Remnants of Cyclone Biparjoy bring very heavy rains in north Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Parts of north Gujarat received extremely heavy rains in the last 24 hours as the intensity of Cyclone Biparjoy gradually reduced from a very severe cyclonic storm to a "depression", officials said on Sunday.
Authorities were on their toes in Banaskantha and Patan districts and relocated thousands of people residing in low-lying areas to safer places, they said.
Remnants of Cyclone Biparjoy lay as a "depression" over south Rajasthan and it was likely to maintain its intensity on Sunday and bring rainfall in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The depression over central parts of south Rajasthan and neighbourhood moved east-northeast wards with a speed of 10 kmph during the past six hours and lay centered around 40 km east-southeast of Jodhpur, the IMD said in its Sunday morning bulletin.
It is very likely to continue to move east-northeastwards and maintain the intensity of depression during next 12 hours, it said.
As the cyclone receded further and reduced its intensity from a "very severe cyclonic storm" to "depression" after making landfall in Gujarat on Thursday evening, it brought extremely heavy rainfall in several parts of north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha and Patan, throwing normal life out of gear.
Amirgarh taluka in Banaskantha district was battered with 206 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 6 pm on Sunday, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.
Danta and Dhanera talukas in Banaskantha district received 168 and 164 mm rainfall, respectively.
Posina (151 mm) in Sabarkantha, as well as Dantiwada (150), Palanpur (136), Deesa (132) and Deodar (101)?? in Banaskantha, and Santalpur (134) and Radhanpur (125) in Patan districts were among talukas that received more than 100 mm rainfall during this period, the SEOC said.
Meanwhile, Kutch district received little rainfall on Saturday, following extremely heavy downpour for two days after Biparjoy made landfall as a "very severe cyclonic storm" near Jakhau coast in the district on Thursday.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in north Gujarat and southwest and northeast Rajasthan regions on Sunday.
On Monday, most of southeast and northeast Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh may receive light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall, the IMD said in its forecast.
South Rajasthan and adjoining north Gujarat regions may experience squally wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph till Sunday evening before shifting to east Rajasthan and adjoining areas till Monday morning, it said.
Rainfall may cause inundation in low-lying areas and damage to loose structures, the IMD said.
The cyclone affected eight coastal districts of Gujarat the most, but the state reported no loss of life even authorities shifted more than one lakh people to safer places.
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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.
