Nothing of this sort has happened: Union minister Pradhan on 'deletion' of Darwin from textbooks
Pune, Jun 20: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday sought to assuage fears about `deletion' of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution from NCERT textbooks and said that "nothing of this sort has happened."
He was speaking at an event at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute here.
"A controversy is going on these days that Darwin's theory of evolution has been removed from science books by the NCERT and the periodic table has been left out, but I would like to state here publicly that nothing of this sort has happened," he said.
After the controversy broke out, he spoke to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) which is an autonomous body and sought details, Pradhan said.
"According to them, experts had advised that during COVID-19, some repetitive parts could be reduced and later brought back. So the content in Classes 8 and 9 is unchanged. In the book of Class 10, some portion related to the theory of evolution was omitted last year, and it is unchanged in Classes 11 and 12," he said.
There is a view that the students who would not study science after Class 10 would miss out on some specific subjects related to Darwin's theory of evolution, which is a valid point, the minister conceded.
"Periodic table is taught in Class 9, and is also being taught in Classes 11 and 12. As per the NCERT, one or two examples (related to the theory of evolution) were omitted. But I would like to assure you that the National Education Policy is being implemented, and as per that policy, new textbooks are being prepared," Pradhan added.
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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.
