New Delhi (Sputnik) – Economists Praveen Chakravarty and Vivek Dehejia acquired images grabbed by satellites from the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite and superimposed a map of India with its districts clearly bifurcated on the image to develop a unique data set of luminosity values district-wise over a period of time to get the results.
These satellites whose images have been used for the research circle the earth 14 times a day and record lights from the earth's surface at night with sensors.
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The two Indian economists studied 387 of 640 districts in 12 states of India. These districts in total account for 85% of India's population and 80% of its GDP. With the study, the economists documented income divergence in India.
By 2014, the economists found, the average person in the three richest states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra) was three times as rich as the average person in the three poorest states (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh), the AFP reported.
There are many who have challenged the study. Member of Parliament and former Indian UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor tweeted saying that at night there is no economic activity.
Rural areas are not densely populated and hence the study's premise is wrong, argued another Twitter user.