Mobile app to help women in distress

'Fight Back' tracks a user's location and sends SOS messages to selected contacts in case of an emergency

PTI | December 24, 2012



Women in the country can now look forward to alerting their friends and family through the push of a button on sensing danger using a mobile application called 'Fight Back'.

Developed by mobile value added services provider CanvasM, the application tracks a user's location and sends SOS messages to selected contacts in case of an emergency.

"We feel the application can help make a woman feel safe, especially given the current law and order situation. The app allows them to press panic button whenever they feel unsafe. It tracks the location using GPS and alerts the right people," CanvasM CEO Jagdish Mitra told PTI.

The company is also in the process of integrating the solution with Delhi Police's back-end IT infrastructure.

"This will enable Delhi Police to also get messages when somebody calls out for help and prompt action can be taken," he added.

There has been an outrage in the country over alleged rape of a paramedical student by six men in a moving bus.

While the application is free for consumers in the Delhi-NCR region, other users will need to pay a subscription fee of Rs 100 per annum.

"Such incidents are shameful. The application is our way of contributing to make women feel safe," Mitra said.

Fight Back is available for smartphones running on Android, Blackberry and Symbian operating systems, he said.

"We will soon come up with a similar SMS-based application so that the benefits can be extended to non-smartphone users as well," he added.

While the application has been available for sometime now, it has seen about 3,000-4,000 downloads.

"The pick up is there but not as much as we had expected. We have been busy with building the ecosystem. We will now work on spreading awareness about the application," he said.

To spread awareness about Fight Back, the company is talking to various companies, including BPOs, and colleges. In addition, they are looking at tie-up with telecom operators and NGOs to promote the service.

"We are in talks with Delhi government as well," he said.

Comments

 

Other News

GI tags: Scaling traditional wealth into global brands

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have emerged as a powerful tool for protecting India`s cultural heritage, while creating economic opportunities for local communities. By linking products to their place of origin, GI tags preserve traditional knowledge, prevent misuse, and enhance consumer trust. They h

BMC: 207 officials in ACB net, 112 still on duty, 68 retire before justice catches up

There are significant delays in the handling of corruption cases involving officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by rights activist Jeetendra Ghadge has revealed. As of 30 April 2026, 207 BMC officials face Anti-Corruption Bureau (A

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims.   There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

The Sardar biography that throws light on our times

Patel: A Life By Rajmohan Gandhi Aleph Books, 568 pages, Rs 1,199   There are many biographi

Climate change, El Niño rewrite Indian monsoon

The month of July exceeded its rainfall target despite forecasts of a below-normal month under a strengthening El Niño. The reason could be that climate change is amplifying monsoon complexity: West Pacific warming, Western Disturbances and evolving ocean conditions increasingly interact with El Ni&

Mumbai has just 1.28 sq.m. of open space per person: Study

Mumbai`s public space crisis is as much about mismanagement as it is about scarcity, and offers a governance roadmap that can be implemented without new legislation, according to a new report by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and the NGO Alliance for Governance and Renewal (NAGAR).  

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter