(a) whether the Government has provided communication gadgets to fishing vessels, specially in Kerala;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has decided to distribute NavIC, a satellite-enabled communication gadget developed by ISRO;
(d) if so, whether it has been implemented; and
(e) if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH):
(a) & (b)
ISRO has provided 250 NavIC Messaging Receivers (NMR) to fishermen of Kerala respectively on a trial basis. This device provides Emergency Warning Alerts like cyclone, high waves and Tsunami and also provides information on Potential Fishing Zone and International boundary crossing based on the position information from NavIC.
(c), (d) & (e)
ISRO/Antrix have taken up the responsibility of providing NavIC devices on trial basis. Around 200 devices for Tamil Nadu and 250 devices for Kerala are distributed. A few numbers, viz. 8 and 10 respectively are provided to fishermen of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States for trial exercises.
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