NDTV, The Week journalists honoured with IPI award
New Delhi, Nov 28: The International Press Institute (IPI) India Award for Excellence in Journalism-2021 has been awarded jointly to Sreenivasan Jain and Mariyam Alavi of NDTV, and Lakshmi Subramanian and Bhanu Praksh Chandra of The Week.
Jain and Alavi have been awarded for their report on "untruthfulness of the cases of forcible conversion registered against young men belonging to the Muslim community who had married Hindu women in Uttar Pradesh, in the name of love Jihad", a statement issued by IPI on Saturday said.
The award has been jointly given to Subramanian and Praksh Chandra of The Week on their report on tracing Indians, especially women, who were trapped in refugee camps in the civil war-torn regions of Syria and Iraq.
Lakshmi Subramanian and Bhanu Praksh Chandra | PC: THE WEEK
The team presented the extremely distressing conditions and the immense dangers faced not only by Indians but other refugees, the statement said.
The award comprises a cash prize of Rs one Lakh, a trophy and a citation to each team.
The selection was made by a jury of editors headed by former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur after considering the entries received.
The Excellence in Journalism Award 2020 had been awarded to Ritika Chopra of The Indian Express for her exclusive reports on the internal fissures in the Election Commission of India on complaints on Model Code of Conduct violation against VVIPs.
However, the Award ceremony could not be conducted due to restrictions on public functions necessitated due to COVID-19 conditions.
The Awards for 2020 and 2021 will be presented at a function in New Delhi in December 2021/January 2022.
The Award has been given to 16 media organisations and journalists in print and electronic media so far.
The Indian Chapter of the IPI is an active forum of editors, publishers and senior executives of newspapers, magazines and news agencies, all of whom are members of the International Press Institute.
The Indian Chapter has successfully hosted the World Congress and General Assembly of the IPI in India in 1966 and 2001, and is taking up various issues related to press freedom.
Founded 71 years ago in New York by a group of editors from 15 countries, the IPI has grown into a truly global organisation committed to the furtherance of the freedom of press.
The Vienna-based IPI is committed to promotion of free exchange of accurate and balanced news among nations.
It has also been in the forefront of safeguarding the freedom of the press through protests to governments and organisations against any violation of press freedom and restrictions imposed on the free flow of information.
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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.
