Demand for a separate time zone for the Northeast is a long standing one. With the sun rising early in the Northeast, by the time offices and educational institutions open, many daylight hours are already lost. With this insistence of following the IST in India, the NE has often complained about low productivity and loss of colossal amount of energy. Even though a separate time zone is difficult to implement, but it is not impossible.
First Few Words
The demand for a separate time zone for the Northeast is quite old and over the years there have been a number of proponents in its favour. In India, Northeast receives the sun’s first rays in the morning and it is also the first region to experience sunset. This natural phenomenon, as the proponents of a separate time suggest, is one of the primary reasons for which the Northeast has not been able to match its steps of progress in comparison to the rest of the country.
The Indian Standard Time, which is followed pan India, is decided upon the centrally located 82.5°E longitude near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. India measures 2,933 kms from west to east and about 29-30 longitudes pass though the country.
In relation to current Indian Standard Time, “bagan time” (followed in the tea gardens of Assam) is an hour ahead and currently only observed by tea plantation workers in Assam, because they can work independently and capitalise on daylight hours to maximise productivity. As the Northeast shares borders with China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the difference in time of the region as a whole is ahead of Indian time and thus IST makes a little sense to the region- the proponents strongly believe.
Time Zones of the World
Currently, the world is divided into 24 different time zones. France, including its overseas territories, along with the United States of America has 12 different time zones. Russia has 11 time zones, Antarctica and United Kingdom has 9 time zones, Australia 8, Canada 6, Denmark and New Zealand 5, Brazil and Mexico 4 and so thus several other nations have multiple time zones.
Experts say that the advantage of having multiple time zones have allowed the population of these countries to work in a more productive way. There has been less wastage and more usage- they say.
Government’s Stance
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Northeast Today.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Northeast Today.
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