CM Bommai, Siddaramaiah trade charges over PSI recruitment scam
Bengaluru, Jul 5: A war of words broke out between Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah over the police sub-inspector recruitment scam following the arrest of an ADGP-rank officer on Tuesday.
Mounting its attack on the government saying that it was trying to cover up the entire scam, Siddaramaiah demanded the resignation of Bommai.
The Chief Minister hit back at Siddaramaiah for demanding his resignation and sought to know whether he had resigned as chief minister when a recruitment scam had come to light during his tenure.
"The ADGP Amrit Paul has been arrested and subsequently suspended in the PSI recruitment scam. When we had raised this issue, this government charged us saying that there were no irregularities or corruption in the recruitment. They said this in March this year, Siddaramaiah, the former state chief minister, said in a press conference.
"Now in the same case, Amrit Paul who was in charge of recruitment, has been arrested and suspended. Now what they have to say on this? the Congress stalwart sought to know.
He alleged that the BJP government wanted to cover up the entire case.
"According to me, the Chief Minister, who is shielding everyone, should resign because he is the executive head. Further, there should be a judicial inquiry into the case," the former chief minister demanded.
Siddaramaiah also suspected that the raids carried out by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan was an attempt to divert public attention from the scam.
He also claimed that he has heard about the involvement of a former chief minister's son in the PSI recruitment scam.
Referring to Karnataka High Court judge Justice H P Sandesh's observation in the open court on Monday that he received a "transfer threat" for his remarks against the functioning of Anti-Corruption Bureau, Siddaramaiah expressed his dismay that even attempts were made to threaten a judge.
"They threatened the judge though he was not scared. When the judge is not safe, who is safe here? If the judge had not made his observation public, there would not have been an FIR against IAS officer J Manjunath, he said.
The ACB arrested Manjunath allegedly in a corruption case on Monday after the strong observations made by the court.
Counter-attacking Siddaramaiah, Bommai asked if he had resigned when many irregularities in recruitment came to light during his tenure as chief minister.
"When Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister, the question paper of the police sub-inspector recruitment exam leaked from Kalaburagi. Did he resign then? Going by this parameter, Siddaramaiah should have resigned many times, the Chief Minister said.
He even said the DIG from whose house the question paper leaked was neither arrested, nor suspended during Siddaramaiah's tenure.
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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.
