Pralhad Joshi inaugurates BRICS standards summit and tours ISRO in Bengaluru

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi inaugurated the fifth BRICS Heads of National Standards Bodies summit in Bengaluru on July 16, emphasizing cooperation that goes beyond trade into counter‑terrorism, climate, food and energy security, technology and digital governance. The two‑day meeting, held under India’s BRICS presidency, brought standards chiefs from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Joshi said the forum will finalise a framework for information sharing, technical collaboration and capacity building, and announced India will host the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi later this year.

The following day, Joshi visited ISRO’s Bengaluru facility, praising the agency’s role in the government’s “One Nation, One Time” programme. He highlighted a successful proof‑of‑concept using Precision Time Protocol between ISRO’s Regional Remote Sensing Centre and the National Stock Exchange in Chennai, marking progress toward an indigenous, precise national time‑synchronisation system. Joshi credited ISRO, CSIR‑NPL and the Department of Consumer Affairs for advancing the initiative and underscored its importance for critical infrastructure and digital networks.