Cloudburst in Himachal village; several vehicles buried in debris, farms damaged
Shimla (PTI): Several vehicles were buried under debris, and farms were damaged due to a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district in the wee hours of Saturday. However, no casualty was reported, officials said.
The cloudburst occurred in Gutrahan village in the Namhol area of Naina Devi assembly constituency.
Gushing waters carrying debris scattered all over agricultural lands, said Kashmir Singh, gushing waters along with debris swept away agricultural lands, said Kashmir Singh, a villager.
Many vehicles were buried in the debris.
Meanwhile, fog engulfed the state capital Shimla on Saturday morning, reducing visibility to about a few metres and people commuting in vehicles faced inconvenience during school time. The local Met office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rains in isolated parts of the state on Saturday and Sunday.
A total of 503 roads, including Attari-Leh road (National Highway-3), Aut-Sainj road (NH-305) and Amritsar-Bhota road (NH-503A), were closed for traffic in the state on Friday evening.
About 953 power transformers and 336 water supply schemes have been disrupted in the state due to the recent floods and landslides, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
A total of 386 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents since the onset of the monsoon over the state on June 20 till September 12. Out of the 386 people, 218 died in rain-related incidents, while 168 were killed in road accidents.
So far, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 4,465 crore, the officials said.
Himachal Pradesh received an average rainfall of 967.2 mm from June 1 to September 12 against the normal of 678.4 mm, an excess of 43 per cent, according to the meteorological data.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
