Govt says no farmer died due to police action during farmers' protests
New Delhi(PTI): The Union government on Friday said that no farmer died due to police action during the year-long protests by farmers.
Various farmer groups were protesting against three new farm laws, which have now been scrapped. The year-long protest at the Delhi borders was suspended by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday after the Union government accepted their key pending demands, including withdrawal of police cases against the protesters and on Minimum Support Price (MSP).
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said, "the subject of compensation, etc. to the families of the deceased farmers in the farmers movement is with the concerned state governments".
"No farmer died as a result of police action during the farmers' agitation," he said.
Tomar was responding to a joint question by Congress leader Dhiraj Prasad Sahu and AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
The members had asked whether the government is planning to provide or made any provision towards livelihood monetary compensation to the families of the farmers who died during farmers' protests.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been raising the issue of deaths of farmers during the year-long protests.
The SKM, which suspended the protests after receiving a formal letter from the Union government accepting their key pending demands, on Thursday also said that farmers would celebrate December 11 as 'Vijay Diwas' and take out victory marches following which they will head home. The SKM is an umbrella body of 40 farm unions.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, were protesting at various Delhi borders from late November 2020, seeking repeal of the three farm laws.
On November 29, Parliament passed a Bill to repeal the three laws.
Replying to separate queries on the MSP, Tomar said, "a formal formation of a committee to promote zero budgeting based agriculture, to change crop pattern as per the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent is under consideration."
Asked if the government proposes to bring a law to give legal guarantee to MSP for every crop as recommended by Swaminathan Commission, the minister said the government has already implemented in 2018-19 the recommendation made by the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) to fix MSP at at least 50 per cent profit on weighted average cost of production.
The Centre fixes MSP for 22 mandated agricultural crops and Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
The MSP for toria and de-husked coconut are also announced based on the MSP of rapeseed and mustard and copra, respectively.
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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.
