HC not satisfied with report on infrastructure in govt schools in Karnataka
Bengaluru, June 22: The High Court of Karnataka has expressed its displeasure over the government's inaction in providing infrastructure, including toilets in state-run schools in accordance with the norms of the Right to Education Act (RTE).
The court observed that parents would hesitate to send their children to government schools in this situation.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MJS Kamal, which heard the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on its own based on media reports about school dropouts, said its conscience is pricked at the plight of the schools.
After examining the report and photographs submitted by the government, the bench found that the condition of toilets in the schools was very pathetic. The area around the school toilets were overgrown with shrubs. The bench questioned whether it was the same in the homes of the officers who had submitted such a report.
What kind of society is expected to be developed if the basic necessities in schools aren't available? the HC asked.
Justice MGS Kamal sought to know if the officers who filed the report would send their children to such schools. It said the officers seem to have a 'chalta hai' attitude.
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Noting that the hearing of the PIL was going on since 2013, the court said there seems to be no change on the ground and it was pained at the situation. The future of the country was in danger because of the situation in government schools.
The government advocate informed the court that the infrastructure in schools was provided as per the available government grants. Not satisfied with this submission, the bench said that budgetary grants to education should be reserved for this purpose and should be mandated to be spent within a timeframe.
The HC directed that a fresh survey of government schools should be held in the next three months and member secretaries of the District Legal Service Authorities should be part of this.
It also directed that in the next hearing of the PIL the report submitted by the government should be mandatorily countersigned by the Legal Service Authority officers. These directions should be brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary of the State and the Principal Secretary of the Education Department, the court said and adjourned the case.
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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).
