MUMBAI; Popular search engine Google today announced the launch of a new tool that allows voters an easy access to relevant information about Lok Sabha candidates in each constituency.

The tool, 'Know Your Candidates', will allow people an easy access to relevant information about political candidates contesting from their constituency and their incumbent Member of Parliament, Google said in a release here.

It integrates publicly available information sourced from organisations such as Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PRS Legislative Research and Liberty Institute India.

"In the last five months, we have made a concerted effort to provide our users a one stop destination for all their information needs for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"With the launch of this tool, we have added all the important information of the contesting candidates with the help of groups such as ADR and PRS Legislative Research," Google India VP and Managing Director Rajan Anandan said.

The application will provide information for each sitting Lok Sabha MP and contesting candidates such as their disclosed educational background, financial details and social media presence (wherever available).

Mapped onto Google Maps interface, citizens will be able to find the information by using pin codes of their area or by zooming on their locality on the map.

The tool will be updated regularly to provide information about all candidates as they get finalised and will be made available at least a week before the voting day in each constituency, the release added.

Click Here to Download Official Android App of Kashmir Informer for Fastest News Updates
SRINAGAR: Shaheen and Yasir was a happy couple till she again met her “childhood sweetheart” on Facebook last year.

The Facebook chat that Yasir discovered between his wife and her ‘boyfriend’ was reason enough to accuse Shaheen of infidelity and divorce her.

With tens of thousands Kashmiris registered with social networking sites more and more couples are blaming Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for souring their relationships if not destroying them.
“I remember the day my husband walked into the room and said guess who I just add in my friend list?” Sadiya a housewife said.

“I asked who? My husband shamelessly said … My school girl, my first love.”

“Since then things are now well between us,” Sadiya added. “My husband spends many hours on Facebook and not a few minutes with me.”

Psychiatrists and Counsellors say there has been  a significant rise in cases where  partners have admitted their addiction to social media sites affecting their relationships.

“An epidemic of online infidelity is causing the breakup of countless Kashmiri marriages, destroying their relationships and affecting mental health,” a psychiatrist said.

Lawyers say that social networking particularly on Facebook, which connects old friends and allow users to make new ones online, is being blamed for adding number of marital breakdowns.

“We have seen most of the divorce cases are of those couples who are more addicted to social networking sites” Ufaira Rashid, a lawyer said.

There are no official figures, but the number of marital breakdowns is “worrying”, the lawyer added.
Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce in Kashmir, which was otherwise an easy going society but has been blighted by decades of violence.

Earlier last month a 30-year-old teacher ended her marriage after discovering her husband had been having an affair with someone he met on Facebook.

“It can happen to the strongest of marriages” Ufaira Rashid added.
(Some names have been changed)
New Delhi; The Telecom Commission of India may discuss full mobile number portability, which will allow users relocating to any part of the India to retain their numbers. Jammu & Kashmir may be excluded from this facility following security concerns raised by the Indian Defence Ministry.

"The issue of full mobile number portability may be required to be sent back to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) for additional information and some clarifications," a senior Department of Telecom official said.

Guidelines for full mobile number portability recommended by TRAI in September 2013 have to be finalised by the Department of Telecom after approval by the Commission.

Pertienetly, Short Messaging Service for prepaid users has been also blocked by the Indian ministry in 2010.
News Desk; Hundreds of Kashmiri and Pakistani tweeples posted on hashtag #Kashmir Genocide to highlight the Kashmir conflict, that has allegedly ignored by Pakistani Media.

Within no time the hashtag starts to trend in both the regions.

According to statistics, #Kashmir Genocide got 84% popularity with a span of 4 hours starting from 9 PM (PST) last night.

Most of the users in their tweets highlighted the atrocities that are being faced by the people of Kashmir, while some of them suggested ways to get freedom from Indian rule.

The top tweets among the trend till this report was filed are as under :-






NEW YORK; Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, has complained directly to President Obama about the continuing revelations that the United States government has secretly spied on the activities of some of his company’s 1.2 billion users.

Mr. Zuckerberg spoke with the president on Wednesday following the most recent news report on the National Security Agency’s surveillance tactics. The account, published in The Intercept from documents leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, described how government computers sometimes masqueraded as Facebook servers in order to send malicious software to infect the machines of Facebook users. The documents say the process was automated so the N.S.A. could target millions of people for the attacks.

In a public post on Thursday to users of the social network, Mr. Zuckerberg said he was “confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the U.S. government.” He continued:

When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we’re protecting you against criminals, not our own government.

The U.S. government should be the champion for the Internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they’re doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst.

I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform.

Mr. Zuckerberg’s complaints reflect growing concerns among Silicon Valley companies that government spying is eroding the trust that users have in common Internet services. “To keep the Internet strong, we need to keep it secure,” Mr. Zuckerberg said.

The Facebook chief has criticized the federal government’s surveillance activities several times since the first Snowden documents were published last June. At a mobile industry conference in Barcelona in February, Mr. Zuckerberg said the N.S.A.’s actions were “way over the line.”

But Thursday was the first time he has mentioned discussing his concerns with the president.

In a statement on Thursday, the N.S.A. said that it does not use its technical capabilities to impersonate U.S. company websites.

“N.S.A. uses its technical capabilities only to support lawful and appropriate foreign intelligence operations, all of which must be carried out in strict accordance with its authorities,” the agency said. “Reports of indiscriminate computer exploitation operations are simply false.”

A White House spokeswoman confirmed that the president spoke with Mr. Zuckerberg on Wednesday night but declined further comment beyond the N.S.A.’s statement. (Reuters)
NEW DELHI; To tackle militant activities, the Indian Defence Ministry has asked the Department of Telecom to exclude Jammu and Kashmir from the proposed plan for full mobile number portability, which allows a customer to retain number in any part of the nation after changing operators.

Under National Telecom Policy, the government has envisaged the concept of ‘One Nation One Number’ by allowing full MNP. At present, customers are allowed to change their mobile service provider without changing their number only within a state or service area.

Under full MNP, customers will be allowed to switch service providers throughout the country without changing their mobile numbers. Full MNP is yet to be approved by the government.

The Defence Ministry, as per official sources, has told the DoT that “The ‘One Nation One Number’ provision of the Telecom Policy 2012 should not be implemented in J&K.”

The Ministry has also asked the DoT to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) to intercept VoIP (making voice call using Internet) through 2G connections and selectively ban mobile Internet at locations identified as militant ‘hotspots’.

These “communication services” need to be “denied” in the affected areas for the effective conduct of counter insurgency and militant operations, official sources added.

The Ministry has also raised concern over mobile signals from towers located in Pakistan penetrating into India up to a distance of about 20 kilometres from the Line of Control.

“The matter (mobile signals from Pakistan) may be taken up with Ministry of External Affairs so that the same is resolved in accordance with policy guidelines by International Telecom Union,” official sources said.

Indian Defence Ministry had already bocked Short Messaging Service in Jammu and Kashmir since 2010 mass uprising. Beyond mobile services, Indian authorities have also banned local cable news and international Press TV in the restive region.
SRINAGAR; If you are an e -game maniac and have not got a chance to show case your hidden talent, get ready to prove yourself as an E-Gaming event under the banner of “Kashmir Cyber Games Championship” will be held starting from March 1 where the participants would have to compete with each other in computer and console based video games including Tekken -3, Tekken-5 Counter Strike and FiFa.

The members of concerned organization believe that the championship would open new doors for the gamers by participating in the championship.

The organization has not kept any age bar for the championship anyone interested in playing the games can participate.

The venue of the championship has been kept at town square mall at Gogji Bagh. Both PC and console games will be included in event,” Participation forms are available at cafe 109 town square mall and registration are open.

    E-paper

    E-paper