Bihar Affairs
Best site chosen for AIIMS at Darbhanga
Chief minister Nitish Kumar said in the legislative council that land for the states second Aiims was selected at Shobhan in Darbhanga keeping in mind the advantage of connectivity.
He said the upcoming Health facility would usher in development in the region. The CM informed the House that he has instructed the officials concerned to complete the project expeditiously.
National and International Affairs
8.15 Crore Rural Households Provided Tap Water Connections In 3.5 Years Under Jal Jeevan Mission
To enable every rural household in the country to have assured potable water through tap water connection by 2024, Government of India in PARTNERSHIP with States is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – Har Ghar Jal since Aug., 2019.Water being a State subject, the responsibility to plan, approve, implement & operate & maintain water supply schemes lies with the States.At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission in August 2019, 3.23 Crore (17%) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, as reported by States/ UTs as on 09.03.2023, additional 8.15 Crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections in last three and half years under JJM. Thus, as on 09.03.2023, out of 19.42 Crore rural households in the country, more than 11.38 Crore (58%) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes.
Margdarshika for Gram Panchayats & VWSCs to provide Safe drinking water in rural households and Guidelines on a special campaign to provide piped water supply in anganwadi centres, ashramshalas and schools have been shared with States/ UTs to facilitate planning and implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission. For online monitoring, JJMIntegrated Management Information System (IMIS) and JJMDashboard has been put in place. Provision has also been made for transparent online financial management through Public Financial Management System (PFMS). Sufficient funds are also being provided to states for timely completion of works.
Womens access to creditdoubles to 14% in 5 years
Credit access to Women has doubled in the last five years. The loan penetration among women borrowers has shot up to 14% in 2022 from 7% in 2017. Credit access is the ratio of women borrowers to the total adult Population.
According to a report by TransUnion (TU) Cibil, women borrowers in India have increased at a compound annual Growth rate (CAGR) of 15% over the last five years compared to 11% for male borrowers. The share of women borrowers has increased to 28% in 2022 from 25% in 2017.
There are many reasons for the higher growth rate for women. Many lenders have been offering better rates for women borrowers. Second, women borrowers have a better credit profile compared to men. In 2022, the report said that 57% of women borrowers had prime credit scores (731-770) compared to 51% of male borrowers.
Insights also indicate that the number of women seeking business loans has more than tripled in the last five years (2017 to 2022), which reflects the growth of women-led startups in India. During this period, the share of women in the overall business loan portfolio has increased by 12 Percentage points (32% in 2022 versus 20% in 2017). An increase in the share of women borrowers is also observed in the Home loan segment, growing by 6 percentage points in the last five years.
Among the top 12 states by total credit active borrowers,West Bengal(22%),Rajasthan(21%) and Bihar (21%) have seen the highest growth in women borrowers between 2017 and 2022.
Japan, U.S., South Korea, Taiwan launch Chip 4 talks for supply chain
Japan, the United States, South Korea and Taiwan have held the first meeting of senior officials under a new U.S.-led framework to help ensure a stable supply of semiconductors, Japans ministry said. Officials from industry organizations in the four economies took part in the virtual conference of the Chip 4 alliance on Feb. 16 to discuss ways to maintain supply chain resilience in times of natural disasters and other contingencies.
In a bid to outcompete China technologically, the Biden administration launched a new dialogue forum with Japan and South Korea on friend-shoring semiconductors as it invites companies to compete for a share of the $50 billion already approved to revitalize the U.S. chip industry.