BIHARBIHAR
APRIL 2023
⌘
Sports complex to be developed for Training of Athletes in Bihar......................................................................... 3
⌘
Country’s Longest Extra Dose Cable Bridge being Built in Bihar..................................................................................................... 3
⌘
8463 PACS of Bihar will be developed like CSC ...................................................................................................... 4
⌘
Bihar’s 4 Districts Rank in the Top 10 in Jal Jeevan Survekshan 2023 .................................................................... 4
⌘
Fragrant Marcha rice of West Champaran got a GI tag.......................................................................................... 5
⌘
Chief Minister inaugurated Ethanol Plant in Muzaffarpur ..................................................................................... 5
⌘
Bihar State School Teacher (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Proceedings and Service Conditions) Rules 2023...6
⌘
Bihar will get approx 9000 MW Electricity from Central Quota ............................................................................. 6
⌘
Roads & Bridges to be Constructed in Flood Affected Area under ‘Kosi Basin Development Project’................... 7
⌘
In the field of Education, Sheikhpura is 1st & Purnia ranks 2nd in the Top Five Districts of the country. ............ 7
⌘
Second phase of the caste census in Bihar started ................................................................................................ 8
⌘
Bihar’s Anjani won Gold in Javelin Throw .............................................................................................................. 8
⌘
Bihar's 2nd AIIMS to be built in Darbhanga, Cabinet’s administrative approvalof more than 3 billion............. 9
⌘
Khurma, Tilkut and Balushahi of Bihar will get GI Tag ............................................................................................ 9
⌘
Center approves 454 km 4 Lane in Bihar.............................................................................................................. 10
•
According to information received from the media on 30 March 2023, outdoor sports complexes i.e., stadiums are being developed in all district headquarters under the ‘Aao Khelo-cum-Non-Residential Training Scheme’ in Bihar.
•
Arrangements are being made to provide training in 14 sports under the ‘Aao Khelo-cum-Non-Residential Training Scheme’ under which training will be given to athletic, volleyball, kabaddi, kho-kho, taekwondo, boxing, badminton, football, fencing, sepak takraw, chess, basketball, archery and yoga players.
•
Games up to the state level will be organized in these stadiums. Players will not need to travel to Patna or other states to play.
•
The art, Culture and Youth Department has made a plan to develop outdoor stadiums for all district headquarters on the lines of Patliputra Sports Complex located in Kankarbagh, Patna. In this mainly outdoor stadiums will be developed in Tirhut, Saran, Darbhanga, Kosi, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Munger and Magadha divisions.
•
Emphasis is being laid on training to enhance the talent of the talented players of the state. The government has plans that if needed, the services of international-level coaches can also be taken.
•
It is noteworthy that under the scheme, there is a plan to construct stadiums in all 534 blocks of the state. Under this scheme, approval has been given for construction in 312 blocks. In this, stadiums have been constructed in 221 blocks. Out of the remaining 222 blocks, approval has been given for the construction of stadiums in 27 blocks in the year 2022-23. Out of this 27, 400 meters in four blocks and 200 meters in the remaining 23. Track equipped stadium will be constructed.
•
According to information received from official sources of Bihar Road Development Corporation on 2 April 2023, the country’s longest extra dose cable bridge is being constructed in the state, with a total length of 22.76 km.
•
The length of this bridge is 9.76 km and the length of the approach road on both sides of the bridge is 13 km. With the completion of this bridge, vehicles coming from South Bihar and neighboring Jharkhand will not have to come to Patna city to go to North Bihar, this will reduce the pressure on vehicles in the city.
•
The Patna end of this bridge with a total cost of about Rs 4988 crore is at Sabalpur on NH-30 and Vaishali end is at Chaksikander on NH-103.
•
With the construction of 6 lanes extra dose cable bridge on the Ganga, there will be new connectivity for North Bihar along with changing the face of Raghopur Diyara.
•
In the construction of the six-lane bridge, there is a distance of 160 meters between the two pillars of the Ganga. This distance has been kept in view of the movement of cargo ships in the Ganga. A 6-lane bridge is being constructed about 1.5 km across the river from Patna’s south left side and about 8.5 km across the river from Bidupur’s north end.
•
This bridge is being constructed at the height of 22 meters from the water level of the Ganga. So the water level on the bridge will not make any difference due to the height of 12 to 13 meters from the maximum water level of the Ganga.
•
Official sources said that the construction of the link road to connect Raghopur Diyara with the Six-lane bridge has also started.
•
According to the information given by the Cooperative Department of Bihar on 3 April 2023, all the 8463 PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Society) in the state will now be developed as Common Service Centers (CSC).
•
According to the Cooperative Department, farmers of Bihar will now be able to get e-KYC done in PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Society). This facility will be available in all the 8,463 PACS being computerized.
•
With the development of PACS as Common Service Centers, more than 300 services will be available to the villagers. Farmers and other villagers will soon be able to avail themselves of facilities like banking, and PM Kisan e-KYC through PACS.
•
E-governance is being promoted by the government to enable PACS to provide services provided by Common Service Centers. With this initiative, the PACS Common Service Center will be able to provide all the services listed on the digital service portal of the scheme to the citizens.
•
In PACS, the target has been set to generate employment in rural areas through e-governance, so the government has decided to increase the scope of PACS, and more farmers will be added to PACS.
•
Banking, Insurance Aadhaar, enrollment, updates, legal services, agricultural inputs such as agricultural equipment, PAN card and services related to IRCTC, rail, bus and air tickets will also be provided to citizens through PACS.
•
Apart from this, PACS will also be able to run different activities including water distribution, storage, and Bank-Mitra. The business activities of PACS will increase and these will also help to become self-sustaining economic institutions.
•
It is noteworthy that this is a historic step taken in the field of cooperatives. The Cooperative Department is already working to make the people and farmers of rural areas financially prosperous.
•
On 4 April 2023, Samastipur district of Bihar got the first place in the country in the nationwide ranking released for January under the Jal Jeevan Survekshan 2023 by the Central Government’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. Whereas in this survey, Bihar’s Sheikhpura is in the second position, Supaul in the third and Banka district in the fourth position.
•
It is to be known that this work is mainly being done at the district level with the joint cooperation of PHED and the Panchayat Raj Department. At the same time, the central government has kept the ranking of 4 other districts at one to ten. Where the work of every household tap water scheme is being done at the fastest rate.
•
Along the lines of the cleanliness survey in the state, the Center has also started a water supply survey every month. In this, feedback is being taken from the beneficiaries regarding the purity of water. Through this, the Central Government is assessing the condition of drinking water in all the villages of the country. District and state rankings are released monthly and annually by the central government, in this survey five districts of Bihar are at the top.
•
This survey was mainly done on four points, in which the availability of tap water in the homes of rural families, the quantity of water available from the tap, the quality of water, the continuity of water supply and the complaints related to drinking water were edited only on the parameters.
•
The data of all the states will be seen on the dashboard of the central government. On the other hand,
how tap water works in Bihar, other states will be informed about how Bihar has worked in the water supply scheme.
•
Before starting the survey, it was decided in the meeting of all the states that the work done here would be used as a model in other states. Where the least work has been done so far.
•
Top ten ranking in this survey-
⓪
Samastipur (Bihar)
⓪
Sheikhpura (Bihar)
⓪
Supaul (Bihar)
⓪
Banka (Bihar)
⓪
Vellore (Tamil Nadu)
⓪
Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh)
⓪
Dehradun (Uttarakhand)
⓪
Annambaya (Andhra Pradesh)
⓪
Lakhisarai (Bihar)
⓪
Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)
•
According to information received from the media on 4 April 2023, the fragrant Marcha / Mercha paddy of Bihar’s West Champaran district has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
•
Significantly, this indigenous variety of paddy is produced only in the West Champaran region of Bihar. This information has been published in GI Journal.
•
Now only the progressive group, which has applied for the GI tag, is yet to get the GI tag certificate formally. The certificate will be available in August.
•
Marcha / Mercha The shape of this special variety of paddy is similar to that of black pepper. This paddy is very aromatic and tasty. The fragrant Flattened rice (Chiwda) made from this has a reputation in the country.
•
Its producing areas are Mainatand, Gaunaha, Narkatiaganj, Ramnagar, and Chanpatia blocks of West Champaran district. Its average yield is 20-25 quintals per hectare. The plant of this paddy is tall. Its yield is ready in 145-150 days. In this way, out of 18 blocks of West Champaran, it is cultivated in six blocks.
•
It is worth mentioning that before this the products of agriculture and horticulture of Bihar- Zardalu mango, Katarni rice of Bhagalpur, Shahi litchi of Muzaffarpur, Magahi paan of Magadh region and Makhana of Mithila have got GI tag.
•
Apart from this, Manjusha art, Sujani Embroidery work, Applique Khatwa work, Sikki grass products, Bhagalpuri silk, Madhubani painting and Silav’s Khaja have also got GI tags.
•
The identity of the product concerned with getting the GI tag is recognized on a global scale. Exports are encouraged. This improves the economic condition of the farmers. The product gets better value. By getting the GI tag, the government cooperates with the farmers in the direction of protection and conservation of the product and agro-tourism also increases.
•
On 6 April 2023, Sandeep Poundrik, Principal Secretary, Bihar Industries Department, said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the Greenfield Grain-Based Ethanol Plant at Motipur in Muzaffarpur district of South Bihar, which has been built at a cost of Rs 152 crore.
•
Sandeep Poundrik, Principal Secretary of the Industries Department has said that 1,300 people will get employment in the new Ethanol Plant in Motipur. In which, 300 people will be added directly and 1,000 indirectly.
•
It is known that this is the second ethanol plant which has been inaugurated within one year.
•
According to the Industries Department, Bihar is on its way to becoming India’s grain-based ethanol hub.
North Bihar will play an important role in this in the foreseeable future.
•
Several more greenfield plants are nearing completion in Bihar under the ethanol policy of the government. In this, 2 ethanol plants in Muzaffarpur, 3 in Nalanda, 1 in Begusarai and 1 in Buxar are expected to be completed by June 2023.
•
According to departmental figures, a target has been set to produce 100 million liters per year from the ethanol plant located at Motipur. The machines with a combined capacity of 320 KLPD (Kilo Liters Per Day) have been installed throughout the plant. This figure is expected to increase further after the commissioning of four ethanol plants simultaneously.
•
With the establishment of this plant, along with employment, the farmers will also benefit a lot. The ethanol plant will need hundreds of tons of corn or broken rice every day. The company will directly contact the farmers for its purchase.
•
It is known that maize is cultivated on a large scale in the Muzaffarpur district. In such a situation, due to the demand for maize at the local level, the farmers will be able to get a good price. Most of the middlemen do not get a fair price for maize. At the same time, DDG will also be available for the poultry feed plant.
•
On 10 April 2023, the Bihar cabinet approved the Bihar State School Teacher (Appointment, Transfer,
Disciplinary Proceedings and Service Conditions) Rules, 2023. Along with this, the units making appointments on the old pattern have been disbanded.
•
The Bihar state government has approved the new rules for the appointment of teachers. This rule will be effective from the appointment of the seventh phase. Now teachers will be called state employees.
•
Under the new rules, CTET and STET pass candidates will get a chance to become teachers directly and they will become state employees. Employed teachers must appear in the competitive examination to become state employees.
•
Employed teachers will get age relaxation. The state government has reduced the minimum age for teacher recruitment to 21 years. Now teachers will be reinstated through the event.
•
Apart from this, the cabinet has also approved the agenda of increasing the dearness allowance. Dearness allowance of state employees has been increased by 4 per cent from 38% to 42%. It will come into force on January 1, 2023. With effect from 1 January 2023, the Dearness Allowance (DA) will be available. Along with the state employees, pensioners will also get benefits.
•
The Bihar cabinet has also approved temporarily increasing the Bihar Contingency Fund from Rs.300 crore to Rs.10,000 crore for this financial year.
•
According to information received from media sources on 11 April 2023, Bihar will start getting about 9000 MW of power from the central quota by 2024.
•
It is to be known that at present the state of Bihar is getting an allocation of 6560 MW power from various units of NTPC.
•
State power companies have estimated an additional power allocation of about 1998 MW from two units of NTPC Barh, one unit of North Karanpura in Jharkhand and two thermal power units of Buxar in the next one to one and a half years.
•
Apart from this, about 760 MW of electricity is also estimated to be available from the renewable energy projects of the Solar Energy Corporation of India and BREDA (Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency). In such a situation, the availability of electricity to Bihar can cross 9000 MW.
•
Now two units of Phase-1 are yet to be commissioned in the Barh Thermal Power Plant of NTPC. There is a possibility that from May 2023, Bihar will start getting an additional 405 MW of power from the second unit of Phase-1 of 660 MW. Also, by April 2024, a quota of 342 MW of power will be available from the third and last unit of Phase One.
•
According to the information, the second unit of North Karanpura located in Jharkhand will also be completed by July 2023. Bihar’s quota is 229 MW.
•
Power production companies have expressed hope of commissioning both the units of the Buxar Thermal Power Plant by 2024. However, given the problem of land acquisition at present, its hope seems less.
•
Regarding renewable energy, the power company has signed a 300 MW agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for wind energy. This power will be available till December 2023. Also, SECI’s 230 MW hybrid project is expected to get electricity by December 2023 while BREDA’s solar power project is expected to get 250 MW by March 2024.
•
Presently Bihar is getting 1603 MW power from only three units of Barh Thermal Power of NTPC. These include 1,198 MW from two units of Stage II and 405 MW from one unit of Stage-I. When commercial production starts from the second, third and last unit of Stage One, it will provide an additional 810 MW of electricity. Due to this, the power received from the Barh plant will increase from 1603 MW to a little more than 2000 MW.
•
According to the information received from the media on 11 April 2023, during the financial year 2023-24, roads and bridges-culverts will be constructed under the ‘Kosi Basin Development Project’ with an amount of Rs 277 crore to strengthen the living standards of the flood-affected people of Kosi.
•
It is to be known that the work of the second phase of the World Bank-supported Kosi Rehabilitation Scheme was to be completed in March 2023. But only 72% work has been done so far, due to which the work of the second phase of the Kosi Rehabilitation Scheme has been given an extension of 15 months. Now this scheme will be completed by June 2024.
•
The state government has planned to rebuild Kosi after the Kushaha Devastation. Under this, the World Bank has funded 67% while the Bihar government has funded 33% to get the Kosi region and its people out of the tragedy and for development.
•
Under the first phase of this scheme, the Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project was started on 15 September 2010 with the help of the World Bank, under which the development work in 21 blocks of Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura was completed on December 31, 2018.
•
It is known that on 18 August 2008, a large population of 441 villages of Northeast Bihar, including 34 villages of Nepal were inundated after the Kosi dam was washed away after the Kosi River had changed its course in a length of about two kilometres near Kusaha village of Nepal. According to official statistics, 41 people died in the Saharsa district, 272 in Madhepura and 213 in the Supaul district.
•
Only 72 percent of the work of the second phase of the Kosi Basin Development Project has been completed at this time, there is no possibility of the remaining 28 percent of the work being completed in three months. Therefore, it has been decided to expand this scheme.
•
According to information received from media sources on 13 April 2023, Sheikhpura district of Bihar ranks at first and Purnia district at second among the top five districts of the country in the segment of education in the delta rating of aspirational districts released by NITI Aayog.
•
It is noteworthy that in the field of education, the names of the districts of Bihar and Jharkhand have been in the list of top five aspirational districts of the country. Jharkhand’s Giridih, Bokaro and East Singhbhum stood third, fourth and fifth respectively.
•
In the education segment of Delta Rating of Aspirational Districts issued by NITI Aayog, mainly attention is paid to education, library, structure of schools, facilities available to students, etc. Apart from this, attention is also paid to the facilities of drinking water and toilets available in the schools in the education sector.
•
However, there is not a single district of Bihar in the overall segment of the Delta Ranking of Champions of Change for February 2023 released by NITI Aayog.
•
On the other hand, in the top five districts of health and nutrition, Jharkhand’s Sahibganj is in first place and Bokaro is in second place.
•
Out of the 112 underdeveloped districts of the country, Bihar has 13 districts under the Aspirational Districts Program which is running since the year 2018. For better work among these districts, ranking is done every month on the prescribed scale of development of these districts.
•
It is known that the central government gives special funds to develop major areas like health, nutrition, education, financial status and basic infrastructure in the aspirational districts of the country.
•
On 15 April 2023, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar started the Caste-Based Census of 2 crores 59 lakh families in the state by going to his ancestral home in Bakhtiyarpur and registering all the family statistics.
•
This second phase of the caste census will continue till 15 May 2023. For this enumeration, 5 lakh 19 thousand employees (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden) have been deployed in the entire state.
•
In this phase, 17 types of information are being sought from all the state’s families. A code has been fixed for each piece of information, which will be entered into the app.
•
It is worth mentioning that the first phase of the caste census in Bihar was conducted between 7 to 22 January, in which information about people’s houses was collected.
•
Significantly, caste enumeration was being demanded by many political parties in Bihar for a long time. Due to this, on 18 February 2019 and again on 27 February 2020, a proposal related to the caste census was presented in Bihar Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, which all the parties supported.
•
The Government of India also did caste enumeration in the 2011 census but did not make the data public.
•
After the completion of this caste census of Bihar, its report will be presented in the State Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council and then it will be made public.
•
With this caste census, the number of castes in the state, and their economic condition will be known, which will help the government to make provisions for reservation and proper implementation of various schemes.
•
On 15 April 2023, Anjani Kumari of Jamui, Bihar won the Gold Medal in the Javelin Throw event at the India Grand Prix-4, 2023 held in Bangalore.
•
In the senior women’s category, Anjani threw the javelin at a distance of 47.03m, defeating Hema-Malini Nilakanda of Tamil Nadu (46.27m), Uma Chowdhary of Rajasthan (45.73m) and Runjun Pegu of Assam (43.62m).
•
On this occasion, Bihar State Sports Authority Director General Ravindran Sankaran said that Anjani has been selected for the National Center of Excellence at NIS Patiala.
•
Anjani Kumari will prepare here for the Asian Athletics Championships, Asian Games and World Athletics Championships 2023 from 1 April to 31 July 2023.
•
It is worth mentioning that a total of four Indian Grand Prix athletics events were organized by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Its first phase was launched from 20 March 2023 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
•
The second league of the Indian Grand Prix was held in Thiruvananthapuram on 27 March, while the third and fourth leagues took place in Bangalore, Karnataka on 10 April and 15 April respectively.
Why in News?
•
In the Bihar cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 18 April 2023, administrative
approval was approved for more than three billion for Darbhanga AIIMS.
Key Points
•
Giving information in this regard, Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha said that the Bihar government will spend more than Rs 309 crore on the leveling and development of the land allotted for Darbhanga AIIMS.
•
The state cabinet has approved the said amount for leveling a total of 189.17 acres of land in Mouja Ballia near Shobhan-Ekmi bypass under Bahadurpur circle for the purpose of establishment of Darbhanga AIIMS.
•
It is known that this AIIMS to be built in Darbhanga will be the second AIIMS of Bihar, the first AIIMS is in Patna.
•
It is worth mentioning that in the meeting of the state cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister in the first week of March 2023, approval was given to allot land near Shobhan-Ekmi bypass for Darbhanga AIIMS.
•
Apart from this, the state cabinet has decided to open a DNA Research Center under Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur Regional Forensic Science Laboratory.
•
According to the information received from the media on 23 April 2023, the application for giving GI tag to Bihar’s famous sweets Khurma, Tilkut and Balushahi has been accepted after preliminary examination. The competent authority will now take further action in this direction.
•
According to the information, the demand for GI tag has been approved for Bhojpur’s Udwantnagar’s Khurma, Gaya’s Tilkut, Sitamarhi’s Balushahi, Hajipur’s famous Chiniya Banana, Nalanda’s famous Bawan Booti art and Gaya’s stone-cut art.
•
The GI tag is given to link the origin of a product primarily to its region of origin.
•
Sunil Kumar, Chief General Manager, NABARD said that Bhojpur’s ‘Khurma’ and Gaya’s ‘Tilkut’ made from jaggery, and sesame are widely liked not only in the country but also abroad. At the same time, the sweet ‘Balushahi’ of Runnisaidpur of Sitamarhi is also in great demand across the country.
•
Sunil Kumar said that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development NABARD has helped the producer unions in filing applications for GI tags for these famous dishes and products of Bihar. Experts have also been included in this.
•
Apart from the process of GI registration, NABARD is also playing a key role in branding, promoting and providing market linkages to these products in the market.
•
NABARD has expressed hope that getting a GI tag on these dishes and products will help farmers, producers and artists associated with them to earn more.
•
It may be noted that recently GI tag was given to the state’s famous ‘Mircha Rice’, which is known for its aroma and taste. Zardalu Mango and Katrani Paddy of Bhagalpur, Magahi Paan of Nawada and Shahi Litchi of Muzaffarpur have already got GI tags.
Why in News?
•
According to the information received from the media on 25 April 2023, the Central Government has approved 4 new four-laning of 454 kilometers in Bihar. These four-lanes will pass through different areas.
Key Points
•
Bihar will have a new four-laning of 454 km from Valmiki Nagar adjacent to the Indo-Nepal border to Hariharganj on the Jharkhand border. The Center has approved the conversion of the 143-kilometer National Highway -98 from Naubatpur to Hariharganj in Patna into a four-lane.
•
It is known that at present the width of National Highway 98 is only 2 lanes. The pressure of vehicles
on this highway is very high. This National Highway passes very close to the eastern end of the Son River and reaches Hariharganj via Bikram-Arwal-Aurangabad and Amba.
•
This is a very convenient way for those going to Garhwa-Daltenganj and Chhattisgarh in the western end of Jharkhand state, due to which the pressure of vehicles on this highway remains constant.
•
According to the information, the Central Government has now approved the preparation of DPR for constructing this National Highway 4 lane. Along with this, an amount of 1 crore 38 lakh has also been approved for this.
•
The construction of 195 kilometer-long four-lane highway from Patna to Bettiah at a cost of 5 thousand 6 hundred crores has started. This National Highway is the main part of the Buddha Circuit. There is also a saffron Buddhist stupa on the side of this highway.
•
Next to JP Setu, the tender for a 6-lane bridge between Patna’s Digha-Sonpur to be built in three and a quarter years at a cost of 2 thousand 636 crores has been done. Apart from this, a tender of 868 crores has been floated for the construction of a bridge between Konhara Ghat in Saran to Jalalpur in Vaishali on the Gandak river in Sonpur Manikpur. The parts which are yet to be tendered include Manikpur to Sahebganj, Sahebganj to Areraj, and Areraj to Bettiah. The total cost of these three parts is going to be 2 thousand 159 crores.
•
With the construction of this new four-lane, the journey from Valmikinagar to Hariharganj will be reduced from 11 hours to just 6 hours. Apart from this, Nepal will be directly connected to Palamu, Chapatra in the western part of Jharkhand. This will greatly facilitate transportation. The traders of Bihar and Jharkhand will be benefited by this.
•
This lane will further connect directly to the Varanasi-Kolkata Expressway. Due to this, traders will be able to carry and bring goods. Apart from this, going towards Siliguri and Assam will be easier than ever before.
•
A four-lane will also be constructed on the western side of the Gandak River from Sonpur to Areraj, which will facilitate traffic in 2 districts of Saran Commissionerate, Saran and Diara area of Gopalganj
|
Explore Courses for BPSC (Bihar) exam
|