FW: source file correction for tzdata (egypt end of daylight savings)

[John Martin]

I live in Cairo. The time changed before the month of Ramadan began on
Saturday 22 August 2009. The actual date of the change was midnight between
Thursday 20 and Friday 21, which was not expected before it was announced by
the government this week. Prior to that, it had been expected that we would
switch after the Islamic month of Ramadan toward the end of September. The
reason for the change is that Muslims here fast (no food, drink, smoking or
sex) during daylight hours, so this effectively moves the end of fasting
every day an hour earlier. They will likely not continue this past this
year, but for the past few years, they have switched the time from DST right
before Ramadan for this same reason. The reason that this keeps changing is
that the Islamic calendar and the gregorian calendar do not line up.
Instead, because the Muslim calendar bases the months on the moon phase, the
beginning date for each month (including Ramadan) move earlier each year.
Again, this will likely not happen again after this year, but you can never
tell. The Egyptian government might choose otherwise. No telling until very
close to the date.

J

--
John D. Martin III
john.d.martin.iii at gmail.com

http://youcantmakemistakes.com

+1.269.216.9126 (us)
+20.16.558.5960 (eg)


On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 17:00, Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] <
olsona at dc37a.nci.nih.gov> wrote:

> I’m forwarding this message from John D. Martin III, who is not on the time
> zone mailing list. Those of you who are on the time zone mailing list,
> please direct replies appropriately.
>
> John's message indicates a change at the midnight between Friday, August 21
> and Saturday, August 22 while the current "Africa" file indicates a change
> at the midnight between Thursday, August 20 and Friday, August 21. Is there
> anyone with boots on the ground in Egypt who can tell us what actually
> happened last week?
>
>                                --ado
>
> From: John Martin [mailto:john.d.martin.iii at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2009 6:43
> To: tz at lecserver.nci.nih.gov
> Subject: source file correction for tzdata (egypt end of daylight savings)
>
> I am sending some info about the end of daylight savings time for Egypt in
> 2009. The line for 2009 for Egypt/Cairo in 'africa' within the tzdata source
> should read :
>
> Rule    Egypt   2009    only    -       Aug     21           23:00s    0
> -
> Rule    Egypt   2010    max    -      Sep      lastThu    23:00s    0    -
>
> The beginning of Ramadan has been used to determine the switch to standard
> time. In 2009 the switch occurred on 21 August at midnight or the third
> Thursday of the month. This will likely revert in 2010 to the standard time
> in the last week in September.
>
> Thanks. J
>
> --
> John D. Martin III
> john.d.martin.iii at gmail.com
>
> http://youcantmakemistakes.com
>
> +1.269.216.9126 (us)
> +20.16.558.5960 (eg)
>
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