Navjot Singh Sidhu assigned role of clerk in Patiala jail
Chandigarh(PTI): Jailed Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been appointed as 'munshi' (assistant) to do clerical work in the Patiala central prison where he is lodged to serve a one-year jail term in a 1988 road rage death case.
The 58-year-old cricketer-turned-politician will perform the job from his barrack only because of security reasons, a jail official said.
According to the jail manual, prisoners are categorised as unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled. Unskilled and semi-skilled prisoners get Rs 40 and Rs 50 per day, respectively. Skilled prisoners get Rs 60 per day.
The official said Sidhu has been appointed as 'munshi'.
A board of doctors has recommended a special diet for the Congress leader after he had sought the same in the jail. His medical examination was conducted on May 23 at Rajindra hospital in Patiala, Punjab.
Sidhu's special diet includes one cup of rosemary tea or one glass of coconut water in early morning, and one cup of lactose-free milk, one tablespoon of flax/sunflower/melon/chia seeds, five-six almonds, one walnut and two pecan nuts in breakfast.
In the mid-morning meal, the doctors have recommended a glass of juice (beetroot, cucumber, tulsi leaves, Amla, carrot etc), or any of fruits like watermelon, melon, kiwi, guava etc, or sprouted black chana, green gram with cucumber/tomato/half lemon/avocado.
For lunch, the doctors have suggested one bowl of cucumber, seasonal green vegetables with one chapati of sorghum, singhara or ragi flours.
In the evening, he has been recommended a cup of tea with low-fat milk and 25 grams of 'paneer' slice or tofu with half lemon.
For dinner, the doctors have recommended mix vegetables and 'dal' soup or black chana soup and one bowl of sauteed green vegetables.
At bedtime, Sidhu has been recommended one cup of chamomile tea and one tablespoon of psyllium husk with half glass of warm water.
The Congress leader suffers from medical conditions like embolism and has a liver ailment. In 2015, he underwent treatment for acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at a hospital in Delhi.
DVT is caused by a blood clot in a deep vein which hinders the normal blood flow.
Sidhu, the former Punjab Congress chief, was sent to Patiala central jail on May 20 after he surrendered before a local court. He has been sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a 1988 road rage death case.
The apex court had sentenced him in the 34-year-old case, saying any undue sympathy in imposing an inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law.
A 65-year-old man, named Gurnam Singh, had died in the incident.
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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.
