West Bengal minister invites Elon Musk to set up business in state, BJP mocks proposal
Kolkata, Jan 16: West Bengal on Sunday made a pitch for a piece of the electric vehicle revolution as one of its ministers sent an invite to Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk to "drop here" and set up his business in the state, days after the industrialist tweeted that he was trying to work through some challenges with the Centre.
The US-based company, which is looking to launch its products in India, had last year sought a reduction in import duties so that his company's high-performance electric cars can begin to sell in India.
The heavy industries ministry had asked the electric car major to first start manufacturing its iconic vehicles in India before any tax concessions are considered.
Responding to a tweet on the company's plans to launch its products in India, Musk had written on January 13, "Still working through a lot of challenges with the government."
Md Ghulam Rabbani, the Bengal minister for minority development and madrasa education, on Sunday invited the business magnate to the state, drawing sharp reaction from the BJP, which reminded the TMC minister that it was his party that had driven out Tata's car project some 14 years ago.
"Drop here, we in West Bengal have best infra & our leader @MamataOfficial has got the vision. Bengal means Business," Rabbani posted on the microblogging platform as reply to Musk's January 13 tweet.
Tatas, which had set its sights in Singur for a small car factory, was forced to pull out of Bengal in 2008 following a massive agitation led by the TMC over forcible land acquisition for the project.
Mocking Rabbani, BJP's IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya sought to remind him of the state's past records.
"You might think it is a joke. But it isn't! West Bengal's minister in charge for Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education has made an offer to Elon Musk to come invest in WB. His pitch will start with Mamata Banerjee's record on post poll violence and end with Singur agitation?" Malviya tweeted.
Other states such as Maharashtra and Telangana have made similar pitches to invite the electric car maker to their respective states.
K T Rama Rao, the industry and commerce minister of Telangana, said that it would happy to partner with Tesla in working through the challenges, while Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil has assured all possible help to the car maker.
Last year, Tesla India Motors And Energy Private Ltd, a subsidiary of Tesla Inc, registered itself as a company in Bengaluru for its India operations.
Amit Malware hallucination of post poll violence hasn’t been cured.
— Md Ghulam Rabbani (রাব্বানী) (@GhulamRabbani_) January 16, 2022
His party brought unplanned DEMONETISATION, illogical GST & cruel LOCKDOWN resulting in downward spiral of economy & all time high INFLATION.
Trollers won’t understand economics. https://t.co/5L3nh9WlRc
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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.
