Welcome to the Ujiyari Bihar Current Affairs notes for 27 August 2026, prepared for BPSC and other State PCS aspirants. BSRTC allowed women free travel for Raksha Bandhan, CM Samrat Choudhary announced a state women’s university, and discharge at the Valmiki Nagar barrage on the Gandak peaked after floodwaters arrived from Nepal. Each item below carries a Prelims fact set and a Mains angle, followed by five practice MCQs.
1. Free Bus Travel for Women on Raksha Bandhan
Why in News: The Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) allowed women and girl students to travel free of fare on all corporation buses on 27 and 28 August 2026, for Raksha Bandhan.
What happened: The directive was issued from BSRTC administrative headquarters at Fulwari Sharif, Patna to regional managers across six regional offices: Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur and Purnia.
Record this accurately, because it is easy to overstate. This is a two-day festival concession, repeated annually, having also been run in August 2025. It is not a permanent fare-free transit scheme of the kind operating in Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, and no reimbursement or zero-fare-ticket mechanism has been notified.
Bihar Relevance:
- Prelims: Implementing agency BSRTC; free travel on 27 and 28 August 2026 only; six regional offices at Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur and Purnia; directive from Fulwari Sharif, Patna.
- Prelims: For contrast, the permanent schemes are Karnataka’s Shakti, Telangana’s Mahalakshmi, Delhi’s pink-ticket scheme, Tamil Nadu’s Vetri Payanam and Punjab’s free travel scheme. Bihar’s existing women-focused instruments include the Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana, the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, the cycle scheme dating to 2006, and 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayat bodies, which Bihar introduced in 2006 as the first state to do so.
- Mains: Whether festival-day concessions serve any developmental purpose or function mainly as political signalling, as against the labour-force-participation case made for permanent fare-free transit, and the fleet-capacity constraint that permanent schemes encounter (GS2 welfare schemes and vulnerable sections, GS3 infrastructure).
2. State Women’s University Announced
Why in News: Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced the establishment of a dedicated state women’s university in Bihar, at the launch of the “Samriddh Mahila, Samriddh Bihar” campaign at Bapu Sabhagar, Patna, reported on 27 August 2026.
What happened: The proposed university would have women students, women teaching staff and a woman Vice-Chancellor. The same event carried a “Police Didi” campaign and a Chief Minister’s Girls’ PhD Fellowship.
The announcement is at the decision-and-announcement stage. A university requires a state legislative Act to be established, followed by University Grants Commission recognition under Section 2(f) and Section 12B of the UGC Act, 1956 before it can access central funding. No Bill, no Act and no UGC step has followed as yet, so aspirants should record this as announced rather than established.
Bihar Relevance:
- Prelims: Announced by CM Samrat Choudhary at the Samriddh Mahila, Samriddh Bihar launch, Bapu Sabhagar, Patna; companion announcements were the Police Didi campaign and the Chief Minister’s Girls’ PhD Fellowship.
- Prelims: A state university is created by state Act; UGC Section 2(f) confers recognition as a university and Section 12B determines eligibility for central grants. Bihar’s existing women-focused higher education institutions include Patna Women’s College and Magadh Mahila College.
- Mains: Whether single-sex universities expand or segregate women’s access to higher education, and the gap between announcement and statutory establishment that recurs across Indian higher education policy (GS2 education and social justice).
3. Gandak Surge at Valmiki Nagar After the Nepal Flood
Why in News: Discharge at the Valmiki Nagar barrage on the Gandak peaked at about 1,50,200 cusecs at 12:30 am on 27 August 2026, after floodwaters from Nepal reached the barrage at 8:30 pm on 26 August. All 36 gates were opened.
What happened: The surge fell below one lakh cusecs by 2:30 am and to about 79,700 cusecs by 4:30 am, rising again to about 1,02,000 cusecs by 8:00 am, so the flash-flood risk subsided. A Water Resources Department technical team led by a Superintending Engineer was posted at the barrage, and district officials carried out ground inspections of vulnerable embankment stretches in Gopalganj and Saran.
WRD Superintendent Mohammad Zilani reported large volumes of debris arriving with the water, including cattle, gas cylinders, house timber, tyres and vehicle parts. A senior WRD engineer noted that the smaller-than-expected inflow indicated the Nepal flash flood was not caused by heavy rain or a cloudburst, which is consistent with a rock-ice avalanche or lake-breach trigger.
This is the same river system as the Nepal disaster. The Bhote Koshi of Rasuwa is the upper Trishuli, which becomes the Narayani and enters India as the Gandak. Bihar’s exposure to that flood therefore runs through the Gandak, not the Koshi.
Bihar Relevance:
- Prelims: Peak 1,50,200 cusecs at 12:30 am, 27 August 2026; all 36 gates opened; 79,700 cusecs by 4:30 am; about 1,02,000 cusecs by 8:00 am.
- Prelims: The Gandak is called the Kali Gandaki or Narayani in Nepal and the Sapt Gandaki for its seven tributaries. It rises in the Nepal Himalaya and joins the Ganga at Hajipur, near Patna. The Valmiki Nagar (Triveni) barrage in West Champaran is the control structure, operated under the India-Nepal Gandak Agreement of 1959.
- Prelims: About 73 per cent of Bihar’s geographical area is flood-prone, the highest share of any Indian state. Bihar’s major flood-carrying rivers, all rising in Nepal, are the Koshi, Gandak, Bagmati, Burhi Gandak and Kamla Balan. Note that Muzaffarpur sits on the Burhi Gandak and Bagmati rather than the Gandak proper.
- Mains: The limits of embankment-led flood control, given that embankments raise the river bed through silt deposition over time and convert annual inundation into catastrophic breach flooding, and the case for basin-level data sharing with Nepal (GS1 geography, GS3 disaster management).
4. Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Moves From 6x6x6 to 7x7x7
Why in News: Bihar’s anaemia programme now runs under the revised Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Operational Guidelines, released by Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on 29 June 2026 at the 16th meeting of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare, Vigyan Bhawan.
What happened: The guidelines upgrade the long-standing 6x6x6 strategy to a 7x7x7 framework, meaning seven target beneficiary groups, seven interventions and seven institutional mechanisms. This is a live update that will catch out anyone revising from older material.
| Addition | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seventh beneficiary group | Low birth weight babies, 0 to 6 months |
| Seventh intervention | “Eating Right”, iron-rich and diversified diets |
| Seventh mechanism | Strengthened Monitoring and Evaluation for digital tracking |
The programme also shifts from the T3 approach (Test, Treat, Talk) to the T4 approach (Test, Treat, Talk, Track), and from prophylactic toward therapeutic management by category of anaemia diagnosed. An AMB Abhiyaan Application and Portal were launched at a national workshop on 12 and 13 August 2026, mapping haemoglobin records through JANANI for pregnant women and RBSK and U-WIN for children.
Bihar Relevance:
- Prelims: 7x7x7 since 29 June 2026, replacing 6x6x6; seventh group low birth weight babies (0 to 6 months); seventh intervention “Eating Right”; seventh mechanism strengthened Monitoring and Evaluation; T4 = Test, Treat, Talk, Track; digital invasive haemoglobinometers for Hb testing saturation.
- Prelims: NFHS-5 (2019-21) recorded very high anaemia prevalence in Bihar, above the national average, among both women aged 15 to 49 and children under five, which is the baseline against which the campaign is measured.
- Mains: Why anaemia prevalence rose between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 despite an expanding supplementation programme, and what the shift from prophylactic to therapeutic care, and from Talk to Track, implies about the earlier strategy’s diagnosis of the problem (GS2 health, GS3 nutrition security).
5. Jeevika Sudha Bikri Kendra Yojana in the Dairy Value Chain
Why in News: Bihar is rolling out the Jeevika Sudha Bikri Kendra Yojana (JSBK), under guidelines issued by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS) on 6 July 2026, linking self-help group women to the dairy value chain.
What happened: The scheme provides for a Sudha sales centre in each of Bihar’s 8,053 gram panchayats, run by JEEViKA women. The design is an owner-operated outlet supported by a capital grant, not an agent-commission arrangement.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grant | Rs 60,000, non-repayable |
| Own contribution | Rs 15,000 |
| Total project cost | Rs 75,000, covering deep freezer, visi-cooler, branding and opening stock |
| Selection | Block-level lottery |
| Applications | jsbk.brlps.in |
| Umbrella scheme | Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana |
Bihar Relevance:
- Prelims: 8,053 gram panchayats targeted; Rs 60,000 grant plus Rs 15,000 own contribution on a Rs 75,000 project cost; block-level lottery selection; implemented under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana; BRLPS guidelines dated 6 July 2026.
- Prelims: COMFED, the Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation, markets under the Sudha brand and follows the three-tier Anand pattern of village societies, district unions and a state federation. JEEViKA is the state rural livelihoods mission under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
- Prelims: The Anand pattern originated with the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union and was scaled nationally through Operation Flood, launched in 1970 by the National Dairy Development Board under Dr Verghese Kurien.
- Mains: Whether an owner-operated outlet with a capital grant transfers more durable income to women than an agent-commission model, and what a block-level lottery does for equity as against enterprise selection (GS2 SHGs and welfare, GS3 agriculture and allied sectors).
Practice MCQs
1. The free bus travel for women announced by BSRTC in August 2026 applied on which basis?
a) Permanently on all BSRTC routes b) Only on 27 and 28 August, for Raksha Bandhan c) Only for women above 60 years of age d) Only on inter-state routes
Answer: b Explanation: BSRTC allowed women and girl students to travel free of fare on all its buses on 27 and 28 August 2026 for Raksha Bandhan, a two-day festival concession repeated annually. It is not a permanent fare-free scheme of the Karnataka Shakti or Telangana Mahalakshmi type.
2. Recognition of a state university under Section 12B of the UGC Act, 1956 confers what?
a) The legal power to award degrees b) Autonomy from state government control c) Eligibility to receive central grants from the UGC d) The status of an Institution of National Importance
Answer: c Explanation: Section 2(f) confers recognition as a university, while Section 12B determines eligibility to receive central grants. The power to award degrees comes from the state Act establishing the university, and Institutions of National Importance are declared by an Act of Parliament.
3. The Gandak river is known by which name in Nepal?
a) Karnali b) Narayani c) Trishuli d) Arun
Answer: b Explanation: The Gandak is called the Kali Gandaki or Narayani in Nepal, and the Sapt Gandaki for its seven tributaries. It joins the Ganga at Hajipur near Patna, and is controlled at the Valmiki Nagar barrage under the India-Nepal Gandak Agreement of 1959. The Trishuli is a tributary within the same system, not the Nepali name for the Gandak.
4. The revised Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Operational Guidelines released in June 2026 upgraded the programme’s strategy to which framework?
a) A 4x4x4 framework b) A 6x6x6 framework c) A 7x7x7 framework d) A 9x9x9 framework
Answer: c Explanation: The guidelines released by Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on 29 June 2026 expanded the earlier 6x6x6 strategy to 7x7x7, adding low birth weight babies aged 0 to 6 months as a seventh beneficiary group, “Eating Right” as a seventh intervention and a strengthened Monitoring and Evaluation framework as a seventh mechanism, alongside the T4 approach of Test, Treat, Talk and Track.
5. Sudha, the dairy brand in the Jeevika Sudha Bikri Kendra Yojana, belongs to which organisation?
a) The Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation b) The National Dairy Development Board c) The Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society d) The Bihar State Cooperative Bank
Answer: a Explanation: Sudha is the consumer brand of COMFED, the Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation, which follows the three-tier Anand pattern. BRLPS, which issued the scheme guidelines, is the JEEViKA implementing society and supplies the SHG women who run the outlets.
