Student to discover The Indian Standard Time Line

Project Khoj: S.P.A.C.E
25th – 28th January, 2007

‘Wake up its 7’O clock’. You must have heard this sentence so many times in your life without realizing that it is 7’O clock as per the Indian standard time not your local time. All watches show Indian Standard time but there are places in India that are locally 1 hr. ahead or behind the time as shown by their watches. There is a local time difference of around two hours from the eastern most city of India near the Chinese border to the western most in Rann of kutch. “Isn’t it Amazing’?

Indian Standard Time is calculated on the basis of 82.5 °E longitude which is just west of the town of Mirzapur, near Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The difference between 82.5 °E longitude and the longitude of United Kingdom's Royal Observatory at Greenwich translates to an exact time difference of 5 hours and 30 minutes. Thus India has the time zone which is + 5:30 of GMT. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is located on the 0 o Longitude but India does not have any such observatory located on 82.5 °E longitude. References have been made to the Allahbad Observatory time and again but it never came into existance though efforts were made by Babu Sampurnanandji, the Education Minister in the first popular government of Uttar Pradesh and Dr. Avadhesh Narain Singh DSc, professor of Mathematics at the Lucknow University.

Under the Project Khoj initiated by S.P.A.C.E, a scientific contingent comprising of students from various schools of Delhi, teachers and astronomers shall discover the exact physical location of 82.5 °E longitude for the very first time and identify the town or Village through which this IST passes. They shall conduct various experiments on the location and put an insignia to mark its importance. The project team shall find the local Noon at 82.5 °E longitude while another team in Delhi present at Saviour Convent School, Paschim Vihar , shall simultaneous find the local noon of Delhi and compare the time difference between the local noons of two location. The difference will be used to calculate the longitude of the team in Delhi. The participants of the project shall also interact with the locals and explain them the significance of their location.

The Project Khoj was initiated in the year 2004. Students from schools all over India in its first phase physically visited various locations where the longitude and latitudes cut in integers called the confluence point. The search of the IST line is the culmination of the project with selected students from the initial Phases of the project. The project gives students opportunity to learn science through hands-on experience. The project also intends to educate masses about time management and Daylight Saving Time (DST) and other seasonal adjustments which save lot of natural resources and are very popular in other countries but not practiced in India. The discovery also marks 101st anniversary of the adoption of the meridian passing east of Allahabad at 82.5 degrees east longitude as the central meridian for India, corresponding to a single time zone for the country on 1st Jan 1906 by Britishers.

First international scientific expedition of its kind, n the sky- ‘The Total Solar Eclipse’ in Turkey, absolutely free!
25 participants selected through an open competition form the part of acontingen to f80 and will conduct scientific experiments during the solar eclipse. Where students, teachers & masses were given an opportunity to view the most spectacular phenomena.

Finding the Indian Greenwich! Students from various schools became part of this International project. A scientific expedition for the search and discovery of "Green which of India" - The place in India which regulates the time of the country.

Measuring the world again during the Venus Transit! 2500 students from 250 schools and 16 cities participated for the first time along with professional astronomers in measuring the distance of earth from the sun (1 A.U.). This three phase experiment involved students from all over India and was aptly termed as ‘Experiment in Co-operation’.

Mars Closest Opposition to Earth in about 65,000 years! Morethan10,000 students from 100 schools and general public participated in the event. It was conducted at various schools of Delhi and also at National Bal Bhavan.