Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the National Metrology Conclave 2021. He dedicated the National Atomic Timescale and Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya Pranali to the Nation and laid the Foundation Stone of the National Environmental Standards Laboratory through a video conference.
The Conclave was organised by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, on its 75th year of inception. The theme of the conclave was ‘Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation’. Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Principal Scientific Advisor Dr VijayRaghavan were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister lauded the Indian scientists for successfully developing two Indian COVID vaccines in the new year. He said India’s COVID vaccination programme is the largest in the world and is about to be started. He lauded the scientific institutions in the country including CSIR for coming together to find solutions for every challenge faced by the country.
The Prime Minister urged CSIR to interact with school students to raise awareness about the efforts of the institute. He said this would inspire and motivate them to become scientists in future. He said that the Conclave would help to discuss the achievements of the past and help in preparing the institute to address future challenges.
The Prime Minister remarked that as India’s timekeeper CSIR-NPL also has the responsibility to change the future of India. He said over the decades, India was dependent on foreign standards for quality and measurement. But now India’s pace, progress, rise, image, and strength will be decided by our own standards.
The Prime Minister said Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya dedicated to the nation, would help the industry to make quality products in sectors like Heavy metals, Pesticides, Pharma and Textiles by drafting a 'Certified Reference Material System'. He added now the industry is moving towards Consumer-Oriented Approach instead of Regulation Centric Approach. He said with 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 MSMEs sector.
The Prime Minister expressed happiness over CSIR-NPL’s National Atomic Timescale which he dedicated to the nation. He said that India has become self-reliant in measuring 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 an organization like ISRO that is working with cutting edge technology. Modern technology-related banking, railways, defence, health, telecom, weather forecast, disaster management and many similar sectors will be benefited greatly from this achievement.
The Prime Minister also listed out efforts to create a future-ready eco-system. India has broken into the top 50 of the Global Innovation Ranking, India ranks 3rd in peer-reviewed science and engineering publications which shows an emphasis on basic research. Collaboration between Industry and institutions is being strengthened. All the big companies of the world are establishing their research facilities in India. In recent years, the number of such facilities has increased significantly.
The Prime Minister said that the possibilities of research and innovation are endless for Indian youth. Therefore, the institutionalisation of innovation is equally critical as the innovation itself. Our youth will have to understand how to protect intellectual property. We will have to remember that the more our patents are there, the more their utility. Our identity will get strong in the sectors where our research is strong and leading. This will lead to a stronger Brand India, The Prime Minister said.
Calling the scientists karam yogis, the Prime Minister praised their sage-like efforts in the lab and said that they are the conduit of the hopes and aspirations of 130 crore Indians.
Source: PIB
