PM’s inaugural address at the National Metrology Conclave in New Delhi
Speaker: Narendra Modi
Date: 04 Jan, 2021

My Cabinet colleague Dr. Harsh Vardhan; Principal Scientific Advisor Doctor Vijay Raghavan; Head of CSIR Dr. Shekhar C. Mande; other stalwarts from the scientific community; Ladies and gentlemen! Many congratulations to you all on the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of the National Physical Laboratory. Today, our scientists are dedicating the National Atomic Time-scale and the Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya Pranali to the nation and the foundation stone of the country’s first National Environmental Standards Laboratory is also being laid. These launches in the new decade are going to raise the profile of the country. Friends, The new year has brought another major achievement. Scientists of India have been successful in developing not one but TWO ‘Made in India’ COVID-19 vaccines. World’s largest Covid vaccination Program is also going to begin in India.For this, the country is proud of its technicians and scientists’ contribution ; every countryman is grateful to you. Friends, Today is the day to remember that time too, when our scientific institutions and all of you had toiled day in and day out to challenge the coronavirus by starting to develop the vaccine. All the institutions including CSIR had come together to face every challenge and seek solutions for the new circumstances. With this dedication of yours, A new sense of awareness and respect has arisen towards these scientific Institutions in the country today. Our youth today wish to know and understand more about these institutions like CSIR. So, I would like CSIR to Communicate with more and more students and schools of the country and to share your experiences in the Corona era with the new generation. This will help you in developing a new generation of young scientists for the coming tomorrow and to motivate them. Friends, A short while ago; your achievements over the seven and a half decades were being enumerated here. Over these years, many great personalities from this institute have served the nation. The solutions emanating from here have paved the way for the country. CSIR NPL has played a major role both in Scientific evolution & evaluation of the development of the country. Today a Conclave has been organized here today to discuss the achievements of the past years and future challenges of the country. Friends, When we look back, this was started for the rebuilding India that had come out of the colonial rule. Your role has expanded over time; now there are new goals and new destination in front of the country. The nation will complete 75 years of independence by 2022 and in the year 2047 it will complete 100 years of freedom. In this time period, we should set new standards, new bench-marks keeping in mind the new resolutions of a self-reliant India Friends, CSIR-NPL is India’s time keeper i.e, it monitors India’s system of time. As the responsibility of time is yours, the time must start changing from you. The beginning of a new time and a new future will also start from you. Friends, Our country has been dependent on foreign standards in terms of quality and measurement over the decades. But in this decade, India must strive to achieve its own standards. In this decade, the India’s momentum, India’s progress, the rise of India, the image of India, the Strength of India and Our Capacity Building will be decided by our own standards. The quality of services and products both in the government and private sector in our country should be known by our quality standard. Only this will decide how powerful India and the Indian products are in the world. Friends, Metrology, in a layman’s language is the Science of measurement. It also acts as a foundation for any scientific achievement. No research can proceed without measurement. Even we have to measure our achievement on some scale. Therefore, metrology is the cornerstone of modernity. The better your Methodology, the better will be Metrology. And the more reliable a country’s metrology is, the higher will be the credibility of that country in the world. Metrology is like a mirror for us. Metrology makes it possible for us to know where our products stand in the world or what improvements are needed. This self-introspection is possible only with metrology. Hence, Today, when the country is moving forward with the resolve of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, we have to remember that its goal includes both quantity and quality i.e, both the scale and the standard should increase simultaneously. We just don’t have to fill the world with Indian products, but also have to win the hearts of every customer who purchases Indian products. We have to ensure that the Made in India products not only have a global demand but also a global acceptance. We need to strengthen Brand India in terms of Quality and Credibility Friends, I am glad that India is now moving rapidly in this direction. Today, India is among the countries which have their own navigation system. India has shown this feat with NAVIC. Today, another major step has been taken in this direction. The Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (National Atomic Timescale) released today will encourage our industries to manufacture Quality Products. Various sectors like food, edible oils, minerals, heavy metals, pesticides, pharma and textiles’ are moving rapidly towards strengthening their ‘Certified Reference Material System’. Now we are moving towards the situation where the industry will move towards a Consumer Oriented approach instead of a Regulation Centric -approach. With these new standards, the campaign to enhance the global identity of the local products in districts across the country will get a fresh boost. This will particularly be of great advantage to our MSMEs sector. The big manufacturing companies coming to India from abroad will receive a local supply chain of International Standards within India. Moreover, with the new standards the quality of both Export and Import will be ensured. It will also provide good quality products to the general consumer of India and the Exporters will also not face any problem. This means the better our production and products are, the stronger will the country’s economy. Friends, If you look at a country’s journey from the past to the present, the country which has advanced the science & technology has progressed at a faster rate. This is the ‘Value creation cycle’ of science, Technology and Industry. Science leads to an invention, which in turn develops a technology. Technology creates an industry. The industry then invests in science for new research and this cycle moves in the direction of new possibilities. CSIR NPL has played an important role in extending this value cycle of India. Today, when the country is moving forward towards the goal of a self-reliant India, the importance of this value creation cycle of from science to mass manufacturing increases. Therefore, CSIR will have to play a greater role in it. Friends, CSIR NPL today has dedicated the National Atomic Timescale to the country by which India will be able to measure 1 Nano second i.e. India has become self reliant in calculating 1 billionth part of a second. This achievement of 2.8 Nano-second accuracy level is great potential in itself. Now our Indian Standard Time is able to measure the International Standard Time at an accuracy level of less than 3 nanoseconds. With this, all our institutions including ISRO, working on cutting edge technology will be benefitted immensely. Modern technology of the various sectors like banking, railway, Defense, Health, Telecom, Weather Fore-cast, and Disaster management will be benefitted with this. Moreover, it will strengthen India’s role for Industry 4.0. Friends, Today’s India is moving towards leading the world towards environment. But we have been dependent on others for technology to measure Air quality and Emission as well as tools. Today, we have taken a major step towards self-sufficiency in this regard too. With this, cheaper and more effective systems will be developed to deal with pollution in India.AT the same time, it will help in growing India’s share in the global market in terms of technologies to measure air quality And emission. With the relentless efforts of our scientists, India is achieving this feat today. Friends, Research life has a simple form and a smooth process in any progressive society, The impact of Research also has Commercial and social implications. Research is also useful to expand our knowledge and understanding. Often while conducting a research, it is not known that besides the final goal in which direction will it go or what more will be its use in the future. But it is certain that research and any new chapter of knowledge never goes in vain. There are many such examples in history, the work of Father of genetics Mendel received recognition posthumously. The world came to understand the potential of Nikola Tesla’s work later. A lot of research work doesn’t get completed with the objective or in the direction in which we move. But the same research can turn into a path-breaking invention or discovery in some other sector. For example, Jagdish Chandra Bose Ji had presented the theory of microwave at the Presidency College, Kolkata. Sir Bose didn’t move in the direction of its commercial use but today the radio communication system is based on the same principle. The research conducted at the time of the world war for war-efforts or to save soldiers, later revolutionalized different sectors. Drones were manufactured for the wars only. But today drones are also being used for photo-shoots, and photography. Hence, today it is important that our scientists, especially the young scientists, explore every possibility of cross utilization of research. They should always think about how their research can be used outside their sectors too. Friends, Electricity is a direct example of this how a small research can change the future of the world. Today, everything from transportation, communication, industry, Or everyday life, is dependent upon electricity. The world has changed so much with the invention of a semi-conductor. A digital revolution has enriched our lives. So many possibilities are lying in front of our youth researchers in this new future. The future will be completely different from today. And in this direction, you have to conduct that one research, or invention. In the last six years, the country has worked towards developing a future-ready eco-system for the same. Today, India is among the top 50 countries of the world in the global innovation ranking. Basic research is also being emphasized in the country today and India is among the top 3 countries in the world in terms of number of Peer-reviewed science and engineering publications. Today in India, the collaboration between industry and institutions is also being strengthened. Major companies of the world are also setting up their research centers and facilities in India. In the past years, the number of these facilities has also increased a lot. Friends, Today, the youth of India have immense possibilities in research and innovation but is equally important to institutionalize the innovation today. Our youth has to learn about the ways it can be accomplished and the ways to protect the intellectual property too. We have to remember that the greater our patents are, the greater is the utility of the patents, the greater is the spread of our research in various sectors, the stronger will be your identity; and equally strong will be Brand India. Seeking inspiration and energy from the mantra of ‘कर्मण्ये-वाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन’, we must continue to engage with our Karma or duties. And I believe that scientists have followed this mantra religiously in their lives. They focus in their work in a meditative state in laboratories. Just like the mantra of ‘कर्मण्ये-वाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन’, they continue to do their task without focusing on the results. You are not only a practitioner of science and technology in India but also seekers who are aimed at fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of over 130 crore Indians. I hope you succeed! With this expectation, I wish you a very happy new year again! Thank You!