President confers Vir Chakra on Abhinandan Varthaman
New Delhi(PTI): Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in 2019 and was held captive for three days in that country, was on Monday honoured with the Vir Chakra award by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force has been decorated with India's third-highest wartime gallantry medal for displaying an "exceptional sense of duty" during the dogfight, the award citation said.
The award ceremony, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and several other dignitaries.
Several other military officers were also honoured at the event. Earlier this month, the Indian Air Force approved the rank of Group Captain for Varthaman.
"President Kovind presents Vir Chakra to Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Varthaman Abhinandan. He showed conspicuous courage, demonstrated gallantry in the face of the enemy while disregarding personal safety and displayed exceptional sense of duty," the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
Wing Commander Varthaman (now Group Captain) downed the Pakistani jet on February 27, 2019, before his MiG 21 Bison jet was hit. Pakistan launched retaliation against India for the Balakot airstrikes a day before.
The citation read out at the ceremony said a large force of the Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft, consisting of advanced fourth-generation F-16 and JF-17, was detected heading toward the Line of Control (LOC) at around 9:55 am that day.
It said Wing Commander Varthaman, displaying exceptional air combat acumen and knowledge of the enemy's tactics, scanned the low altitude airspace with his Airborne Intercept (AI) radar and picked up an enemy aircraft that was flying low to ambush the Indian fighter-interceptor aircraft
It said he alerted the other formation pilots about the "surprise threat", and then consolidated the riposte against the hostile Pakistani aircraft that were attempting to drop weapons on the Indian Army positions.
"This audacious and aggressive manoeuvre forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos. All the enemy aircraft thereafter turned back including the rear echelon aircraft that were yet to launch their air to ground weapons," the citation said.
Wing Commander Varthaman then pursued a retreating enemy fighter bomber aircraft, and in the ensuing aerial combat, shot down an F-16 aircraft with his onboard missile, it said.
"However, in the melee, one of the enemy aircraft fired multiple advanced BVR (beyond visual range) missiles, one of which hit his aircraft forcing him to eject in enemy territory," it said.
The citation said despite being captured by the enemy, he continued to display exceptional resolve in dealing with the adversary in a brave and dignified manner till he was repatriated on March 1, 2019.
"His actions raised the morale of the armed forces in general and the IAF in particular," it said.
The strike by India's warplanes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot and the Pakistani Air Force's subsequent retaliation the next day triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The government had announced its decision to confer the Vir Chakra on Varthaman in 2019.
Delhi: Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman being accorded the Vir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind, for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft during aerial combat on February 27, 2019. pic.twitter.com/vvbpAYuaJX
— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2021
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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.
