Independent candidate in poll-bound K'taka hands out election deposit fee in one rupee coins
Yadgir, Apr 18: A young, independent candidate in Yadgir gave electoral officers backbreaking work by paying his deposit money of Rs 10,000 entirely in one rupee coins, which he had collected from voters across the constituency in poll-bound Karnataka, to contest the May 10 Assembly election.
The deposit fee for each candidate in this year's election is Rs 10,000.
The officers took two long hours to count the coins that were spread on the table at the office in Yadgir.
Yankappa, the independent candidate who filed his nomination papers from Yadgir constituency, reached the Tahsildar's office on Tuesday with a banner hung around his neck.
The poster had the images of 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara, saint-poet of Karnataka Kanakadasa, Swami Vivekananda, Dr B R Ambedkar, and the preamble of the Constitution.
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Below the images, a message written in Kannada read: "Not just one rupee, with your one vote, you vote me one day, I will give you freedom from poverty."
The contestant said he travelled across the constituency by foot and collected the coins from the voters.
An arts graduate from Gulbarga University in Kalaburagi district, he has total assets of Rs 60,000 while his father Devindrappa owns one acre and 16 guntas of land (40 guntas equal one acre).
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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.
