Miscellaneous

Washington, Aug 23: Scientists have developed novel lithium-ion batteries with components that harden on impact, preventing them from catching fire and causing injuries to users. Lithium-ion batteries commonly used in consumer electronics are notorious for bursting into flame when damaged or improperly packaged. These incidents occasionally have grave consequences, including burns, house fires and

Nearly four million users had their personal data misused by a third-party app called 'myPersonality', Facebook revealed on Thursday. In a blog post, Ime Archibong, Vice President of Product Partnerships at Facebook, said the company has banned the app that was mostly active prior to 2012. "We banned 'myPersonality' for failing to agree to our request to audit and because it's clear that they

Paris, Aug 23: Has your smartphone suddenly slowed down, warmed up and the battery drained down for no apparent reason? If so, it may have been hijacked to mine cryptocurrencies. This new type of cyberattack is called "cryptojacking" by security experts. It "consists of entrapping an internet server, a personal computer or a smartphone to install malware to mine cryptocurrencies," said Gerome

Mumbai, Aug 21: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Viral V Acharya on Monday called for enacting a special law to enable the proposed public credit registry (PCR) to come into being, and said this can go a long way in resolving the deep data asymmetry in the financial system which in turn can help prevent bad loan pile-up. With a low credit-to-GDP ratio of a modest 55.7%, the country

New Delhi, Aug 18: US-based retail giant Walmart Inc today said it has completed deal with Flipkartand now holds 77 per cent stake in the Indian e-commerce major. Besides, the Bentonville giant’s investment includes USD 2 billion of new equity funding to help accelerate the growth of the Flipkart business. “With the completion of the investment, Walmart now holds approximately 77 per cent of

Surat, Aug 15: With the country engrossed in the celebrations of the 72nd Independence Day, one of the longest national flags in the country was on Wednesday unfurled in Gujarat's Surat city. An 1100 feet-long, 9 feet-wide tricolour flag was unfurled with thousands of people taking part in a 5 km-long 'Shaan-e-Tiranga' rally, organised by the Agrawal Vikas Trust. The idea behind the rally was to

Idukki, Aug 12: A pet dog turned out to be the saviour of its master and his family when the animal woke them up at 3 am, minutes before their house collapsed in a landslip at a hamlet in this high range district of Kerala. As 'Rocky' yelped and made disturbing sounds, Mohanan and his wife woke up and tried to find out what was wrong. They soon heard a thunderous noise and ran out of their house

Washington, Aug 12: NASA's Parker Solar Probe, mankind's first mission to 'touch' the Sun, has been launched on Sunday on a seven-year-long journey to unlock the mysteries of our star's fiery outer atmosphere and its effects on space weather. Liftoff took place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US early on Sunday. The launch of the United Launch Alliance Delta

Washington, Aug 11: Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella has netted over USD 35 million after selling almost one-third of his common shares in the software giant. Nadella sold 328,000 shares in multiple trades at prices ranging from USD 109.08 to USD 109.68 as the stock trades near a record price. The stock sale, disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday, netted Nadella more than USD 35

Indra Nooyi has ruled out joining politics and will now focus on her family after her long-innings at the world's second-largest food and beverage giant PepsiCo. PepsiCo yesterday announced that its Board of Directors have unanimously elected Ramon Laguarta, 54, to succeed Indian-origin Nooyi as Chief Executive Officer. Ms Nooyi, 62, will step down on October 3 after 24 years with the company, the