Facebook acquires shopping search engine TheFind

Social networking giant Facebook acquired the shopping search engine TheFind on 14 March 2015. With the acquisition, Facebook has moved into eCommerce. Both Facebook and TheFind cast the acquisition as a way to lift the digital advertising business of Facebook. TheFind was cofounded in 2006 by CEO Siva Kumar and CTO Shashikant Khandelwal, both native Indians.

Green India Mission converged with MGNREGA to reclaim forest 

Union Government has merged Green India Mission (GIM) with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Scheme. By merging GIM with MGNREGA Scheme, the government seeks to increase 10 million hectares of forest cover. Modern technology like remote sensing will be used to monitor the progress of this initiative regularly.

Veteran Gandhian Narayan Desai passes away

Noted Gandhian Narayan Desai, known for his rendition of Gandhi Katha – stories on the Mahatma’s life – passed away at the age of 90. In 2004, Mr. Desai started a lecture series on Gandhiji called ‘Gandhi Katha,’ which he took across the world and received much acclaim for it. Mr. Desai won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 1993 and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1999 and the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998. He was also associated with the anti-nuclear movement.

Services clinched 69th Santosh Trophy football title 2015

Services have won the 69th Santosh Trophy football title 2014-15 in a nail-biting summit clash in Ludhiana. They edged out hosts Punjab 5-4 in a tie-breaker. With this win Services have won this title four times besides finishing runners up on five occasions. Previously services won the Santosh Trophy in years 1961, 2012, 2013.

Lewis Hamilton wins Australia Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton dominated the Australian Grand Prix to get his world title defence to a perfect start. He drove a measured race, controlling the gap to his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg throughout as the team left the rest of the field behind. Ferrari’s improved form was confirmed as new signing Sebastian Vettel took third, beating Williams’s Felipe Massa.

Kidambi Srikanth wins the 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix 

India’s ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won  badminton’s prestigious $120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title in Men’s singles category. In the final match he defeated Denmark’s defending champion Viktor Axelsen by score of 21-15, 12-21 and 21-14. It is the second Grand Prix gold title of his career after an historic win at the China Open last year.