Bombay time (time zone)

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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, with Calcutta (now Kolkata) using the 90th east meridian and Bombay (Mumbai) the 75th east meridian. Bombay time was set at 4 hours and 51 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).[1][2]

Bombay time however faced difficulties in converting to Indian Standard Time (IST) after that was adopted on January 1, 1906 as the official time zone of India. During the same time period in Mumbai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a prominent freedom fighter of the Indian independence movement was put on trial in a bomb blast case. With public sentiment against the government, prominent barrister Pherozeshah Mehta fervidly argued against the time 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]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Indian Time Zones (IST). Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
  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 on 2006-08-13.
  3. ^ Bombay time. Mumbai-central.com (2001-12-08). Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
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