Centre agrees to farmers demand of decriminalising stubble burning: Agriculture Minister Tomar
New Delhi, Nov 27: Appealing protesting farmers to end their agitation, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday said the Centre has agreed to their demand of decriminalising stubble burning.
Tomar, in an official statement, said the other demand of farmers was to have a discussion on the minimum support price (MSP) and crop diversification. This demand will also be fulfilled with the setting up of a panel as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19 on the day of Gurupurab.
"The farmers' demand was to decriminalise stubble burning. The Government of India has agreed to this demand," the minister said.
With regard to withdrawal of cases against farmers during the agitation, Tomar said this is in the domain of the state governments.
"Looking at the severity of the cases, the state governments have to take a call and the issue of compensation is also to be decided by them," he said, adding that every state will decide as per their state legislations.
Stating that there is no justification for the continuation of the agitation after the government announced repeal of the three farm laws, Tomar said: "Therefore, I appeal to all farmers organisations to end the protest ethically and show their big heart. They should return to their respective homes."
The minister said the protesting farmers' had initially demanded repeal of the three farm laws, which the government agreed to keeping their interest in mind.
The Cabinet has approved a bill to repeal the three farm laws, which will be introduced in the beginning of the coming session of Parliament starting November 29, he said.
Tomar also said that the government is unhappy that it could not succeed in convincing some of the protesting farmers' unions about the benefits of the farm laws.
It has been over a year now that farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting against the three farm laws at Delhi borders.
Although farmer unions have welcomed the government's recent move to repeal the three farm laws, they said their protest would continue until the laws are totally and formally withdrawn and other demands, including legal guarantee to MSP, are met.
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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.
