Indian Standard Time
Two-Timing
That's what IST is going to be soon. As if there aren't
enough jokes on the 'timelessness' of Indians and
Indian Standard Time already, there will soon be confusion
too. With India contemplating the creation of two
time zones, we will soon join the ranks of the multi-zone
countries like the US and Russia. The US has four
time zones and Russia has eight.
It does make sense to have two time zones in a country
that extends 2000 kilometres from east to west. After
all, you want people to rise and shine when the sun
is up and not when it is still dark. Subir Gokarn,
Chief Economist, National Council for Applied Economic
Research, seems to think that "the quality of
life in the east and north east will improve".
But will habitual late comers have a ready-made excuse
for coming late?
Presently, IST is the local time of Mirzapur in Uttar
Pradesh. However, if the government effects a change,
the local time of Bhopal will be Indian Western Time
and that of Kolkata will be Indian Eastern Time. So
when the clock strikes 12 noon in Bhopal, it will
be 1pm in Kolkata.
The next poser would then be which states would fall
under which zones. A three member government committee
is expected to submit a report to the Cabinet soon.
Until then, its IST for all.
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9:22:29 PM 
