The Madras High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over Railways’ usage of plastic water bottles and said it was perpetuating plastic development and its manufacture. A bench of the HC has directed the Railways to file a report on the steps taken to exterminate the use of plastic in trains, even as it wanted the transporter to be a “model employer” in this regard. A division bench comprising Justices S Vaidyanathan and P T Asha gave the directive recently while passing further interim orders on a review petition filed by Tamil Nadu Pondy Plastic Association against the ban on use of plastics. @@@@ Prez Murmu condoles MS Swaminathan’s demise M. S. Swaminathan left behind a rich legacy which would serve as a “guiding light to steer the world towards a safer and hunger-free future for humanity”, President Droupadi Murmu said as she condoled the demise of the renowned scientist. “The demise of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, internationally renowned agricultural scientist, saddens me no end. A visionary who worked endlessly to achieve food security, he was rightly called the Father of Green Revolution that ensured our country’s self-reliance in food grains,” Murmu said in a post on X. “He pioneered path-breaking research in the agriculture science for which he got a range of awards- from Padma Vibhushan to the prestigious World Food Prize. He leaves behind a rich legacy of Indian agriculture science which may serve as a guiding light to steer the world towards a safer and hunger-free future for humanity,” the President said.

