1. India emerges as third largest FDI source for
United Kingdom
i. India has
emerged as the third largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) source for United
Kingdom (UK) in 2014-15.
ii. It was revealed
in recently released report Inward Investment Report 2014-15 of UK Trade and
Industry (UKTI). This FDI source was based in terms of number of projects i.e.
source of inward investment.
iii. US has
remained the largest source of inward investment for UK with a total of 564
projects in 2014-15 and was followed by France (124 projects) and India (122
projects).
iv. During the year
2014-15, the FDI from India increased by 65 per cent and has resulted in
creation of 7,730 jobs as well as protection of 1,620 jobs in UK. Sector wise
Indian companies had invested in healthcare, agriculture-technology, food and
drink.
2. SEBI simplifies IPO norms
i. To help
investors and companies in IPOs, SEBI today halved the listing time to six days
from the date of the public offer and also allowed a larger number of firms to
tap the “fast—track” route for raising funds.
ii. Currently, the
companies are required to list their shares on the stock exchanges within 12
days of the last date of the IPO (Initial Public Offer) process, thus keeping
the funds locked in for a longer period of time.
iii. The shorter
time period, which would come into effect from January 1, 2016, would also help
reduce the costs associated with the public offering, SEBI Chairman U K Sinha
said after a meeting of the regulator’s board.
3. India ranked 143rd in Global Peace Index, wasted
$340 billion due to violence
i. The research
firm based in Australia has ranked India as the 143rd out of the 162 nations
listed in the Global Peace Index.
ii. The economic
impact of containing and dealing with the consequences of India’s levels of
violence was estimated to cost the national economy $341.7 billion in 2014.
iii. The peace
index also indicated that since the last eight years India has fallen 6% in the
ranking due to the “deteriorations in indicators measuring deaths from external
conflict, political terror and perceptions of criminality.”
4. Five banks to lead NTPC’s debut masala bond
offering
i. Barclays,
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and SBI Capital Markets are being tipped to lead
NTPC’s debut issuance of offshore rupee-linked bonds.
ii. The five
lenders also led NTPC’s US dollar offering last November, when it raised $500
million through a 10-year Reg S-only bond priced to yield 205bp over
Treasuries.
iii. NTPC, the
country’s largest power company, is among a handful of Indian companies waiting
to raise funds through this new market once the Reserve Bank of India finalises
guidelines on such issues.
iv.The offshore
notes, also called masala bonds, will be issued under India’s external
commercial borrowing guidelines.
5. EPFO makes UAN mandatory for all employers under
its purview
i)Employee
Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has notified an order to make Universal
Account Number (UAN) mandatory for all its employers. It will be mandatory for
all employers covered under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1952.
ii)The UAN facility
was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014. It is portable
throughout the lifetime of an employee and removes the need for employees to
apply for PF transfer claims while changing jobs
iii) EPFO is a
statutory body of Union Government under the aegis of Ministry of Labour and
Employment.its headquarter Headquarters New Delhi.
6. Union Government launches Bhuvan Ganga Mobile App
to aid Clean Ganga Mission
i)Union Government
has launched Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application and Web Portal to aid flagship
mission to Clean Ganga.
ii) The app and
webportal was launched by Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti in New Delhi.
iii)Bhuvan Ganga
application: It will facilitate public to upload pictures of pollution sources
of the Ganga River for further action by the authorities concerned. It
will also serve platform for people to monitor pollution in river Ganga and
enable decision makers to prioritize interventions.
iv) Bhuvan Ganga
Portal: It is deployed as part of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s)
Bhuvan’s geoportal with all geospatial layers related to Ganga River. It will
be used as a tool to support decision making and planning for the Clean Ganga
Mission.
7. Steffi Graf appointed Kerala's brand ambassador
for Ayurveda
i)Tennis legend
Steffi Graf was on Wednesday appointed the Ayurveda brand ambassador of Kerala.
ii) The Kerala
tourism department was given sanction to sign an agreement with Graf to become
Ayurveda brand ambassador as part of the department's 'Visit Kerala Scheme',
Chandy said.
iii) The tourism
department had already held discussions and reached an agreement with the
German former World number one tennis player, who had bagged 22 Grand slam
single titles.
iv) Kerala's
Ayurveda, an ancient system of health care which is famous for its holistic
effect on body and mind, attracts a large number of people from the country and
abroad every year.