Karnataka govt appoints one-man judicial commission to probe PSI recruitment scam
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has constituted a one-man judicial commission to inquire into the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam.
Retired Karnataka High Court judge B Veerappa will conduct the probe, and the government notification constituting the probe has set a deadline of three months for the inquiry.
The Congress had strongly taken on the then BJP government over alleged irregularities and corruption in the recruitment of 545 PSIs. It was one among its major ammunitions against the saffron party during the campaign for the Assembly polls.
Following allegations that the exam results were manipulated, the then government had ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which arrested several officials from the Police Recruitment Cell, including its then chief Additional Director-General of Police Amrit Paul and also a large number of candidates who appeared for the exam.
The government had also annulled the results of the exam and decided to hold a re-exam, which is yet to happen.
The order constituting the judicial inquiry lists four questions as its terms of reference: Were rules violated during the process of recruiting 545 PSIs? What were the violations or illegalities and at what level were they committed? Who are the persons that gained undue benefit from the illegalities? What measures can the government take to hold the PSI recruitment exam as per rules and in a transparent manner?
The order has also asked the CID and the police recruitment wing to cooperate with the commission by providing necessary documents and information.
Further, the DG & IGP has been asked make sure the commission gets an office in Bengaluru with the required facilities and staff.
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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.
