging in "politics of hate" by ensuring that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) does not supply the required amount of rice to implement the scheme; it is their way of registering a protest against Karnataka's poor for voting in favour of Congress.
"BJP is a party that betrays the poor. Congress party and the government condemns and protests this. On on June 20 at 11 am, the Congress will stage protests at all district centres across the state against the BJP government at the Centre. The protests will be organised by local leadership of the party at district level, all MLAs and leaders from the district will take part in the protest," he added.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently said that the central government has stalled the sale of wheat and rice to state governments under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) (OMSSD), which prohibits the FCI from selling any additional rice to Karnataka for its Anna Bhagya scheme.
Noting that the state government is committed to provide 10 kg of free rice to the poor, the DCM said, "we are in talks with neighbouring states like Telangana, also Chhattisgarh, which are rice producing states, on the stocks available with them for procurement.
He said it is not difficult for us to procure from the open market, but we want to maintain transparency.
"The Centre has rice stock of over seven lakh metric tonne, we asked for about 2,88,000 metric tonnes. Despite having stock they are not giving. As they (FCI) had initially agreed to give rice, we had announced that we will supply from July 1. We will arrange rice somehow and roll out the scheme, there may be a couple of days delay due to procurement and transportation," he added.
Shivakumar also expressed hope that MPs from the state will come forward to help Karnataka, and said, "we will write to them to put pressure on the centre in the interest of the state."
Out of 28 MPs from the state, 25 are from BJP.
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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.
