FREE-SMS-ALERTS

Lok Sabha clears land bill, govt braces for battle in RS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:35:00 +0000

Shiv Sena Refuses To Vote With Govt

Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the land acquisition bill after a marathon debate, with the government managing to keep its allies together though it failed to rein in Shiv Sena.

The government now braces for a tough battle in Rajya Sabha where it lacks majority , as evident in the near-unprecedented event of its humiliation by the opposition which forced amendments to the motion of thanks on the President's address.

For the ruling coalition, the good news is that it mana ged support from Akali Dal which had criticized the law and insisted that the "consent clause" be restored, as also LJP. While Sena stuck to its guns on the bill, it stopped short of voting against it and only abstained from voting. Im portantly, Biju Janata Dal, which was scathing in its comments and had termed the restoration of "consent clause" and "social impact assessment" as non-negotiable, staged a walkout instead of voting against the bill. However, what would be of concern to the government is that the opposition stayed united. Trinamool Congress and SP voted against the bill. In what could worry the government, the opposition stayed united against the land bill which was passed by the LS on Tuesday . If this line-up stays in the Upper House, the Centre faces the prospect of either the bill being sent to a parliamentary panel for vetting--standing committee or select committee--or its rejection. Only in the case of the latter would the government be able to call a joint sitting of Parliament to push it through, and the opposition is learned to be preparing a resolution seeking its referral to the select panel.

Brought to replace the ordinance promulgated in December to amend UPA 's law, the bill was criticized by the opposition as reverting to the 1894 law which vested authorities with inviolable power to takeover land.

The government argued that the bill was in the interest of farmers and that UPA 's law had made land acquisition for growth activities impossible. Rural development minister Birender Singh referred to the nine amendments to blunt the projection of the bill as pro-corporate and anti-farmer. Not restoring "consent" in any form, the changes to the bill limit industrial corridors to 1km on both sides of highways and railway lines and provide for compulsory job to one member of every affected family of farm labourers and grievance redressal at the district level besides prescribing that states determine that land acquisition for a project is bare minimum. The dropping of exemption to "social infrastructure" projects was dictated by the argument that private individuals could misuse it to open colleges and hospitals.

The opposition moved 52 amendments which were either negated or not pressed by the members. Later, Congress, SP , TMC, Left and others walked out to let the bill be passed by a voice vote.Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was absent during the debate.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 07:30:00 +0000

iOS 8: A recap of the best new features

Now, SMS alerts to help you track car registration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 04:41:00 +0000

Mumbai: Close on the heels of a car dealer delivering an unregistered Audi 6 to the Pedder Road accident victim recently, state transport commissioner V N More has decided to introduce a four-level text message alert for all car registrations in Mumbai.
    The alerts will help citizens track the status of his/her car registrations, and whether the registration number has been allotted by the RTO or not. This will be for the first time that the RTO will be informing citizens through text alerts.
    The alerts will be at four different stages—car registration fees paid, inspection of vehicle done, road taxes paid and car number/ registration allotted, sources said.In the case of Peddar Road accident victim Phorum Ruparel,
the new Audi 6 was delivered to her residence on Tuesday. But little did the family realize that the car was unregistered and the number plate on it was, therefore, illegal. This was highlighted by TOI, following which the Wadala RTO took suo motu cognizance of the case and had imposed a compounding fine of Rs 2,000 besides charging a penalty interest of Rs 13,220 for road tax not being paid by the dealer.
    "Though the family claims that it had paid the tax, the car dealer had failed to deposit it with the RTO. This attracted the penalty interest charges. Besides, the dealer had also failed to get the car inspected and the registration number was not allotted, causing embarrassment to the car owner," an RTO official said.
    More now wants every car owner to be on alert and keep tabs on the registration process. "From next week, we will introduce the SMS service not only in Mumbai, but in other districts of Maharashtra," he said. For example, once the car is inspected and the taxes paid, there will be SMSalerts. The moment the dealer deposits the registration fee, there will be another text message forwarded to the mobile number of the car owner.
    The SMS alerts will also be introduced for licences sent by speedpost. "The moment your licence or RC smartcard is ready for dispatch, you will receive a text message on your mobile," More added.
INSTANT MESSAGE
HOW WILL IT WORK
    The moment one buys a car, the dealer will ask the RTO for an inspection. Once inspection is done, he/she will receive a message
    The dealer will have to deposit the road tax with the RTO. Once the money is credited to the RTO account, the owner will get a text message
Payment of registration fee will also be confirmed through a text message
Once the registration number is allotted, the owner will get an SMS, after which he can affix a numberplate on the car NO CLUE ABOUT NEW CAR: MISHRAS
    The Mishras from Thane whose Elantra car was hit by the speeding Aston Martin on Pedder Road on December 9 say they have no clue about any new car being registered in the name of Smriti Mishra at the Thane RTO this week. However, the family has expressed anguish over different versions being presented by media about the incident. "Even the model of our car was wrongly reported. It was not a Corolla but an Elantra," Smriti told TOI. — Manoj Badgeri

TOI report on Jan 27

Your vehicle insurance details will soon be just an SMS away

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 02:02:00 +0000

HYDERABAD, NOV. 6:

Soon, when a traffic policeman asks for your car or bike insurance, you won't have to worry if you do not have the papers with you. A simple text message from your mobile phone will retrieve the details instantly, thanks to an IRDA initiative.

"We will be providing vehicle insurance information to all the stakeholders through Short Messaging Service (SMS) and web-based applications of the Insurance Information Bureau,'' said M. Ramaprasad, Member (Non-Life), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), speaking to Business Line on Wednesday.

The beta version of the service has already been launched while the web-based application can be accessed anytime on the portal of the Insurance Information Bureau.

The database of all insured vehicles across the country is now available in digitised form and regularly updated. Until now, verification was done only by checking a hard copy of the insurance policy.

The digital service is beneficial to all the stakeholders. . "In case of an accident, victims can get to know the insurance company details if they know the number of the vehicle,'' said the IRDA official.

"We are talking to Road Transport Authorities and police in different States to share data so it will be easy to track down uninsured vehicles,'' he said. Some components of motor insurance, such as third-party insurance, are mandatory.

It would also help insurers, which sometimes have to grapple with multiple claims in damage and theft cases. This can be brought down if data on claims are available.

POLICY DATABASE

As the system will have a database of insurance claims made/honoured, cases of bad or negligent driving can be ascertained by the insurers before deciding on the premium to be charged.

IRDA is monitoring the submission of data by each underwriting office on a daily basis to ensure the smooth functioning of the system.

Govt to gift 2.5cr mobiles, 90 lakh tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 01:51:00 +0000

New Delhi: In another mega scheme to woo the poor, the Centre proposes to spend Rs 9,822 crore distributing 2.5 crore mobile phones and 90 lakh tablets virtually free of cost to targeted beneficiaries over four years starting 2014-15.

    The move is reportedly aimed at bridging the digital divide in the country.
    The government's mobile phones will come bundled with free connection charges for two years. States will give lists for mobiles, tablets
New Delhi: The users of the mobile phones that the Centre is planning to distribute will have to pay a one-time charge of Rs 300. They will get 30 minutes of talk time, 30 text messages and 30 Mb of data usage free per month.
    This scheme will be restricted to the rural population.Similarly, 90 lakh tablets that will be given away to students of classes XI and XII, both in rural and urban areas, will have free data card connection for two years. The proposal has been sent to the Telecom Commission by the department of telecommunication (DoT). After it is approved by the commission, the plan will be sent to the Union Cabinet.
    The programme will be implemented by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on behalf of the government. In the first year, 25 lakh mobile phones and 15 lakh tablets are proposed to be distributed at a cost of Rs 395 crore and Rs 772.5 crore, respectively. In the second year, the department aims to give away 50 lakh phones and 35 lakh tablets at a cost of Rs 880 crore and Rs 1,858.75 crore, respectively. In the third year, 75 lakh people will get phones at an expenditure of Rs 1,365 crore and 40 lakh students will be given free tablets at a cost of Rs 2,191.25 crore.
    In the fourth year, the free tablets program will end but will still cost the department Rs 150 crore in providing services for the data card connections. The department will spend Rs 1,850 crore in distributing the remaining handsets.
    While the administrative and distribution charges for each mobile phone will be Rs 320, for tablets this cost will come to Rs 900.
    In the case of tablets, the beneficiaries will get device and data connectivity for a maximum period of 2 years or his/her duration of study at school, whichever is less. The service provider will give a free package of 75 minutes talk time, 75 SMSs and 500MB data usage every month.
    The proposal says selection of beneficiaries for the programme will be done by state governments. But they will have to meet broad guidelines fixed by the department—only one beneficiary from each family covered under MGNREGA and 30% 'open' beneficiaries for mobile phones.
    For tablets, the government will target students of classes XI and XII studying in government schools who are not covered by other similar schemes. The list of eligible students would be provided by school authorities and authenticated by state governments.
    Funding for the programmes will from the Universal Service Obligation Fund, which is being realized through a levy of 5% on telecom services revenues from operators. Till March 31, 2013, this kitty had nearly Rs 28,000 crore and Rs 6,500 crore was being added every year.

SOFT TARGET A mobile can be hacked in 2 min via SMS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 06:07:00 +0000

Outdated Tech Used In SIM Cards Renders Cellphones Vulnerable To Spying, Says Expert

Houston: Millions of mobile phones may be vulnerable to spying due to the use of an outdated 1970-era cryptography technique, according to a new research. The research, due to be presented at an upcoming Black Hat security conference in US, cites phones running the risk of their security being breached due to use of the old cryptography technique.
    Cryptography allows communication to take place securely over a mobile network.
    Karsten Nohl, an expert cryptographer with Security Research Labs, has found a way to trick mobile phones into granting access to the device's location, SMS functions and allow changes to a person's voicemail number.
    Nohl's presentation, "Rooting SIM cards," will take place at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on July 31. His research looked at a mobile phone's SIM (Subscriber Identification Module), the small card inserted into a device that ties it to a phone number and authenticates software updates and commands sent over-the-air from an operator. To ensure privacy and security, SIM cards use encryption when communicating with an operator, but the encryption standards use vary widely.
    Nohl's research found that many SIMs use a weak encryption standard dating from the 1970s called DES (Data Encryption Standard), according to a preview posted on his company's blog. DES has long been considered a weak form of encryption, and many mobile operators have upgraded now to more secure forms. It is relatively easy to discover the private key used to sign content encrypted with DES. In its experiment, Security Research Labs sent a binary code over SMS to a device using a SIM with DES.
    Since the binary code wasn't properly cryptographically signed, it would not run on the device. But while rejecting the code, the phone's SIM makes a crucial mistake: it sends back over SMS an error code that carries its own encrypted 56-bit private key.
    Owing to DES' weakness, it is also possible to decrypt the private key using known cracking techniques.
    Security Research Labs did it in about two minutes on a regular computer with the help of a rainbow table, a mathematical chart that helps convert an encrypted private key or password hash into its original form faster.
    With the private DES key in hand, it is then possible to "sign" malicious software updates with the key, and send those updates to the device.
    The device believes the software comes from a legitimate source and then grants access to sensitive data.
    Using the SIM's private key, an attacker could force the SIM to download Java applets, which are essentially very small programs that perform some function. Those applets would be "allowed to send SMS, change voicemail numbers, and query phone location among other things," the company wrote. PTI

IMD warns of extreme rain, BMC urges people not to leave home

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:00:00 +0000

Mumbaikars, especially in the island city, woke up to very heavy rainfall on Sunday. From 8:30am to 11:30am, Colaba recorded 122mm and Santa Cruz 35mm, causing floods in several areas. Though it continued to rain thereafter, the intensity became a lot less, with Colaba recording 147.2mm from morning till evening. Santa Cruz recorded 115.4mm in the same period.
    Rainfall intensity is likely to be more on Monday. The weather bureau has warned of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, accompanied by strong winds gusting up to 50kmph in the city and the suburbs. As per the bureau's glossary, 64.5-124mm rainfall is 'heavy', 124.5-244.5mm 'very heavy', and above 244.5mm 'extremely heavy'. Also, high tides up to 3.68 metres are to occur at 6.12pm. If high-intensity rainfall continues in the evening, people may get into trouble finding transport for heading home from work.
    Taking note of the forecast, the BMC has issued a warning: "We appeal to citizens to leave home only after consulting various media on the amount of rainfall and waterlogging in their areas. Citizens should not leave home unless necessary." It has also cautioned people against venturing into sea.
    Monday's rainfall was caused by two weather systems: an active offshore trough running from the Gujarat to the Kerala coast and an upper air cyclonic circulation over Gujarat. "Together, these systems are causing rainfall over the Konkan and Goa region, including Mumbai," said V K Rajeev, director of weather forecast, IMD, Mumbai.
    Moreover, very strong south-westerly winds are blowing along the west coast. For Mumbai, this means heavy rainfall with strong gusts of wind.

Free Online Alternatives To Expensive Software

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:37:00 +0000

Almost every piece of expensive software that you buy for a computer has a free and capable online version. Not only will you save money, but you'll also free up some vauable hard drive space,

DOCUMENT EDITING
Google Docs/Drive
http ://drive .google .com
Google Drive provides a feature-rich interface for text, spreadsheets and presentations. You can open documents saved in your Gmail inbox or create a new one online. You can also collaborate real-time with colleagues on a document. All documents are automatically saved in your Google Drive cloud storage space.
Microsoft Office Web Apps
http ://office .microsoft .com /web -apps /
Microsoft also offers a free online office suite for SkyDrive users — the interface will be familiar to users of MS Office. You get 7GB of free cloud storage to store your documents. You can create or upload Word, Excel, PowerPoint as well as OneNote files to SkyDrive and edit them. Documents can be shared and you can select which users can edit the document and if it is mandatory for users to sign into their Microsoft account to access the document or not.
Zoho Docs www .zoho .com
Zoho's office suite includes support for MS Word, spreadsheets, presentations as well as databases and reports. Like the other two office suites mentioned above, this one also supports real-time collaboration but in addition offers various other integrated services. With a single account, you get access to mail, chat, calendar/planner, invoice generation, as well as a CRM (customer relationship management) system. VIDEO EDITING
Filelab
www .filelab .com
Filelab products work better with Google Chrome and you need to download a free plugin first. Once you start, you get support for multiple video formats and HD resolution. It offers all the basic editing controls to trim, cut and merge. You can also add creativity to your video with multiple effects. There are over 50 transition effects available along with the option to overlay one video on top of the other. You can define transparency, add audio tracks and then watch a live preview right in your browser window.
Video ToolBox
www .videotoolbox .com
This editor supports editing of the most common file formats and also lets you convert from one format to another. You can add watermarks, merge videos, extract audio, take screenshots or remove unwanted parts of a video. It also gives you 1GB of free cloud storage.
YouTube Editor
www .youtube .com /editor
Youtube offers a powerful online editor that lets you trim videos, merge multiple videos into one, add transitions, stabilise video or add a soundtrack of your choice. It also automatically suggests corrections and effects if your videos are not up to the mark.
PHOTO EDITING
Photoshop Express
http ://photoshop .com /editor
If you need to do just basic image adjustments and manipulation, Adobe's own online photo editor is great. You get basic editing (crop, resize, rotate) as well as a few adjustments (white balance, soft focus, highlight) options. Various effects to enhance the picture are also available. Once done, images can be saved to your computer or shared on Flickr, Facebook or Picasa.
Pixlr
http ://pixlr .com /editor
With this online editor, you can create a new image, upload one from your computer or open any image from a URL. The interface is similar to Adobe Photoshop and you get all the usual tools as well as support for layers. You also get various filter effects, levels, curves and exposure controls. Images can be saved to the computer or to online services like Flickr/Picasa.
Splashup
www .splashup .com
Splashup has a similar interface to Photoshop. Apart from your PC and from a URL, it also supports importing images from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket and can capture an image from a webcam. Like Pixlr, it lets you work with layers to add various filters. However, it does not have advanced editing options such as levels and exposure control. VARIOUS OTHER FREE TOOLS
Music Creation
SOUNDATION STUDIO (www .soundation. com) offers advanced tools and effects that you would only get with professional music studio software. You launch the studio right inside your browser window and it also includes over 600 free audio loops and samples that you can start with. A free account lets you save and publish as many songs as you want, but if you want recording, you need one of the paid plans.
3D House Planner
HOMESTYLER (www .homestyler .com) is a free and easy-to-use house planner. You can use it if you are planning on building a new house or even just redecorating. Homestyler lets you easily create a layout, add furniture, landscaping and experiment with paints, textures and different lighting for your room. You can easily view in 3D and share with friends too.
PDF Tools
A SUITE of no-nonsense PDF tools can be found at www .pdfun lock.com (to remove restrictions from PDFs), www.pdfmerge. com (to merge multiple files into one), www. splitpdf.com (split one file into multiple) and www.pdfprotect .net (add password protection). At www.pdfaid. com, you can choose from a variety of web tools for watermarking, image extraction, rotation, compression and conversion. Note that some of the tools imprint a small PDFAid logo on the final file.
Speech To Text
RATHER THAN use expensive dictation software, just head towww.talktyper .com. You need to download Google Chrome first because it doesn't work too well on other browsers. Make sure your microphone is working and click the green microphone button to start the dictation. It works pretty well if you speak clearly and the conversion to text is almost instantaneous.
Optical Character Recognition
AT www.ocronline.com, you can convert a scanned document, PDF file or an image (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF) to an editable text file. First, complete a quick sign-up. If you are scanning, make sure to do it in 300dpi. Upload your document, select your preferred output format and you're done.

Mobile bills set to rise as operators slash freebies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:30:00 +0000

Mumbai: Your mobile bill is set to rise with two leading telecom companies—Bharti Airtel and Idea—deciding to cut back on promotional offers such as free talk time across a majority of circles, setting the stage for other operators to follow suit.
    Although the rise would vary depending on the circle and tariff plan for post-paid users or the usage pattern for pre-paid users, in some cases
the increase in the monthly outgo may be as much as 25%. For instance, if you paid Rs 22 for 50 minutes of talk time as an Airtel customer, you will now get only 40 minutes. That translates into a 25% hike. Also, in some cases, the validity of the vouchers has been cut and the threshold of getting full talk time has been increased. So to avail of the full talk time benefit, a pre-paid user may now have to spend Rs 50-60 during a recharge, instead of getting the benefit during a Rs 30 recharge.
Double gas price: Oil min to govt
    Power tariffs and public transport fares could soon go up across the country. The oil ministry has suggested that the government accept the Rangarajan panel's suggestion to double domestic gas price by linking it to an average of international hub prices and cost of imported liquid gas. P 25 Bharti, Idea shares rise 3-4%
Mumbai: Unlike Airtel, which went public with its move to reduce freebies in a bid to improve its margins, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have not confirmed the price changes. Idea managing director Himanshu Kapania TOI that the company would evaluate price corrections after seeing Airtel's moves.
    Vodafone indicated that it would follow other operators in pruning promotional offers. "We feel these were inevitable given the sharp input and energy price increases in the country. We are studying these moves individually across all our circles. We are inclined to follow to maintain consistency and competitive position though we haven't decided on our precise circle-wise moves," the company said in a statement.
    The withdrawal of freebies has been done with the intent to improve the realized rate for the industry which varies between 27 paise per minute for new operators and 43 paise a minute for older players such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.
    Stiff competition has forced Indian telecom companies to offer among the cheapest call rates in the world. But they are finding it tough to sustain the tariffs, especially given the huge churn among users who tend to shift to an operator offering the lowest call rates. Portability is easy given that 95% of the mobile users in India are pre-paid customers. In recent months, however, companies have moved to raise rates and focus on profitability instead of blindly acquiring customer base.
    The last big hike in tariffs happened in mid-2011 when customers had to pay 1.2 paise per second instead of 1 paise per second for voice calls.
    Following Wednesday's moves, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular shares rose 3-4%. "We have spent on new spectrum, there is one-time fee so we have to evaluate the situation. But a big hike is not possible considering there is still hyper competition and over capacity still exists. Volumes have been impacted earlier when corrections have been implemented," said Idea's Kapania.

Now, pay using mobile phone card reader

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:12:00 +0000

Mumbai:The current credit card point of sales (POS) terminals may soon go the way of the 'zip zap' machines that were used by merchants to generate receipts based on credit card impressions until early '90s. The Reserve Bank of India has given its nod for a card reader that costs Rs 1,500 and can, in conjunction with an android phone, do everything that a POS terminal can do.
    The cigarette box sized device, which records signatures on a touch screen from a stylus, does away with charge slips and works as well as any swipe machine. Citibank has been the first off the block to adopt this technology developed by Bangalore-based Ezetap Mobile Solutions and has obtained regulatory clearances for its launch.
    The bank already has several merchants trying out this new technology. Shoppers Stop is testing this out as a queue buster by authorizing salespersons to receive payment on the spot. Others trying out this service are Vodafone and Bajaj Allianz. Citibank is also talking to a fleet cab company for accepting card payments.
    "Besides replicating the job of the POS terminal, the mobile payment solution can be customized to specific business needs and also be integrated with the businesses back-end system, thereby making the process very efficient," said Muge Yuzuak, country head, cards and personal loans, Citibank India.
    To function, the card reader needs to be connected to an android phone which needs to have the requisite app. The merchant can also fit the mobile with his own app that updates his systems about the payment.
    Mobile-based card payment systems are by themselves not an innovation. The difference is that while earlier innovations involve a separate platform, this one replicates the card POS and somewhat blurs the lines between credit card and mobile payments.
    "The device complies with the securities standards prescribed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. We have also got the necessary approvals from the Reserve Bank of India for card transactions through this mobile payment solution," Said Yuzak.
    In theory, the mobile payments business could be bigger than cards because of the sheer number of mobile phones. However, because of the restrictions on the size and multiple entries required for making a remittances, few merchants accept payments from mobile.

OLD SCHOOL: RBI has cleared a card reader that can, along with an android phone, do everything that a POS terminal can do.

Airtel launches 'Call-me-back' service for prepaid subscribers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 07:41:00 +0000

Airtel, in partnership mCarbon (a Value Added Service provider), has unveiled 'Call-me-back' service for prepaid subscribers. With the help of this service, a user can request their family and friends to call them back if they have a balance of less than Re 1.

To use this service the user needs to send a toll-free SMS with the word CALL <space> <Airtel mobile number you want to speak to.> to 121. Thereafter the person you want to speak to will get an SMS from the number the user saying: "Please call me back. Thank You." There is no charge to user for this service, and the call-back by the friend or family member will be charged as per his current calling plan rate. The customer who is calling back can be an Airtel prepaid or postpaid user anywhere in the country (including on roaming).

This service can be availed when the balance in customer's prepaid account is below Re 1, and can be used up to 3 times in a day.

Rajesh Razdan, Co-founder and Director, mCarbon Tech Innovation, stated "The customer's experience of an operator has many facets and involves many touch-points. We are pleased to launch 'Call-me-back', one such service that drives our philosophy of Customer Experience Management. We are positive on our ability to continuously add new and exciting applications under our wing."

Earlier this week, Airtel unveiled a new prepaid hotspot service called 'WiFi Hangout'. The service that is currently available in select cities namely Mumbai, Bangalore and the NCR allows prepaid users to enjoy a broadband Internet experience anywhere on their Wi-Fi enabled devices such as Laptop, tablet or mobile. The Airtel WiFi Hangout plans begin at Rs.20 for 30 min, Rs.30 for 60 min and Rs.50 for 120 min of unlimited usage.

Apart from this Airtel had also come up with an Airtel Data Share Plan. Under this plan the subscriber will have to shell out Rs. 1000 per month and can use 3G data on up to three smart devices. There is a cumulative cap of 5GB, on exhaustion of which the Airtel user can continue to use unlimited data but at the speed of 80KB per second.

MF transactions through SMS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:17:00 +0000

Paper Work

Investors can conduct their mutual fund transactions through SMS. To avail of this facility, you need to register with the AMC, which will specify the types of transactions allowed through this mode as well as the maximum transaction value. The investor needs to fill up a form prescribed by the AMC and mention the unit holder details, KYC verification status, mobile number through which the facility will be used, etc. In case of joint holding, the application will have to be made jointly.
Debit mandate
In addition to the SMS facility registration form, the unit holder needs to provide a debit mandate to his bank to carry out transactions through theSMS facility. A debit mandate registration form for SMS facility needs to be filled up by all unit holders.
Processing
It usually takes 21-30 days from the date of receipt of documents for the AMC to get the debit mandate verified by the bank and process the application. The AMC then allots a PIN for SMS transactions.
Transactions
On receipt of the PIN, the investor can carry out transactions in his folio by sending an SMS to the prescribed number in the format prescribed by the AMC. The company sends a transaction confirmation message to the investor, which needs to be acknowledged.
Points to note

• The first purchase needs to be carried out through a physical form, while the subsequent transactions can be carried out via the SMS facility.

• The investor needs to keep the AMC informed, in the prescribed format, about any change in details in order to keep the SMS facility active.

• The transactions using the SMS facility have the same broker code that was registered during the previous transaction.

UNHAPPY TIDINGS? SC quashes tribunal order, 200 SMSes per day cap back

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 06:31:00 +0000

New Delhi: The cap of 200 text messages per day per person came back into force on Monday with the Supreme Court staying the telecom appellate tribunal's decision quashing the limit imposed by the telecom regulatory body.
    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had challenged the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal's (TDSAT) decision before the apex court on the ground that the limit was enforced to strike a balance between the sender's right to freedom of speech and expression and the receiver's right to privacy.
    A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and Gyan Sudha Misra stayed the TDSAT order after hearing brief arguments from senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal. It also issued a notice to Aditya Thackeray — on whose petition the TDSAT had quashed the limit as violative of right to freedom of speech and expression. The bench asked Aditya, son of Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, to file a response in six weeks.
    Trai had first restricted text messages to 100 per day per mobile phone subscriber as part of its tough Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations. However, the limit was later raised to 200 messages per day per person.
    The telecom regulator said the national average of text messages was just two per person per day.

Tata Tele moves tribunal against Voda on SMS fee

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 03:50:00 +0000

New Delhi: Tata Teleservices has approached telecom tribunal TDSAT against Vodafone's notice threatening to disconnect termination of SMSs on its network over a dispute on certain fees. Vodafone had issued termination notice to Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) asking it to pay Rs 188 crore as SMS termination fee by November 17, failing which it would disconnect the Tata group firm SMSs from its network.
    TTSL's petition was put on Friday before a special vacation bench of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
    During the proceedings, both the parties agreed to put the matter on November 20 for next hearing. Meanwhile, Vodafone has also assured the tribunal that it would not stop interconnection of TTSL SMSs from its network till the next date of hearing.
    "As agreed by both the parties, this matter may be put up on November 20, 2012 under the same heading," said TDSAT member P K Rastogi in his order. Vodafone is demanding termination fee from Tata Tele at the rate of 10 paise per SMS from April 2011. AGENCIES

Bharti scion’s ‘Hike’ into instant messaging mkt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 03:40:00 +0000

Mumbai: Bharti SoftBank Holdings (BSB) — spearheaded by Kavin Bharti Mittal, one of the twin sons of billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal — is entering the fastgrowing mobile instant messaging market, taking on the likes of Blackberry messenger and Whatsapp.

    Hike, which is being launched globally, comes after six months of BSB buying a 49% equity stake in a Gurgaon-based mobile start-up Y2CF Digital. In an interaction with TOI, the Bharti scion said the mobile app market in India is currently fragmented, which is where Hike will look to come in and plug the gap. The JV will also launch a mobile portal in association with Yahoo! Japan early next year and make an announcement on the gaming front soon.
    "In the last couple of years, instant messaging has taken over SMS in a big way as operators see revenues decline or remain largely stagnant. Currently, there are five-six different services and no one app ties everyone together. Hike is an attempt to make that happen," said the 26-year-old Mittal who heads strategy and new product development at BSB. Hike, a cross-platform messaging service, will also allow users to send messages to people who have not downloaded the app in the form of an SMS. Mittal said he will be working with operators to introduce new revenue streams in order to monetize the app. This will mean tying up with operators on the billing front once the service gains critical mass.
    The slow uptick of 3G in India has been one of the big deterrents for the growth of data-led services in the country, Mittal said. "In an emerging market, building data services is difficult. So the pace at which 3G is picking up affects everyone building mobile apps. But in the next two-three years, things will accelerate. It is a matter of when and not if," said the self-acclaimed tech enthusiast who has interned at McLaren Racing, Google and Goldman Sachs.
    The mobile data services market is projected to grow to Rs 67,100 crore by 2015, according to a recent report by Internet and Mobile Association of India, and will contribute 54% of telecom revenue.
    Talking about the targets set for BSB's location-based service Hoppr and justlaunched Hike, without giving any specific number of the traffic coming in, Mittal said, "We believe that 10 million is the new one million." BSB is an equal joint venture between telecom-to-retail conglomerate Bharti Enterprises and Japanese communications major SoftBank Corp, which was announced in October last year to build digital consumer properties across mobile, internet, gaming and social media.

Trai targets pesky ads: Pay more for 100+ SMSs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 04:21:00 +0000

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: In a fresh bid to curb unwanted text messages spanning sauna belt to apartments, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Monday announced new measures, including hiking the tariff for sending over 100 SMSs a day and an easier system to lodge complaints.
    Although it decided against levying a penalty that it had proposed earlier, officials said the proposal had not been given up yet. But the immediate focus is on SMSs sent from phones that account for a bulk of pesky
promotions. Trai said within a fortnight, telecom companies would have to ensure that anyone crossing the 100 SMS mark a day would have to pay at least 50 paise more for every subsequent message.
    Stating that the telecom regulator had adopted a "zero tolerance" approach towards pesky messages, a senior official said, "This is the first of many measures we are planning to take."
HOW TO BLOCK 1 Call 1909, register for fully or partially blocked category. In partially blocked segment, you can choose from one of the seven sectors —financial services, real estate, education, health, consumer goods & autos, entertainment and tourism 2 SMS to 1909: For fully blocked category, say "START 0". For partially blocked, SMS 'START' with one of the seven options 3 Within 24 hours, you will receive a registration number and the service will be operational within 7 days HOW TO LODGE A COMPLAINT
    Via SMS:
Simply forward the message to 1909
    Add the phone number of the sender and the date on which it has been sentTrai aims to control cheap bulk SMS packs
New Delhi: The new guidelines announced by Trai to deal with pesky SMSs — the tenth amendment to the rules on commercial communication or unwanted messages — propose to crack down on messages sent using software applications. Within three months, telecom operators have been asked to put in place a system that blocks messages with same or similar characters. The proposed mechanism will ensure that at best 200
messages with "similar signature" are sent in an hour. Once this limit is breached, the service provider can block it.
    "We have arrived at the figure of 100 SMSs after a lot of consultation process," the Trai official said. "Our analysis shows that on an average, a person sends two SMSs a day and 47 in a month. The limit we have prescribed is much beyond this." In any case, registered telemarketers, banks and airlines will be exempted from the new rule.
    An official said the aim now is to control cheap bulk SMS packs. Currently, mobile service providers offer concessional SMS packs and tariff plans for bulk SMS users. "These SMS packs and tariff plans are being misused by unregistered telemarketers to send promotional SMSs to consumers. To prevent unregistered telemarketers from misusing such SMS packs or tariff plans for sending bulk promotional SMSs, a price restraint has been placed," Trai said.
Times View: Time to act D eclarations by the telecom regulator that pesky calls will be reined in are always welcome, but with each reiteration they lose their credibility unless there is some corresponding action on the ground. The reality is that we have been hearing such threats from the regulator for years now but the pesky calls and messages have not stopped, making most people give up hope that they ever will stop. We hope that this time things will be different.

SMS perverts use fake papers to hoodwink cops

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:20:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 02:36:00 +0000

are on twitterShare on facebookShare on bloggerMore Sharing Services4

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’

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:18:00 +0000

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)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:51:00 +0000


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)

This free SMS text-based platform works by having residents respond via text message to questions posted in various places around the City

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:11:00 +0000

Monrovia Asks: What New Business Would You Like to See?

Monrovia is launching a pilot program called "Textizen" allowing citizens to keep in touch with the city via text and is asking residents to use the service to recommend a new business in the Pavilions shopping

The City of Monrovia has been chosen for a pilot technology program to engage citizens: Textizen. This free SMS text-based platform works by having residents respond via text message to questions posted in various places around the City. Joining the ranks of cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans, Monrovia has been chosen for one of 40 cities across the country to use this breakthrough technology. From Old Town kiosks, business windows, to the Library and City Hall, Monrovians are asked questions on specific community topics.

Starting with a Fill-Up Old Town campaign, the City's Economic Development Department is actively seeking out input from residents, shoppers and businesses via text message to weigh in on what new businesses the City should attract to Old Town. Those walking through Old Town and along Myrtle Avenue can expect to see posters and flyers asking them questions about why they came and what businesses they would like to see. Anyone interested in answering merely need to text in the answer, and respond to several follow-up questions afterwards.

Textizen has been launched by the San Francisco-based non-profit, Code for America, allowing community members to sound off on issues using nothing more than a cell phone. For the next several months, Monrovia will be utilizing the technology across town, asking questions about business, parks, transportation and budgeting. The City of Monrovia encourages everyone with text capabilities to join in the discussion. Text messaging rates apply, and cell phone numbers will never be shared or used.

"Textizen is a very exciting new technology. What we hope to do is hear all Monrovia voices, including the ones who maybe want to get involved in the City planning process, but don't have time to attend a community meeting, or take a longer survey," said City Manager Laurie Lile. "We encourage people to text in with ideas about bringing more business to our historic Old Town."

Initial Textizen questions will be posted on the City's website, www.cityofmonrovia.org, on the City's Facebook and Twitter feeds, and throughout the Old Town District.

What brings you to Old Town Monrovia?

A. Movies
B. To Dine
C. To Shop
D. Take a Stroll
E. Friday Night Festival

Text A, B, C, D, or E to: (626) 219-0761

There's Now No Need to Pay for SMS Services. Learn How to Get Free SMS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Columbus, OH -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/07/2012 -- In 2010, 6.1 trillion SMS text messages were sent. This translates into 193000 SMS per second and this figure is likely to have grown dramatically since then. SMS has become a massive commercial industry, earning $114.6 billion globally in 2010 alone.

As the global average price for an SMS message is $0.11, it can become quite an expensive service, particularly as many people rely on messaging for both work and play. That's why it is a relief to find a genuinely free service that allows all its users to send messages without paying a cent.

SmsSheep.com is an easy to remember domain that not only provides a full and reliable free SMS service but also integrates fully with Facebook. It doesn't ask you to become a member or ask for sign-in details – a welcome relief when you want to contact someone quickly. What's more, the service remains free even when used with international numbers. So, there's now no excuse not to contact your aunt in Tumbuktu.

http://smssheep.com/ really is the future of communication. Check it out now.

Notes to editors

1. For more info: support@smssheep.com
2. SMSSheep was launched in 2009
3. Further images and logos are available

To check genuineness, send SMS before popping pills

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 08:20:00 +0000

Mumbai: Now before popping a pain-killer or having cough syrup, you can be sure that it's not fake thanks to an innovation designed to curb the menace of spurious medicines. Strips of popular and commonly-used medicines like Combiflam, Disprin, Crocin, Voveran and multi-vitamin Becosules will soon carry a unique code, which when sent via SMS will help verify the medicine's genuineness.

    Companies like Roche, Lupin and Unichem have already started rolling out medicines in the new packaging with the unique code and many, like Sanofi, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, are planning to follow suit.
    This is how it will work: Consumers will need to send the alpha-numeric code printed on the medicine strip through their mobile phone. They will then get an SMS confirming genuiness along with health tips and drug-refill reminders.
    While there is no uniform figure to determine the penetration of spurious or misbranded medicines in the country — with industry and the government offering varying estimates — the health ministry recently announced that of the over 48,000 drug samples tested between 2011 and 2012, nearly 5% failed the quality test, while almost one in three drugs (36%) were found to be "not of standard quality" from across the country. States like Maharashtra and Kerala are among the worst affected and have a larger proportion of sub-standard drugs, particularly in semiurban and rural areas.
    Medicines may be substandard in quality or spurious when they are past their expiry date, contain incorrect quantity of ingredients or wrong ingredients, and when they have not been stored in proper conditions. Vaccines and anti-diabetic drugs, for instance, need cooling chains for transportation and storage.
    Mostly, the drug's efficacy suffers but, in certain cases, it may cause serious side-effects and even be fatal. There may also be instances when these fake medicines offer no therapeutic benefits.
    It is virtually impossible to tell the difference between real and fake medicines unless a laboratory analysis is carried out. Since that's may not be a practical solution, drug companies along with regulators have been trying to counter the menace through measures like barcoding, embedded holograms and RFID, but have met with little success.
    Industry sources say the medicines that are faked most are of brands that are fast-moving and have a high turnover.
    Certain companies are not rolling out the new packaging because of cost issues, and because many of their medicines are under price control.
State has 1 govt doc for every 24K people
New Delhi:On an average, a single government doctor serves more than 12,000 people in India while each government dental surgeon serves around 3 lakh. The WHO- recommended norm is to have one doctor for every 1,000 people
    The latest figures on human resources, finalized by the Central Bureau ofHealth Intelligence and published in the National Health Profile 2011, show that the ratio of a doctor against an average population served is worst for Gujarat, followed by Tamil Nadu. One government doctor serves 25,168 people in Gujarat, 25,042 in Tamil Nadu, 24,540 in Maharashtra and 23,174 in Bihar. The figure is 17,811 for MP, 8,416 for Bengal and 3,933 for Delhi. However, when it comes to dental surgeons, the ratio is the worst in Bihar. A single dental surgeon in a government hospital serves 35.46 lakh people in Bihar and 20.57 lakh in Maharashtra. TNN

Mobiles as thin as credit cards?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:05:00 +0000

New-Age Lens Tiny Enough To Fit 1,500 Across The Width Of A Hair

Washington: Scientists are developing a new ultrathin lens which could lead to smart phones as thin as a credit card.
    The new lens is flat, distortionfree and so small that more than 1,500 would fit across the width of a human hair — capable in the future of replacing lenses in applications ranging from cell phones to cameras to fiber-optic communication systems.
    In a study published in journal Nano Letters, Federico Capasso and colleagues explained that the lenses used to focus light in eyeglasses, microscopes and other products use the same basic technology dating to the late 1200s, when spectacle lenses were introduced in Europe.
    Existing lenses are not thin or flat enough to remove distortions, such as spherical aberration, astigmatism and coma, which prevent the creation of a sharp image.
    Correction of those distortions requires complex solutions, such as multiple lenses that increase weight and take up space. To overcome these challenges, the scientists sought to develop a new superthin, flat lens.
    The new lens has a resolving power that actually approaches the theoretical limits set by the laws of optics. The surface is patterned with tiny metallic stripes which bend light differently as one moves away from the centre, causing the beam to sharply focus without distorting the images. PTI

SMART TO GET SLIMMER