Bihar Current Affairs February 2022
■ Monthly Current Affairs
■ Bihar’s first Floating Solar Power Plant came up in the Kadirabad locality of Darbhanga
district.
The unit, commissioned to Avaada Energy,
a private firm, has an installed capacity of 2 MW DC spread across 6 Acre with
4,004 solar modules. Each module is installed in the pond and is capable of
generating 505 megawatt peak (MWp) electricity. Avaada will transmit
power from the plant to the Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA),
a government agency that works for expansion of clean renewable energy.
Avaada had signed a power purchase agreement with BREDA for 25 years. BREDA will supply power from the plant to local consumers through North Bihar Power Distribution. It will generate 2.7 Million Units annually and will help in reducing 64,125 tonnes of CO2 in its lifecycle of 25 years.
The floating power plant
will help to meet two goals, viz., produce green energy from solar panels and promote fish
farming.
In December 2019, during the
Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali
Yatra, it was directed to make a scheme with the tag line Niche machli, upar bijli (fish below and
energy above), for better use of water from ponds.
The state’s second floating
solar plant is under construction in Supaul district and will be fully
completed by the end of March 2022.
According to official data,
Bihar is lagging behind in achieving its own target of generating clean energy
if the state’s renewable energy policy of 2017 is considered. The state has set
a target of 3,433
MW of renewable energy by 2022 that includes 2,969 MW from solar alone. But the
ground reality is that the state has so far installed just 386 MW of total
renewable energy.
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■ A new state-of-the-art terminal
building is being built at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport (Patna)
with an expenditure of ₹ 1,216 crore and is expected to be completed by
December 2023.
Spread over 65,000 square metre,
the new terminal building, once operational, will serve 80 lakh passengers per annum. The existing terminal building,
spread over 12,000 square metre, has the capacity to handle 25 lakh passengers
annually. The upcoming terminal building will be a 4-star GRIHA-rated and
energy-efficient building.
Know what is GRIHA:
■ The
Ashiana Nagar
division of Patna
has become India’s first Smart Division with 100% installation of Smart
Prepaid Meters (SPMs).
Biihar
has became the first state in India to have installed
highest number of SPMs. On 25 February, French power utility firm EDF has completed the installation
of 5 lakh SPMs in Bihar.
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■ Under the Seven Resolves -2
(सात निश्चय योजना-2), the implementation of Chief Minister Rural Solar Street Light scheme (मुख्यमंत्री ग्रामीण सोलर स्ट्रीट लाइट योजना) would begin from 15th
of April 2022.
With its launch, the roads
and important places of villages will be illuminated with solar lights from
evening to morning.
The scheme will begin on a
pilot basis in at least one Panchayat of every district. The responsibility of
conducting a survey in this regard was given to the head of each village who
were asked to select the places where solar lights would be installed.
On an average, 10 solar
street lights would be installed in every ward in the rural areas and apart
from this solar street lights will also be installed at important public
places.
Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) is extending technical
support in the execution of this scheme. The execution of the solar street
lights will be properly monitored through a Remote Sensing System.
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■ Sakibul Gani of Motihari district from Bihar
scripted history by creating a world record by hitting triple century on his first-class debut.
In the Ranji Plate tie
against Mizoram
in Kolkata, he blazed 341 runs off
405 balls, eclipsing the previous record of Madhya Pradesh’s Ajay Rohera (unbeaten 267 against
Hyderabad in 2018).
■ The Small Industries Development Bank of India
(SIDBI)
signed two Memoranda of Understanding
(MoU) with the industries department and its agency, Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority
(BIADA),
to foster the growth of the state’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Under the first MoU with
Bihar's industry department, project management units will be deployed by SIDBI
with the state government. While according to the second MoU, SIDBI will work
in close coordination with BIADA to MSMEs who want to set up any industrial
unit on the land/plot allotted by BIADA so as to promote industrialisation in
the state.
The MoU with SIDBI will
prove to be a game changer in the development of MSMEs in Bihar, especially
when the land of BIADA will be recognised by SIDBI as collateral, as well as
cheap and easy loans to MSMEs.
Bihar is the 14th state
to enter into such an MoU with SIDBI.
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■ Bihar Governor Phagu
Chauhan inaugurated the first
state-level virtual postage stamp exhibition ‘BIHAR DIGIPEX, 2022’.
This four-day long virtual Philatelic
Exhibition is being organized by Bihar Postal Circle from February 24
to 27 with the theme 'Rich Cultural Heritage of India' and Tagline ‘Atithi
Devo Bhavah’ under the ambit of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
This exhibition is being
organized to promote the hobby of stamp collection and give an opportunity for
the philatelists and kids collecting stamps to showcase their collections.
■ Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari will be the brand ambassador for Khadi and other handicrafts of Bihar.
■ Bihar government has
planned to purchase full body truck scanner tunnels for bordering
areas to check liquor smuggling from the adjoining states of Jharkhand, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal and from Nepal.
The scanners, each to cost
around ₹20 crore,
would be installed at five checkposts or locations, including Dobhi in Gaya, Rajauli in Nawada, Dalkhola
in Purnia, Karamnasa in Bhabhua
and Belthari in Gopalganj. Once
installed, every vehicle entering the state through these checkposts would have
to pass through these scanners.
Truck scanner tunnel is a
kind-of x-ray device
that can see through metal, wood and plastic and detect liquor, arms,
ammunition, explosives or any radioactive material, if concealed in any part of
the truck. According to officials of prohibition and excise department, it
could detect narcotics and fake currency, too. The scanner will phase out the
manual checking of vehicles at the checkposts and reduce congestion.
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■ Panchayati raj minister Samrat Chaudhary said the Panchayat Sarkar
Bhavans (PSBs) would become functional in true sense from April this
year. Three
representatives from 18 departments will begin to sit in turn daily
at the panchayat sarkar bhavans to listen to the grievances of the people. People
living in the panchayats will not have to go to their respective blocks and
districts now for the resolution of their problems.
While the state has 8,067 panchayats (earlier
8387), construction of as many as 2,261 PSBs has been completed. The construction of
most PSBs will be completed in the next two years.
■ The Shrikrishna Science Centre in Patna
will soon have a new digitised gallery named Ocean The Blue World.
It has been developed by utilising
funds to the tune of ₹28 lakh. Altogether 12 interactive models have been put
on display.
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■ Bihar cabinet gave its
clearance to the government’s decision to supply fortified rice (poshanyukt chawal)
to the Public Distribution Shops (PDSs) in the state to overcome the problem of
malnutrition in the large chunk of population both in the rural and urban
areas.
In this regard, the Bihar State Food
and Civil Supply Corporation (BSCSC) has been authorized to select the agencies
required for the supply of fortified rice to the PDSs. The selection will be
done through a proper tendering process.
The agencies concerned will
also be authorized to procure Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK) that has to be mixed with rice
to prepare the fortified rice. It would require mixing 1kg of with 99kg rice. The proposal for the cabinet
clearance had been moved by the food and consumer protection department. As its
target people, the scheme will cover 85% of the rural population and 75% of those living in the urban
areas.
The cabinet also sanctioned
₹72.82 crore for the construction of buildings with their specifics at Bagaha
and Valmikinagar in West Champaran district to house the offices meant for
Mahila Swabhiman Vishesh Sashastra Bal.
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■ The business incubation
centre, known as VenturePark of Bihar Industries Association (BIA) will get financial assistance
grant of ₹3
crore under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme by the Centre’s Department
for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The association will
facilitate the allotment of seed funds to eligible early-stage startups.
DPIIT has selected BIA to
give financial assistance of up to ₹3 crore under the Centre’s scheme and a matching
grant of ₹3 crore will also be provided by the State government.
The industries minister also
announced collaboration between the Indian Institute of Technology-Patna and the Bihar Industrial
Area Development Authority to teach and encourage young
professionals to start businesses.
VenturePark incubator
established in 2015 was the first incubator in the state to get the grant under
the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme.
■ Nitish
Kumar and Nitin Gadkari jointly inaugurated 14.5 km long Rail-cum-Road-bridge over the Ganga River
approach project on NH 333B in Munger, Bihar at a cost of ₹696 crore.
With
the construction of this bridge, the distance from Munger to Khagaria and from Munger
to Begusarai will be less than 100 km and 20 km respectively.
The
rail-cum-road bridge has been named Shrikrishna Setu in the name of Bihar’s first
chief minister Sri Krishna Sinha. The foundation stone for the bridge was laid
by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on January 26, 2002.
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■ CM
Nitish Kumar inaugurated an RCC bridge and its approach road over the Mani river
at Ghorghat
in the Bhagalpur
district.
With
the commissioning of this bridge, the distance between Bhagalpur and Munger has been reduced by
more than 50 km.
The WRD has also launched an e-Office, and this launch is seen as an effort by
the department to step up its modernization process.
■ The
doyen of Maithili
literature Lily
Ray (89) passed away. Ray was honoured with Sahitya Academy Award in 1982 for
her magnum opus, Marichika (मरीचिका), a Maithili novel about the growing disappointment
with and gradual disintegration of the once reigning feudal mindset.
Born
in Madhubani
on 26 January 1933, initially wrote with the pseudonym, Kalpana Saran. She rose to
instant fame with her famous short story called Rangeen Parda.
She was
a prolific writer, apart from numerous short stories, she has written four
novels viz., Patakshep, Marichika, Upsanhar and Jijivikha.
In 2004 Prabodh
Sahitya Samman (in memory of Late Prabodh Narayan Singh) was started
by the Swasti
Foundation in Maithili and Lily Ray was the first to be honoured
with this award.
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■ The 8th-century statue of Avalokiteshwara Padamapani which belongs to Devisthan Kundulpur
Temple in Kurkihar in Gaya district of Bihar found in Milan, Italy.
The
stone Bodhisattva sculpture has been missing since 2000 and was handed over to the Indian consulate in Milan.
Kurkihar
near the sacred city of Gaya was a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage centre
between the 9th and 12th century and as a site had
yielded more than 226 bronzes famously called the Kurkihar hoard.
■ Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed a daylong ‘Prabodhan’ (enlightenment) programme
being organized in the Central Hall of Bihar Legislature for the members of
both the houses of Bihar legislature on 17th February 2022. The theme of the
programme was ‘Orientation
and Responsibilities of legislators in the journey of democracy’.
The fourth Prabodhan programme was being
organized jointly by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies
(PRIDE),
a unit of the Lok Sabha, and the Bihar Vidhan Sabha secretariat, on the occasion of
centenary year and foundation day of Bihar Vidhan Sabha building.
The first such Probodhan
programme was held in 2006, in which the then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee and Margate Alva had participated. At that time the Speaker of the
Bihar Legislative Assembly was Uday Narayan Choudhary.
A brief history on BiharLegislature:
On 12th December,1911 the
British Emperor George
V announced in his Delhi, Durbar, the creation of a separate
province by combining Bihar and Orissa with Patna as its headquarter.
On 22nd March, 1912 the creation of Bihar and Orissa state was
notified and Sir
Charles Stuwart Bailey became the first Lieutenant Governor of the
State. For the legislative authority of this newly created province, a 43-member
Provincial Legislative Council was constituted and the first
meeting of this Bihar and Orissa Provincial Legislative Council was held on 20th
January 1913 in the Seminar Hall of the historic Patna College.
This is the same council, which after many changes and modifications in
strength and constitution, now exists as Bihar Legislative Assembly.
The Bihar Legislative
Assembly building was originally called the Council Chamber. It was designed by A M Millwood
in a free
Renaissance style and got completed in 1920. This lies to the east
of the Secretariat which was designed by J
F Munnings.
The Government of India Act 1919 introduced ‘Dyarchy in provinces’. The
province of Bihar and Orissa was elevated to the status of Governor’s province
and in place of the Lieutenant Governor, a new Governor was appointed. Satyendra Prasanna Sinha became the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa.
After
becoming Governor’s State the first meeting of the Bihar and Orissa Provincial Legislative Council was held under the Presidency of Sir Walter Maude on 7th
February 1921 and it was addressed by Governor Lord S.P Sinha.
Then after passage of the Government of India Act 1935, by the British Parliament, Bihar and Orissa were separated on 1st April 1936 and made independent states. The Act abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘Provincial Autonomy’. It also introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces. In this way, a separate Upper House, the Bihar Legislative Council came into existence and its first meeting with 30 members (14 directly elected, 12 elected by the Lower House and 4 nominated ) was held under the Chairmanship of Sri Rajiv Ranjan Prasad on 22nd July, 1936.
In this bicameral system, the
number of members in the Bihar
Legislative Assembly was increased to 152. The elections to the Bihar Legislative
Assembly and the Council took place simultaneously between the 22nd
& 29th of January 1937. A constitutional deadlock
followed the Assembly elections leading to the formation of ad-interim Yunus Ministry. After the clearance of
deadlock, the first responsible government was formally constituted under the
leadership of Sri Krishna Singh on 20th July, 1937. The
first joint session of the two houses took place on 22nd July, 1937. Sri Sachchidanand Sinha
was appointed as the acting speaker (not pro-tem, as mentioned in some books)
by Governor M G Hallet. On 23rd July, 1937 Sri Ram Dayalu Singh was elected as the
Speaker while Sri Abdul Bari was elected as the Deputy Speaker of
the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
After the outbreak of the
Second World War (WWII), the British Indian Government declared the
participation of India in the war without taking consent of the provincial
responsible governments. Protesting this high handedness, Sri Krishna Singh
tendered his resignation on 31 October,1939 (not on 23 July 1939) and the Bihar Legislative Assembly was dissolved.
Later after the end of WWII in 1945, the Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections
were held again and a government under the leadership of Sri Krishna Singh was
formed once again.
On 25th April 1946, Sri Bindeshwari Prasad
Verma was elected as Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. After
the enactment of the Indian Constitution in 1950, the first general election to
the Bihar Legislative Assembly was held in 1952. The total strength of the House was 331 with
330 members elected directly and one member nominated separately. Sri Krishna Singh
became the first Leader of the House and
the Chief Minister while Dr. Anugrah Narayan Singh was elected as
first Deputy Leader of the Assembly and became
state's first Deputy Chief Minister.
Following the
recommendations of the State Reorganization Commission 1956, the geographical
boundary of Bihar changed once again and as result, the number of elected
members in the Assembly got reduced to 318 from 330. Later in 1977 in
proportion to the population growth, the total number of elected members was raised
from 318 to 324 and the nominated remained one.
With the creation of a separate State of Jharkhand, by an Act of Parliament titled Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, on 15th November 2000, 82 members (81 elected +1 nominated) became the members of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. Thus the strength of the Bihar Legislative Assembly was reduced to 243, and this remains the same till now. While the members of the Bihar Legislative Council which was 96 in 1958 reduced to 75 after the creation of Jharkhand state and continues the same.
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Extra :
Bihar Economic Survey
Bihar Budget
