PM Modi "destroyed" India's economy by demonetisation: Mallikarjun Kharge
Hyderabad(PTI): Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "destroyed" India's economy through demonetisation.
"Today it is five years since Modi ji announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016.
Unemployment has risen, small businesses have been hit and closed. He (Modi) spoiled the country's good economy through demonetisation," Kharge told reporters. On this day in 2016, the Prime Minister had announced the decision to ban currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
The veteran leader also hit out at the Modi government over the various objectives cited for demonetisation, including to curb black money flow.
"Today the situation is that people who lost their jobs due to demonetisation their jobs have not come back. This is a 'Black Day' for people of the country. Today the currency notes in circulation continues to rise with over Rs 28 lakh crore," the former Union Minister said.
On former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, who recently tendered an apology to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, Kharge said it vindicated the Congress consistent stand that the entire 2G spectrum case was a massive "conspiracy" backed by the BJP-RSS machinery to destabilise the (then) Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. Rai had tendered an unconditional apology to Nirupam for "wrongly mentioning him as one of the MPs who had pressured him not to name former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation.
Kharge accused Rai of acting as another puppet of the conspiracy and also demanded that he apologise to the nation for his "lies".
He also slammed the BJP-led NDA government over the "small" reduction in petrol and diesel prices, saying "it was too little and too late will not benefit the people much.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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
===================
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.
