Pakistan

[Paul Eggert]

> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 11:27:18 -0800
> From: Rives McDow <rmcdow at enteles.com>

>     I have been advised that Pakistan has decided to adopt dst on a TRIAL
> basis for one year, starting 00:01 local time on April 7, 2002 and ending at
> 00:01 local time  October 6, 2002.  This is what I was told, but I believe
> that the actual time of change may be 00:00; the 00:01 was to make it clear
> which day it was on.

Thanks for the heads-up.  I looked around and found these copies of
what appears to be essentially the same source:

http://www.dawn.com/2001/12/06/top4.htm
http://www.hclinfinet.com/2001/DEC/WEEK2/7/PAKInsideNN2.jsp
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/dec2001-daily/06-12-2001/main/main5.htm

(dated 2001-12-06) which says that the Cabinet adopted a scheme "to
advance the clocks by one hour on the night between the first Saturday
and Sunday of April and revert to the original position on 15th
October each year".  This agrees with your April 7 at 00:00, but
disagrees about the October transition, and makes it sound like it's
not on a trial basis.

Also, the "between the first Saturday and Sunday of April" phrase, if
taken literally, means that the transition takes place at 00:00 on the
first Sunday on or after April 2, not the more-usual April 1.  The
first year that this would make a difference is 2007.

For what it's worth, Shanks says that the last transition from DST in
what is now Pakistan also occurred at 00:00 on October 15.  The year
was 1945.