Punjab Congress chief Sidhu does a Kejriwal, joins guest teachers' protest in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu joined the sit-in protest of Delhi guest teachers demanding regularisation of their jobs outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Civil Lines on Sunday.
Last month, Kejriwal had joined the contractual teachers in Punjab's Mohali, who staged a protest making a similar demand.
In the run up to the Punjab polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener has announced a slew of sops for different sections of society, including teachers. Among the assurances are regularising contractual teachers and revamping the education system in the state if voted to power.
Punjab goes to polls in early 2022 and the AAP is not leaving any stone unturned to make a decisive presence in the border state.
Hitting out at Kejriwal, Sidhu said the Delhi government was following a contractual model of education.
Delhi Education Model is Contract Model Delhi Govt has 1031 Schools while only 196 schools have Principals 45% teacher's posts are vacant and schools are run by 22,000 Guest Teachers on daily wages with every 15 days renewal of contracts, Sidhu alleged in a tweet.
The Punjab Congress chief said that there were 12,515 job vacancies for teachers in Delhi in 2015, but in 2021, the number had shot up to 19,907.
He said the AAP government had been filing up the vacant posts by hiring guest lecturers.
AAP promised to regularise contractual teachers give equal wages as permanent staff but made it worse by just having guest teachers. Through School Management Committees, so called AAP volunteers earn Rs 5 Lac yearly from Govt funds that earlier were meant for school's development, Sidhu's another tweet read.
Joined Delhi Guest Teachers Protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Ji's residence in Delhi https://t.co/P7IH0fkBKL
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) December 5, 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.
