As school where 7 died starts new chapter, many others 'unsafe', teachers pitch in, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• Rajasthan government reports over 56% of government school rooms are dilapidated or require repair.
• A new school building construction begins in Jhalawar district, six months after a classroom collapse killed seven students in July 2025.
• Teachers in Kheiadi Ka Pura Government School fund makeshift classrooms after their school building was demolished.
• 18 people died in an illegal coal mine explosion in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district.
• Rescue operations are underway by NDRF, SDRF, and a Special Rescue Team.
• Meghalaya government announces ex gratia payment to the deceased's families and orders an inquiry.

Detailed Insights:

• The incident in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district prompted the demolition of unsafe school buildings.
• Teachers are holding classes in makeshift classrooms while awaiting the construction of a new school building.
• The Meghalaya mine explosion occurred in a rat-hole mine in Mynsyngat, Thangskai area.
• The cause of death for the miners is suspected to be burn injuries or asphyxiation from noxious fumes.
• An FIR has been registered including charges of culpable homicide and violations of mining and explosives acts.
• This incident follows a similar tragedy in Assam's Dima Hasao district where nine miners died in a flooded rat-hole mine.
• Rat-hole mining involves digging narrow, horizontal tunnels to extract coal, often in unsafe conditions.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Ex gratia: A payment made as a gesture of goodwill, without legal obligation.
• Culpable homicide: Causing death by doing an act with the intention of causing death or with the knowledge that the act is likely to cause death.
• Rat-hole mining: A primitive and dangerous method of coal mining involving narrow, horizontal tunnels.