Two-day holiday for schools, colleges

BANGALORE: The State Government on Wednesday declared a two-day holiday for all educational institutions in the State on September 24 and 25 in view of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit on Friday.

Addressing presspersons here, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said the decision had been taken to ensure safety of students. All government, aided and private schools and colleges would be closed on Friday and Saturday.

The Government had taken all steps to ensure that no untoward incident took place. He sought the cooperation of political leaders and religious heads in maintaining peace and order in the State.

Minister for Home and Medical Education V.S. Acharya said the scheduled university examinations, if any, would be held on September 24 and 25 to avoid inconvenience to students.

Exams postponed

Several city schools, which were scheduled to have mid-term examinations on September 24 and 25, have had to re-schedule the dates.

J. Bhuvaneshwari, principal, Presidency School, said that postponement was inevitable as the Government had taken a decision.

"These things are beyond our control. We have no other option but to postpone [the exams]," she said.

Manjula Raman, principal R.V. Public School, said that they would re-schedule the exams in such a way that all of them are completed before the beginning of Dasara holidays.

Some schools, however, said that they would officially declare holiday and announce changed dates of exams on Thursday when students come to school.

IT firms' plans

Friday is likely to be a "normal" working day for information technology companies in Bangalore, said the spokespersons of Wipro and Infosys Technologies, the two largest IT firms in the city.

An Infosys spokesperson said the company plans "some modifications in transport arrangements" on that day. The company is engaged in discussions with "local authorities" at all locations where the company has a presence, the spokesperson added.

However, the source said the company would "evaluate" the situation again on Thursday before taking a final decision. "But as of now, we plan to work on Friday,' the source said.

A source at Wipro said: "As of now, our offices are scheduled to function normally on Friday."