Amit Shah's claim of Karnataka delaying drought relief request is false: Minister Krishna Byre Gowda
Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda refuted Amit Shah's statement accusing Karnataka of delaying its request for drought relief by three months. He asserted that the Karnataka government submitted its request on September 22, well within the timeline prescribed by the central government's drought criteria.
Krishna Byre Gowda stated that the Karnataka government declared drought in the state on September 13, one and a half months earlier than the October 31 deadline. He provided details of official correspondence with the central government, including a letter from the Union Agriculture Secretary confirming Karnataka's request for drought relief on September 27.
If you need proof of our submission for drought relief in September, we can provide a copy of the letter from the Secretary of the Central Home Department dated September 27, the Minister said. The letter stated, "It has been decided to form an inter-departmental team of the central government and send it to Karnataka state to conduct a drought study and realize the need for relief at the centre. Due to lack of rainfall in South West Monsoon, the Karnataka Government has declared 31 districts as drought-prone due to crop loss. It has been submitted that the crop has been damaged in an area of 41.56 lakh hectares, and more than 33% has been lost. Thus, I have asked for drought relief through NDRF."
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Therefore, on September 27, the Union Agriculture Secretary acknowledged that the Karnataka government had submitted a proposal for drought relief. In the order letter of the Ministry of Agriculture on November 8, it stated, "A meeting has been called on November 13 to review the report of the Central Government team visiting Karnataka and conducting a study."
On November 20, the Agriculture Secretary of the Central Government wrote a letter to the Home Department, stating, "To review the recommendation of the report given by the central team in the wake of the drought situation in Karnataka, send the final recommendation to the Home Secretary, and the Home Minister should convene a high-level meeting as soon as possible and recommend the Karnataka state through NDRF." Along with this, the final recommendation letter for the state drought relief to the Home Minister reached on November 20. Since then, the recommendation related to the Karnataka drought has been gathering dust in the Home Secretary's room. He said that the BJP government had four months to release drought relief before the announcement of elections.
The National Disaster Relief Authority wrote to the Central Government on January 16, stating, "A meeting should be held regarding drought relief in Karnataka state as per the recommendation of the Secretary of the Agriculture Department." He said that the meeting has not been held till now, and the money due to the state has not been received.
“I, along with the Agriculture Minister and Rural Development Minister, met the Agriculture Minister and Finance Minister and submitted a request. We may be too small for the central government. They may not give importance to our visit,” he said.
The Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Agriculture Department on September 23. He then wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 15 regarding drought relief. On the same day, he also wrote to the Union Home Secretary, requesting the immediate release of drought relief funds due to Karnataka under the NDRF.
On November 27, the Chief Minister wrote to the Prime Minister requesting drought relief. He followed up with a second letter to the Home Minister on the same day. Both these efforts were in vain. The Chief Minister and I met the Prime Minister on December 19 to request drought relief, which was also reported by the media. The next day, on December 20, we met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to make the same request. However, we received no response from the central government. Despite these efforts, the central government has claimed to have taken action, which is simply untrue.
I challenge Amit Shah to swear that he did not issue the meeting instruction letter on January 16. It is shameful to lie to the people of Karnataka to cover up this injustice. Do Kannadigas exist only to pay taxes and vote for you? Why this unfair treatment? Karnataka ranks second among the highest tax-paying states. Isn't it shameful to divert our taxes to other states, cheat us during a drought, and then lie about it? If Amit Shah claims to have written a letter to the Election Commission, let him produce the related documents immediately, the Minister said.
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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.
