Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated National Atomic Timescale and Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya Pranali to the Nation and laid the Foundation Stone of National Environmental Standards Laboratory 
today through a video conference. He was participating in the conclave was organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, on its 75th year of inception. Union Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan and Principal Scientific Advisor Prof Vijay Raghwan were present on the occasion. The theme of the conclave is ‘Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation’.
In his inaugural address the Prime Minister lauded India’s efforts to become self-reliant in measuring the time within the range of a nanosecond. Achieving the accuracy level of 2.8 Nano Second is a huge capability in itself. Now Indian Standard Time is matching the International Standard Time with the accuracy range of less than 3 nanoseconds. This will be a big help for organization like ISRO who are working with cutting edge technology. Banking, railways, defense, health, telecom, weather forecast, disaster management and many similar sectors will be benefited greatly from this achievement.
He also spoke on the role of the timescale in strengthening India’s role in Industry 4.0. India is moving towards a leading position in the field of environment.
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Still, for technology and tools for measuring air quality and emission, India is dependent on others. “This achievement will lead to self-reliance in the field and will lead to the creation of more effective and cheaper tools for pollution control. This will also enhance India’s share in the global market for technologies related to air quality and emission technology” Prime Minister said.
While dedicating Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravyato the nation Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence that itwould help the industry to make quality products in sectors like Heavy metals, Pesticides, Pharma and Textiles by drafting a ‘Certified Reference Material System’. “Now the industry is moving towards Consumer Oriented Approach instead of Regulation Centric Approach. These new standards, there is a campaign to bring global identity to local products in districts across the country, which will be of particular benefit to our Medium Small and Micro Enterprises sector” PM said.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Harsh Vardhan said that as the country’s National Metrology Institute, NPL provides the measurement capability that underpins the nation’s prosperity and quality of life. He said “Our mission must be to ensure that our measurement expertise drives India’s innovation landscape and is utilized to its utmost to support our industry, in particular in the industry’s current recovery from the COVID-19 economic setback”. (India Science Wire)
