As part of an effort to fight sexual assault against women in India, all mobile phones will be required to have panic buttons starting January 2017. "Feature phones" (a term used for phones that are not smartphones) will have the panic buttons configured to the numbers 5 and 9, so that when the button is held down for a certain period of time, a phone call will be initiated to at least 10 people including police, relatives, and close friends. Currently, India doesn’t have a centralized 911-type service for emergency calls, but a nationwide emergency response number may be introduced soon.

More...