SMS perverts use fake papers to hoodwink cops

Mumbai: The incessant ringing of her cellphone in the dead of the night woke up Reema (name changed) from her deep slumber. The Chembur resident, who works as an executive with a private firm, answered the phone, only to hear the maniacal laughter of aman. A few days later, Reema received an obscene text message from the same number. To make matters worse, Reema's two female flatmates also started receiving vulgar SMSes from the same number. They then approached the police. "The man told us the cops will never find him as he had procured six SIM cards using fake documents," said Reema. 

    The cops traced the number to a Goregaon man and learnt that he was unaware that his papers had been used to obtain the SIM card. 
    Reema and her flatmates are not alone. Many women are still waiting for the perverts, who harassed them through obscene SMSes and emails, to be brought to justice. Investigators, too, admit that very rarely do such persons get caught. "Mobile service providers do not thoroughly check documents while giving out SIM cards. This negligent approach helps the perverts get away with their crime," said an officer. 
    According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Mumbai has the maximum number of registered cases of sexual harassment or obscenity through SMS, MMS or email. Between 2007 and 2012 (till August), 84 such cases were registered in the city. When it comes to states, Maharashtra, too, doesn't fare better. The NCRB data shows Maharashtra has the third highest number of such cases (169) registered in the country in the same period. 
    JCP (crime) Himanshu Roy said, "We will take up the matter with the information technology ministry so that proper action is taken against erring service providers." 
    A spokesperson of a leading telecom operator said the cops were trying to pass the buck by blaming operators. Times View: Crack the whip B oth service providers and cops need to be more proactive when it comes to helping victims of online/mobile sexual harassment. The trauma that the victim goes through should not be compounded by official apathy and the gloves should be off while dealing with these predators. They are a real enough menace though they may be operating in the virtual world.

Google Introduces Free SMS Service For Gmail Users In India

Gmail has redefined the web-mail segment and it has now fully evolved, and is not just a mere email application. Gmail isn't just limited to sending and receiving emails, but users can also chat via Gmail. Recently a video conferencing capability has also been added through Google Plus Hangouts, and more interestingly now Google has attached one more feature to its chat, which allows users in India to send free SMS right from the Gmail's interface.

This new service lets Indian Gmail users to send an SMS from Gmail to any mobile phone and receive replies as chat messages. This feature was added to Gmail on October 10th for both regular users and Google Apps' users. Google's support page says that the SMS chat in Gmail is supported by all mobile operators in India.

SMS in Gmail Chat is free; however, it has some restrictions to prevent abuse. Initially, every user will get a credit of 50 free messages. Each credit is equal to one SMS message. If a reply is sent to the SMS, then the SMS limit is increased by five. The credits will increase after 24 hours and if you don't want to wait, then you can also purchase SMS credits. Users from any country can send free SMS to any region that supports the SMS feature via Gmail.

Those who want to opt out of receiving Gmail chat SMSs can block all future messages from that sender by replying the message with the word 'BLOCK'.

This Gmail texting service will compete with other mobile messaging services that are gaining in India. Sites like Way2SMS and 160by2 are already very popular in India and Whatsapp has also collaborated with Indian carrier Reliance to offer unlimited messaging plan to college students.

SMSSheep.Com to Heat Up Free SMS Market by Allowing Free Unlimited International SMS

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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/04/2012 -- SMSSheep.com, a reputed online SMS service provider announces plan whereby the user may simply log on to their website, write SMS and send them internationally without the need of paying a penny. 

"The website is going to be of immense importance to people who often have to send SMS internationally. Our website allows users to have their SMS sent right away simply by logging on to the website entering the country, entering the number and sending the message." Says John Kerry of SMSSheep.com. "Our website allows people from all over the world send free unlimited international SMS. Send SMS from anywhere to anywhere on the world without the need of any registration"

SMSSheep.com has been able to achieve high click through in a very short span of time and is currently ranked at high Page Rank of 3 as per Google Page Ranking. It is expected to achieve even better ranking in time to come.

The website is simple to use and can load faster on slow internet connections as well.

"SMS Sheep was started with a mission to let people all over the world send text messages for free.

SMS Sheep today proudly serves Thousands and thousands of people worldwide." Says John

As per recent trends it has been found out that people consider sending SMS more advantageous over voice calls. It is considered to be discreet, cheaper and often free than a call, takes less time and can be sent and received at any time. 

As per studies, in the year 2010, about 6.1 trillion SMS were sent. That comes to about 192 000 SMS per second on an average. In the year 2012 which is also the 20th anniversary of Short Message Service, the figures are expected to have multiplied several times and websites like SMSSheep.com may further add fuel to it.

"In today's world when we are witnessing continuous growth of social media interactions on internet, websites like facebook becomes imperative. Therefore with the help of our cutting edge technology we have been able to achieve 100% integration with facebook" says John. 

"With the help of our superior technology we expect to become number one website for free SMS in short span of time".

SMSSheep.com is US based. Its website http://smssheep.com contains more information.

About SMSSheep.com free SMS
SMSSheep is a website for sending free SMS Internationally. The location is based in USA. More information can be found at http://smssheep.com.

‘Restrict mobile talk to six min daily, use SMS instead’

Mumbai: You can reduce the radiation risks posed by cell phones if you religiously avoid talking on your mobile for more than six minutes. But since it can be an unrealistic target for many, using a speakerphone or headset and keeping the mobile at least a foot away from the body is the safest option, experts say.      Most importantly, reduce the number of calls from cell phones and use the SMS option instead, or landlines whenever possible. Above all, don't forget to check the specific absorption rate (SAR) while buying a phone, it should be strictly 1.6 watt/kg, suggest experts.      If you are exposed to radiation from cell towers, or if your residence or office is within 1km from a TV tower or within 500 meters of an FM tower, then growing plants or trees with more water content, or putting water curtains on windows or galleries could help divert radiation.      But the best option is to complain against such a tower. An inter-ministerial committee of experts formed by the ministry of communications and information technology to study hazards posed by mobiles and towers has already highlighted that the radiation creates serious health risks, including loss of memory, lack of concentration and sleep disorders. In June last year, the WHO and International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radio-frequency electromagnetic fields as Group 2B agents that could "possibly be carcinogenic to humans," or in simpler words cause brain cancer. Globally, researches are still trying to gauge health hazards caused by prolonged use of cell phones.      Senior consultant radiation oncologist Dr Anusheel Munshi said while more data is awaited, preliminary findings could be strong enough for people to think prevention. "So far, prolonged usage for at least a decade has been linked with brain tumours. It is believed that constant exposure of certain regions of the brain to electromagnetic radiation is to blame for tumours," he said. Munshi also suggested that plug-in ear devices should be used often and even texting could be used more frequently than talking. Endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi agreed, saying said texting, emailing or using instant messaging applications can save us from cell phone hazards.      A paediatrician from civic-run Sion Hospital said cell phone usage should be kept to minimum for children. "The damages could be more in case of children as their skull bones are thinner than adults and therefore electromagnetic radiation could penetrate deeper," the doctor said.      "From September 1, 2013 only mobile handsets with revised SAR value of 1.6 watt/kg will be permitted to be manufactured or imported in India," said R K Bhatnagar, advisor (technology) to DoT. He said devices to help officials randomly check the SAR of the new imported or manufactured stock of handsets will arrive soon, at a cost of Rs 15 lakh each.      Similarly national engineering standards for handsets are also being framed to offer more health-friendly handsets. Manufacturers have to self-declare theSAR value in the brochure of the handset. "If any company selling handsets in India does not comply with the norms then action will be taken against it," said Bhatnagar.      He said corrective action such as reducing the frequency of antennas, changing their position and direction can also help reduce the effects of radiation on humans. "Re-engineering is possible in most cases, which can give lot of relief but in extreme cases removing them can be the final option," he said.      Consumer activist and expert Achintya Mukherjee said telecom companies should connect base stations and subsidiary stations with optic fibre cables and then create wireless-like in-building solutions to disseminate low wattage signals with less radiation.

FREE TRAFFIC SMS ALERTS (SMS-567678)

1. Traffic Police offers free SMS ALERTS to Mumbaikars. 2. Alerts are available for three areas viz south city, eastern and western suburbs. 3. You can subscribe to this service by sending a SMS to 567678 with anyone of the following JOIN TRAFFICCITY JOIN TRAFFICEAST JOIN TRAFFICWEST 4. You can choose one or more of the groups listed above. You can subscribe to this service by clicking on the 'subscribe' button below the group box. 5. Free SMS Alerts (140 characters – max) will be sent to the subscriber's registered mobile number by Traffic Control Room for the chosen area. 6. The SMS is followed by a small ad tag. This arrangement enables us to provide this service free of cost to the citizens. 7. You can unsubscribe by sending a SMS to 567678 LEAVE TRAFFICCITY LEAVE TRAFFICEAST LEAVE TRAFFICWEST You can unsubscribe to this service by clicking on the 'unsubscribe' button below the group box. 8.For any queries, email at jcptraffic@trafficpolicemumbai.org (For Marathi click here)