The Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda launched the "APNA UREA - SonaUgle" brand of Hindustan Urvarak&Rasayan Limited (HURL) at a function here today. On the occasion, he also unveiled the Company’s logo.

HURL is Joint Venture Company promoted by the three Maharatna Companies i.e. Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as the lead promoters with FCIL and HFCL as other two partners.

With the objective of making the country self-reliant in Urea, the Governmentapproved in 2016 the revival of three sick Urea plants located at Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni. The task of the revival of these three Units has been undertaken by HURL. “The Prime Minister has directed for the revival of five major sick/shutdown fertilizer plants, three of which have been undertaken by HURL. The other two plants at Ramagundam and Talcherwill also commence production soon,” said Shri Gowda. “We are importing 70-80 LMT fertilizer every year. After the commissioning of these five units, the total production of Urea will increase by 63.5 Lakh Metric Tonne Per Annum (LMTPA),” he added.

Lauding HURL for setting in place the delivery system and supply chain ahead of schedule, the Minister encouraged the Company’s Board to continue the momentum and hoped the commissioning of the three plants will also be advanced.

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Department of Fertilizers, Shri ChhabilendraRoul stressed on the balanced use of fertilizers including organic ingredients and micro-nutrients.

The HURL is being looked as a major emerging player in Urea market due to revival of the three closed units in 2021 having total installed production capacity of 38.1 LMT of Neem Coated Urea per annum. The Company will establish and operate state-of-the-art environment friendly and energy efficient Natural Gas based new Fertilizer Complexes with the annual installed capacity of 1.27 MMTPA neem coated Urea at each of the three locations which are expected to be commissioned in February 2021 (Gorakhpur, UP) and May 2021 (Barauni and Sindri). The feedstock to the plants i.e. Natural Gas will be supplied by GAIL under the Pooled Price Mechanism.

The commissioning of the HURL’s three Units in the states of UP, Bihar and Jharkhand will open forward and backward linkages for business activity in the Eastern part of India. It will be instrumental in opening new avenues for generation of income and employment in the Eastern part of our country.

Ministry of HRD and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs are partnering together for Online Youth Parliament Programme to commemorate 70 years of Constitution. In this regard a meeting was held in the Ministry of HRD between Secretary, MHRD Shri Amit Khare; Secretary, M/o Parliamentary Affairs Shri Rajendra S Shukla and CBSE Chairperson, Ms Anita Karwal in New Delhi today. They discussed the modalities to increase the outreach of Youth Parliament Programme run by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs by making it online through the web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme. Other senior officers from both the ministries were also present in the meeting.

In the meeting, Secretary, MPA explained that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been implementing off-line Youth Parliament programme since 1966 in Schools under the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi and NDMC, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Universities/ Colleges. Around 18000 students of 300 educational institutions participate through off-line Youth Parliament programme every year. This programme is organized in competition format which is limiting the participation of the institutions and thus not fulfilling the core purpose of the scheme in the desired manner. For overcoming this limitation, which is impeding the expansion of the scheme, this Ministry has developed a Web-Portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme to increase the coverage of the programme manifold to hitherto untouched sections and corners of the country.

National level celebrations focussed on Constitution and Fundamental Duties are being held all over the country to commemorate the Constitution Day and as a part of the celebrations, President has launched the web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme on the occasion to commemorate the 70 th Anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India ‘SamvidhanDiwas’ on 26 th November 2019 in Central Hall, Parliament House, New Delhi.

All recognised schools, colleges and universities can access the portal at www.nyps.mpa.gov.in to take part in the Youth Parliament programme of the Ministry. The last date for the registration on the portal has been extended to 28th February, 2020. The salient features of the web-portal are:-

• All recognised educational institutions of the country are eligible to participate in this programme. • The registration for participation will be done by the educational institutions through the web-portal. • E-training modules, videos, photographs and scripts are available on the portal for online self-learning of the participants.

• After successful registration, the educational institutions will be able to conduct youth parliament sittings in their respective institutions. • Each student taking part in the sitting will get a Digital ‘Certificate of Participation’ and Teachers-in-charge and Head of Institution will get a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ through the web portal.

The noble ideals and the important role the programme plays in spreading the ideas of democracy in the student community is well realised. Considering the importance of the programme, it is necessary to ensure participation of maximum number of educational institutions in the Youth Parliament Programme through web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme. All educational institutions under CBSE and AICTE will be targeted for participation in the programme with an aim of covering lakhs of educational institutions and crores of students every year. M/o HRD will also take up the matter with the various State Governments to ensure maximum participation in the programme.

After discussions, Secretary, D/o Higher Education & School Education & Literacy assured to work in tandem with the M/o Parliamentary Affairs to increase the outreach of the programme as part of celebrations of 70 th anniversary of adoption of constitution and make all efforts to take up the issue with CBSE, UGC, AICTE, KVS, NVS, State Education Secretaries, Central Universities, etc. for participation of maximum educational institutions.

What is NIA Act? The law governs the functioning of India’s premier counter-terror agency. It was passed in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks. It makes the National Investigation Agency the only truly federal agency in the country, along the lines of the FBI in the United States, more powerful than the CBI.

It gives the NIA powers to take suo motu cognisance of terror activities in any part of India and register a case, to enter any state without permission from the state government, and to investigate and arrest people.

Objections by Chhattisgarh: In its petition, the Chhattisgarh government said the Act “ultra vires the Constitution” and “beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament”. According to the state, the 2008 Act allows the Centre to create an agency for investigation, which is a function of the state police. ‘Police’ is an entry in the State List of the Constitution’s 7th Schedule.

The Act takes away the state’s power of conducting an investigation through the police, while conferring “unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers” on the Centre.

The 2019 NIA Amendment Act: It expanded the type of offences that the investigative body could investigate and prosecute. The agency can now investigate offences related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

The amendment also enables the central government to designate sessions courts as special courts for NIA trials. It also allows an NIA officer to conduct raids, and seize properties that are suspected to be linked to terrorist activities without taking prior permission of the Director General of Police of a state. The investigating officer only requires sanction from the Director General of NIA.

What is Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP)? A critical part of the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy. Provides uniform licences for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbons, enabling contractors to explore conventional as well as unconventional oil and gas resources.

Revenue- sharing model: Fields are offered under a revenue-sharing model and throw up marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced.

How it works? Under the OALP, once an explorer selects areas after evaluating the National Data Repository (NDR) and submits the EoI, it is to be put up for competitive bidding and the entity offering the maximum share of oil and gas to the government is awarded the block.

What is NDR? NDR has been created to provide explorers’ data on the country’s repositories, allowing them to choose fields according to their capabilities. Data received through the National Seismic Programme, an in-depth study of 26 sedimentary basins, are continuously being added to the NDR.

What is HELP? The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) replacing the erstwhile New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) was approved in March 2016. The main features of HELP are Revenue Sharing Contract, single Licence for exploration and production of conventional as well as unconventional Hydrocarbon resources, marketing & pricing freedom, etc.

Composition: It includes money on account of excess billing revealed in the audit, unclaimed money such as security deposits and plan charges of failed activations. Such unclaimed/nonrefundable amount belonging to consumers would be deposited in the TCEP fund as it will be utilised for the welfare measures of the consumers.

Framework in this regard: Provided in Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund Regulations of 2007. It offers a basic framework for depositing unclaimed money of consumers by service providers, maintenance of the fund and other aspects. The income from the fund is utilised for programmes and activities relating to consumer education and protection.

About the Punjab Right to Business Bill, 2020: It is aimed at ensuring ease of doing business for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

Under the law, an MSME unit can be set up after ‘In-Principle’ approval from the District Bureau of Enterprise, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, working under the guidance of the State Nodal Agency, headed by the Director, Industries.

Approval time: Approval for units in approved Industrial Parks will be given in three working days. For new enterprises outside approved Industrial Parks, the decision on the “Certificate of In-Principle Approval” shall be taken by the District Level Nodal Agency within 15 working days, as per the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee.

What is the timeframe for unit owners to comply? Unit owners will have three and a half years after setting up the unit to obtain seven approvals from three departments: the sanction of building plans; issuance of completion/occupation certificate for buildings; registration of new trade licences under relevant laws.

Why was a law needed, rather than an executive order? According to the government, the Act will have overriding powers over various Acts of different departments that make approvals necessary before the setting up of small and medium units — this purpose could not have been achieved by an executive order.

The launch took place from the Spaceport in French Guiana. The launch vehicle is named Ariane 5 VA-251.

Key facts: GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series and will replace INSAT-4A in orbit. GSAT-30 is configured on ISRO’s enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from Geostationary orbit.

GSAT-30 uses two satellite frequencies: It gives the Indian mainland and islands coverage in the Ku band, and extended coverage in a wider area stretching from Australia to Europe in the lower-frequency C-band. The Ku and C bands are part of a spectrum of frequencies, ranging from 1 to 40 gigahertz, that are used in satellite communications.

Services: With a mission life of over 15 years, GSAT-30 will provide DTH [direct-to-home] television Services, connectivity to VSATs [Very Small Aperture Terminals] for ATM, stock exchange, television uplinking and teleport services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications.

What is Arianespace? It is the world’s first commercial launch service provider and since the launch of India’s APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 24 satellites, including Gsat-30, for the Indian space agency.

The agreement is between Union Government, Governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives to end the 23-year old Bru-Reang refugee crisis.

Highlights of the agreement: Under the agreement , the centre has announced a package of Rs. 600 crore under this agreement. As per the agreement the Bru tribes would be given land to reside in Tripura. A fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakh will be given to each family as an amount of government aid. They will be able to withdraw this amount after two years.

Each of the displaced families will be given 40×30 sq ft residential plots. Apart from them, each family will be given Rs. 5,000 cash per month for two years. The agreement highlights that each displaced family will also be given free ration for two years and aid of Rs. 1.5 lakh to build their houses.

Significance of the government: This agreement will bring a permanent solution for the rehabilitation of thousands of Bru-Reang people in Tripura. The government believes that this agreement will bring a bright future for them. Bru-Reang people will be able to enjoy the benefits of all social-welfare schemes of governments.

Background: More than 30,000 Bru tribes who fled Mizoram, are residing in Tripura’s refugee camps.

Who are Brus? The Brus, also referred to as the Reangs, are spread across the northeastern states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram. In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. In Mizoram, they have been targeted by groups that do not consider them indigenous to the state.

What’s the issue? A bout of ethnic violence forced thousands of people from the Bru tribe to leave their homes in Mizoram.

The displaced Bru people from Mizoram have been living in various camps in Tripura since 1997. In 1997, the murder of a Mizo forest guard at the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram’s Mamit district allegedly by Bru militants led to a violent backlash against the community, forcing several thousand people to flee to neighbouring Tripura.

The Bru militancy was a reactionary movement against Mizo nationalist groups who had demanded in the mid-1990s that the Brus be left out of the state’s electoral rolls, contending that the tribe was not indigenous to Mizoram.

Context: Detected recently in Australian mosquitoes.

What is it? It belonged to a group that includes other alphaviruses such as chikungunya virus and the astern equine encephalitis.

Even so, the novel virus poses no threat to human beings, because it is a part of a group of viruses that only infect mosquitoes. Other viruses in the same group include the Tai forest alphavirus and the Agua Salud alphavirus.