The government is working towards the adoption of Indian Standard Time (IST) format for all practices across the country.
The government ministry, Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has been reported to be working with prestigious organizations like the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for generating and coming up with an accurate time that leads to IST, stated senior official from the ministry.
The reason behind tracing timings to IST across India is to ‘ensure synchronization of all networks and computers to IST and adoption of IST by Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers, power grids, banks, stock exchange, and more’ as per the official.
“It is imperative that all networks and computers within the country, especially those that cater to the real time applications to the strategic sectors for national security, be synchronized to the national time standard,” the official said to PTI.
Currently, some internet and telecom service providers are not compulsorily using the IST format in the country for carrying out their works. Instead, they are making use of the servers that are synced to other sources like Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
The official has also informed that the ministry is considering to make a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework for mandatory adoption of IST under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.
“Upon completion, the project is expected to enhance national security and reduce the error in time synchronisation,” the official said.
As mentioned above, the ministry is working in coordination with NPL and ISRO for curating technology and infrastructure that would circulate the IST system from five sites across India to all telecom operators, power grids, financial institutions, data centres, common citizens, and others.
The five locations are the Regional Reference Standard Laboratories of the Consumer Affairs department. They include Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati.
