Archive for the ‘NPL’ Category
NPL scientists have created the “physics package” of Rubidium atomic clock
12 August 2012
NEW DELHI: G. M. Saxena has spent most time on clocks. As his last project, the physicist who retired from the Time and Frequency Division of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, this year, headed a team that has created the “physics package” – really the critical part – of the Rubidium atomic clock in India. The working of an Rb atomic clock, used most commonly in GPS satellites, is not exactly common knowledge. In fact, very few countries possess the technology and those who do, guard it zealously……
India proposes kg accuracy plan
10 March 2012
With the kilogram “shedding and gaining” weight over the last 100 years, India has now proposed a new method to maintain its accuracy. At present, India has “artifact-based national standards” for the kilogram. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL-CSIR), Delhi, has proposed instead the “levitated superconductor” approach during the 12th Five-Year Plan to give a new definition to the kilogram….
Read more: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/node/102738
Tap alternative sources to achieve energy security: scientist
28 Jauary 2012
ELURU: G. Bhavanarayana, Scientist-G of the National Physical Laboratory at New Delhi, on Friday underlined the need for the country to attain energy security by way of exploiting energy through alternative renewable resources with the help of technologies.
Delivering the key-note address at a seminar on “Recent trends in advanced materials” held here under the joint auspices of the departments of Physics and Chemistry of Sir. C.R. Reddy College, he said the country required to generate energy in adequate quantities to put the technologies to use to the hilt. “Our conventional energies resources such as petrol, diesel, coal etc are going to be exhausted soon”, he observed. The impending energy crisis has necessitated the need to shift to the non-conventional energy resources like hydel energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, tidal energy and bio-energy, he added. “Production of hydrogen through water and its storage in a solid form could be another possible alternative”, he said….
Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/article2839295.ece
World inching towards ice age: Expert
29 April 2011
VARANASI: At a time when weather experts and environmentalists around the world are worried about the repercussions of climate change due to global warming, a young scientist from National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi, contrarily believes that the world is gearing to face ice age conditions, may be after 500 years. And, he has strong reasons to justify his stand as he believed that more than natural disasters including climate change, it is the man-made disaster that would bring such conditions sooner than later.
“We are already witnessing one of the coldest April month in the last one decade this year and human interference and its continuous fight with nature is going to bring conditions that would promote situation like an ice age where icy winds would be common, said Alok Mukherjee, young scientist from NPL and scientific secretary, South Asian START committee, Centre on Global Change while talking to TOI on Friday. Ruling out the worries about glacier meltdown across the globe that threatens to increase sea level putting the existence of a number of island nations in the world including Bangladesh under risk, he emphasised that it is not the glacier melting but the tilting of Bangladesh due to continental drift making the sea level to rise from one side……
Assembly polls: Indelible ink ready in Mysore
16 March 2011
CHENNAI: Around 3,71,600 tiny vials of the indelible blue ink are stacked up at a paint factory at New Bannimantap Extension in Mysore. It will be used on the fingers of several thousand citizens who cast their votes in the forthcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
…..Mysore Paints managing director K J Suresh said on Tuesday that by the weekend 1.01 lakh vials will be delivered to Tamil Nadu. Kerala needs 49,200 vials and Assam 57,400 vials.
Voters’ ink or indelible ink has been used since the third general elections in 1962. Developed by the Delhi-based National Physical Laboratory, the ink’s manufacturing has been licensed by the state-run National Research Development Council to Mysore Paints, a 74-year-old company owned by the Karnataka government. The company also dispatched ink to Burkina Faso, the Solomon Islands and Maldives earlier this year. “The PSU has gone hi-tech both in production and packaging. This has resulted in quick service,” Suresh said…..
Sound-and-light show soon at Brihadeeswarar temple
19 July 2010
The Brihadeeswarar temple, Thanjavur, will soon have a sound-and-light show. The plan now is to have two shows each day – one in English and the other in Tamil – and the duration is expected to be about 45 minutes each.
After a long struggle, and coordinated efforts of the Tamil Nadu Tourism department and personal interest of Chief Secretary K.S.Sripathi, the decks have finally been cleared for the show. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on July 8 between the Director General, Archeological Survey of India and the Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, signalling the formal completion of procedures ahead of putting up a show.
The temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and built by Rajaraja Chola (985-1012), is a UNESCO recognised world heritage site. Hence, though the Tourism department had thought of the sound and light show around the same time that it introduced the show at the Tiumalai Nayakar Mahal at Madurai, a series of steps needed to be completed ahead of the commencement of the event.
“The temple is a protected monument. So the ASI wanted acoustic and light effect studies carried out ahead of giving us permission,” said Tourism Secretary V.Irai Anbu.
This took time. The National Physical Laboratory deputed its experts to investigate the effect of “induced vibrations due to acoustic excitation form the sound show” at the temple…….
Read complete news item: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article522246.ece
Steel barrier to prevent noise at Games Village
11 July 2010
NEW DELHI: The ball has finally set rolling for erection of a sound-proof steel barrier covering the rail tracks close to Commonwealth Games Village near Akshardham temple here keeping the athletes’ comfort in mind.
The work on the Rs 2 crore project, which got delayed for more than a year due to various reasons, will start from tomorrow.
The sound-proof barrier will cover the tracks for half a km. The stretch is considered one of the busiest in the country emanating noise levels touching 65 decibel.
Since the tracks are near to the Games Village, the sound of passing trains may pose a problem for athletes, especially in the night when the noise level is the maximum.
The concrete steel barrier of three metres height will reduce the noise level to about 25 decibel, a senior DDA official involved in the project said.
“We have awarded the contract to Lloyd Insulations (India) for constructing the 500-metre long sound-proof barrier near Games Village,” he said.
About the delay, he said, the change in design and lack of response to the first tender were the main reasons.
“We had to make some changes in the tendering documents to get suitable bidders. However, now that the project is on track we are expecting to complete the work by September 15,” he said.
DDA is constructing the sound-proof barrier with assistance from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)………
Read complete news item: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sports/Events-Tournaments/Commonwealth-Games/Steel-barrier-to-prevent-noise-at-Games-Village/articleshow/6154412.cms
Call for promoting public interest science
09 May 2010
LAHORE: INDIAN scientist and researcher Dr Vikram Soni has stressed for promoting public interest science, saying every technology is injurious to health on our planet.
Addressing students at the Ali Institute of Education here on Saturday, he said inventions were not being done with natural wisdom, which was resulting polluting the environment while natural resources were also being wasted.
Dr Vikram Soni is a Professor of Physics at National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, India. He was talking on “Saving river water from degradation: A lesson in environment education.” At the institute.
He said it took 50 years for scientists to find out that chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used as refrigerants were damaging the ozone layer.
He stressed on setting up a department of public interest science at universities, colleges and schools, saying inventions were not being done with wisdom. “Setting principles is most important”, he said adding technology should be nature-oriented and non-invasive.
The Indian scientist further said nature was the largest producer, adding whatever was left should be preserved on priority basis and should usable.
“Its time to act and to preserve the rivers”, he said warning “Otherwise it will be too late.” Manager Policy Freshwater WWF Pakistan Ali Hasnain Sayed said conservation without consciousness was a futile exercise, adding technology should be redefined. Educationist Beena Raza also spoke on the occasion.
Indian professor calls for equitable water distribution
09 May 2010
LAHORE: Instead of storing water for ‘political gains’, India should allow for an equitable distribution of water, a professor from New Delhi’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) said on Saturday. Delivering a lecture to students of different schools on “Saving River Water from Degradation-A Lesson in Environmental Education” at the Ali Institute of Education, Dr Vikram Soni – a Physics professor at NPL – said, “The water crisis is being confronted both by India and Pakistan, and policy makers must sense the gravity of the situation and devise a strategy to avoid water dearth in future.” “Owing to deforestation and the cutting of mountains, water is becoming increasing scarce and our future generations will have no water if the agencies concerned do not take immediate practical steps to address the issue,” he said. In New Delhi, Soni said, most people were forced to drink unhygienic water, as the majority could not afford a bottle of mineral water that cost Rs 40. Looking at the circumstances, it seems River Ravi is destined for the same fate as the Yamuna River. “We are asking the Indian Government to save Yamuna River from total degradation,” he added. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Freshwater and Toxics Programme (FTP) Manager Policy Ali Hasnain Sayed said that around 1,400 cusecs of municipal and industrial wastes was being dumped in to the River Ravi everyday. He emphasised the dire need to create awareness among people about conserving river water. Although the government had formed a task force on river water, but the people still need to be educated about the value of hygienic water because the country’s future depends on it, Sayed added. staff report
Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=201059\story_9-5-2010_pg13_4
Seven sisters’ demand for separate time zone gains momentum
1 May 2010
For years, they have been waking up early and starting late. But India’s northeast, which sees sunrise almost two hours before Mumbai, has decided it’s time to set the clock right. The region’s demand for a separate time zone has never been more vociferous
April is usually the cruelest month for India’s northeastern states. Cyclonic storms lash the region with vengeance and rip apart homes and hopes. But in all this, the stoic people find things that keep them together and going, their famous fortitude in place.
This April, it is the loud revival of an issue that has always united the Seven Sisters. Amid the deafening thunder and incessant, deluging rains, people here are whipping up a different storm as they try to turn into a mass movement the debate for a separate time zone, something that was kicked off in the beginning of the millennium by a few scientists, academicians and media persons.
And from all accounts — with film personalities, students, engineers, even housewives and common folks joining in — the storm is gathering force and the movement gaining heavy momentum. “We are trying our best to make ourselves heard,” says Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, president, Northeast Students’ Organisation (NESO). “We hope our voices will reach the deaf ears of the mainland people.”
………The National Physical Laboratory of India (NPL) also has reservations. P Banerjee, a senior scientist with NPL, rejected the feasibility of advancing the clock. “Instead of a separate time zone, we can advance office timings that are convenient to the (seven) states,” he says. “The introduction of a Daylight Saving Time (DST) scheme for the country would solve the entire problem. Also, a separate time zone cannot be introduced arbitrarily against international conventions. Plus, there are logistical problems like keeping pace with national railway and airlines timings with two time zones.”……….
Souce: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Your-time-my-time/articleshow/5879491.cms
CSIR in the news.. 