Daily GK Update - 15th & 16th March 2015

1. Wipro appoints Abid Neemuchwala as COO

i. India's third largest IT services exporter Wipro Ltd. announced the appointment of appointment of former TCS top executive Mr. Abid Ali Neemuchwala as the Group President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. 

ii. Mr Neemuchwala was heading the Business Process Services globally. 

iii. Apart from this he was also involved in several leadership roles during his 23-year-long career with TCS.

2. Facebook acquires The Find e-commerce search engine

i. Facebook has acquired The Find, a nine-year-old company with a search engine that indexes products across thousands of e-commerce sites.

ii. That probably means the ads Facebook users see will be more relevant to products they’ve been browsing and buying online, perhaps highlighting local retailers. One of The Find’s features is that it attempts to mix online and local stores and says its results are based on “your social profile.”

iii. For Facebook, the technology might make the social network a more valuable platform for merchants. While The Find’s own website won’t survive the acquisition.

3. IMF supports tight stance of Reserve Bank

i. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), chief Christine Lagarde’s has supported the tight monetary stance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and says 5-per cent inflation in the country was still high.

ii. Lagarde is on a two-day India visit that began from today.

iii. Ms. Lagarde’s itinerary during her two-day visit includes meetings Prime Minister Narendra Modi and key leaders including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.

iv. IMF has previously expected a 6 percent growth for India.

4. Assam rolls out scheme to promote double cropping

i. Assam government has launched an ambitious scheme to increase agricultural production by providing facilities and assistance to farmers for double cropping in their lands. 

ii. Under the programme 'Momai Tamuli Barbaruah Krishak Bondhu Scheme', facilities and assistance will be provided for double cropping in all the crop areas which have so far been utilised for single cropping only. 

iii. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi launched the scheme at Timtimia village in Jorhat.

5. Indian women win World Hockey League Round 2

i. India won the final of the Hero women’s Hockey World League Round 2  with a margin of 3-1 against Poland at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

ii. Vandana Katariya broke the deadlock in the 15th minute after several close chances were missed. 

ii. Poland struck back immediately on resumption in the second quarter, Oriana Walasek deflecting home off the team’s first penalty corner.  

iv. The  Final result: India 3 (Vandana Katariya, Rani, Ritu Rani) bt Poland 1 (Oriana Walasek).

6. Services win fourth Santosh Trophy title

i. Services lifted the Santosh Trophy after edging out hosts Punjab 5-4 via tie-breaker in a nail-biting summit clash at Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana .

ii. During the tie–breaker all the five players including captain Anthony, Vibin, Francis Zonuntulnga, Arun Tudu and Rakesh Singh scored goal for the winners.

iii. Services have won the title for the fourth time besides finishing runners up on five occasions.

7. Srikanth wins Swiss Grand Prix Gold championship

i. Young Indian shuttler K. Srikanth clinched the Swiss Grand Prix Gold championship title after overcoming a strong challenge from Viktor Axelson in a hard-fought men’s singles final.

ii. World No. 4 Srikanth showed nerves of steel to prevail over his Danish opponent, ranked sixth in the world, 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 in the thrilling summit clash of the $120,000 event .

iii. Srikanth previously created a major upset in the final of the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier by beating five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan.