Patna diary: NCC to be elective course in Bibhar Universities, 5 crore saplings and more

12 universities from state win prestigious award

The Mahatma Gandhi National Council of Rural Education has selected 12 higher educational institutions from Bihar, including Patna’s St Xavier College of Management and Technology for “One District- One Green Champion” awards 2020-21. As many as more than 1,000 higher education institutions from across India were considered for the award. However, only 400, including 12 from Bihar, were selected for the award this year. Of the 400 universities, 75 are from Uttar Pradesh, followed by 38 from Tamil Nadu, 29 from Telangana, and 24 from Maharashtra. Apart from Patna, universities from more than ten other districts of Bihar won the award 

Govt to support women who lost husbands to Covid

After announcing financial support to the children orphaned by Covid-19, the Bihar government has decided to give monthly pension to all women whose husbands had died due to Covid. The Director of the state social welfare department said a list with names of 2,026 women who lost their husbands to Covid has been prepared. A monthly pension of `600 would be given to each of these widows from this month. “Bank accounts of 1,413 of the 2,026 listed widows have been verified for the purpose. Of the widows listed, 176 are from Patna, followed by 153 from West Champaran, 110 from Begusarai, 95 from Muzaffarpur, 83 from Nawada, 82 from Saran, and the rest from other districts of Bihar.

5 crore saplings to be planted by August 9 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has launched a mission to plant 5 crore saplings in 65 days on World Environment Day here. The aim of the mission is to increase the state’s green coverage from the present 15% to 17% areas. The chief minister launched the mission by planting a tree at his residence under the Jal-Jeevan-hariyali campaign. Out of the total of 5 crore saplings to be planted by August 9, 1.24 crore will be planted by the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, two crore by the Rural Development Department and 1.5 crore by women working through SHGs.

NCC to be elective course in Bihar universities
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The state education department is planning to introduce National Cadet Corps as an elective course in the universities of Bihar. At a meeting of the NCC director-general of Bihar & Jharkhand, Bihar chief secretary Tripurari Sharan and additional chief secretary-cum –education secretary Sanjay Kumar, it was decided to introduce NCC as an elective course. Sanjay Kumar assured that all efforts would be made to get the resolution passed in the state academic council. The government will soon issue a notification adopting NCC as an elective course in the state’s universities. The newly-designed NCC elective course will carry 24 credits spread over six semesters with specific credit for attending a rigorous 10-day camp.