The Supreme Court has recently ruled that a judge who retired as an Acting Chief Justice of a High Court cannot claim the pension of a regular Chief Justice (CJ).
SC held that an Acting CJ needs to be given the pension of a CJ only for the period for which he served as a CJ and not more.
Only for the limited purpose of salary, such an Acting Chief Justice is treated on a par with the Chief Justice and not for any other purpose, more particularly pension.
K.Sreedhar Rao, served in Gauhati High Court for 14 months as its Acting CJ.
He appealed to SC demanding pension equivalent to CJ of a high court.
But SC said he needs to be given a Chief Justice’s pension only for the 14 months he was Acting CJ.
Mamallapuram
Mamallapuram, or Mahabalipuram is in focus as the venue for the informal summit between Indian PM and Chinese President.
It is the ancient Pallava port city which has its origins in the word Mamallan (great wrestler), title of a Pallava King Narasimhavarman II (3rd – 9th century).
The king’s story was immortalised by Tamil writer Kalki in the novel Sivagamiyin Sapatham.
The heroine, Sivakami, is portrayed as the daughter of the chief sculptor, Ayanar. She is the lover of Narasimhavarman.
The town was originally called Mamallai or Kadalmallai and Mallai means prosperity.
The town got the name because it was enriched by the wealth brought through sea trade.
Vaishnavite literature refers to the town and temple of Sthalasayana Perumal situated in the town is one among the 108 Vaishnavite shrines.
The earliest literary reference could be attributed to Poothathazhwar, the second in the lineage of Azhwars, who was born in Mamallapuram.
The temple would have predated the period of the Pallavas, who expanded the town and made it a cultural capital.
The name of the town was changed to Jananthapuram by Chola king Raja Rajan.
Mamallapuram became Mahabalipuram in modern times, and the latter is not the Sanskrit equivalent.
World Vision Report
The first-ever world vision report was released by WHO.
It highlighted that, more than a quarter of the world's population (2.2 billion people), suffer from vision impairment out of which 1 billion cases could have been prevented or have been left unaddressed.
It warned that population ageing would lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people with vision impairment and blindness.
Presbyopia, a condition in which it is difficult to see nearby objects, affects 1.8 billion people. This condition occurs with advancing age.
Myopia, a condition in which it is difficult to see objects at a distance affects 2.6 billion, with 312 million being under the age of 19 years.
Cataract, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, corneal opacities, diabetic retinopathy, trachoma are other common vision impairments listed in the report.
Trachoma is caused due to bacterial infection in the eye. Many countries have eliminated it, including India.
Region wise - The prevalence of vision impairment in low- and middle-income regions is to be four times higher than in high-income regions.
South Asia, East Asia and South-East Asia with 51% of the total population of the world, accounted for 62% of the total vision impairment.
Myopia is the highest in high-income countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Glaucoma has hit Africa the most, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean.
Incidence of a rural-urban divide does exist.
The report said that accessibility to eye care services and high costs involved in accessing them, particularly for rural populations were major drivers of vision impairment.
There was praise for India in the report for its National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB).
NPCB provided cataract surgery to a total 6.5 million people in India, achieving a cataract surgical rate of over 6,000 per million population.
Elastocaloric Effect
When rubbers bands are twisted and untwisted, it produces a cooling effect which is called the “elastocaloric” effect.
When a rubber band is stretched, it absorbs heat from its environment, and when it is released, it gradually cools down.
Researchers have suggested that if it is harnessed, the need of fluid refrigerants used in fridges and air-conditioners can be done away.
These fluids are susceptible to leakages and can contribute to global warming.
In the elastocaloric effect, the transfer of heat works much the same way as when fluid refrigerants are compressed and expanded.
In order to figure out how the twisting mechanism might be able to enable a fridge, the researchers compared the cooling power of rubber fibres, nylon and polyethylene fishing lines and nickel-titanium wires.
They observed high cooling from twist changes in twisted, coiled and supercoiled fibres.
Kerala Bank
RBI has given its final nod to the Kerala Government for the formation of the Kerala Bank which will be the largest banking network in the State.
It would be formed amalgamating the District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) with Kerala State Co-operative Bank.
The objective is to strengthen the cooperative sector but there is opposition that it would destroy the traditional cooperative sector.
Source: The Hindu, DownToEarth, The Indian Express
