Get vaccinated against COVID-19 and win electronic appliances: Maharashtra civic body tells citizens
Hingoli, Dec 2: The Hingoli Municipal Council in Maharashtra has decided to lure people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by offering them prizes like LED TVs, refrigerators and washing machines, officials said on Thursday.
Similar incentives were also announced by the Chandrapur civic body in the state earlier this month to encourage people to take the vaccine.
In Hingoli district, located over 500 km from Mumbai, 73 per cent of the eligible people have so far taken the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 56 per cent have taken both the jabs, an official said.
Considering the threat of a possible third wave of COVID-19, Hingoli Collector Jitendra Papalkar called an emergency meeting on Wednesday and instructed the district administration officials to encourage more and more people to get vaccinated, Pandit Mhaske, the municipal council's project officer on COVID-19 duty, told PTI.
The municipal council's chief officer, Dr Ajay Kurwade, decided to organise a lucky draw on December 27 for city residents who get vaccinated between December 2 and 24, he said.
"It has been decided to give an LED television set as the first prize in the lucky draw, followed by washing machine, refrigerator, mixer grinder and five other prizes," he said.
People who come forward to take the first dose of vaccine are also eligible to participate in the lucky draw, he added.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the district has so far reported 16,059 cases of the viral infection and 395 deaths. A total of 15,659 have till now recovered from the disease and there are five active cases in the district at present, another official said.
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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.
