With 1,964 H-1B visas in 2009, Indian IT major Wipro has topped the list of firms that got the coveted US visas for highly skilled professionals.Microsoft with 1,318 visas came next, with Intel (723) in third place, while Google with 211 in 25th place brought up the rear.

The consumer care and Lighting business of Wipro acquired the Yardley business in Asia, Middle East, Australiasia and certain African markets for $45.5 million (around Rs 215 crore) from UK-based Lornamead Group.

The name Wipro always leads one to think about IT behemoth which Azim Premji has established. But nestled under the massive $ 6 bn tree is abusiness of consumer goods, a pale shadow of the IT big-brother considering that it contributes to around only 8% of the total turnover.

Wipro, the leading Indian outsourcing firm that has reappointed Mr Azim Premji as its Chairman again has entered in Cloud Computing services.

Wipro finally ended at Rs 568, up 2% from the previous close. Around 301,317 shares were traded as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 186,179 shares.