BPSC Bihar Special • Current Affairs26 September 2026
Bihar Current Affairs: Sujal Gaon ID, New Income Tax Act, Bihar Irrigation Census & Trincomalee Strategic Project
Source: Information & Public Relations Department (IPRD Bihar) / Official Gazettes•Exam Target: BPSC 71st & 72nd CCE Prelims
BPSC 72nd Special Dossier — Track A, Day 17
1. Jal Jeevan Mission & The 'Sujal Gaon ID' Framework
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National Mandate: Launched by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, to ensure institutional sustainability for the Har Ghar Jal programme.
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Core Architecture of Sujal Gaon ID:
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A unique, tamper-proof alphanumeric digital identification code assigned to every verified Har Ghar Jal village in India.
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Links village-level piped water assets directly to an IoT-enabled digital dashboard tracking daily per capita supply against the national service benchmark of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd).
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Integrates real-time bacteriological and chemical water testing logs uploaded by village women trained in using Field Test Kits (FTKs).
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Governance Impact: Institutionalizes community ownership via Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSC) and establishes preventive maintenance protocols before water shortages manifest.
2. Comprehensive Direct Tax Overhaul: The Income Tax Act 2025
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Legislative Transformation: The proposed direct tax legislation completely repeals and replaces the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961 (effective 1 April 2026).
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Guiding Principles:
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Radical Simplification: Eliminates over 100 obsolete sections, provisos, and redundant schedules, rewriting tax codes in plain, unambiguous language.
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Nomenclature Rationalization: Permanently discards the convoluted phrase "Assessment Year", transitioning universally to "Tax Year".
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Tax Certainty & Litigation Reduction: Introduces unified settlement and mediation mechanisms to clear high-value legacy litigation pending before ITATs, High Courts, and the Supreme Court.
3. Bihar Irrigation Infrastructure: Latest Statistical Census
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Gross & Net Irrigated Footprint: Bihar's total gross irrigated area has expanded past 57 lakh hectares, with significant regional variations across agro-climatic zones.
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District Rankings by Irrigation Modes:
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Total Net Irrigated Area: Rohtas district ranks #1 in Bihar, characterized by extensive canal coverage and intensive agricultural cropping.
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Canal Irrigation Champions:
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Rohtas (#1)
2.
Aurangabad (#2)
3.
West Champaran (#3)
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Primarily served by the historic Son Canal System (Upper and Lower Son) and the Triveni/Gandak Canal networks.
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Tube-well (Nalkoop) Irrigation Champions:
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Purnia (#1 in tube-well irrigated area)
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East Champaran (#2)
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Samastipur (#3)
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Districts with Lowest Irrigated Area: Shekhpura (lowest net irrigated area in Bihar), followed by Darbhanga and Sitamarhi, suffering from undulating terrain or waterlogging challenges.
4. Strategic Geopolitics: Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm Project
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Geostrategic Positioning: Trincomalee, situated on the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka, is one of the world's finest natural deep-water harbours, overlooking vital sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) across the Bay of Bengal.
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Project Specifications & British Heritage:
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Encompasses 99 giant storage tanks (each with a capacity of ~12,000 tonnes) constructed by the British colonial administration during the 1930s and World War II at China Bay.
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Bilateral Joint Venture:
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Revitalized under a historic bilateral joint development pact between the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Lanka IOC (the Sri Lankan subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited - IOCL).
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24 tanks allocated exclusively to Ceylon Petroleum, 14 tanks to Lanka IOC, and 61 tanks operated jointly through the Trinco Petroleum Terminal Pvt. Ltd.
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Strategic Dividend for India: Prevents adversarial naval expansion in the Palk Strait and secures strategic oil bunkering facilities in close proximity to Chennai and Visakhapatnam ports.
5. Constitutional History & Child Welfare Architecture
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Mahad Satyagraha (20 March 1927):
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Pioneered by Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar at the Chavdar Tale (tank) in Mahad (now in Raigad district, Maharashtra).
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Commemorates the first collective civil rights movement where marginalized Dalits asserted their constitutional and human right to draw water from a public reservoir.
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Dr. Ambedkar famously declared that the struggle was not merely for water, but for human dignity, equality, and civil rights.
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Observed nationwide every year on 20 March as 'Social Empowerment Day' (सामाजिक अधिकारिता दिवस).
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Child Adoption Regulatory Framework (CARA & JJ Act):
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CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority): Statutory body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), designated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
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2021 Statutory Amendment: Historic amendment that transferred the authority to issue formal child adoption orders from congested Civil Courts to the District Magistrate (DM) and Additional District Magistrate (ADM), cutting adoption processing timelines from years to months.
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Strict Child Privacy (Section 74): Total statutory ban on publishing names, photographs, or identifiers of adopted or rehabilitated children in print, broadcast, or social media.
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Right to 'Root Search': Under CARA guidelines, once an adopted individual reaches 18 years of age, they possess the legal right to apply for a 'Root Search' to trace biological parentage, protected by rigorous consent protocols.
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