Bihar Deputy Chief Minister part of the 2nd Group of ministers formed
by GST Council
• Goods and Service Tax Council headed by Nirmala Sitharaman has
set up 2 group of ministers (GoM) under Basavraj Bommai and Ajit
Pawar to look into the rate structure and system reforms required to
plug in the leakages.
• 1st GoM: 1st GoM will be headed by Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavraj Bommai and it will review the current tax rate structure and will
report on changes necessary to make it more effective. Bihar Deputy
Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad is a member of this Group of
Ministers. Other members are: West Bengal Finance Minister Amit
Mitra, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal, Uttar Pradesh Finance
Minister Suresh Khanna, Goa Transport Minister Mauvinh Godinho and
Rajasthan Urban development and Housing Minster S K Dhariwal.
• 2nd GoM: 2nd Group of Ministers is headed by Maharashtra Deputy
CM Ajit Pawar. This group of Minister will look into the IT reforms that
can be done to prevent revenue from tax evasion and make compliance
easier for tax payers. The panel would also review the IT tools that are
available to the tax authorities and suggest improvements to make
them more effective. Other members are: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia, Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, Andhra
Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, Assam Finance
Minister Ajanta Neog, Chattisgarh Commercial Tax Minister TS Singh
Deo, Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari and and Tamil Nadu
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.
• There are current 7 GST rates applicable: Exempt, 3%, 5%, 12%, 18%
and 28%.
Pankaj Tripathi appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Fino
Payments Bank
• Pankaj Tripathi who hails from GopalGanj in Bihar, has been
appointed as the brand ambassador of Fino Payment Bank Limited.
• He has been previously appointed as the Brand Ambassador of
Narcotics Control Bureau in 2021 and Patna’s Khadi Mall by Bihar
government in 2020.
New Ropeway in Banka district
• Chief Minister of Bihar Mr Nitish Kumar has inaugurated a new
cabin ropeway in the state of Bihar at Mandar Hills in Banka district.
• The Mandar Hills ropeway has been built at the cost of 9.18 Crores.
• Earlier the ropeway facility was available only at Rajgir. 6 more
ropeways will be installed at different locations to promote tourism in
the state.
• The State tourism minister Narayan Prasad stated that Three of the
proposed six ropeways would be installed at Rohtasgarh Fort,
Mundeshwari Hills in Kaimur and Vanabar Hills in Jehanabad district.
The other three would be installed at Dungeshwari Hills, Brahmyoni and
Pretshila (the last two are religious places for Hindus) situated in and
around Gaya town.
3 Skills Training Centres to be set up in Bihar for young Boys and
Girls under East Central Railway
• The East Central Railway (ECR) has set up three training centres
located at Samastipur, Harnaut in Nalanda district and Pt Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya Junction (DDU) at Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh under ‘Rail
Kaushal Vikas Yojana’ to provide advanced skill training to young boys
and girls.
• The scheme was recently launched by railway minister Ashwini
Vaishnaw across the country to mark the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’
celebrations.
• According to ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh
Kumar, railways has launched this scheme based on Prime Minister
Kaushal Vikas Yojana programme.
• Railways will impart training to at least 50,000 youths at 75 centres,
including three in the ECR jurisdiction. Training programmes will be
organised in electrician, welding, machinist and fitter trades.
• The railways has already invited online applications from
matriculation passed candidates in 18 to 35 years age group at the three
centres in ECR.
• Training will be provided free of cost under the Apprentice 1961 Act.
Railways will help them eke out their livelihood after completion of
training, which will be of minimum 100 hours.
• Railways has started admitting boys and girls at the Supervisor
Training Centre at Samastipur, Basic Training Centre at Harnaut and
Gaya Railway Colony at Mughalsarai. Admission is being given to
trainees on the basis of marks obtained in matric examinations.
National Crime Records Bureau report on crime in the Country
• According to the the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
figures released recently Bihar registered 17.3% fall in the cases of crime
against women last year compared to 2019 but there was 10.4% rise in
rape incidents and 87% in cases of assault on women with an intent to
outrage her modesty in 2020.
• As per the report, 806 rape cases were registered in the state in
2020 against 730 in 2019, whereas 110 cases of attempt to commit rape
and 584 incidents of assault with intention of outraging modesty were
reported last year compared to 69 and 312 cases, respectively, in 2019.
• Rape, outraging modesty, dowry deaths and harassment, acid
attacks and kidnapping are the included crimes against women in the
report.
• Bihar was among the top three states after Uttar Pradesh (9,109)
and West Bengal (7,740) With 6,671 incidents of kidnapping of women.
Of them, 5,378 were kidnapped on the pretext of marriage, including
2,758 minor girls.
Bihar administered maximum number of doses across among all the
states on Prime Minister’s Birthday
• Bihar stood at the first position in the country by administering
over 30.67 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines during a mega vaccination
campaign on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 71st birthday.
• A total of 30,67,918 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered
during the mega vaccination campaign on September 17.
• Karnataka stood at the second position by administering 29.58 lakh
doses and Uttar Pradesh at third position by administering 27.95 lakh.
Central Government allows Bihar to raise Rs 1699 crores from Market
Sources
• The department of expenditure (DoE) under the Union finance
ministry has allowed the Bihar government to raise Rs 1,699 crore
through market borrowing, as it has met the target of achieving 15% of
the capital expenditure that had been earmarked for the first quarter of
the current fiscal. The amount will be incrementally increased during the
remaining three quarters.
• Bihar was among the 11 states which had met the target of
achieving 15% of the expenditure earmarked under the capital
expenditure head of the budget pertaining to the first quarter of 2021-22.
• On account of this, the 11 states have been allowed, as an incentive,
an opportunity to raise Rs15,721 crore overall through market borrowing
from financial institutions. The money so raised will be spent as capital
expenditure for the creation of assets like bridges, hospitals and other
infrastructural entities, as well as to meet the costs of loan repayment
and other such expenditures.
• The Centre allows the states to raise money from the open market,
but the cap on the total amount that can be raised in a financial year is
4% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Bihar to participate in High Level meeting to curb Left Wing
Extremism
• Chief Minister Nitish Kumar participated in the High Level Meeting
of Left Wing Extremism affected states which was presided by Union
Home Minister Mr Amit Shah.
• 10 States affected with LWE were a part of the meeting.
(Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal).
• As per official records, currently only four districts in Bihar—Gaya,
Aurangabad, Jamui, Lakhisarai— are Maoists affected. The Bihar state
seeked financial assistance for executing special development works in
the LWE affected districts.
Valmiki Tiger Reserve
• As part of the India Biodiversity Awards 2021, West Champaranbased
Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) received a certificate of appreciation
in the ‘Conservation of Wild Species’ category on the occasion of World
Rhino Day on on 22 September 2021.
• The awards, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), and the
United Nations Development Programme, identify and recognize the
efforts of individuals, communities, and institutions working towards
biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.
• The number of tigers in the VTR is in the range of 28-37 with a
density of 2.5 big cats per 100km.
• The Valmiki Tiger Reserve is one of the 14 tiger reserves of India
that got the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards accreditation on
July 29 this year.
Bihar Current Affairs: September 2021
