INDIA, BHUTAN SIGN FIRST JOINT HYDEL PROJECT

INDIA, BHUTAN SIGN PACT FOR FIRST JOINT HYDEL PROJECT 

India and Bhutan took a major step forward for the construction of the 600 mw Kholongchhu project

Their first hydropower joint venture project in Bhutan’s less developed eastern region of trashiyangtse

First time an India-Bhutan hydropower project will be constructed as a 50: 50 joint venture

Bhutan: It is on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas

Bordered:  North - Tibet Autonomous Region of China, West -  Sikkim, South -  West Bengal, Assam, East - Arunachal Pradesh

 

Bhutan's climate varies with elevation, from subtropical in the south to temperate in the highlands and polar-type climate with year-round snow in the north

Bhutan experiences five distinct seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring

Highest point is Gangkhar Puensum and lowest point is in the valley of Drangme Chhu

Bhutan is geopolitically in South Asia and is the region's second-least-populous nation after the Maldives

Thimphu is its capital and largest city, while Phuntsholing is its financial center

Nearly 56.3% of all Bhutanese are involved with agriculture, forestry or conservation

Bhutan is also notable for pioneering the concept of gross national happiness

It currently has net zero greenhouse gas emissions

It has a number of progressive environmental policies that have caused the head of the UNFCCC to call it an "inspiration and role model for the world on how economies and different countries can address climate change while at the same time improving the life of the citizen."

It has implemented an insurance scheme, begun constructing solar powered alarm fences, watch towers, and search lights, and has provided fodder and salt licks outside human settlement areas to encourage animals to stay away