New Delhi, May 3 -- The Centre on Saturday launched a nationwide Cell Broadcast System (CBS), a telecom-based alert mechanism that sends emergency warnings directly to mobile phones in specific areas. The system was launched by communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and has been developed by the Centre for Development of Telematics under the Department of Telecommunications, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority and the ministry of home affairs, under the guidance of home minister Amit Shah, said a press release Saturday. CBS allows authorities to push alerts to all phones within a defined location at the same time. Unlike SMS alerts, which can get delayed or queued, these messages are delivered almost instantly, even during network congestion. They show up as pop-up notifications with a loud alert tone, and on some phones, the message can also be read aloud. As part of the rollout, a nationwide test was carried out on Saturday, with users across the country receiving test alerts around noon. The message titled 'Extremely severe alert' read: "India, launches Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. Alert citizens, safe nation. No action is required by the public upon receipt of this message. This is a test message. - Government of India."...