Bihar Current Affairs December 2021
■ Monthly Current Affairs
■ NITI Aayog released the Delta Rankings of Champions of Change, October 2021. In this, four districts of Bihar viz. (Muzaffarpur (2nd), Aurangabad (3rd), Banka (4th) and Sheikhpura (5th) have been figured among the top 5 Aspirational Districts in the country for the improved performance in the Education sector. Dumka in Jharkhand has topped the list.
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■ Bihar is ranked 15th among 18-major states (Group A and
B category together) and 6th in Group B states, as per the latest Good Governance
Index (GGI) - 2020-21, released by the Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India,
launched on Good
Governance Day, December 25, by Union Minister of Home Affairs and
Minister of Cooperation Mr Amit Shah.
Despite Bihar’s low ranking, it has done appreciably
on the indicators associated with Public Infrastructure and Utilities sector, in
which it is ranked first.
Gujarat tops the composite ranking
in the 58 indicator index followed by Maharashtra and Goa. Madhya Pradesh tops
in Group B category, Himachal Pradesh in North-East & Hill States while Delhi
tops the Union Territories category composite ranking.
GGI is a biannual exercise and was first published in 2019. This
year, it includes
58 indicators for 10 important sectors.
■ On 10 December 2021, for the first
time, Patna High
Court starts live streaming of court proceedings on YouTube, with
an aim to increase transparency in the justice delivery system. With this
milestone, it has become the fifth High Court in the country after Gujarat,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa High Courts to adopt this facility.
A division bench of Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and
Justice
Madhuresh Prasad (court number 15) became the first
bench whose day-long proceedings were streamed live on Patna high court’s
YouTube account created for this purpose. Justice Singh was also the first
judge who had conducted virtual proceedings of his bench for the first time in
Patna high court in March last year after the Covid-19 pandemic had started to
spread.
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■ On 4th
December CM Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone for the pedestrian subway on station
road as part of the Patna Smart City
Limited’s (PSCL) Railway Station
Area Redevelopment Project. The construction of a 440-meter-long subway will begin in
January 2022. According to the DPR, 330 metres of the 440-metre-long subway
will be underground and 110 metres will be on the surface. It will be
approximately 8 metres deep.
The subway will connect the Patna Junction to the proposed
multi-modal transport hub at Bakri Bazar via Mahavir Mandir, and also include
multi-level parking near Buddha Smriti Park. It will be completed by December
2023 with a budget of ₹68.85 crore.
■ World Soil Day (WSD) held annually was celebrated on 5 December and for the year 2021 the theme was “Halt soil
salinization, boost soil productivity”.
In Bihar, approximately 3.2 lakh hectares of agricultural
land have been degraded due to salinization. The salt-affected soil occupies a
major area of Samastipur, Siwan, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Vaishali, Saran, East
Champaran and West Champaran districts.
■ CM Nitish Kumar inaugurated a boat safari in the old Triveni canal
at Valmikinagar
in West
Champaran district which has been developed under the state government’s
‘Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali
Abhiyan’.
He also made site inspections of the start point and
the endpoint of the dead old Triveni canal. The CM asked the officials to link
the endpoint of the dead canal with the Done canal to maintain water-level for boating in
the dead canal. He also asked for linking the start point of the dead canal
with the Gandak
river to maintain normal flow of water in the canal.
■ On 15 December 2021, CM Nitish Kumar inaugurated various schemes of the energy sector worth ₹3452.11 crore at the Energy Auditorium located in BSPHCL Colony. At the same time, he also launched a scheme worth ₹12,657 crore for the installation of ‘smart pre-paid electric meter’ in all households in the state by March 2025.
Bihar is the first state in the country where smart pre-paid
meters are being installed. Smart pre-paid meters are being installed in Bihar
from 2019.
In Bihar the electricity bill has been included in the Right to Redressal of Public Grievances Act
so that the grievances of the people can be resolved.
During this launch, schemes worth ₹725.26 crore were inaugurated,
while foundation stones of various schemes worth ₹2726.85 crore were laid.
Under the distribution companies, 48 Vidyut Shakti sub-stations
costing a total cost of ₹325 crore have been inaugurated and laid.
The foundation stone was laid for the construction of transmission line
from 7 grid sub-station to distribution
system at a cost of ₹874 crore, and transmission line for power
withdrawal from Buxar
Thermal Power Establishment at a cost of ₹817.35 crore.
The Chief Minister said, at present, 6627 MW
of electricity is being consumed in Bihar. In October 2018 Bihar has achieved 100%
electrification two months prior the deadline. Bihar is the first
state where electricity connections up to 19 kW load capacity in all urban and rural areas are being
given to people online through Suvidha App.
In Bihar 200 MW solar power plant is going to be set up.
The work on 100-100
MW solar power plants will begin at Jamui and Banka. These plants will be set up
by Satluj Jal
Vidyut Nigam Limited and an amount of ₹1000 crore will be spent on this.
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■ The Bihar State cabinet, pertaining to the 2021-22
fiscal, sanctioned ₹ 838.54 crore for construction of new buildings
and development of infrastructure in Rai Bahadur Tunki Sah (R.B.T.S) Govt.
Homoeopathic Medical college & Hospital Muzaffarpur, Maharani Rameshwari
Indian Medical Science Institute Darbhanga and Rajkiya Ayodhya Shivkumari
Ayurved College and Hospital Begusarai.
The state government will also renovate Govt. Ayurvedic
College & Hospital Patna along with Govt. Ayurvedic College Bhagalpur by
allocating additional fund.
■ Padma Shri and litterateur Ushakiran Khan launched
the book “अà¤ी मैं जिन्दा हूँ … गौरैया” by Sanjay Kumar, Assistant Director of
PIB.
■ State industries minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain inaugurated ‘Samanya Suwidha
Kendra’ built at the Bhojpur District Industry Centre with the support
of the Union Ministry
of textiles at a cost of ₹ 1 Crore.
■ State Industries minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Agriculture minister Amrendra Pratap Singh and Legislative Council’s Chairperson Awadhesh Narain Singh jointly
inaugurated ‘Khadi
Mela and Exhibition’ organized by the Bihar State Khadi and Village Industries Board at Ramna Maidan in Ara.
■ Under the Bihar Government Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal scheme, which
began in September 2016, as many as 29,180 wards out of 30,272 wards
having contaminated sources of groundwater have been provided with safe tap
drinking water.
■ CM Nitish Kumar had announced an ex gratia payment
of ₹4 lakh
each to the next kin of all seven persons killed in a boiler blast at Anshul
Snacks Private Ltd. in Bela industrial area of Muzaffarpur district.
■ CM Nitish Kumar announced an ex gratia payment of ₹4 lakh
each to the family members of the five children who were charred to death in an
accidental fire that broke out due to LPG cylinder leak in Banka district.
■ JDU’s Rajya Sabha MP and billionaire Pharma
tycoon ‘Mahendra
Prasad’ (81) aka ‘King Mahendra’ has passed away recently.
■ Dr Gauri Shankar Rajhans, former MP and Indian
Ambassador, senior journalist, author and pride of Bhagalpur has passed away.
He was an elected Congress MP from Jhanjharpur in Madhuvani district of
Bihar. After this, he efficiently represented the country in the position of
Ambassador of India to Laos and Cambodia.
■In the details given by the project director National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), a six-lane Mokama bridge over the Ganga is
likely to be completed by October 2023.
The bridge will start from the junction of NH-31 and 80
and will join the Simaria-Khagaria four-lane road before Barauni
thermal power plant. This bridge will significantly reduce the travel time
between Patna
and Purnia. The total length covered with approach roads on both
ends between Aunta
in Patna district to Simaria under Begusarai district will be 8.15 km.
The NHAI official also informed that the construction work on 58 km out of 60.23km Simaria-Khagaria
four-lane road is already complete.
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■ In terms of overall health performance among the larger states
in the fourth Health
Index released by the NITI Aayog, Bihar has emerged as the second-worst
performer, just above Uttar Pradesh. Kerala has emerged top among the 19 larger states. The
maximum index score that a state/UT can achieve was 100 and Bihar’s index score
was 31 while
Kerala scored 82.20.
However, in terms of incremental performance, Bihar was
placed in the category of larger states which had shown positive results. While
maximum incremental performance was shown by UP with 5.52 points more than the
base year (2018-19), Bihar’s performance has increased by 0.76 points in the reference year (2019-20) from the base year.
■ In India, Bihar has the highest number of women in the police force.
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| Source: IPRD Bihar |
■ In a view of urbanization, Bihar state cabinet has approved
several proposals of urban development and housing department. This includes:
Upgradation of Saharsa Nagar
Parishad as Municipal
Corporation.
Formation of three new Urban
Local Bodies (ULBs) viz., the nagar panchayats
of Ghodasahan
in East
Champaran district, Itadhi in Buxar and Sangrampur in Munger district.
Upgradation of six nagar panchayats viz., Maner
(Patna), Barhiya (Lakhisarai), Jhajha (Jamui), Jhanjharpur (Madhubani), Jale
(Darbhanga) and Islampur (Nalanda) as nagar parishads.
With this now the total number of municipal bodies has
increased to 262
that include 19
Municipal Corporations, 89 Nagar Parishads and 154 Nagar Panchayats.
The cabinet also approved the area expansion of
Chhapra, Muzaffarpur and Madhubani Municipal Corporations and approved the
change in the name of Yogapatti Nagar Panchayat to Machhuargawan Nagar Panchayat.
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■ With the existing 11 Air Quality Monitoring Stations
(AQMS) in the state, Bihar is all set to get 24 more ambient air quality
monitoring stations covering 22 districts.
The AQMS would be equipped with the
devices and gas sensors to detect carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur
dioxide and ozone. It will also have dust particle sensors
for detecting PM10 and PM2.5 suspended particulate matters in air. The
AQMS will also have devices and sensors for measuring temperature, relative
humidity and barometric pressure.
According to Bihar State Pollution Control Board
(BSPCB) sources, the server of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is
being linked with stations having air quality index (AQI) system. AQI is
divided into six
categories on the point scale of 0 to 500. While the AQI value of 0-50 is
considered good, the AQI value of 300 and above is considered hazardous for
health.
■ On 22 December 2021 CM Nitish Kumar has begun his
three-week long ‘Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan’ (campaign for social reforms) from Motihari.
As part of the campaign, he will visit all 9 divisions
across the state and would mainly review the continuous livelihood programme, ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal
Yojana (tap water supply to each household), toilet construction
under the Lohiya
Swachh Bihar Yojana, paddy procurement as well as the status of
enforcement of total prohibition and steps taken for abolition of social evils
like dowry
system and child marriage.
■ International shooter and BJP MLA from Jamui assembly seat of Bihar Shreyasi Singh
won gold medal in women’s double trap event in 64th National Shooting Championship
held at New Moti Bagh Gun Club in Patiala (Punjab).
■ Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh from Bihar has been
elected as the new National President of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
■ From Bihar ten districts (Darbhanga, East Champaran, West
Champaran, Siwan, Saharsa, Lakhisarai, Kishanganj, Bhagalpur, Nalanda and
Sitamarhi) have been selected by the Center for Climate Resilient Farming. Now the central
government will start Climate Friendly farming in these districts and Information
related to farming without tillage, agricultural machinery, technology will be
disseminated among the farmers. Animal husbandry and farming will be done under
the supervision of scientists in some villages of selected districts.
Schemes related to animal husbandry and horticulture
will be linked to climate friendly farming activities. Apart from the 'Climate
Friendly' farming scheme being run by the state government, this scheme has
been named National
Innovation in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) scheme.
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■ The Bihar government revises the decision on ban on
production, import, storage and distribution of single-use plastic from 15 December
2021 to 1 July
2022.
All items of plastics with thickness below 50 microns,
including cups, spoons, glasses and bottles, will not be allowed to be used,
while paper plates coated with food-grade plastics have been exempted from the
ban. Even plastic sticks used in earbuds, ice cream, balloons, candy, plastic
flags and thermocol products will be banned.
Violation of the law will attract penalty, fine and
even jail term under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
This ban will cause the government a revenue loss of
not less than ₹500
crore.
■ In the 14th National Grappling Competition
held at Shirdi in Maharashtra,
Bihar has won a total of 29 gold and 10 bronze medals and secured second
place in this competition.
■ The first officially confirmed Omicron case in Bihar
was seen in Kidwaipuri
(Patna) when a 25-year-old tested positive for Omicron variant of Covid-19.
■ Bihar government will spend about ₹33 crore
to develop ‘Champaran
Circuit’ in a bid to boost spiritual tourism in the area.
State tourism minister Narayan Prasad said, Bettiah’s Durga
Bagh Temple, will now be developed as a tourist attraction. The
government has approved ₹6.17 crore for the temple development, ₹6.74 crore for
tourism promotion at Pujaha Patjirwa Mai Sthan, ₹5.46 crore for Khadda Mai
Sthan and ₹14.61 crore for the development of Amvaman tourist place.
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■ The Railway Board has nominated 52 stations falling under the
jurisdiction of the East Central Railway (ECR) for making them more
environment-friendly and eco-smart. It intends to get ISO 14001:2015
certificates from the pollution control boards of the cities concerned by
maintaining better hygiene and cleanliness at these stations.
According to ECR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO),
the 52 stations include the Patna Junction, Rajendra Nagar Terminal, Muzaffarpur
Junction and Gaya Junction in Bihar. Moreover, plastic bottle
crushing machines and composting plants had already been installed at the
Patna, Danapur, Rajendra Nagar, Muzaffarpur, Sonepur, Dhanbad and Gaya
stations. Besides, the railways has installed water harvesting and recycling
treatment plants at the Danapur, Rajendra Nagar and Barauni stations to keep
them neat and clean.The railways has already introduced a 24X7 mechanised
cleaning system at major stations of the ECR, including the Patna Junction and
Rajendra Nagar Terminal.
Health
Minister Mangal Pandey and Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Chaudhary honoured
him with a citation and medal at Chanakya Hotel in Patna.
■ CM Nitish Kumar appointed 1987-batch IAS officer Amir Subhani
as the Chief
Secretary of Bihar. He is Bihar's first chief secretary from minority group and will replace Tripurari Sharan.
■ A three-day Ayurveda Parv was jointly organized by the state Ayurveda council
and state Ayush
committee, Patna at Rajgir International Convention Centre (RICC) in
Rajgir.
RICC is Bihar's first purpose-built Green Globe project convention
centre and state-of-the-art convention facility.
Extra:
■ Guru Nanak Shital Kund a cold spring and heritage
site of Sikh Community with shrine consisting of an old Gurudwara is in Rajgir.
It is believed that the progenitor of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev had visited this place during his lifetime. This
site is in close vicinity of Brahma kund.
About Internal Springs at Rajgir:
Ragir is an abode of springs and these emerge from the
fracture and joint planes of Precambrian quartzite and phyllite.
Physiographically, the city is divided into plains and
hills. Five hills i.e. Vaibhara, Vipula, Ratnagiri, Sona and Udaygiri, run in
two broad parallel ranges.
At Rajgir, there are 4 natural sources of hot springs which have been channelized to flow out from 16 different points. These natural
springs (primary springs) are found at the foothills of Vaibhara (2 springs) and Vipula
(2 springs).
The first two primary springs along with 9 secondary
springs (Vishwamitra, Dadhichi, Vashishtha, Gautam, Bhardwaj, Markandeya, Vyas,
Ganga and Yamuna) forms the Brahma Kund area.
The third spring located northeast to Brahma Kund has
been channelized into 4 secondary springs with names Suraj
Kund, Chandrama Kund, Ganesh Kund and Saraswati
Kund.
These hot water springs thronged by the Hindus are
believed to have healing power for several chronic ailments. Brahma Kund is the
hottest with a temperature of 45°C.
The fourth spring located easternmost is the Makdhum Kund.
It is
a sacred warm spring and dargah of a Muslim Sufi saint, Makhdum Shah. This has
also been channelized to fall as two secondary springs; one each for male and
female.
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| Source: Google Earth |
The spatial distribution of hot springs at Rajgir is the result of flushing back of groundwater along the fault line at the foothills of Vaibhara and Vipula Hills. The perennial nature of these springs is contributed by rainwater which infiltrates and percolates from the pond overlying the Vaibhara Hill and contributes to local groundwater. This water then is flushed back to the ground surface following the fault line present in the rocks.
The source of heat for these groundwaters is the presence of a heat zone due to its tectonic history and radioactive elements underneath. This heated water then reacts with the sulphur present in the rocks to contribute further heating of water and grant it a curative nature.
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