Ganga Water Sharing Treaty

• The Indian Prime Minister announced that India and Bangladesh will begin technical-level talks for the renewal of the 1996 Ganga water treaty.
• An Indian technical team will visit Bangladesh soon for the conservation and management of the Teesta river.

There are criticisms that:

• West Bengal not consulted: However, there are criticisms that West Bengal, a party to the treaty, was not consulted and dues from the previous treaty remain unpaid.
• Dredging of Ganga has been stopped: Additionally, the stoppage of Ganga dredging is claimed to be causing floods and erosion, alleged to be part of a plan to sell off Bengal.

Ganga Water Sharing Treaty

Background of the treaty:

• India and Bangladesh share 54 trans-boundary rivers that drain through Bangladesh of which the Ganges is highly seasonal. 
• In 1975 India constructed a Barrage across the Ganges at Farakka:
• For diverting the flow of water to the Hooghly River and
• To ensure the flushing of the Calcutta Port thus, affecting Bangladesh’s share of the Ganges waters.

About the treaty:

• Ganga Water Sharing Formula: If availability at Farakka is less than 70,000 cusecs: 50:50 split (35,000 cusecs each). If availability is between 70,000 and 75,000 cusecs: Bangladesh receives 35,000 cusecs, India gets the rest. If availability is 75,000 cusecs or more: India receives 75,000 cusecs, Bangladesh gets the rest.

• Critical Month (April): Bangladesh is guaranteed a flow of 35,000 cusecs in the first and last ten days of April.
• Emergency Adjustments: If flow falls below 50,000 cusecs in any ten-day period, the two governments will consult for emergency adjustments.
• Monitoring: A Joint Committee monitors daily flows at the feeder canal in Farakka and the navigation lock at Hardinge Bridge (the point within Bangladesh where flows are monitored), submitting annual reports to both governments

Concerns

• Consultation Concerns: There have been criticisms, particularly from West Bengal, about the lack of consultation in treaty renewals and unmet obligations from previous agreements.
• Floods, Erosion and Siltation: West Bengal and Bihar have raised several concerns about the treaty including erosion, siltation and floods due to the Farakka barrage across river Ganga as it does not allow river sediments to flow with minimal obstruction.
• Increasing Salinity and Desertification: Alarming increases in deforestation and erosion in the upper Ganges have caused significant silt deposition downstream. Combined with increased salinity, this has led to desertification in the region.
• Impact on Sundarbans: The Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO World Heritage site, faces devastating impacts from the Farakka Barrage. Formed by Himalayan sediment from the Ganges, the forest now suffers as water withdrawal at Farakka during the dry season reduces sediment-laden freshwater discharge, threatening its ecosystem.
• Distribution of Water: Bangladesh remains concerned about the effectiveness and equitable distribution of water from the Farakka Barrage. Example-The average flow at Farakka between 1949 and 1988 was used to formulate the key traits of the 1996 treaty, where the inevitable issue of climate change was overlooked.

• River Ganga Transboundary River: Ganga river is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. Originates in: It rises in the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh, situated at an elevation of 3,900 metres in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Geographical Extent of the Ganga river system: The river has a length of 2,525 km. It is shared by Uttarakhand (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh (1,450 km), Bihar (445 km) and West Bengal (520 km). Renamed as Padma: The Ganges enters Bangladesh, where it is renamed the Padma. It is joined by the Jamuna (the lower stream of the Brahmaputra) and eventually by the Meghna. This forms the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

Conclusion

• There is a  need to include all vested parties in ongoing dialogue and technical reviews. This will ensure the treaty’s objectives are met and the benefits of this vital resource are preserved for future generations.

Nuclear study provides major update on plutonium isotope fission

A recent US study on Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum (PFNS) is significant for updating the design of India’s second stage of its nuclear power program.

Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum (PFNS)

• Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum (PFNS) refers to neutrons emitted immediately after a Pu-240 nucleus captures a neutron but before it stabilises.
• Past  Studies: Until now, only one study has examined PFNS for Pu-240-induced fission at 0.85 mega-electron-volt (MeV). Recently, U.S. researchers conducted a second study using neutrons with energy levels higher than 0.85 MeV.
• Latest Findings: The study revealed significant discrepancies between predicted and measured PFNS, providing valuable insights for reactor designers and nuclear medicine practitioners.

Experimental Findings

• Research: Scientists at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) conducted experiments by exposing a pure Pu-240 sample to neutrons ranging in energy from 0.01 to 800 MeV.
• Detection: The setup employed liquid scintillators to detect emitted particles, utilizing a small Pu-240 sample to minimize alpha particle emissions.
• Focus of Measurement: The researchers focused on measuring the energies of neutrons and other fission products, particularly emphasizing neutron-induced fission data.

Plutonium-240 and its Fission

• Capturing of Neutrons: When a Pu-239 nucleus captures a neutron, it can either undergo fission or transform into Pu-240. Pu-240 is commonly found in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapon test fallout.
• Behaviour of Pu-240: When Pu-240 captures a neutron, it usually becomes Pu-241. If Pu-240 undergoes fission, the energy of its fission products is uncertain.
• Current models rely on complex calculations to estimate this energy output.
• Plutonium Production: Plutonium is produced from Uranium-238 in nuclear reactors. Plutonium-239 is a weapon-grade fissile material used in nuclear weapons. Both Pu-239 and Pu-240 are by-products of nuclear reactor operations and nuclear bomb detonations.

Relevance of PFNS Study to India’s Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

• PFBR Use: The PFBR utilises plutonium from CANDU reactor spent fuel, which contains Pu-240. Reprocessed spent fuel from the PFBR will also contain Pu-240.
• Importance: Understanding Pu-240 behaviour is crucial for enhancing reactor efficiency and safety.

Characteristics of Pu-240

• Formation of Pu-239: Pu-239 is formed when U-238 absorbs neutrons in a reactor. As Pu-239 captures more neutrons, it transforms into Pu-240, accumulating gradually over time.
• Instant Fission: Pu-240 spontaneously undergoes fission, emitting alpha particles. It is classified as a contaminant in weapons-grade plutonium, where its concentration is typically kept below 7%.
• Reactor-Grade: Plutonium containing more than 19% Pu-240 is categorized as reactor-grade.

RBI has recently revised its incentive framework to push banks to increase the flow of priority sector credit to districts with lower credit flow.

New Guidelines of Priority Sector Lending

• Objective: To address the regional disparities at the district level, the new measure will encourage banks to provide small loans in economically disadvantaged districts with low average loan sizes.
• The new norms discourage lending in districts with high average loan sizes.
• RBI maintains a district wise ranking in terms of per capita credit flow and circulates this with banks so that the lenders raise their efforts as per need to address the gap.
• These lists will remain valid until FY 2026-2027, after which it will be reviewed.

The RBI Revised Guidelines

• The RBI has with effect from FY25, assigned a higher weight of 125% to the incremental priority sector credit in the districts with per capita priority sector credit less than Rs 9000
• This effectively means that if a bank gives Rs 100 loan in low credit flow district, it will be considered as Rs 125 priority sector loan.
• Dis-incentive Framework: RBI also follows a disincentive framework for districts with comparatively higher flow of priority sector credit in which a lower 90% weight is assigned for districts where the per capita priority sector credit flow is greater than Rs 42,000.
• The weight is maintained at 100% for all other districts not mentioned by the central bank.
• Previous Provision: RBI until now followed a rule of higher weight of 125% in districts where per capita priority sector credit flow was Rs 6000 and the disincentive framework threshold was Rs 25000 earlier.

Priority Sector Lending

• Priority Sector means those sectors which the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India consider as important for the development of the basic needs of the country and are to be given priority over other sectors.
• The banks are mandated to encourage the growth of such sectors with adequate and timely credit.
• Provision: In exercise of the powers conferred by Sections 21 and 35A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• Applicability: The Priority Sector Lending provisions apply to every domestic and foreign Commercial Bank [including Regional Rural Bank (RRB), Small Finance Bank (SFB), Local Area Bank] and Primary (Urban) Co-operative Bank (UCB) other than Salary Earners’ Bank.
• Categories: There are 9 sectors under which the priority sector norms apply:
• Agriculture; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Export Credit; Education; Housing; Social Infrastructure; Renewable Energy; Others; weaker Section.

World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report

• As per the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, in 2023, the amount of gas flared worldwide rose by nine billion cubic meters (bcm) to 148 bcm, its highest level since 2019.

Gas flaring:

• It is the burning of the natural gas associated with oil extraction.
• The practice has persisted from the beginning of oil production over 160 years ago.
• It takes place due to a range of issues, from market and economic constraints, to a lack of appropriate regulation and political will.
• Flaring and venting are a waste of a valuable natural resource that should either be used for productive purposes, such as generating power, or conserved.

Why is gas flared?

• Flaring persists to this day because it is a relatively safe, though wasteful and polluting, method of disposing of the associated gas that comes from oil production.

Impacts on environment

• The flare''s combustion converts hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water, which lessens the climate impact and reduces the safety concerns of the natural gas on site but also produces nitrogen oxides, or NOx.