Current Affairs on Companies

Under which service type TRAI on 1 April 2015 prescribed a framework of norms which will make it easier for consumers to migrate from one Direct-To-Home (DTH) service provider to another?: Interoperability of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) or Set Top Box (STB) offered by DTH operators to their subscribers

Explanation: To bring more transparency in DTH (Direct-To-Home) business where objective is to make it easier for consumers to migrate from one Direct-To-Home (DTH) service provider to another, TRAI prescribe framework of norms to the service provider. These are:

-Under the new framework of 'commercial interoperability' of CPEs, an exit option will be provided to the subscribers in case they wish to avail services from another DTH operator for any reason

-transparent declaration of installation and activation charges by DTH operators which shall not exceed Rs 450

-DTH operators also have to mandatorily offer an outright purchase scheme called 'Standard Scheme' for all types of CPEs on standalone basis

-DTH operators may offer additional schemes including bundled schemes and rental schemes

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on 31 March 2015 opened about 50 branches across the country, thus achieving what milestone?: Opening of 4000th branches

Explanation: ICICI Bank became the first private sector bank in the country to achieve this milestone. With the inauguration of 50 branches across the country, thereby taking its total branch count to 4,050. ICICI Bank' s branch footprint covers 2,300 locations across the country from Sopore in Jammu & Kashmir to Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu to Naliya in Gujarat and Mokokchung in Nagaland.

Twitter Inc on 26 March 2015 launched a video streaming app, just days after reports that it had blocked a rival app called Meerkat. What is the name of the Launched App?: Periscope

 Explanation: Meerkat since its launched was heavily relied on Twitter and has become hugely popular in the month since its launch. The launch of the periscope by twitter was made on the day when Meerkat unveiled a list of investors that included Silicon Valley venture capitalists Greylock Partners and Sound Ventures, Ashton Kutcher`s fund. Meerkat app allows user to stream videos that cannot be rewatched however the periscope allows downloading the video to re-watch. The company bought video-sharing service Vine in 2012 and has since been aggressively expanding its capabilities to carry pictures, videos and interactive content far richer than the 140-character messages it is best known for. Vine is now one of the most popular apps in Apple Inc`s iTunes store, with Twitter users increasingly sharing short, six-second video clips in the form of tweets. 

World's fourth largest steel firm will shift its first Finex plant to India from Pohang in South Korea. What is the name of the company?: Posco

Explanation: Earlier the Korean major had signed an agreement with state-run Steel Authority of India for setting up a steel unit using the same technology, but it never took off owing to shareholding issue. Thus, signed an initial joint venture pact with Mesco Steel - Kalinganagar in Odisha and will start dismantling the unit at Pohang in next quarter. Posco's patented Finex is an iron making technology which has "significant potential to reduce operating cost" as it eliminates the reliance on expensive coking coal. Mesco Steel currently operates 2 blast furnaces in its plant at Kalinganagar and the hot metal is cast as Pig Iron.

The United Nations on 23 March 2015 cancel the plans to partner with which company to create 1 million jobs for women within the next five years, amid pressure from labor union and non-governmental organizations?: Uber Technologies

Explanation: The car-booking company - Uber, cofounded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garret Camp, has expanded to almost 300 cities in 54 countries, encountering regulatory hurdles and protests by taxi and limousine drivers worldwide. But due to huge protest from the International Transport Workers Federation against the UN group's partnership with Uber, the deal was cancel. However The deal, aimed at advancing gender equality, was announced on March 10, when the San Francisco based company sponsored the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on women's rights and economic empowerment. Uber passengers reported assault cases in Boston and in India, where the company has introduced an S.O.S. button for users to call for police in an emergency.

Which Indian Company on 17 March 2015 laid the foundation stone for a new 150-million pound automotive innovation centre, planned as the largest research facility of its kind in Europe, to create the next generation of vehicles for the global market?: Tata Group

Explanation: Tata was accompanied by his successor, Cyrus P Mistry, at the launch of the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC), which would be operational at the University of Warwick campus in Coventry by 2017. Thus so far NAIC is planned as the largest automotive research centre of its kind in Europe. NAIC is build in 33,000 square meter complex, which will provide space for 1,000 engineers, designers and academics to work together, from apprentices to senior managers. The new high-tech research facilities at the NAIC will include a design and simulation space creating innovative automotive solutions as well as the world's most adaptable and advanced fully immersive drive-in car simulator. Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata laid the foundation stone.

On 16 March 2015, Social networking giant Facebook got hold to e-commerce after it acquired which shopping search engine, signalling its aspirations in two of the Internet's biggest money-makers: search and e-commerce.?: TheFind

Explanation: TheFind was co-founded in 2006 by CEO Siva Kumar and CTO Shashikant Khandelwal, both native Indians.  Facebook has been testing a "buy" button since July 2014 that lets users purchase goods directly now with acquisition of TheFind, it would be able to add additional shopping tools to its service. TheFind previously raised USD 26 million in three investment rounds, but had not received an influx of cash since 2007