BPSC Bihar Special • Current Affairs25 September 2026
Bihar Current Affairs: 300th Birth Anniversary of Ahilyabai Holkar, 50 Years of Crocodile Conservation & Mission DAKSH
Source: Information & Public Relations Department (IPRD Bihar) / Official Gazettes•Exam Target: BPSC 71st & 72nd CCE Prelims
BPSC 72nd Special Dossier — Track A, Day 16
1. 300th Birth Anniversary of Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar (1725–2025)
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National Tercentenary Commemoration: Celebrated across India to honour the enlightened 18th-century ruler of the Malwa kingdom (reigned 1767–1795).
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Biographical & Administrative Profile:
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Born on 31 May 1725 at Chaundi in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Married Khanderao Holkar, son of Malhar Rao Holkar. Following the death of her husband and father-in-law, she assumed sovereign administrative reins.
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Transferred the administrative seat of the Holkar dynasty to Maheshwar on the banks of the sacred Narmada River, transforming it into a flourishing center of commerce, culture, and the renowned Maheshwari saree handloom weaving tradition.
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Monumental Architectural Renaissance Across India:
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Vishnupad Temple, Gaya (Bihar): Commissioned and reconstructed the magnificent black-granite octagonal temple structure housing the sacred footprints of Lord Vishnu along the Falgu River in 1787.
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Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi: Reconstructed the jyotirlinga shrine in 1780 following its destruction, erecting the present inner sanctum.
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Somnath Temple (Gujarat): Built a new shrine in Prabhas Patan to revive worship at the historic jyotirlinga site.
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Renovation and endowment of ghats, dharamsalas, and wells at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Ayodhya, Haridwar, Rameshwaram, and Jagannath Puri.
2. Golden Jubilee of Crocodile Conservation in India (1975–2025)
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Historic Milestone: Commemorating 50 years of Project Crocodile, launched in 1975 in Odisha with technical expertise from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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The Three Crocodilian Species of India:
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Mugger / Marsh Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris):
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Broad snout, freshwater inhabitant across rivers, lakes, and marshes.
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IUCN Status: Vulnerable (VU).
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Saltwater / Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus):
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World's largest living reptile (can exceed 6–7 metres). Inhabits tidal mangrove swamps.
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Mainland India's largest concentration is protected within Bhitarkanika National Park (Odisha), alongside the Sundarbans and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
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IUCN Status: Least Concern (LC).
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Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus):
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Extremely long, slender snout adapted exclusively for piscivorous (fish) diet; males possess a bulbous nasal knob (ghara).
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Primary sanctuaries: National Chambal Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, and Gandak River in Bihar.
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IUCN Status: Critically Endangered (CR).
3. Strategic Border Infrastructure: Shyok Tunnel, Ladakh
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Strategic Axis: Constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under Project Himank along the critically sensitive 255-km Darbuk–Shyok–Daulat Beg Oldie (DS-DBO) Road in Eastern Ladakh.
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Operational Significance: Provides an all-weather, avalanche-proof bypass over treacherous mountain gorges, ensuring uninterrupted heavy mechanized logistics to Sub-Sector North (SSN), the Depsang Plains, and the strategic Karakoram Pass overlooking the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
4. Bihar State Governance: Mission DAKSH & Revenue Maha Abhiyan
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Mission DAKSH (Dynamic Approach for Knowledge and Skill):
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Flagship education mission launched by the Education Department, Government of Bihar, targeting academically struggling students of Classes 3 to 8 in government schools.
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Micro-Classroom Architecture: Mandates a strict teacher-student ratio of 1:5 (one teacher mentors exactly five students), providing 45 minutes of daily intensive remedial coaching in Hindi reading, writing, and basic mathematics.
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Revenue Maha Abhiyan (Bihar):
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State-wide intensive administrative campaign by the Department of Revenue and Land Reforms to digitize, verify, and resolve ancestral land disputes.
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Accelerated clearance of Dakhil-Kharij (Mutation), Jamabandi digital correction through Parimarjan Plus, and distribution of updated digitized land passbooks (Khatiyan).
5. Emerging Technologies & Global Security Metrics
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Digital India Bhashini & 'Bhasha Daan':
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National Language Translation Mission under MeitY empowering AI-led cross-lingual communication in 22 Eighth Schedule Indian languages.
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Four citizen crowdsourcing pillars: Suno India (speech transcription), Bolo India (voice recording), Likho India (text translation), and Dekho India (image captioning).
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10 Breakthrough Technologies (MIT Technology Review 2026):
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Highlighted Sodium-ion Batteries (utilizing abundant rock salt, eliminating lithium/cobalt dependencies), Generative Coding, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs), Base-Edited Therapeutics, and Mechanistic AI Interpretability.
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SIPRI Arms Transfers Report 2026:
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India accounts for ~9.8% of total global arms imports, remaining the world's largest arms importer (with Russia, France, and the USA as primary suppliers), while expanding domestic defence exports under Atmanirbhar Bharat.
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