India Bans Bulk SMS For 3 Days

The Ayodhya verdict has been postponed till September 28th. Rediff reports that the order has been extended till September 29th. 

Update: According to the Hindu, “For individuals, bulk SMS would be above 10 per day, while for companies it could be 100 or more.”
We’re not sure if this information is correct. I was able to send 11 SMS earlier today. We now have a copy of the DoT notification to telecom operators – download it here (pdf). There’s no mention of peer-to-peer (P2P) SMS being restricted.


Earlier: The Indian government has issued a ban on Bulk SMS and MMS services for the next 72 hours; it’s not about providing relief from SMS Spam, but about preventing a widespread panic and mob uprising given the impending verdict on the Babri Masjid land issue in Ayodhya, from the Allahabad High Court. There is fear that, given the unregulated nature of SMS and the widespread use of mobile phones in India, panic could be spread.
However, they haven’t taken into account two factors:


– SMS’ can be viral: messages have, in the past, spread from person to person across the country. It isn’t necessary that such SMS are always sent out as Bulk SMS from telecom service provider (which, incidentally, would make it easier to identify the source of the messages).


– Modem Farms: you might have noticed that at times, you get SPAM SMS’ from specific mobile numbers; for example, on 21st of September, I got a message from +918087674039, for 3 Star Hotels in Goa. At times, then the throughput requirement is not very high, or if the cost of peer-to-peer SMS is lower than Bulk SMS, modem farms are set up, wherein you just buy SIM cards, put them in modems, and fire away, paying regular SMS charges.
Banning Bulk SMS can contain mass messaging (the alternatives above cost more, have lower throughput), but can’t stop it.


Press Release from the Indian Government
Bulk SMS & MMS Messages Banned for Next 72 Hours
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology has today issued orders in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs to all Mobile Telecom Services Providers in the country for banning all bulk SMS & all bulk MMS Messages in all service areas with immediate effect for next 72 hours.

Drugs 'could target asthma genes'

A large international study has revealed several genetic variants which are linked to people with asthma.

In all, more than 500,000 tests were performed on the genes of 10,000 children and adults with the condition, and 16,000 non-asthmatics.

The Imperial College-led research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, could point to new targets for drugs.

Experts said gene testing could not predict who would get the condition.

One in seven children in the UK suffers from asthma, which causes the airways to become irritated and narrow, making it harder for them to breathe.

The reasons why people develop the disease are not yet fully clear, although scientists suspect a roughly equal mixture of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors.

The latest genetic variants discovered by the international research appeared in more than a third of children with asthma.

However, the gene with the strongest impact on children did not affect people who developed asthma in adulthood, suggesting that the two versions of asthma may differ biologically.

Some of the genes identified are involved in the body's system for telling the immune system about damage to the lining of the airways, while others appear to control how quickly the airways heal.

Professor William Cookson, from Imperial College London, who co-ordinated the research, said: "Asthma is a complex disease in which many different parts of the immune system can become activated.

"Our study now highlights targets for effective asthma therapies and suggests that therapies against these targets will be of use to large numbers of asthmatics in the population."

However, parents have been warned that although genes make a contribution to asthma development, there is no way to use a genetic test to predict the condition.

Leanne Metcalf, from Asthma UK, said: "This unique study helps us to understand in much more detail how the genetic side of things works.

"Importantly, it has also shown that genetic testing does not help to predict who is susceptible to developing asthma, meaning that early diagnosis and intervention, and effective treatment for everyone who is affected by asthma, are even more vital.

"However the most exciting part is that these results will now help to ensure that scientists are able to focus their research on the most influential targets for asthma, with the important long-term aim of preventing a condition which is responsible for the deaths of three people every day."