Receiving messages from the government? Know what it means

The Indian government is testing a new emergency alert system to notify smartphone users about serious situations, including natural disasters. Recently, some users received a test message with a distinct beep, saying, “This is a test warning message, please ignore it.” The purpose of this test message, sent by the Department of Telecommunications in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority, is to evaluate the emergency alert system. The purpose of this system is to inform individuals during severe events like earthquake, tsunami and floods. Android users can customize their alert settings in the device’s Settings menu, giving them more control over information during critical moments. There’s no need to worry about messages getting interrupted. This is just a sample sent by DoT to test the functionality of their emergency alert system.