PM's WEF address: Rahul Gandhi takes 'teleprompter' jibe at PM , BJP leaders cite 'technical glitch'
New Delhi, Jan 18: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to restart his Davos Agenda address, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe saying "even the teleprompter could not take so much lies", even as BJP leaders pointed to a "technical glitch'' at event organiser World Economic Forum's end.
There was no official reaction from the government or the WEF on the incident.
Several Congress leaders and social media users claimed that it was a "teleprompter gaffe" as Prime Minister Modi had to pause and then restart his special address to the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, but BJP leaders and many others pointed out that it was a technical glitch due to which the WEF people were not able to patch the PM and requested him to start again.
In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Modi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, "Even the teleprompter could not take so much lies."
Fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha said it is unlikely that the prime minister had a teleprompter gaffe.
"If you look at the WEF version of the recording of his speech, someone in the background says, 'Sir, aap unse ek baar pooche ki sab jud gaye kya' (Sir, ask them once if everyone is connected). This portion is not clear in the video live-streamed on PM's YouTube channel."
"After this, the PM questions if he and the interpreter can be heard properly, to which (WEF executive chairman) Klaus Schwab responds stating that he can.
"However, Schwab interrupts the PM's speech to give a brief introduction. The PM repeats the whole speech again," Sinha said, recounting the events from Monday evening during the prime minister's address.
However, several Congress leaders took a dig at the prime minister over the incident.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Teleprompter se bhashan chal sakta hai, shasan nahin. Kal ye poore desh ki samajh mein aa gaya (You can give a speech but not rule using a teleprompter. The whole country understood this yesterday).
The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, shared the video of the prime minister taking a pause in his speech, calling him the "teleprompter guy".
Youth Congress tweeted, "Failed to address after teleprompter stopped working, PM Modi failed to represent the country on World Economic Forum!".
In a tweet, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga slammed those criticising the PM.
"Don't those getting excited at the tech glitch not realise that the problem was at WEF's end? They were not able to patch PM, so requested him to start again, which is evident in the way Klaus Schwab said that he will again give a short introduction and then open up the session," he said.
Several other BJP leaders cited the same reason for the incident and some posted a video from the WEF's YouTube channel, showing the sequence of events.
According to the video and pointers along with it shared by BJP leaders, Prime Minister Modi's speech started abruptly from the middle without English interpretation. The prime minister was interrupted by the co-ordinator who asked him to check if all had been connected, Schwab then started the official session and Modi again started his speech with English interpretation being shared.
इतना झूठ Teleprompter भी नहीं झेल पाया।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 18, 2022
टेलिप्राम्पटर से भाषण चल सकता है,
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 18, 2022
शासन नहीं ।
कल ये पूरे देश की समझ में आ गया। pic.twitter.com/p75m9zXwMj
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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.
