‘Mother of Orphans’, Padma Shri awardee Sindhutai Sapkal passes away
Pune (PTI): Renowned social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, fondly known as `orphan children's mother', died following a heart attack at a private hospital here, doctors said.
Sapkal, who had received the Padma Shri last year, had completed 74 years in November. She had been admitted to the Galaxy Care Hospital here.
"She had undergone a hernia surgery one and a half months ago and recovery was very slow. Today she died of a heart attack around 8 pm," said Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, Medical Director of the hospital.
Sapkal, who grew up in extreme poverty and had to suffer immense hardship, went on to set up institutes for orphan children. Born on November 14, 1948, in the Wardha district of Maharashtra, Sapkal was forced to drop out of school after she had passed Std 4th.
At the tender age of 12, she was married to a 32-year-old man. After she gave birth to three children, her husband abandoned her even when she was pregnant. Her own mother and the village where she had grown up refused to help, forcing her to beg to raise her daughters at one point.
She overcame these circumstances with sheer willpower and started working for orphans. Having raised over 1,050 orphan children, she could boast of having 207 sons-in-law and 36 daughters-in-law.
Besides the Padma award, she received more than 750 awards and honours. She used the award money to build shelters for orphans.
A well-equipped orphanage came up at Manjri in Pune district due to her efforts. In 2010, a Marathi biopic on her, "Mee Sindhutai Sapkal" released. It was selected for world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray condoled her death.
Sapkal, who took care of thousands of children, was a veritable goddess in the form of mother, he said.
Her last rites would be conducted with state honours on Wednesday, a tweet from the Chief Minister's Office said.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that in her death, Maharashtra had lost a mother. She grew up facing adversities and dedicated her life to those who had been rejected by society, he said on Twitter.
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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.
