District-level officers must strictly follow Model Code of Conduct: Karnataka CEO
Bengaluru (PTI): With the Election Commission of India announcing the dates for the Karnataka Assembly election, Chief Electoral Officer of the state Manoj Kumar Meena on Wednesday said the Model Code of Conduct had come into effect and that the administrative and police officers at the district level must implement it strictly.
As per the schedule, polling and counting of votes will take place on May 10 and May 13 respectively.
"The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect from here onwards. This will be implemented strictly by all the district returning officers and police officers," Meena said, speaking to reporters.
He added that the election notification would be published on April 13 and that the last date of filing nominations would be April 20. Scrutiny of applications would be conducted on April 21, he said, adding that the last date for withdrawal of candidature was April 24.
New voters must apply and fill Form-6 by April 11 to include their names in the voters' list, the CEO added.
"People can apply for inclusion of their names in the voter list, which will be added in the final list. Those who have not filed their applications yet, please file it by April 11," he said
According to Meena, as of Wednesday there were 5.24 crore voters in Karnataka, including 2.6 crore women and 4,751 transgenders.
The CEO said 645 companies of Central Armed Forces have been allotted for the conduct of polling in Karnataka. On April 1, the first batch of 166 CAF companies will reach the state. Apart from the CAF, 74,567 personnel of the Karnataka State Reserved Police will also be deployed.
Meena said there 942 check posts functional in Karnataka, of which 171 are inter-state border check posts. Deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of the border districts are already in touch with their counterparts in the border districts of neighbouring states.
Regarding seizures, he said so far Rs 58 crore worth cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals like gold and silver and freebies had been confiscated.
The police department had made seizures valued at Rs 34.36 crore, including Rs 14 crore cash, 530 kg drugs, 15 kg gold, 135 kg silver and Rs11 crore worth freebies.
The Excise department has made seizures worth Rs 10 crore, whereas the Income Tax department seized Rs 1.16 crore, Commercial Tax Rs five crore, Department of Revenue Intelligence Rs one crore, Narcotics Control Bureau Rs 57 lakh, Central GST Rs four crore and state Civil Aviation department Rs 69 lakh.
As many as 1,985 FIRs have been filed under various acts, which include 172 FIRs on inducement to voters. There were 4,119 cases under the Excise Act alone, Meena said.
The expenditure limit in the Assembly election is Rs 40 lakh. To keep track of election spending, the Election Commission has appointed assistant expenditure observers for each constituency to assist the central election observers.
Meena added that people could also keep a watch and report irregularities through the C-Vigil app, which would be operational from today. PTI GMS ANE GMS 3/14/2023
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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.
