BIHAR

Govt to expand scope of eco-survey 2019-20: Dy CM
The state government has decided to expand the scope of its economic survey 2019-20 to document the achievements of new initiatives, like seven resolves, digitisation and direct benefit transfers (DBT), along with information on initiatives for combating climate change.

Presentation of economic survey, preceding the budget, has become an annual feature in the state since 2006-07, on the pattern of Centre, after NDA government came to power. Till now, the survey limited itself to present an overview on Bihar’s economy on topics related to state finances, agriculture and allied sectors, enterprises, skill development, energy, rural, urban, child and human development, banking, spread over 12 dedicated chapters for each.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar stated that the proper documentation of Bihar’s growth narrative was desirable as the state has been able to clock steady growth, both economic and social, year after year. The growth rate of Bihar in 2017-18 was 11.3%, the highest among all states in the country.

Among the important issues for focus, migration, particularly for short duration, needs to be closely monitored while carrying out an analysis of population pattern.

The achievements of new initiatives, like the ambitious seven resolves for governance, becomes important for government and researchers.

Patnaites had only 16 days of good air to breathe in the last four years since the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) installed the ambient air quality monitoring stations in the state in October 2015.

According to a study, titled ‘Ambient Air Quality Assessment of cities in Bihar’, released by the Centre for Energy and Environment Development (CEED), there were eight days each in 2016 and 2017 during the months of August and September, when the quality of ambient air was good in Patna. In rest of the days, air quality of the city hovered between moderate to hazardous levels.

The analysis of air quality was done on presence of particulate matter (PM2.5) for Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur for the period starting October 2015 to July 2019 as well as the historical trends of suspended particulate matter (PM10) from 2009 to 2017.

The severe air pollution were observed in all the three cities, namely Patna, Muzaffarpur and Gaya with annual PM2.5 concentrations found in the range of 3 to 4 times more than the national safe limit and seventeen times higher than the WHO annual standard.

INTERNATIONAL

As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas – 2019 is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord, Washington, the USA from 05-18 September 2019.

Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavours between India and USA.

This will be the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.

Exercise Yudh Abhyas will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.

NATIONAL

· Election Commission of India launches Electors Verification Programme voter verification and authentication

Election Commission launched the Electors Verification Programme (EVP) across the nation on September 1, 2019. The Electors Verification Programme is a one-stop solution to verify and authenticate voter details and ensure an error-free electoral roll.
The program was launched at all levels starting from the state/UT Headquarters by 32 CEOs, district level by about 700 DEOs and at around 1 million polling stations by BLOs/EROs and will continue from September 1, 2019 to October 15, 2019
The main aim of the Electors Verification Programme is to improve the health of electoral rolls and provide better electoral services to the citizens. The programme also aims to increase the level of communication between the voters and the commission.
Under the EVP programme, voters can verify or authenticate their details by logging on to NVSP portal (nvsp.in) or Voter Helpline App or Common Service Centres or by visiting any nearby voter facilitation centre. The EVP programme can be availed both online and offline.

· President Ram Nath Kovind appoints 5 new Governors

President of India. Shri Ram Nath Kovind appointed 5 new governorsnamely TamilisaiSoundararajan, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Kalraj Mishra, Arif Mohammed Khan and BandaruDattatreya for Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
Soundararajan appointed the Governor of Telangana having a separate Governor is a first for the country’s newest state. Bandaru Dattatreya put in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Former union minister Arif Mohammad Khan appointed the Governor of Kerala and Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the Governor of Maharashtra.
Tamilisai Soundararajan in charge of the BJP in a crucial southern state where it had practically zero presence, owing to the muscular Dravidian politics of the former Chief Ministers J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi.
Maharashtra is the only one going for state elections later this year. Mr Koshyari replaces Vidya Sagar Rao, whose five-year term came to an end.

Ministry of Home has launched the national cyber crime reporting portal where the citizens can log on to https://cybercrime.gov.in and lodge complaint on cyber crimes.
The complaints have been kept in two categories women-child related and other cyber complaints.
The complaint lodged on the portal will be obtained by the nodal officer of the concerned state.

Gk bit : Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (IC4)

Government rolled out Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I₄C)’ for the period 2018-2020, to combat cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and effective manner. The scheme has following seven components:

(i) National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit.

(ii) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.

(iii) Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team.

(iv) National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem.

(v) National Cybercrime Training Centre.

(vi) Cybercrime Ecosystem Management Unit.

(vii) National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre.