Supreme Court Judges Strength Increased to 38: SC (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill 2026
The Lok Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 on August 3 without any debate, as Opposition protests disrupted proceedings.
• The Bill increases the strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India , and was moved in the post-lunch session by Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal .
• It replaces an ordinance the President had promulgated in May to increase the number of judges from 33 to 37, excluding the CJI .
Simple Majority is needed for this :-
Crucially, the number of judges is not fixed permanently by the Constitution itself — it’s left to Parliament to decide by ordinary legislation.
This is why increasing the strength doesn’t require a constitutional amendment, just a simple law (and, as in this case, a simple majority Bill).
Nauru, the world’s 3rd-smallest country, changes its name to Naoero
• The Pacific Island nation of Nauru has officially changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, aligning it with the spelling and pronunciation used in the national language.
• The country’s international code will change from NRU to NRO.
• Citizens will now be referred to as dei-Naoero, instead of “Nauruan.”
• The name is pronounced “Now-ero,” compared to the earlier international pronunciation, “Now-roo.”
About Naoero :- Nauru is the world’s third-smallest country by population size, after Tuvalu and Vatican City.
The tiny coral limestone atoll was colonized by Germany and later administered by Australia before becoming an independent republic in 1968.
PM Surya Sarovar Yojana 2026: 5,000 MW Floating Solar Scheme Explained
• Cabinet cleared Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY) to build 5,000 MW floating solar (FSPV) on reservoirs; outlay ₹5,070 crore, CFA up to ₹1 crore/MW (paid post-commissioning).
• Every project needs 2-hour storage, totaling 10,000 MWh, to shift power to peak demand.
• Implemented by SECI; expected to draw ₹28,500 crore investment.
• Current floating solar capacity: ~0.7 GW, against a potential of 102 GW (per NISE assessment).
• Rationale: land scarcity for ground-mounted solar; floating solar uses existing waterbodies, avoids land disputes, and addresses curtailment by pairing with storage.
In-Space Re entry Guidelines:-
• IN-SPACe released guidelines (July 30) on ‘Authorisation for Undertaking Planned Re-entry of Space Objects’, governing how spacecraft/debris return to Earth.
• Planned re-entry = deliberate, controlled descent (vs. uncontrolled tumbling debris).
• Includes mandatory survivability analysis — operators must submit a fragmentation pattern showing how a craft breaks apart and where debris falls.
• Safety threshold: risk of a person being hit must be below 1 in 10,000 (0.01%) — an international standard (from IADC 2002 guidelines, UN-endorsed 2005, adopted by NASA/ESA).
• Operators must model re-entry corridors using wind, atmospheric density, and population maps; unsafe missions require controlled re-entry (e.g., to the Pacific “Spacecraft Cemetery”).
• Requires coordination with aviation/maritime authorities 45 days in advance (NOTAMs, NAVAREAs) to protect flights/ships.
• Liability: Under the 1972 Liability Convention, India is responsible for damage its space objects cause abroad — new guidelines shift this liability to private operators, who must carry third-party insurance.
• Timing linked to India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and growing private reusable launch vehicle development.
Lead Editorial :-
AI and cyber, the double helix of today’s security threats
• Rapid digital growth + AI is transforming global security, creating adaptive, hard-to-detect cyber threats.
• AI-powered malware can evolve to evade traditional antivirus tools; “Zero Trust” protocols face growing risk from autonomous malicious agents.
• Ukraine and Iran conflicts show AI reshaping warfare — missile tracking, multi-source intelligence, and autonomous strike systems (“Goalkeeper,” “Whiplash”).
• Rise of “Agentic AI” (autonomous action) beyond Generative AI is escalating risks and complexity.
• Anthropic’s Mythos model is cited as capable of detecting “zero-day” vulnerabilities across major operating systems — raising concerns about concentrated, unregulated power.
• Concentrated AI capability (Anthropic, Palantir, China’s equivalents) raises fears of power shifting toward AI-leading firms/nations, threatening global — not just national — security.
• U.S. has accused China’s Moonshot AI of stealing from Anthropic’s Fable model; China denies this — reflecting intensifying U.S.-China AI competition.
• Risks compounded by AI “hallucinations,” bias, and potential for “algorithmic radicalisation.”
• Article calls for cautious, wisdom-driven oversight — keeping AI under human control, especially in defence/warning systems — rather than blind trust or blanket rejection of AI.
Lab Grown diamonds : An alternative
Natural diamond mining faces depletion: Argyle Mine (Western Australia, closed 2020) and Diavik Mine (Northwest Territories, Canada) are exhausted/declining.
• ~40 mines produce 90% of global supply, concentrated in Botswana, Russia, DRC, South Africa, Canada, Australia — estimated ≤50 years of production left.
• Mining causes deforestation, water pollution, soil erosion, landslides; workers face health risks (e.g., asbestos-related diseases per 2011 Gill Nelson study).
• Blood/conflict diamonds: diamonds mined in war zones to fund armed conflict/militias — infamous in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, DRC civil wars (1990s–2000s).
• Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS, 2003) aims to certify conflict-free diamonds, but origin-tracing gaps allow smuggling.
• Lab-grown diamonds — chemically/physically/optically identical to natural diamonds — solution:
• First made by GE (General Electric) in 1954 via HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature) process (mimics mantle conditions).
• CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) — 1962; grows diamonds on seed crystals using carbon-rich gases.
• Prices falling steadily since 2018 due to improved lab efficiency; fully traceable.
• India’s push:
• Union Budget 2023-24: support for indigenous HPHT/CVD research.
• IIT Madras awarded ₹243 crore (5-year grant) to set up InCent-LGD (India Centre for Lab-Grown Diamond).
• Carbon footprint depends on energy source (coal vs. renewable); renewable-based production aligns with UN SDGs and
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