Why it is in the news
The Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026, notified by the Department of Consumer Affairs on 27 August 2026 (Gazette publication 29 August), make Indian Standard Time (IST) the only permissible time reference for legal, administrative, commercial and official purposes and require it to be drawn from an authorised Indian source; they come into force in the last week of February 2027. On 28 September 2026, The Hindu examined how IST is generated at the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi, and flagged the hurdles to compliance — industry readiness and a NavIC constellation down to three working navigation satellites.
The exam angle
Issue: Making one traceable national time mandatory is a sovereignty and resilience measure, but its success depends on a working satellite layer and industry-wide re-engineering.