President’s Message–15th April,2023.
Greetings to all!
It is heartening to note that our country is making up for the lost tempo in the pandemic, and we are seeing overall growth in the economy in the past few months. A healthy economy is the backbone of all sectors, and definitely helps our society too!
Let us have a quick look at what is happening at ISNT, with a brush-up of some basics.
ISNT is working with 19 chapters all over India, with more than 5000 members. The major activities of ISNT are divided in different boards, like NCB, TMB, PFMB, and JNDE editorial team.
NGC is the top-most body which is having experts from all over India, and conducts quarterly meetings to decide the policies and action plans for the further development of the society.
NCB is authorized by BIS to conduct examinations as per IS 13805. In the last year (2022), 660 examinations as per IS 13805 were conducted, which is the highest number so far in the history of ISNT. The ICN (International Certification in Non-destructive Testing) scheme which is in line with ISO 9712 is accredited by NABCB, and also has acceptance outside India under MRA Schedule 2 agreement of ICNDT. NCB is in the process of revising ICN scheme to meet the requirements of ISO 9712:2021, covering all sectors. The periodical internal audits as well as Certification Body (NABCB) audits are completed successfully. NCB is making efforts to connect to the regulatory bodies and industries to promote our certification schemes.
TMB, which was formed last year for harmonizing and standardizing training activities all over India, has made substantial progress in the past one year. The work on training course time tables, study materials, course notes, practical training books, train the trainers and practice questions is in full swing. The interim authorization of training centers was completed and the application process for the final authorization is already started.
PFMB has members from all over India having expertise in different domains. This board prepares non-certification training programs which are conducted at different regions to cater to the needs of the local industries.
JNDE editorial team is doing an excellent job of maintaining the quality and also the regularity of the journal. JNDE has a new online portal at jnde.isnt.in and the papers published in JNDE are now indexed by Google Scholar. The December issue on NDE 4.0 was very well received by readers. Talking of NDE 4.0, I am happy to inform you that preparations for the world conference on NDE 4.0 have been started.
In the international scenario, the ISNT team attended the APCNDT conference in Australia. I am happy to inform you that our president elect Dr. K. Balasubramaniam is elected as Vice-President of APFNDT.
After the completion of NDE 2022 with grand success, the NGC has decided to conduct NDE 2023 in Pune. Preliminary work of NDE 2023 has already been started. The theme this time is “Transformative NDE: Unleashing the Power of Advanced Technologies”.The focus will be on NDE 4.0 and topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced sensors, which have the potential to revolutionize NDE practices and enable more efficient and effective inspection processes. I appeal all of you to promote and spread the word to ensure maximum participation in the conference to make it a grand success.
An ISNT industry meet was conducted in Pune and got a very good response from Pune and outskirts industries.
It is indeed satisfying to see that all meetings of ISNT were conducted as per schedule till now. The regular meetings of the steering committee (consisting of Vice-Presidents, President Elect and Board Chairmen) are conducted to decide the policies and direction of the society. The Past Presidents’ meetings are conducted to get their guidance on various issues of the society. The NGC, NCB, PFMB and TMB meetings are conducted quarterly to keep up the momentum, in online as well as off line mode. The Chapter Chairmen’s meetings are conducted regularly to have lateral communication among the chapters. The chapter activities like training programs, webinars, technical lectures are going on regularly.
Our Prime Minister has emphasized on an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, and we all have to put extra efforts to ensure that our Indian certification schemes are promoted, accepted and used not just in India but also abroad. We all need to work for this national cause of promoting our ICN scheme which is now fully functional and also getting updated to 2021 edition of ISO 9712.
With the guidance of seniors, and support from all the members, I am sure we will have a lot of quality activities happening continually, keeping the ISNT’s flag flying high.
Thank you,
Jai Hind,
Diwakar D. Joshi