Karnataka Assembly speaker UT Khader honored by Bahrain India Society
Speaker calls for high-level meeting between BIS, Karnataka Government
Bahrain: The Bahrain India Society honored UT Khader, Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, in a ceremony at The Diplomat Radisson Hotel in Bahrain on December 21, 2023. The event celebrated Khader's journey from Student Union leader to Speaker, acknowledging his significant contributions.
Chief Guest HE Vinod K Jacob, Indian Ambassador, and members of the Bahrain India Society, government officials, private sector representatives, and distinguished businessmen attended the ceremony. Mohammad Mansoor, Board Member of Bahrain India Society, highlighted Khader's impact on society, tracing his progression from a Student Union leader to his current role.
"I had the privilege of spotlighting the remarkable achievements of Shri UT Khader, from his early days as a Student Union leader to managing crucial portfolios, including Minister of Health, Education, Urban Development, and reaching his current role as the esteemed Speaker, Khader's journey has garnered acclaim for its substantial contributions to societal betterment," said Mohammad Mansoor, Board Member of Bahrain India Society, as he addressed the attending guests.
Abdulrahman Juma, President of the Bahrain Indian Society, welcomed Khader and expressed gratitude to attendees. He emphasized Bahrain's business-friendly environment and urged the Speaker to support investment promotions. H.E. Vinod Jacob provided insights into India's achievements and its strong bilateral ties with Bahrain.
UT Khader thanked the Royal Family and commended the Bahrain India Society for organizing the event. He pledged support to Bahrain's visions and promised to strengthen cultural, bilateral, and economic ties. Shri Khader invited a high-level meeting between Bahrain-India Society and the Karnataka government, offering to facilitate Bahraini delegates witnessing Karnataka's assembly proceedings.
The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks by Vinod Das, followed by a networking lunch encouraging discussions on opportunities for ties in cultural, educational, sports, and economic sectors. Attendees explored potential joint projects between Bahraini and Indian counterparts. A.R. Juma, Chairman of Bahrain India Society, presented a memento to UT Khader along with H.E. Vinod Jacob.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
