Lenin
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2012
- Messages
- 165
- Reaction score
- 0
Leading figures from politics, science and thearts are calling for a separate time zone for north-eastern India in a bid to save energy. About 250 prominent members from seven states recently met and pledged to lobby the federal government to advance the region's clock by at least 90 minutes. The change, theysaid, would help them make the most of theirdaylight hours, cut energy consumption and make people more productive. India is covered by one time zone, but at the convention of "Separate Time Zone for the North-east" in Guwahati in January, participants argued that the sun usually rises and sets in north-eastern India about an hour and a half earlier than it does in the west of the country.
"The time difference between the eastern-most and western-most borders of the country is almost two hours," said Jahnu Barua, an acclaimed filmmaker and former Indian Space Research Organisation TV producer. "The north-east region gets daylight much before the rest of the country."As a first step we would be formally apprising the eight regional governments and also the 24 parliamentarians of the north-east to lobby for the separate time zone in parliament." Bhabesh Sharma, a geography teacher in Guwahati, said the timeof sunrise in Imphal, the capital of the north-eastern state of Manipur, was 5.36am while in the western city of Ahmedabad it was 7am. He added that the sunset times were 5.17pm and 6.43pm. "We have every reason to demand a separate time zone for the north-east, considering the geo-location of the region," said Mr Sharma, who attended the convention. Supporters of the separate time zone said that in addition to saving electricity in a nation where power shortagesroutinely led to blackouts, it would make workers more comfortable and improve efficiency. Mr Barua, one of the conveners of the convention, said when a country functions on a single standard time, the people in the west are always in an advantageous position, compared to those inthe east, because they start their day earlier."All the prosperous and most productive states of the country, such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat, lie on the west of the Indian Standard Time longitude. "Being situated in the far east, the north-east wastestwo to three hours of daylight every day and ends up being the least productive, least progressive and least prosperous," said Mr Barua, who has been pushing for a separate time zone for north-east India for more than two decades. Sanatan Singh, a doctor in Manipur said that the "human body is most active in the morning hours" and by the time people in north-east India attend their schools and offices, most of their energetic time is over. India's single time zone stretches nearly 3,000km. In comparison, the United States is 5,200km wide and has four zones, and Canada, is 5,060km wide and has six time zones. However, China, which stretches for 5,000km, has one single time zone.
"The time difference between the eastern-most and western-most borders of the country is almost two hours," said Jahnu Barua, an acclaimed filmmaker and former Indian Space Research Organisation TV producer. "The north-east region gets daylight much before the rest of the country."As a first step we would be formally apprising the eight regional governments and also the 24 parliamentarians of the north-east to lobby for the separate time zone in parliament." Bhabesh Sharma, a geography teacher in Guwahati, said the timeof sunrise in Imphal, the capital of the north-eastern state of Manipur, was 5.36am while in the western city of Ahmedabad it was 7am. He added that the sunset times were 5.17pm and 6.43pm. "We have every reason to demand a separate time zone for the north-east, considering the geo-location of the region," said Mr Sharma, who attended the convention. Supporters of the separate time zone said that in addition to saving electricity in a nation where power shortagesroutinely led to blackouts, it would make workers more comfortable and improve efficiency. Mr Barua, one of the conveners of the convention, said when a country functions on a single standard time, the people in the west are always in an advantageous position, compared to those inthe east, because they start their day earlier."All the prosperous and most productive states of the country, such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat, lie on the west of the Indian Standard Time longitude. "Being situated in the far east, the north-east wastestwo to three hours of daylight every day and ends up being the least productive, least progressive and least prosperous," said Mr Barua, who has been pushing for a separate time zone for north-east India for more than two decades. Sanatan Singh, a doctor in Manipur said that the "human body is most active in the morning hours" and by the time people in north-east India attend their schools and offices, most of their energetic time is over. India's single time zone stretches nearly 3,000km. In comparison, the United States is 5,200km wide and has four zones, and Canada, is 5,060km wide and has six time zones. However, China, which stretches for 5,000km, has one single time zone.
