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NationalPhysicalLaboratoryofIndia
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TheNationalPhysicalLaboratoryofIndia,situatedin
NewDelhi,isthemeasurementstandardslaboratoryofIndia. NationalPhysicalLaboratory
ItmaintainsstandardsofSIunitsinIndiaandcalibratesthe Agencyoverview
nationalstandardsofweightsandmeasures.
Formed January4,1947
Headquarters NewDelhi

Contents Agency Dr.D.K.ASWAL,Director

executive
1 HistoryofmeasurementsystemsinIndia Parent CouncilofScientificandIndustrial
2 HistoryoftheNationalPhysicalLaboratory,India agency Research
3 Maintenanceofstandardsofmeasurementsin
India Website nplindia.org(http://www.nplindia.or
3.1 Metre g/)
3.2 Kilogramme
3.3 Second
3.4 Ampere
3.5 Kelvin
3.6 Candela
3.7 Mole
3.8 Radiation
4 Calibratorofweightsandmeasures
5 Research
6 Seealso

HistoryofmeasurementsystemsinIndia
OneofthemostancienttextsofIndia,Manusmriti,describesamongthedutiesoftheking:Thekingshould
examinetheweightsandbalanceseverysixmonthstoensuretruemeasurementsandtomarkthemwiththe
royalstamp.Manusmriti,8thChapter,Shloka403.IntheHarappanera,whichisnearly5000yearsold,one
findsexcellentexamplesoftownplanningandarchitecture.Thesizesofthebrickswerethesamealloverthe
region.InthetimeofChandraguptaMaurya,some2400yearsago,therewasawelldefinedsystemof
weightsandmeasures.Thegovernmentofthattimeensuredthateverybodyusedthesamesystem.IntheIndian
medicalsystem,Ayurveda,theunitsofmassandvolumewerewelldefined.

ThemeasurementsystemduringthetimeoftheMughalemperor,Akbar,thegazwasthemeasureoflength.
ThegazwaswidelyusedtilltheintroductionofthemetricsysteminIndiain1956.DuringtheBritishperiod,
effortsweremadetoachieveuniformityinweightsandmeasures.Acompromisewasreachedinthesystemof
measurementswhichcontinuedtillIndia'sindependencein1947.Afterindependencein1947,itwasrealized
thatforfastindustrialgrowthofthecountry,itwouldbenecessarytoestablishamodernmeasurementsystem
inthecountry.TheLokSabhainApril1955resolved:ThishouseisoftheopinionthattheGovernmentof
Indiashouldtakenecessarystepstointroduceuniformweightsandmeasuresthroughoutthecountrybasedon
metricsystem.

HistoryoftheNationalPhysicalLaboratory,India
TheNationalPhysicalLaboratory,Indiawassetupin1900)isoneoftheearliestnationallaboratoriessetup
undertheCouncilofScientific&IndustrialResearch.JawaharlalNehrulaidthefoundationstoneofNPLon4
January1947.Dr.K.S.KrishnanwasthefirstDirectorofthelaboratory.Themainbuildingofthelaboratory

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wasformallyopenedbyFormerDeputyPrimeMinisterSardarVallabhbhaiPatelon21January1950.Former
PrimeMinisterIndiraGandhi,inauguratedtheSilverJubileeCelebrationoftheLaboratoryon23December
1975.

NPLCharter:

Themainaimofthelaboratoryistostrengthenandadvancephysicsbasedresearchanddevelopmentforthe
overalldevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyinthecountry.Inparticularitsobjectivesare:

Toestablish,maintainandimprovecontinuouslybyresearch,forthebenefitofthenation,NationalStandards
ofMeasurementsandtorealizetheUnitsbasedonInternationalSystem(UnderthesubordinateLegislationsof
WeightsandMeasuresAct1956,reissuedin1988underthe1976Act).Toidentifyandconductafterdue
consideration,researchinareasofphysicswhicharemostappropriatetotheneedsofthenationandfor
advancementoffield

Toassistindustries,nationalandotheragenciesintheirdevelopmentaltasksbyprecisionmeasurements,
calibration,developmentofdevices,processes,andotheralliedproblemsrelatedtophysics.

Tokeepitselfinformedofandstudycriticallythestatusofphysics.

MaintenanceofstandardsofmeasurementsinIndia
Eachmodernizedcountry,includingIndiahasaNationalMetrologicalInstitute(NMI),whichmaintainsthe
standardsofmeasurements.ThisresponsibilityhasbeengiventotheNationalPhysicalLaboratory,NewDelhi.

Metre

Thestandardunitoflength,metre,isrealizedbyemployingastabilizedHeliumNeonlaserasasourceof
light.Itsfrequencyismeasuredexperimentally.Fromthisvalueoffrequencyandtheinternationallyaccepted
valueofthespeedoflight(299,792,458metres/second),thewavelengthisdeterminedusingtherelation:

Wavelength=Velocityoflight/frequency

Thenominalvalueofwavelength,employedatNPLis633nanometer.Byasophisticatedinstrument,knownas
anopticalinterferometer,anylengthcanbemeasuredintermsofthewavelengthoflaserlight.

ThepresentlevelofuncertaintyattainedatNPLinlengthmeasurementsis3109.Howeverinmost
measurements,anuncertaintyof1106isadequate.

Kilogramme

TheIndiannationalstandardofmass,kilogramme,iscopynumber57oftheinternationalprototypekilogram
suppliedbytheInternationalBureauofWeightsandMeasures(BIPM:FrenchBureauInternationaldesPoids
etMesures),Paris.ThisisaPlatinumIridiumcylinderwhosemassismeasuredagainsttheinternational
prototypeatBIPM.TheNPLalsomaintainsagroupoftransferstandardkilogramsmadeofnonmagnetic
stainlesssteelandnickelchromiumalloy.

TheuncertaintyinmassmeasurementsatNPLis4.6109.

Second

Thenationalstandardoftimeinterval,secondaswellasfrequency,ismaintainedthroughfourparameters,
whichcanbemeasuredmostaccurately.Therefore,attemptsaremadetolinkotherphysicalquantitiestotime
andfrequency.ThestandardmaintainedatNPLhastobelinkedtodifferentusers.Thisprocess,knownas

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dissemination,iscarriedoutinanumberofways.Forapplicationsrequiringlowlevelsofuncertainty,thereis
satellitebaseddisseminationservice,whichutilizestheIndiannationalsatellite,INSAT.Timeisalso
disseminatedthroughTV,radio,andspecialtelephoneservices.ThecaesiumatomicclocksmaintainedatNPL
arelinkedtoothersuchinstitutedallovertheworldthroughasetofglobalpositioningsatellites.

Ampere

Theunitofelectriccurrent,ampere,isrealizedatNPLbymeasuringvoltandOhmseparately.

Theuncertaintyinmeasurementofampereis1106.

Kelvin

ThestandardoftemperatureisbasedontheInternationalTemperatureScaleof1990(ITS90).Thisisbased
ontheassignedtemperaturestoseveralfixedpoints.Oneofthemostfundamentaltemperaturesoftheseisthe
triplepointofwater.Atthistemperature,ice,waterandsteamareatequilibriumwitheachother.This
temperaturehasbeenassignedthevalueof273.16kelvin.Thistemperaturecanberealized,maintainedand
measuredinthelaboratory.AtpresenttemperaturestandardsmaintainedatNPLcoverarangeof54to2,473
kelvin.

Theuncertaintyinitsmeasureis2.5104.

Candela

Theunitofluminousintensity,candela,isrealizedbyusinganabsoluteradiometer.Forpracticalwork,agroup
oftungstenincandescentlampsareused.

Thelevelofuncertaintyis1.3102.

Mole

Experimentalworkhasbeeninitiatedtorealizemole,theSIunitforamountofsubstance

Radiation

TheNPLdoesnotmaintainstandardsofmeasurementsforionizingradiations.Thisistheresponsibilityofthe
HomiBhabhaAtomicResearchCentre,Mumbai.

Calibratorofweightsandmeasures
ThestandardsmaintainedatNPLareperiodicallycomparedwithstandardsmaintainedatotherNational
MetrologicalInstitutesintheworldaswellastheBIPMinParis.ThisexerciseensuresthatIndiannational
standardsareequivalenttothoseoftherestoftheworld.

Anymeasurementmadeinacountryshouldbedirectlyorindirectlylinkedtothenationalstandardsofthe
country,Forthispurpose,achainoflaboratoriesaresetupindifferentstatesofthecountry.Theweightsand
measuresusedindailylifearetestedinthelaboratoriesandcertified.ItistheresponsibilityoftheNPLto
calibratethemeasurementstandardsintheselaboratoriesatdifferentlevels.Inthismanner,themeasurements
madeinanypartofthecountryarelinkedtothenationalstandardsandthroughthemtotheinternational
standards.

TheweightsandbalancesusedinlocalmarketsandotherareasareexpectedtobecertifiedbytheDepartment
ofWeightsandMeasuresofthelocalgovernment.Workingstandardsoftheselocaldepartmentsshould,in
turn,becalibratedagainstthestatelevelstandardsoranyotherlaboratorywhichisentitledtodoso.Thestate
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levellaboratoriesarerequiredtogettheirstandardscalibratedfromtheNPLatthenationallevelwhichis
equivalenttotheinternationalstandards.

Research
NPLisalsoinvolvedinresearch.OneoftheimportantresearchactivitiesundertakenbyNPListodevisethe
chemicalformulafortheindelibleinkwhichisbeingusedintheIndianelectionstopreventfraudulentvoting.
Thisink,manufacturedbytheMysorePaintsandVarnishLimitedisappliedonthefingernailofthevoterasan
indicatorthatthevoterhasalreadycasthisvote.

NPLalsohavesectionworkingondevelopmentofbiosensors.CurrentlytheBiomedicalInstrumentation
sectionisheadedbyDr.A.M.Biradarandsectionisprimarilyfocusingondevelopmentofsensorfor
cholesterolmeasurementandmicrofluidicbasedbiosensors.

Seealso
HistoryofmeasurementsystemsinIndia

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