A case for two time zones

As we drove from Guwahati to Shillong, the road started to turn, and turn again and turn again. The winding mountainous road kept climbing up. The rain was watching us travel and the fog and mist was making it difficult to watch the natural beauty outside. By the time we reached Shillong, it was cold, misty, rainy and dark – pitch dark. I thought, now would be the time to eat some dinner, and go to sleep. However, the tour manager said, after check-in, come down for a hot cup of tea, and some meet and greet.

Tea? At this hour? I had clearly lost track of time through the winding roads and steep valleys. It was only 5:20 PM IST! 

An equal but opposite shock awaited in the morning. As I lay awake in the bed, the small sliver in the curtain suggested something bright outside. Well rested, as I stretched and walked towards the window to draw the curtains aside, I was shocked to see bright sunlight piercing through. And it was only 6:25 AM.

The daylight hours had shifted as we travelled eastwards. The Indian Standard Time did not keep up.

An eastern quip – give us a separate time zone

Many people – scholars, leaders, industrialists etc. from the Northeastern region have demanded a separate time zone for years together. However, it has not materialized into anything concrete. Energy saving, health and well-being of people and optimum utilization of resources are primary concerns. I am sure many back-of-the-envelope and official calculations must have shown the benefits of the two different time zones. However, it has fallen on deaf ears so far. Assam follows the concept of ‘Chai Bagan time’, but that is a tweak only to the start and end of working hours. It does not affect the time zone setting itself. Therefore, I will not pontificate the benefits. Instead, I will just put forward a solution/suggestion that I think will benefit our country.

Divide that Country – into time zones!

Let’s create a Northeast Indian Time Zone, which is aligned to UTC+6:30, which is a full hour ahead of the current IST. One look at the time zone map of current UTC+6:30 will easily convince you that this aligns better with the geography. Andaman and Nicobar Islands can also use this time zone.

Let’s continue to use UTC+5:30, which is the Indian Standard Time, for rest of the country.

However, I can think of another radical alternative. Align the UTC+5:30 only with the remaining northern, eastern and central Indian states. UP, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, NCR, Punjab, Haryana, J&K, Ladakh, HP can use this time zone.

And let’s create another time zone, which is aligned to UTC+5:00. This will be used by the remaining western and southern states of India.

If you study the longitudes carefully:

1.     UTC+6:30 would roughly correspond to 104 degrees East. This passes through the middle of the Northeastern region.

2.     UTC+5:30, which corresponds to 82.5 degrees East, passes through major central Indian states, but is aligned more eastern than the western half of the country. And interestingly, it does not pass through any of the south Indian states.

3.     UTC+5:00, which corresponds to 75 degrees East, passes through the middle of the western region.

4.     I am combining the four major south Indian states and UTs with the UTC+5:00 because they are closer to the equator, and length of the day will not change too much with seasonal variations. Even if this is misalignment, it would adjust itself.

Challenges in implementation?

As far as I can see, only political will. While researching on this topic, I came across a poignant observation – this does not need anyone to spend crores of Rupees, hence the political class has no interest in taking this forward.

Many countries operate with multiple time zones. Broadcasters, Telecom Service Providers, Airlines, Train services are used to dealing with this. Public education campaigns will also help. It may create confusion, but that is temporary. If we could adopt a metric system, change our coinage and in recent times, execute demonetization, this task is not complex at all. Is there any political will to do this?

Who’s inconvenienced because of demonetization? Here are three probable candidates

(601 words, less than 5 minutes reading time)

(1) Anyone who has renewed a driver’s license has gotten a receipt of Rs. 250 in return of paying Rs. 1000, which not only includes the agent’s service fees but also the bribe component that he pays. And for the service the agent gives, he’s not even submitting the service tax to the government. I am told the bribe money makes deep inroads. Everyone is part of the chain.

Extent of inconvenience – minor. The new Rs. 2000.00 notes will in fact make it simpler for these people to hoard money.

(2) Anyone who has registered a house purchase or a rental agreement knows the difference between the ‘registration charges’ and the ‘cash’ the builder’s representative asks to carry along. The cash just vanishes in thin air! I am told these chains are rather long and deep.

Extent of inconvenience – minor. Once again, the new currency notes will make it easy to hoard money.

(3) What about the gatekeepers? I think they are the worst offenders. An example. A very close friend of mine sold his house for a new one. He took full cheque payment – meaning entire transaction was in legitimate monies. He reinvested in another house, which means he was exempt from the capital gains as per the appropriate rules. All of this was a part of his income tax return.

By his bad luck, around the time he executed the sale of the house, the so-called ready-reckoner prices were drastically increased. Now, it is a different matter to put the price on the ready-reckoner and expect the market to pay for it (unlike gold, real estate is not controlled by any index). The market did not fetch him what the ready-reckoner suggested. But he took a decision on what he felt was a fair price for his old house.

And because of this he got a notice from the I-T Department. The I-T officer felt that because there was much difference between the two prices, the rest of the money must have come from ‘black’ sources, and this god-fearing, income-tax-paying-salaried person must be sitting on a pile of cash. The scrutiny was detailed and exhausting. He was asked to produce all kind of documents, bank pass books, postal savings etc.

After the entire scrutiny, and the so-called ‘hearings’ between the I-T officer and the CA, he was given a clean-chit – simply because there was nothing ‘black’ in the entire transaction. What transpired after that is interesting to know!

The CA slapped him with a bill of Rs. 84,000! For what? Having produced all the documents required, having tallied all the amounts, and not able to show any unaccounted money?

When he asked for the breakup of the bill, he got to know:

• CA Fees – Rs. 25,000.00
• Bribe money – conveniently shown as consulting fees by the CA – Rs. 50,000.00
• Service Tax – Rs. 9,270.00 (@ 12.36%)

The CA was reluctant to bargain the bribe money on behalf of his client, simply because he has to work with that officer, and couldn’t afford to take a risk.

And the funny (or serious) part was the CA was ready to take all this by a cheque. Which means in his books he will have to cook-up the expense of Rs. 50,000.00. Isn’t it evident that the CA was in cahoots with the I-T officer?

By which logic should my friend have to pay a service tax on the bribe money also?

Extent of inconvenience – there is nothing inconvenient to the unashamed.

It is unlikely that the cash transactions – either legitimate or illegitimate – will stop because of the demonetization. But at least it will make the larger-than-life government bureaucrat and politician think about how the supposed surgical strike has hurt. It is very evident that these are the kind of people, sitting on large piles of cash. They are now in trouble.

What will transpire when the I-T department starts scrutinizing these cases should make an interesting story. The bigger question is will the government act against its own?

How ‘Only’ May Change your Sentence

(270 words, about 3 minutes reading time)

James J Kilpatrick, an ultra-conservative, a fiery supporter of racial segregation and a strong voice against the Civil Rights Movement is an unusual columnist to be remembered. Only for his skill of being a grammarian, I read a few of his columns, and amply use the tips as a reviewer of the documents. The column on long sentences made a mark, and the one about usage of ‘the’ rang a bell.

But what stuck with me was a usage of ‘only’ and how it can change your sentence. So here goes the example.

A simple English sentence - Jack hit John in the nose.

Check how the meaning changes by placing an ‘only’ in the sentence. As the ‘only’ moves from left to right, the meaning differs every time.

Only Jack hit John in the nose.

May be there were other people in the room. But none hit John, except for Jack. Or maybe others slapped, or kicked, but not hit. Or maybe others hit him in the ear, jaw, back or stomach, but not nose.

Jack only hit John in the nose.

May be, Jack also carried a revolver, or a machete, but he did not use that. A full force of the fist landing on John’s nose was enough.

Jack hit only John in the nose.

Jack may have spared Jason, Jerald, Jeremy – only John was subject of his angst.

Jack hit John only in the nose.

Jack was so focused, that other body parts didn’t matter. A bloody nose was sufficient!

The trick? Place ‘only’ as close to the subject, on which it is acting, as possible.