Indian Geography Notes for Civil Services Examination

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

A state's EEZ extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370 km) out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this rule occurs when EEZs would overlap, when overlap occurs, it is upto the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary. Generally any point within an overlapping area default to the nearest state. With the adoption of the convention of the United Nations Conference on the Law Of the Seas (UNCLOS) by the early eighties, a new international order of economic jurisdiction of 200 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.85 km) for the coastal states was established. India thus obtained a wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of about 2.172 million km2 in the sea all along the 7500 km long coastline around it. The living and non-living resources in this zone, which measures about two-third of the landmass of the country, are exclusive to India, so also the trading and transport facilities navigated through this area. Moreover several million people living along the coastline are directly influenced by oceanography of the EEZ, various environmental hazards and related social issues.

Contiguous Zone

There seems to be little warrant for stating that in international law, a coastal state is empowered under article 33 of UNCLOS to exercise 'right of sovereignty' in the contiguous zone in the manner envisaged. The treaty provision merely provides that 'the coastal state may exercise the control necessary (emphasis added) to prevent or punish infringements of customs, fiscals, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations in the territorial sea or territory. India's contiguous zone claimed order the 1976 Act, that is, the reference under 5(4) (a) to the security of India.

Territorial Sea

Territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state. The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, although foreign ships (both military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below. Adjustment of these boundaries is called maritime delimitation.

Indian Standard Time (IST) Greenwich Mean Time

Indian standard time is calculated on the basis of 82°5' East longitude, in Shankargarh fort (25°09' North 82°35' East 25°15' North 82°58' East) (in Allahabad district in the state of Uttar Pradesh) which is nearly on the corresponding longitude reference line. Indian Standard Times (IST) is the time observed throughout India and Sri Lanka, with a time offer of UTC + 05:30, India does not observe 'Day light Saving' Time (DST) or other seasonal adjustments. In military and aviation time IST is designated E* ('Echo star').