Table of Contents
BASICS
- India is the 7 th largest country in the world.
- India occupies 2.4 percent of the total land area of the world
- Most large countries have multiple time zones
MULTIPLE TIME ZONES
- Russia has 11 time zones
- France has 12 time zones
- USA has 11 time zones
- Indonesia has 3 time zones
TIME ZONES CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC
- China Only Has One Time Zone
- The Communist Party’s decision to use Beijing time across the country, done to enhance “national unity,”
SHOULD INDIA HAVE TWO TIME ZONES?
- A proposal for two time zones has come from India’s national timekeeper itself.
- Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National Physical Laboratory (CSIRNPL), which maintains Indian Standard Time, have published a research article describing the necessity of two time zones, with the new one an hour ahead of the existing time zone.
THE ISSUE OF DAYLIGHT
Distance of a thousand KMs between the two houses
CONCEPT OF LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
TIME IS MAINTAINED BY THIS METHOD
- If the lines of longitude are drawn exactly a degree apart they will divide the earth into 360 time zones
- Since the Earth spins 360 degrees in 24 hours, a longitudinal distance of 15 degrees represents a separation of 1 hour and 1 degree represents 4 minute
NOTES
- The geographic “zero line” runs through Greenwich, London. It identifies GMT, now known as Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), which is maintained by the Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France.
- Indian Standard Time, maintained by CSIR-NPL, is based on a line of longitude that runs through Mirzapur in UP. At 82°33’E, the line is 82.5° east of Greenwich, or 5.5 hours (5 hours 30 minutes) ahead of UCT. While India follows one IST, the United States follows several time zones across its breadth.
THE NEW FINDINGS
- The research paper proposes to call the two time zones IST-I (UTC + 5.30 h) and IST-II (UTC + 6.30 h).
- The proposed line of demarcation is at 89°52’E, the narrow border between Assam and West Bengal. States west of the line would continue to follow IST (to be called IST-I).
NOTES
- The researchers estimated energy savings at 20 million kWh a year based on a formula explained in the article.
- They also analysed the importance of synchronising office hours — as well as biological activities — to sunrise and sunset timings.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN RELUCTANT
- In March, in reply to a question in Parliament, the government said it has not taken any decision on separate time zones.
- A committee set up in 2002 did not recommend two time zones because of the complexities involved, the government said.
- It had cited the same committee’s findings in the Gauhati High Court, which last year dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the Centre to have a separate time zone for the Northeast.
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