Bombay Time

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Bombay Time was one of the two official time zones established in British India in 1884. The time zone was established during the International Meridian Conference held at Washington, D.C. in the United States in 1884. It was then decided that India would have two time zones, Calcutta (now Kolkata), and Bombay (now Mumbai). Bombay Time was set at 4 hours and 51 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). [1] [2]

However, Bombay Time was difficult to convert to Indian Standard Time (IST) after it was adopted on 1 January 1906 as the official time zone of India. With public sentiment against the government, prominent barrister Pherozeshah Mehta argued against the change. He managed to stall proceedings in the Bombay Municipal Corporation for a few days by arguing that the government did not take the people into confidence. Faced with rising public resentment over the trial, the government shelved the conversion, and Bombay Time was maintained until 1955. [3]

The Parsi fire temples of Mumbai still use the Bombay Time as certain rituals of the community are calculated with reference to the position of the sun at local time. The time is displayed on large clocks located near the gates of the fire temples. [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time zone</span> Area that observes a uniform standard time

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime meridian</span> Line of longitude, at which longitude is defined to be 0°

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Meridian Conference</span> 1884 conference in Washington, D.C., United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in the United States</span> U.S. time zones

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Calcutta time was one of the two time zones established in British India in 1884. It was established during the International Meridian Conference held at Washington, D.C. in the United States. It was decided that India had two time zones: Calcutta would use the 90th meridian east and Bombay the 75th meridian east. It was determined as 5 hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+5:53:20).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in India</span> Time zones used in India

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Indigenous tribals have inhabited Mumbai (Bombay) since the Stone Age. The Kolis and Aagri were the earliest known settlers of the islands. The Maurya Empire gained control of the islands during the 3rd century BCE and transformed them into a centre of Hindu-Buddhist culture and religion. Later, between the 2nd century BCE and 10th century CE, the islands came under the control of successive indigenous dynasties: the Satavahanas, Abhiras, Vakatakas, Kalachuris, Konkan Mauryas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Silharas& Chollas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Finland</span> Time zones used in Finland

Finland uses Eastern European Time (EET) during the winter as standard time and Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) during the summer as daylight saving time. EET is two hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00) and EEST is three hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+03:00). Finland adopted EET on 30 April 1921, and has observed daylight saving time in its current alignment since 1981 by advancing the clock forward one hour at 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in March and back at 04:00 EET on the last Sunday in October, doing so an hour earlier for the first two years.

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References

  1. "Indian Time Zones (IST)". Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Archived from the original on 30 October 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
  2. "Indian Time Zones (IST)". Project Gutenberg. International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884 Protocols of the Proceedings. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
  3. "Bombay time". Mumbai-central.com. 8 December 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
  4. Doctor, Vikram (6 January 2010). "History of Bombay's quest for time". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 January 2023.