Asian Games: Vithya equals PT Usha's national record in women's 400m hurdle
Hangzhou (PTI): India's Tejaswin Shankar produced a season best effort in shot put to be placed fifth in the overall standings with two events left in men's decathlon at the Asian Games here on Monday.
The 24-year-old, who had won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in high jump last year, came up with an effort of 13.39m in shot put to be at the fifth place.
He also produced a personal best effort of 11.12m to register a fourth place finish in the 100m race, while topping the standings in long jump with an effort of 7.37m.
Tejaswin now has 2428 points in the overall standings. He amassed 903 points from long jump, 834 from 100m race and 691 in shot put.
He will participate in high jump and 400 race events later in the day.
India had a good outing with Vithya Ramraj equalling PT Usha's 400m hurdle national record, which was set in 1984, with a personal best effort of 55.42s to top her heat and directly qualify for the women's final.
Ravi Sinchal Kaveram Theetharamada, however, missed out after finishing fifth in her heat with an effort of 58.62s.
In men's 400m hurdles, Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan and Yashas Palaksha qualified for the final after finishing in second position with a timing of 49.28s and 49.61s in their respective heats.
Sandesh Jesse and Sarvesh Anil Kushare produced identical scores of 2.10m to qualify for men's high jump final after finishing at the ninth place in the list of 12 best performers.
Sandesh and Sarvesh finished at sixth and fourth in group A and group B qualifiers respectively.
In men's 800m heat, Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath finished at the top of his heat with a timing of 1:46:79s, while Krishnan Kumar was second in his heat with a timing of 1:49:45s. Both qualified for the finals.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
