Modi Government's New Rule: Get Disaster Alerts Directly on Your Mobile Phone

New amendment in Indian Wireless Telegraphy Rules, 2023 has now mandated mobile operating system suppliers, like Google and Apple, to make sure that the government's annual disaster alerts are automatically read out in at least four other Indian languages, including Hindi and English. 

The goal of the project is to cover every one of the 22 languages listed in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule.

New Amendments in Disaster Alerts

The action is in line with the most recent modification to the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Cell Broadcasting Service for Disaster Alerts) Rules, 2023, which was announced by the Department of Telecommunications on Wednesday.

This is because the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Cell Broadcasting Service for Disaster Alerts) Rules, 2023 have a new revision that was announced by the Department of Telecommunications on Wednesday.

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What are the New Amendments?

These regulations enable the government to use its Cell Broadcast Alert System to broadcast urgent and vital messages related to disaster management to every mobile device inside a predetermined geographic area. The disaster alert system has been tested nationwide on every telecom service provider by DoT and NDMA.

Check the new amendments regarding disaster alert system of the country below in pointers:

• No smartphone or feature phone can be sold in India unless it supports receiving cell broadcast messages in all Indian languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
• All phones sold in India must also support auto-readout of cell broadcast messages in Indian accents for Hindi and English.
• Manufacturers, companies, software developers, or any businesses involved in the production, import, or development of phone software for sale in India must include an auto-readout feature for four Indian languages (besides Hindi and English) each year.
• This requirement will continue annually until the auto-readout feature is available for all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

As per the revisions made on Wednesday, the emergency message must emit a sound, vibrate, or flash a light for a minimum of thirty seconds within normal conditions. If the gadget reads the message automatically, it remains active for fifteen seconds.

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