DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Daylight saving time —also summer time in British English— is the practice of advancing clocks during the lighter months so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

The modern idea of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson and it was first implemented by Germany and Austria-Hungary starting on 30 April 1916. Many countries have used it at various times since then. Much of the United States used DST in the 1950s and 1960s, and DST use expanded following the 1970s energy crisis. It has been widely used in North America and Europe since then.

The rationale behind the 1975 study of DST-related energy savings was that energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting homes is directly related to the times when people go to bed at night and rise in the morning. In the average home, 25 percent of electricity was used for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurred in the evening when families were home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, the amount of electricity consumed each day decreased.

In the summer, people who rose before the sun rises used more energy in the morning than if DST were not in effect. In the winter, the afternoon Daylight Saving Time advantage is offset for many people and businesses by the morning's need for more lighting. In spring and fall, the advantage is generally less than one hour. So, the rationale was that Daylight Saving Time saves energy for lighting in all seasons of the year, but it saves least during the four darkest months of winter (November, December, January, and February), when the afternoon advantage is offset by the need for lighting because of late sunrise.

In addition, less electricity was thought to be used because people are home fewer hours during the "longer" days of spring and summer. Most people plan outdoor activities in the extra daylight hours. When people are not at home, they don't turn on the appliances and lights. 

Inception and Evolution of Electricity in India.

HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF ELECTRICITY

Electricity, as we know it, is largely a product of eighteenth and nineteenth century scientific and engineering developments. At the very inception in our country the consumption of electricity was started for lightening the palaces of the King of Coochbehar in West Bengal and the King of Bikaner in Rajasthan

In December, 1896 Indian Electric Company, which was registered in London in 1895, was favored with the license to distribute and sell electricity in 5.6 Square Mile area in the city of Calcutta, the then capital of India, under Calcutta Electricity Lighting Act for 21 years. Kilbern & Co. was engaged as agent of the said Indian Electricity Company with effect from the 7th January, 1897. The private entrepreneurships solely were engaged in generation, distribution, and sale and in development of electricity in our country up to the year 1948 prior to enactment of the Indian Electricity Act 1948. The number of electrified villages and pumps engaged in agriculture were 1500 and 6500 respectively. Per capita consumption of electricity in India was only 16 units at that time. 

CHANGE IN POWER SECTOR POST INDEPENDENCE:

The power sector in India has undergone significant progress after Independence. When India became independent in 1947, the country had a power generating capacity of 1,362 MW.
Hydro power and coal based thermal power have been the main sources of generating electricity. Generation and distribution of electrical power was carried out primarily by private utility companies.

Notable amongst them and still in existence is Calcutta Electric. Power was available only in a few urban centers; rural areas and villages did not have electricity.

After 1947, all new power generation, transmission and distribution in the rural sector and the urban centers (which were not served by private utilities) came under the purview of State and Central government agencies. State Electricity Boards (SEBs) were formed in all the states. Nuclear power development was introduced, in late sixties. The concept of operating power systems on a regional basis crossing the political boundaries of states was introduced in the early sixties.