New Delhi, May 2 -- Did your phone go off with a loud beep today? The government's instant disaster alerting service sparked a big alarm on Saturday morning as a loud sound echoed through multiple mobile phones, confusing people as to what had happened.

India has launched its Cell Broadcast messaging system using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens.

The Centre on Saturday sent an alert to almost all citizens around 11:42 test the system.

Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India tweeted, "If you receive an Alert Message on your phone, do not panic. This is part of the testing of the Emergency Alert System, so that accurate information can be received on time during disasters. During test...