June

• Teesta River

  • 414 km long
  • 83% of catchment area in India, 17% in Bangladesh
  • Supports 8.5% of Bangladesh's population and 14% of its crop production
  • Main source of irrigation for North Bengal and Rangpur region of Bangladesh
  • Main source of hydroelectric power for Sikkim
• Teesta is Bangladesh's fourth largest transboundary river after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna River Systems
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed resentment


  For not being included in Centre's talks with Bangladesh over Teesta water sharing
• Following meeting between PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, Mamata wrote a letter to Modi expressing her "deep anguish over keeping the state out of the ongoing talks with Dhaka, over the Teesta water-sharing agreement, and renewal of the Farakka Barrage Treaty"
• Teesta River

  Flows through Sikkim and West Bengal in India, and then enters Bangladesh
• Teesta's floodplain covers an area of 2,750 square kilometres in Bangladesh
• 83% of the Teesta river's catchment area lies in India and the remaining 17% is in Bangladesh, supporting 8.5% of its population and 14% of its crop production
• Teesta is one of the main sources of irrigation for North Bengal, as well as the Rangpur region of Bangladesh, especially during the dry months
• Teesta is one of the main sources of hydroelectric power for the mountainous state of Sikkim
• Teesta River Water Dispute

  Right from the Partition in 1947, the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had demanded equitable distribution of Teesta water, which has always been opposed by West Bengal and Sikkim
• Teesta Water Sharing Agreement

  1. 1951 India-East Pakistan Agreement on the Sharing of the Ganges Waters

  2. 1972 Joint River Commission (JRC) formed to verify the water-sharing options

  3. 1984 Bangladesh's share 37.5%, India's 42.5%, 20% unallocated

  4. 2011 India and Bangladesh close to signing an agreement but West Bengal CM walked out of the deal
• Reasons for Opposition to Teesta Water Sharing by West Bengal

  • Any treaty that allocates more water to Bangladesh would dry out the state's northern parts and hurt its farmers
  • Teesta waters irrigate 9,22,000 hectares of land in North Bengal and provide 67.60 MW of hydropower, all of which would be hampered by Bangladesh's demand
  • West Bengal proposed sharing waters of other rivers like Torsa, Manshai, Sankosh and Dhansai instead of Teesta
• Ganga Water Treaty

  Treaty signed in 1996 to resolve the Farakka dispute and determine the amount of water to be released by India to Bangladesh
• Provisions of the Ganga Water Treaty

  1. India can withdraw up to 40,000 cusecs if availability at Farakka exceeds 75,000 cusecs

  2. If availability falls below 70,000 cusecs, the flow is to be divided equally between India and Bangladesh

  3. Treaty guarantees 35,000 cusecs to Bangladesh if the flow is in the range of 70,000-75,000 cusecs
• Sharing of waters of transboundary rivers have been mandated by international laws including The Helsinki Rules, UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, and UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
• Article 253 of the Indian Constitution gives powers to the government to enter any transboundary river water-related treaty with a riparian state
• Pen Pinter Prize

  Annual literary award launched in 2009 by English PEN to honour the late Nobel Literature Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter
• Pen Pinter Prize

  • Given to a writer who is a resident of the UK, Ireland, or the Commonwealth
  • Awarded for "outstanding literary merit" and writers who cast their "unflinching" gaze on the world
  • Prize is shared with a "Writer of Courage" who is active in defence of freedom of expression
• Arundhati Roy was honoured with the Pen Pinter Prize 2024 for her "unflinching and unswerving" writings
• Arundhati Roy

  First Indian to win the Booker Prize in 1997 for her fiction 'The God of Small Things'<|>Also the author of 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness', 'Capitalism: A Ghost Story' and 'The Algebra of Infinite Justice'<|>Prominent political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes
• Arundhati Roy is currently facing the threat of prosecution under the Unlawful Activities Protection Act (UAPA), over historic comments on Kashmir 14 years ago
• Indus Water Treaty

  1960 agreement between India and Pakistan on sharing of waters of the Indus River basin
• Key Provisions of the Indus Water Treaty

  1. Allocated the three western rivers - Indus, Chenab and Jhelum - to Pakistan for unrestricted use

  2. Allocated the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - to India for unrestricted usage

  3. Allowed India certain agricultural uses and 'run of the river' hydropower projects on the western rivers

  4. Requires both countries to establish a Permanent Indus Commission and share information on projects
• Pakistan has objected to the building of the Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects by India, saying they violate the Indus Water Treaty
• Dispute Settlement Mechanism under Indus Water Treaty

  1. Pakistan requested appointment of a Neutral Expert in 2015 to examine its objections

  2. Pakistan later unilaterally retracted this request and proposed a Court of Arbitration

  3. World Bank appointed a Neutral Expert and the chair of the Court of Arbitration in 2022

  4. Court of Arbitration ruled in 2023 that it is competent to consider Pakistan's disputes
• India, insisted that the issue should be resolved solely through 'Neutral Expert' proceedings
• Resolving the issue

  1. Failed negotiations

  2. World Bank appointed a Neutral Expert and the chair of the Court of Arbitration in October 2022

  3. India issued a notice for modifying the Treaty

  4. Court of Arbitration ruled it was competent to consider and determine the disputes

  5. Pakistan filed its first Memorial under this process in March this year

  6. Court undertook a week-long visit to the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro-Electric Plant in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir

  7. India refused to take part in the Court of Arbitration but submitted a Memorial to the Neutral Expert

  8. Pakistan joined the second meeting of the parties held by Neutral Expert in Vienna in September last year

  9. Jammu and Kashmir administration appointed 25 "liaison officers" to coordinate the visit of neutral experts
• Current visit

  • Officials said the visiting experts, including Pakistanis, will inspect Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power projects in Chenab valley
  • MW Pakal Dul project on river Marusudar was also visited by the delegation
  • It is the first such visit since Jammu & Kashmir's special status was scrapped in 2019
  • Delegates from India, Pakistan and neutral experts from the World Bank visited the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) headquarters in Kishtwar
  • The delegates stayed in Jamu & Kashmir till June 28
• Kishenganga Hydro Electricity Project (KHEP)

  Kishenganga is a tributary of Jhelum, it originates in J&K and joins the river in Pakistan occupied Kashmir<|>The work for KHEP was started in 2007<|>It proposed to build a dam on the Kishenganga, diverting its water for a 330 MW hydropower plant in Kashmir's Bandipora and sending it back<|>India changed the height from 97m to 37m<|>Pakistan reached International Court of Arbitration at the Hague in 2010 which gave green signal to India in 2013<|>Pakistan approached the World Bank three years later in 2016 and again in 2018, objecting to the design<|>The project was then inaugurated in 2018, despite continued protests from Pakistan
• Ratle Hydroelectric Project

  It is 850-megawatt project on the Chenab River<|>Islamabad has repeatedly raised concerns over its design, insisting that India would use the project's reservoir to create deliberate and artificial water shortage or cause flooding in Pakistan
• Pakal Dul Hydroelectric Power Project

  Pakal Dul is a 1000MW hydroelectric project (HEP) under construction in the village of Drangdhuran, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India<|>It is being constructed by Chenab Valley Power Projects Ltd. a joint venture company of NHPC Ltd (Govt of India Enterprise) and JKSPDC (Govt of J&K Enterprise)<|>Estimated to cost Rs81.12bn ($1.18bn), the Pakal Dul HEP project will be the biggest hydroelectric project in the state and the first storage project, upon completion<|>It is being constructed on Marusadar River, the largest tributary of the Chenab River<|>The dam will divert water to the south using a 10 km long headrace tunnel<|>Pakal Dul hydroelectric power project includes the construction of a 167m-tall, concrete-face rockfill dam and two circular head race tunnels<|>The Main Access Tunnel (MAT) of the dam is expected to be 263m long and 8m wide
• 18th Lok Sabha Elections

  General elections were held in India from 19 April 2024 to 1 June 2024 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha<|>The incumbent NDA alliance secured majority with 293 seats, which included BJP party's 240 seats<|>The opposition INDIA coalition got 234 seats, including Congress party's 99 seats<|>The elections were held in seven phases and the results were announced on 4 June 2024
• Composition of Lok Sabha

  • Maximum 550 members with 530 members representing the states and 20 members representing the Union Territories
  • Maximum 84 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Maximum 47 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs)
  • Lok Sabha's tenure is only for five years, after which it dissolves. But in case of any emergency, this period may be extended by Parliament
  • In December 2023, Constitution (106th Amendment) Act was passed which reserves one – third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including those reserved for SCs and STs
• Allocation of Lok Sabha seats

  Each state is allotted with the number of seats in Lok Sabha in such manner that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is the same for all States<|>Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and number of seats allotted to it is, so far as practicable, the same throughout the State<|>Ladakh is the largest constituency (area- wise)<|>Chandni Chowk is the smallest constituency (area- wise)<|>Malkajgiri is the largest constituency (electors- wise)<|>Lakshadweep is the smallest constituency (electors- wise)
• At present, the strength of the Lok Sabha is 543, of which 530 have been allocated to the states and the rest to the Union Territories
• Allocation of Lok Sabha seats based on population

  Article 81 mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state would be such that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is, as far as possible, the same for all states<|>This is to ensure that every state is equally represented<|>However, this logic does not apply to small states whose population is not more than 60 lakh, as at least one seat is allocated to every state even if it means that its population-to-seat-ratio is not enough to qualify it for that seat<|>Population, for the purpose of allocation of seats, means "population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published"<|>By an amendment in 2003, the population now means population as per the 1971 Census, until the first Census taken after 2026
• Major Changes in the Lok Sabha Seats

  • Originally, Article 81 provided that the Lok Sabha shall not have more than 500 members
  • The first House constituted in 1952 had 497
  • A temporary freeze was imposed in 1976 on 'Delimitation' until 2001
  • The first major change took place after the overall reorganisation of states in 1956, which divided the country into 14 states and six Union Territories
  • Further changes when the state of Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966 and when Goa and Daman and Diu were liberated in 1961 and merged with the Indian Union
• Freeze on Delimitation

  To allay fears that states promoting family planning could end up with reduced seats, the Constitution was amended during Indira Gandhi's Emergency rule in 1976 to suspend delimitation until 2001<|>Although the freeze on the number of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies should have been lifted after the Census of 2001, another amendment postponed this until 2026
• Eligibility criteria for Lok Sabha election

  • Candidate should be a citizen of India
  • Candidate should have at least 25 years of age
  • Candidate should not hold an office of profit under the Indian government or the government of any other state
  • Candidate should not be an unstable mind
  • Candidate should not disobey party discipline
• General Elections


  Elections are conducted according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by laws like Representation of People Act, 1950 and Representation of People Act 1951<|>The Constituent Assembly, consisted of indirectly elected representatives and was set up for the purpose of drafting a constitution for India on December 6th 1946<|>The Assembly was not elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage; also Muslims and Sikhs were given special representation as minorities<|>The First General Elections of independent India were held in 1951-52