AAI’s GEMINI app will send messages in areas with no network

New Delhi: State-run Airport Authority of India (AAI) has said that the company in coordination with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Ministry of Science & Technology, has implemented a unique concept of sending short messages to people in difficult terrains with no mobile network coverage. The mobile application for the messaging service was inaugurated by Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday.

The messaging service is called GAGAN Messaging Service' (GMS). It operates through GAGAN system without affecting or changing the standard Satellite-based Augmentation System (SBAS) message structure. AAI had signed an MoU with INCOIS for the development of GAGAN Message Service in August 2017.

The inauguration was done in the presence of Secretary at Ministry of Secretary Civil Aviation Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences' Dr M Rajeevan, INCOIS's Director Dr SSC Shenoi and AAI's Chairman Anuj Aggarwal at Prithvi Bhavan, New Delhi.

How does GAGAN Message Service work

The short message transmission through GAGAN system is particularly very useful to the fishing community deployed in deep seas and to personnel in mountainous regions where there is no mobile service coverage and non-availability of conventional communication systems.

By using a GMS-enabled receiver, the users can directly receive informative/alert messages and forecasts by various Indian government agencies like the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) and Snow & Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) on the occurrence of natural disasters, calamities, dangers for the safety of life within GAGAN coverage area.

How does GEMINI work?

GEMINI can be used by a mobile connected to a GMS receiver with WiFi/Bluetooth for the display of broadcasted messages in various regional languages. Due to wider coverage of GAGAN satellites over the Indian Ocean region, GEMINI can deliver the information in the whole of Indian Ocean and beyond.

"I am happy that INCOIS joined hands with AAI and developed GAGAN Enabled Mariner's Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) and worked out the technical procedures to uplink/downlink the information through GAGAN Systems": Harsh Vardhan

While inaugurating the app, Harsh Vardhan said, "I am happy that INCOIS joined hands with AAI and developed GAGAN Enabled Mariner's Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) and worked out the technical procedures to uplink/downlink the information through GAGAN Systems".

He further added that "Potential fishing zones (PFZ) advisories have become part of the value chain of the fishing community and about 6.75 lakh active fishermen are regularly accessing advisories through information disseminated by INCOIS. Dissemination of alert/early warning messages and also PFZ Forecast Services will be very useful for fishermen community in the coastal areas of our country when their locations are based beyond the mobile coverage."