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Bangladesh likely to observe DST
by Paul Eggert April 4, 2007

April 4, 2007

Tomorrow's _Daily Star_ reports on its front page that the government of Bangladesh is likely to observe daylight saving time to manage a power crisis. It does not give details about when it would be observed, but it sounds like it'd start later this month. See: 'Daylight saving' plan to tackle power crisis <http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/04/05/d7040501108.htm> (2007-04-05)

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FW: Questions
by Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] April 4, 2007

April 4, 2007

I'm forwarding this message from Zhenqiang Fan, who is not on the time zone mailing list. Those of you who are on the time zone mailing list should direct replies appropriately. --ado -----Original Message----- From: Fan_Zhenqiang(a)emc.com [mailto:Fan_Zhenqiang@emc.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 3:21 PM To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Cc: Fan_Zhenqiang(a)emc.com Subject: Questions Hi Could any body kindly answer my question below: Is there a function (in any of these source files) that takes a date/time value and tells whether the date/time is daylight saving time? Thanks so much in advance, Zhenqiang Fan

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Questions
by Fan_Zhenqiang＠emc.com April 3, 2007

April 3, 2007

Hi Could any body kindly answer my question below: Is there a function (in any of these source files) that takes a date/time value and tells whether the date/time is daylight saving time? Thanks so much in advance, Zhenqiang Fan

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tzcode2007e.tar.gz and tzdata2007e.tar.gz
by Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] April 2, 2007

April 2, 2007

The files... ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzcode2007e.tar.gz ...and... ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata2007e.tar.gz ...are now available; these reflect the Syria and Honduras changes circulated last week on the time zone mailing list by Paul Eggert, as well as zic.c variable renaming changes circulated by yours truly. --ado

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Iraq sprang forward twice this weekend
by Paul Eggert April 2, 2007

April 2, 2007

The AP reported today that the Iraqi government issued a statement two weeks ago saying DST would begin yesterday (March 31) at 00:00 local time. At the appointed time the American military obediently shifted its clocks forward, but state-run TV did not. Apparently the cabinet had changed its mind, without notifying the Americans. State-run TV later announced that the government had decided to change the time today at 00:00 local time instead. No changes are needed to the tz database for this one, since it agrees with what the Iraqis eventually ended up with. We were lucky that we didn't get that statement two weeks ago. Here's a reference: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-time1apr01,1,460739…

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West Falkland time zone
by Rives McDow April 1, 2007

April 1, 2007

Dear All, Here's a reference to the lack of daylight savings time use in the West Falklands. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/ in_pictures_class_of_one/html/2.stm Rives

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Honduras seems to cancel DST
by Steffen Thorsen March 31, 2007

March 31, 2007

A user informed that Honduras will start DST on Sunday 2007-04-01, and after some research, it seems that they first planned to start DST on 2007-04-01: (one month earlier than in 2006) http://www.laprensahn.com/pais_nota.php?id04962=7196&t=1175061600 Then I found another, newer article, which is translated to something like "Government reconsiders and suspends advancement of hour" http://www.laprensahn.com/pais_nota.php?id04962=7386&t=1175234400 So it seems that Honduras will not enter DST this year, if I understood the article correctly. Best regards, Steffen Thorsen / timeanddate.com

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why UCLA's mail server thinks it's still standard time
by Paul Eggert March 29, 2007

March 29, 2007

Re the UCLA mail server problem I mentioned today: the UCLA Network Operations Center replied "The DST patch was not applied intentionally because it will have to be done during a maintenance window." So it could be a long time before that server knows about the 2007 DST rule change. I expect a lot of servers are in similar boats. Administrators are so worried about introducing problems with a DST patch that they simply live with the clocks being wrong.

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Health risks of daylight saving time
by Paul Eggert March 29, 2007

March 29, 2007

Since the subject of health risks is in the news.... The main health effects of DST that I know of are the following. * Extra afternoon daylight may encourage people to exercise more, which should be a big win. * Sunlight triggers vitamin D synthesis, but overexposure leads to skin cancer; so whether DST helps or hurts here depends on your latitude and daily schedule. * DST may be helpful in fighting some forms of depression: Henry Olders (2003-08-13). "Average sunrise time predicts depression prevalence". Journal of Psychosomatic Research 55 (2): 99-105. DOI:10.1016/S0022-3999(02)00479-8. Some argue the reverse, though. * DST can help night-blindness sufferers, though it can also hurt: it depends on their schedule. * DST's clock-changes temporarily disrupt the sleep cycle, which can lead to suboptimal decisions (e.g., while driving, or while trading stocks). There have been several studies of these secondary effects, but I know of no studies of any direct health risks. So the vast majority of this stuff is speculative and/or anecdotal; there's only one scientific study that I know of.

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Kemerovo region votes against DST
by Paul Eggert March 29, 2007

March 29, 2007

RIA Novosti reported yesterday that the Kemerovo Region parliamant has voted to appeal to the Russian government to abolish DST, and Nikolai Gerasimenko, Russia's deputy chair of the State Duma's Health Protection Committee, agrees with them. See <http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070328/62754276.html>. The MPs claim that DST is harmful to human health, as it may lead to chronic diseases, harm the immune system, increase mortality rate and risks for hypertensive patients. None of these reported health problems have been investigated scientifically as far as I know. Russia's electricity monopoly said that in 2007 DST saved Russia 2 GWh of electricity, but Gersimenko says the overall economic advantage of DST isn't proven. This reminds me of the successful compaign to abolish DST in Kazakhstan, which was based on the harmful health effects due to clock changes, including "insomnia, spikes in blood pressure, endocrinal deviations and the exacerbation of chronic diseases" <http://www.kazsociety.org.uk/news/2005/03/30.htm>.

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