Flood situation grim in Assam; nearly 1.2 lakh hit
Guwahati (PTI): The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday morning with incessant rain across several parts of the state inundating new areas even as nearly 1.2 lakh people were hit due to the deluge in 10 districts, an official bulletin said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an 'orange alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next few days.
IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati has issued the warning for 24 hours from Wednesday, followed by a 'yellow' alert for Thursday and Friday.
'Orange' alerts imply to be prepared for action and 'yellow' alert stands for watch and be updated.
According to a flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 1,19,800 people are affected by the deluge in Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.
Nalbari is the worst hit with almost 45,000 people suffering, followed by Baksa with over 26,500 and Lakhimpur with more than 25,000, it said.
The administration has been operating 14 relief camps in five districts, where 2,091 people have taken shelter, and running 17 relief distribution centres in five districts.
Army, paramilitary forces, National Disaster Response Force, SDRF, Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES), civil administrations, NGOs and locals have rescued 1,280 people from different places.
At present, 780 villages are under water and 10,591.85 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA bulletin said.
Massive erosions have been witnessed in Baksa, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, South Salmara and Udalguri, it said.
Incidents of landslides due to heavy rainfall were reported from places in Dima Hasao and Kamrup Metropolitan.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Chirang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Udalguri, Dhemaji and Majuli.
Urban areas were inundated at many places across Barpeta, Darrang, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kokrajhar and Nalbari districts.
The Brahmaputra River's tributary Beki is flowing above the danger mark at three places, the ASDMA report pointed out.
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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.
