The Apex Metrology Laboratory will define new standards to enable increase in industrial production and improvement in pollution monitoring
A new laboratory, seeking to improve upon the standards used for measuring distances, time, light and mass, was inaugurated in New Delhi on Friday. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) National Physical Laboratory (NPL) launched the Apex Metrology Laboratory at its Pusa Road campus in central-west Delhi.
New standards created by the laboratory will provide a boost to the science of measurements and ensure quality in industrial production.
The laboratory, according to Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan, will be integrated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to give it a “green” edge. It will update existing air pollution monitoring by the government and add to ongoing research on climate change. Recently, the US Embassy had sought to install its own air pollution monitoring system after it expressed dissatisfaction with the way pollution was measured in Delhi.
“NPL was already handling research and development for air pollution and greenhouse gas measurement and was monitoring various pollutants. A research programme on climate change, which is ongoing, has recently added a ‘Regional Warning Centre’ as part of the International Space Environment Service for collection and dissemination of data on solar geophysical conditions to users within India and abroad,” said the minister.
Towards more accuracy
Harsh Vardhan also announced that NPL will be involved in a new project called “Technologies and Products for Solar Energy Utilisation through Networks (TAPSUN)”, which will bring several solar power generation, conservation and storage-related projects for providing clean, efficient and affordable renewable energy solutions.
According to M O Garg, director-general of CSIR, the intention behind creating the new centre was to bring under one roof all the research and development works in progress to achieve higher levels of accuracy in measurement of seven international standards (SI) base units. The SIs are metre (for length), kilogramme (for mass), second (for time), kelvin (for thermodynamic temperature), candela (for luminosity) and mole (for amount of substance).
“The laboratory serves the nation by providing traceability in the country at par with the international standards, thereby, catalysing international trade, overall growth of the industry, strategic sectors and quality of products, thus, enhancing the quality of human life in India,” added Garg.
In the six decades since it was founded, CSIR-NPL has devised a range of cutting-edge products which include the indelible ink used during the elections and the glucometer, a low-cost sugar level detection device.
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