National Physical Laboratory to showcase achievements during 'One Week, One Lab' initiative from Monday

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) The timekeeper of the nation -- the National Physical Laboratory -- is opening its doors for visitors for one week beginning Monday to showcase its achievements and the cutting edge research it undertakes for various projects.

The CSIR-NPL in Delhi is the custodian of the Indian Standard Time (IST) generated using an atomic timescale consisting of Cesium atomic clocks and Hydrogen masers.  "The IST is kept traceable within a few nanoseconds to the international reference time UTC (coordinated Universal Time) using ultra-precise satellite links," NPL Director Venugopal Achanta said here.

Achanta said the visitors to NPL, during the 'One Week, One Lab' initiative of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, can witness how scientists manage the timescale clocks.

Also on display at the NPL will be the indelible ink used during elections to mark out voters who have exercised their franchise.

The indelible ink was developed at CSIR-NPL in 1952, and is considered one of the most significant contributions to Indian democracy.  During the 'One Week, One Lab' campaign, in successive weeks, each of the 37 labs of CSIR will showcase their innovations and technological breakthroughs to the people of the country, Achanta said.

"The aim of this programme is to create awareness about the available technologies and services present at NPL among potential stakeholders, to provide solutions to societal problems, to sensitize the masses about importance of precise measurements and to develop the scientific temperament among masses especially amongst students who are the future of the country," Achanta said.

The week-long campaign, to be launched by Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday, will also comprise meetings with the industry, a Metrology Conclave, a R&D Conclave and Women in STEM  and Skill Conclave, Achanta said. PTI SKU TDS TDS