BIHAR

Command control centre, app for monitoring of roads launched in Bihar

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State road construction ministerNitin Nabin inaugurated a state-of-the art command control centre (CCC) and launched a road maintenance mobile application, aimed at better monitoring of the existing as well as upcoming road projects.

Speaking on the occasion, Nabin said the CCC and road maintenance app will cover the roads having total length of 13,064km spread over 43 road divisions in the state. He claimed that the new system will work on a single platform to access details of road monitoring by engineers and officials of the department.

Gujarat, Bihar, Ladakh head to become carbon neutral

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Progressive Climate actions being undertaken by many Indian states as they strategically shift towards increased use of .

This came to Light on Friday at a discussion organised by The Climate Group on the sidelines of the annual New York Climate Week, and at a time when the UN calls for no further build of coal across the world and countries, companies, states and regions world over are committing to bringing down emissions to net zero by mid century.

The plans of states are well placed to achieve long-term energy transition and net zero targets.

For instance, Gujarat is on the path to significantly reducing emissions as they choose to rely on renewable energy alone to meet all future power needs.

New analysis from GERMI shows that the share of coal power generation in the state will come down to 16 per cent by 2030, from the current 63 per cent as it aligns with the 450GW revised national renewable energy target.

The state is also setting up the world’s largest grid-scale battery storage in the Kutch region and is one of India’s largest markets for electric two-wheelers.

The analysis shows that not only will Gujarat not need to build any further thermal coal assets, but it will also have to consider retirement of Plants which are either old or polluting.

Developing a retirement package for these coal plants will hold the key. This will make economic sense given that the cost of renewable energy is less than new coal power.

Electricity sector in India contributes to 40 per cent of emissions.

Ladakh is working towards an enormous 10 GW of renewable energy capacity with solar and wind power, and it is setting up a 50MWh battery storage capacity –India’s largest so far.

Bihar has more than 50 lakh patients of hepatitis that claims approximately 15 lakh lives across the world every year.

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Revealing this figure on the occasion ofWorld Hepatitis Day, Dr Dineshwar Prasad, the principal ofGovernment Ayurvedic CollegeandHospital(GACH), claimed that 5 out of every 100 people suffered from the disease in Bihar.

Hepatitis, which may happen due to consumption of alcohol, epilepsy drugs, and AIDS or TB medicines, can be deadly in case of late detection. It has four types hepatitis A, B, C and E.

Cabinet approves subsidy for dairy units

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A memorandum of understanding will be signed with the central government for the implementation of the scheme for modernisation and reforms through technology (SMART) in PDS in the state with a Software to be developed and installed.

The cabinet also cleared the release of Rs757.63 crore in three instalments to Bihar State Power Holding Company for the payment of unfunded terminal benefits to former employees and officers of Bihar State Electricity Board up to October 31, 2012.

As to the animal and Resources department, the cabinet approved the payment of subsidy to the tune of Rs 37.05 crore for the promotion of Dairy units using indigenous/local variety of cows and calf in the current financial year.

Beneficiaries would be farmers, cattle rearers and unemployed youths (male and female). The subsidy payable to the Scheduled Caste, scheduled tribe and extremely backward caste beneficiaries using two and four cows and calf will be 75%, while it will be 50% for the general category.

Similarly, subsidy payable to persons of all categories for establishing dairy units using 15-20 cows is 40%. A Matsya Vikas Bhavan would be constructed at a cost of Rs54.35 crore on the campus of fishery research centre at Mithapur (Patna).

Bihar bags second prize in National MSME Award 2022

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Bihar has bagged the second prize in National MSME Award 2022 to States/UTs for outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) sector. PM Narendra Modi will give the award in a function to be organised by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises at Delhi on June 30.

The minister claimed that the Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojna(MUY) was limited to SC/ST only at the time of its launch in 2018 but it has been inclusive of the Backward, Extreme backward, general and Women category from financial year 2021-22.
The scheme has proved to be very effective in including youths of Bihar to the path of states industrialization. In the fiscal 2021-22, 16,000 beneficiaries were selected under Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojna who are given financial assistance of Rs10lakh, Shahnawaz said.

Shahnawaz said 25% of Industrial land ofBihar Industrial Area Development Authority(BIADA) is reserved for MSME units.

He claimed that Growth of 171.67% has been registered under MUY in fiscal 2021-22 as compared fiscal 2019-20.

The first and third prizes in the National MSME Award 2022 have been achieved by Odisha and Haryana respectively.

Bihar CM launches BHY scheme for children with heart ailments

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Chief minister Nitish Kumar Friday launched the Bal Hriday Yojana (BHY), which will provide free treatment to children suffering from the medical condition of a hole in the heart or ventricular septal defect.

The CM flagged off a bus carrying 21 children with this condition, along with their guardians, to the Patna airport to be flown to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) for specialized treatment.

They would be given additional specialized medical treatment at the Ahmedabad-based hospital run by the Prashanti Medical Services and Research Foundation with which the has an agreement so that free medical treatment and care could be given to these children.

Patna metro rail project: Japan commits Rs 5,509 crore

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Japan committed Rs 7,084 crore to India for three projects, includingPatnametro rail. Notes in this regard were exchanged between Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary, department of economic affairs and Japan ambassador to India Suzuki Hiroshi.

Japan will fundPatna metro rail project(about Rs 5,509 crore), project for forest and Biodiversity conservation for Climate-change”>Climate Change response in West Bengal (about Rs 520 crore) and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (about Rs 1,055 crore).

BSPCB to facilitate study onhuman health, environment

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TheBihar State Pollution Control Board(BSPCB) has invited proposals from institutions of the state engaged in active research work for making a collaborative study on various aspects of human Health and pollution control.
BSPCB chairman Ashok KumarGhoshsaid the decision to invite proposals for the betterment of human health and Environment was taken at a meeting of the representatives of different institutions held at the board headquarters.

The proposals for integrated research have been invited on topics like development of technology and innovative solutions for pollution control, multi-disciplinary approach towards the solution of environmental problems and statewide and region-wide specific studies

Five states, 80% Indians most vulnerable to climate extremes: CEEW

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Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Bihar are most vulnerable to extreme Climate events such as floods, droughts, and in India, according to a first of its kind Climate Vulnerability Index released on Tuesday by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Overall, 27 Indian states and Union Territories are vulnerable to extreme climate events, which often disrupt the local economy and displace weaker communities. A total of 463 out of 640 districts in India – where more than 80 per cent Indians live – are vulnerable to extreme floods, droughts, and cyclones.

More than 45 per cent of these districts have undergone unsustainable landscape and Infrastructure changes. Further, 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate event, the CEEW study found out and also that more than 60 per cent of Indian districts have medium to low adaptive capacity.

Dhemaji and Nagaon in Assam, Khammam in Telangana, Gajapati in Odisha, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Sangli in Maharashtra, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu are among India’s most climate vulnerable districts.

The study is an important documentation in view of the annual Climate Change conference – COP26 – to be held at the UK’s Glasgow from October 31. Developing countries such as India are expected to demand at the COP that developed countries ramp up and deliver climate finance timely to help the former strengthen adaptation mechanisms against extreme climate events.

The CEEW study, supported by the India Climate Collaborative and Edelgive Foundation, also highlighted that the states in India’s northeast are more vulnerable to floods, while the ones in the south and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts. Further, 59 per cent and 41 per cent of the total districts in the eastern and western states, respectively, are highly vulnerable to extreme cyclones.

The CEEW study also indicated that only 63 per cent of Indian districts have a District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP). While these plans need to be updated every year, only 32 per cent of them had updated plans until 2019. Highly vulnerable, states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, and Gujarat have improved their respective DDMPs and climate-proofed critical infrastructures in the recent years.