New Delhi [India], Nov 17 : The recent move to ban the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes has led to interesting and quick changes in the field of e-commerce, where Cash on Delivery ( CoD) till recent times has been a major mode of payment.

Acting swiftly, FreeCharge and Snapdeal rolled out the "Wallet on Delivery" (WoD) within 24 hours of the currency ban. In one week since launch, more than 100,000 Snapdeal deliveries have been done using FreeCharge' Wallet on Delivery.

This may well be the start of a new trend, which combines the pay on delivery expectation of some users and the non-cash payments preference of all e-commerce companies.

Most of the solar panels present on rooftops are positioned at fixed angles owing to which, they are not able to have energy the entire day. But researchers said that they have found a way by which they can solve this problem.

Researchers said by cutting solar cells in specific shapes using kirigami, a variation of origami involving cutting in addition to folding, can let the cells to tilt to capture the energy without the need of tilting the entire panel.

Through this way, solar panels will be able to generate 20 to 40% more energy per year than the ones without trackers. Prof. Max Shtein from the University of Michigan said they have used a specific kirigami cut in order to ensure that individual strips do not cast shadows on each other.

Seeing stars and planets in the night sky can be tricky despite the fact that they appear to move very slowly. As per NASA experts, spotting the International Space Station (ISS) is far easier when it passes as the space station appears to move around the same speed as a high-flying jumbo jet.

NASA's has now made spotting ISS in the sky even easier after it has launched a new website that simply allows a person to chose a particular city closest to him or her and one can get details on the times when the ISS will pass overhead in the coming days.

On Friday, Utah Health officials announced that meals prepared at a soup kitchen were found to be having staph bacteria. Last week, the meals have caused food poisoning to more than 50 people living at a Salt Lake City homeless shelter.

The department officials have carried out research. As per this, the bacteria can be found on skin and it might have introduced to food when prepared with hands not covered with gloves and not heated or cooled properly.

Nicholas Rupp, a spokesman for the health department, said that for now, they do not have complete information on what was served to homeless people on Sunday and also, how the food was cooked. Rupp said that staph bacteria should not be mixed with drug-resistant staph bacteria found in hospital. The latter one is quite dangerous.

Scientists have successfully evolved a new strategy for starving the HIV to death by blocking its nutrient and sugar pipeline. As per the research scientists from the Northwestern Medicine and Vanderbilt University, HIV has a voracious sweet tooth, which has turned out to be its Achilles' heel.

When the virus attacks an activated immune cell, it has a strong craving for nutrients and sugar from the cell. The virus needs them to replicate and fuel its growth across the human body.

New Delhi, Dec 19 : Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the Centre has given assurance to the states that they would be compensated for any revenue loss post the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"The Centre has given assurance to the states that they will be compensated for any loss of revenues following the implementation of the GST," Jaitley told a press conference here.

Software firm MindTree Ltd suffered a quarter-on-quarter decline of 20.1 per cent in net profit in the quarter ended March 31, mainly due to a foreign exchange loss of Rs 15.3 crore.

On Monday, MindTree announced that its net profit slipped to Rs 78.9 crore in the January-March quarter, from Rs 98.8 crore in the October-December quarter. The net profit figure is, however, still higher than analysts' average projection of Rs 78.2 crore.

Government-run exploration giant Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has announced its intention to establish its own power plants based on unconventional energy sources such as nuclear and wind.

Sudhir Vasudeva, Chairman & Managing Director of ONGC, said that the recent hikes in the gas prices made them to re-look at other potentials.

Mumbai, March 28 : No film can be successful without the support of technicians, say director Karan Johar and actress Chitrangada Singh, who are excited to host a segment at TOIFA that would recognise the best talents working behind the camera.

"I am really excited. Being a producer and director, I have seen the effort and hard work that goes behind the screens. None of the films we make, would be half as successful without the technical teams burning the midnight oil," Karan said in a statement.

Thiruvananthapuram, March 23 : Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging that the special court to try two Italian marines on murder charges be set up in the state itself.

"We wish to designate the sessions court at Kollam, where the marines case came up for trial. It should be noted that all records and evidences are before this court as the investigation agency had submitted it to them," said Chandy.

He also pointed out that if the special court is set in Delhi, all the witnesses in the case will have to frequently travel there.

Kolkata, March 20 : India's e-commerce industry is expected to grow more than six times in the next three years to Rs. 27,000 crore, the world's biggest online marketplace operator eBay said Wednesday.

"Our estimate is by 2015, e-commerce in India would be about Rs. 27,000 crore. Right now it is about Rs. 4,200 crore," eBay India director (APAC revenue management) Sharat Digumarti said here.

"E-commerce in the country is still in the nascent stage. But everybody is looking at India as an important opportunity," he said.

New Delhi, Feb 21 : The Budget Session starts today with President Pranab Mukherjee''s first address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

President Mukherjee will address both Houses of Parliament assembled together at 11 a. m. in the Central Hall.

The Budget (Railways) for 2013-2014 will be presented to the Lok Sabha on February 26 immediately after Question Hour. The Economic Survey of India will be laid in the Parliament on February 27. The Budget

Brokerages remained bullish on Tata Motors' stock, despite the vehicle manufacturer reported unsatisfactory earnings for the October-December quarter.

Tata Motors consolidated net profit in the October-December quarter slipped 52 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,628 crore, despite an increase of 2 per cent in revenue to Rs 46,090 crore. Analysts had projected profit of Rs 2,250 crore on revenue of Rs 47,277 crore.

New Delhi, Jan 5 : The Delhi Police has lodged a case against Zee News channel for revealing the identity of the gang-rape victim by carrying an interview of her friend who was the lone witness in the case.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said that the case will be filed in the Vasant Vihar Police Station under Section 228 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to disclosure of identity of victims of certain offences, including rape.

New Delhi, Dec 27  : Urging the Chief Ministers to ensure the safety and security of women in various states, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh referring to the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in the national capital on Thursday said that the government has decided to review the present laws and examine the levels of punishments in cases of aggravated sexual assault.

Addressing a meeting of the National Development Council, Dr. Singh said the issue of safety and security of women was of the highest priority.

Recent media reports on leakage of audit reports forced the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) to adopt new measures and issue stricter guidelines to plug holes.

The new guidelines issued to all CAG officials include a confidentiality oath, using sealed envelopes within the organization, and protecting computers with passwords.

"The issue of maintenance of confidentiality of the audit reports has been reconsidered in the light of recent media reports on leakage of audit reports."

After the fair share of eyeballs claimed by Aamir Khan’s show Satyamev Jayate, there are people who are criticizing him for being too fake with his appearance on the show and in interviews. The show has been very successful so far and has been able to get good TV ratings as well as decent share of advertising during the prime slot on Sunday.

Finland based Nokia has said that its new phone Nokia Pureview 808 will be launched in May in Indian market. The device has received "Best Mobile Device" award at Mobile World Congress 2012.

The phone is expected to be launched in India with a price tag of Rs 29,999 as per unofficial reports.

Nokia Pureview will offer superior imaging technology and Nokia phone has received Best Imaging Innovation award for year 2012. After the success of other companies in India markets, it was time for Nokia to bring something better to compete.

The administration has forwarded about 45,000 notifications to unlisted telemarketers and cut off almost 28,000 telephones till April 24 for sending annoying calls and SMSs utilizing private numbers.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal stated, "The government is aware that several calls and SMSs are being sent from private numbers... 44,810 notices have been issued to unregistered telemarketers and 27,984 telephones have been disconnected till April 24, since inception of the regulation."

DMK chief M Karunanidhi has said that he and his party supports Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the post of the next president of India, a move that will boost Congress’s plan to gather support for his post.

Karunanidhi has said that he would back the candidate proposed by the UPA coalition. But he also said that there has been no discussion on the presidential candidate. The DMK leader heads a party that is a key part in the UPA-led government at the Centre.