Life & death: Polling day witnesses contrasting incidents in Karnataka
Bengaluru, May 10: The voting day for Karnataka Assembly elections presented a sharp contrast where birth and death happened in polling booths on Wednesday.
The booths also witnessed brides and bridegrooms voting for their public representative before tying the nuptial knot with their chosen ones.
According to information received, a woman delivered a baby boy soon after casting her vote at Korlagundi village in Kurugodu Taluk of Ballari district.
A medical team along with some other women present at the booth made the arrangements and helped the woman, who developed pain, go into labour. "Without much suffering, she delivered a baby boy at the polling station. The entire polling booth burst into joy," an official said.
At Chikkole village in Belur Taluk of Hassan district, 49-year-old Jayanna died of heart attack soon after casting his vote. In another incident, Paravva Sidnal (70) died even before casting her vote at Yarajharvi village in Belagavi district.
At a village near Hangal town in Haveri district, the entire village initially refrained from voting as they were mourning the demise of an ox, which people used to worship. In keeping with their age-old tradition, the villagers used to decorate it during Deepavali and made it run through a crowded track.
The villagers had an emotional bonding with the Hori', the ox. After its death, the entire village went into mourning and got themselves busy with conducting its last rites.
When Election officials learnt about it, they rushed to the village and appealed to the people to do their duty towards democracy. Later, people went to the polling station in the evening and cast their votes.
An inspiring story came from Bengaluru, where a kidney ailment patient on dialysis Kulashekar Ramanujan on a stretcher reached the polling booth and exercised his franchise.
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There were brides and bridegrooms in the queue who voted in multiple booths.
Sahil Dhariwal (26), preferred casting his vote ahead of his marriage in Bengaluru.
"I am voting for the first time. Last time I could not vote because of certain reasons. This time I made a point not to miss this opportunity," Dhariwal said.
At Periyapatna in Mysuru district, a couple queued up for voting soon after they tied the nuptial knot.
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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.
