24 June 2015 Current affairs / GA /GK: Union Government launches Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application and Web Portal to aid flagship mission to Clean Ganga. The app and webportal was launched by Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti in New Delhi.
About 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.
About Bhuvan Ganga Web 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.
India becomes the third largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) source for United Kingdom (UK) in 2014-15.
- 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.
- While 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).
SEBI simplifies IPO norms 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Tennis legend Steffi Graf appointed as the Ayurveda brand ambassador of Kerala.
- 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.
- 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.
Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and SBI Capital Markets are being tipped to lead NTPC’s debut issuance of offshore rupee-linked bonds.
- 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.
- NTPC is the country’s largest power company and 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.
- The offshore notes, also called masala bonds, will be issued under India’s external commercial borrowing guidelines.
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.
- 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.
