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  ■ Monthly Current Affairs ■ Bihar’s Mithila Makhana gets a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Mithila Makhana, simply known as 'Makhan' with its botanical name ‘ Euryale Ferox Salisb ’ is a variety of aquatic fox nut, famously consumed during Kojagara Puja by Maithil Brahmins. It’s cultivated in the Mithila region of Bihar and in some parts of Nepal. It's a unique aquatic cash fruit crop in the state mainly grown in agro-climatic Zone-I and Zone-II of Bihar . 

■ Monthly Current Affairs ■ On 12 July 2022 PM Narendra Modi unveiled the Centenary Memorial Pillar ( Shatabdi Smriti Stambh ) in front of the Bihar legislative Assembly, to commemorate 100 years of Bihar Vidhan Sabha. He also laid the foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha Museum. About Centenary Memorial Pillar / Shatabdi Smriti Stambh :

■ Monthly Current Affairs ■ On 7 June 2022 , Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and CM Nitish Kumar inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 15 national highway projects worth ₹13,585 crores in Bihar. This also included superstructure replacement of the eastern flank of Mahatma Gandhi Setu. Earlier on July 2020, the western flank was inaugurated.  About Mahatma Gandhi Setu

■ Monthly Current Affairs ■The trial of Bihar government’s ambitious project  Ganga Udvah Pariyojana  ( गंगा _ उदवह _ परियोजना )  of transporting the water of river Ganga from  Mokama 's  Hathidah  to  Nawada  through  190 km   pipeline was successful. With the completion of this project, all the people in the cities of  Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir and Nawada  will get pure drinking water. Purification of water will be done at treatment plants at  Ghora Katora   in  Rajgir ,  Motnaje  in  Nawada  and  Manpur  in  Gaya .

■   I n Bihar, the total water area stands at  3.52 lakh hectares , accounting for 3.8% of the total  geographical area .  Bihar is endowed with substantial ground and surface water resources. The river Ganga and its tributaries provide water resources to the state, for both agricultural and non-agricultural uses. On average, the state receives annual rainfall amounting to  1000 MMS , the bulk of which comes from the  southwest monsoon .  T his is not adequate to water the entire farming activities in the state. Therefore, a well-planned irrigation system is needed to assist in stabilizing production, improving yield and   cropping intensities .  ■   Gross Irrigated Area (GIA) :

■  Bihar's climatic and topographical conditions make it favourable for the growth of allied sectors in the state.  The growing importance of allied sectors such as fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy farming in Bihar is largely due to its role in supporting livelihoods. As labour-intensive sectors, they employ a large segment of the population and help the poor rural households in earning supplementary income. Livestock and fisheries are the  fastest-growing  sub-sectors within the primary sector, growing at a rate of  10%  and  7%.  respectively. Also, their  share in the agriculture GSVA  has been averaging around  30%  and  8%,  respectively during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21). ■ Fisheries

■ Bihar is endowed with vast fertile land which supports agriculture as its mainstay of the economy. About 74% of the workforce in Bihar depends on agricultural and allied activities for their livelihood. Besides generating employment, it also provides raw materials to industries augments food supply and assists in poverty alleviation. The State Government is implementing various schemes under the AgricultureRoadmap since 2008 for augmenting agricultural productivity and farmers’ income. Several programmes have been outlined in the Agriculture RoadmapIII (2017-2022) to increase farmers’ income, ensure food and nutritional security, provide gainful employment, and encourage sustainable use of natural resources. As a result of various initiatives, the state has won 5 Krishi Karman Puraskar since 2012 . The agriculture and allied sector grew at a pace of 2.1% during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21). Among the sub-sectors, livestock and fisheries have grown at a pace of ...

Fiscal position of the Bihar Government during 2020-21 The year 2020-21 observed the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that severely affected the government’s finances, because of the economic slowdown. The State Government responded to the challenge with the best possible utilization of its fiscal resources and  increased expenditure  with the appropriate rationalization. In 2020-21, the  Total Receipt  of the State Government increased by  7.5%  over the previous year to  ₹ 1,64,903 crore , out of which the  Revenue  and  Capital  account   receipt  were  ₹ 1,28,168 crore  and  ₹ 36,735 crore , respectively.

■  Bihar Economy: An Overview On 25 th  February 2022  Bihar’s Finance Minister  Tarkishore Prasad  tabled the  16 th  Bihar Economic Survey  on the floor of the Legislative Assembly. The first survey was presented in  2006-07 . ■ Bihar Economy:

  ■ 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.