9 hours ago
One Nation, One Time: India takes a big step towards time uniformity
India has taken a significant step toward streamlining and improving time management. The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, held a Roundtable Conference in New Delhi to promote the idea of "One Nation, One Time" as a formal policy. This initiative aims to ensure that Indian Standard Time (IST) becomes the only official time used for all commercial and legal activities throughout the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal, and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, explained the government's intention to formally advance the time reference by proposing new legal guidelines - Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules 2025 - that would limit time references for any legal or commercial purposes. Doing so would prohibit time references to anything other than what the government and the public want.
One Nation, One Time: India takes a big step towards time uniformity
The government is establishing five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati to improve the accuracy and traceability of Indian Standard Time (IST). Each RRSL will include atomic clocks and utilize secure delivery technologies such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP), ensuring IST accuracy at the millisecond to microsecond level. This initiative aims to enhance coordination among various sectors, including banking, stock exchanges, electricity supply, telecommunications, and transport, all of which rely on consistent
By improving time distribution, India will also reduce its dependence on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, which is susceptible to interference. The government acknowledges that precise timekeeping is essential for effective governance. Nidhi Khare, the Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, emphasised the need for a reliable mechanism to provide accurate time information to the public and various project involved over 100 experts and representatives from organizations such as ISRO, CSIR-NPL, NSE, and major telecom companies. Since 2018, more than 60 meetings have taken place, with Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, highlighting the goal of enhancing government operations through improved accuracy and ordinary citizens, this initiative offers direct benefits, including:- More secure online payments-Accurate billing for electricity, water, and other services-Better timing and coordination in transport and communications-Lower risk of cybercrimeIncreased trust, fairness, and transparency in daily services
