Mahakal Standard Time: Ujjain as New Prime Meridian? Proposal to Replace GMT

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan proposed Mahakal Standard Time (MST) to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), establishing Ujjain as the world's prime meridian.
• Supporters argue Ujjain is the scientifically and historically accurate "centre of time," citing ancient texts and its location at the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and India's ancient Zero Meridian.
• Proponents view GMT as a "colonial-era construct" and see MST as a way to re-establish India’s scientific pride and shed the "Macaulay mindset."
• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav asserts India's time measurement system is more synchronized with Earth's rotation than GMT.
• The proposal, introduced at the ‘Mahakal: The Master of Time’ conference, faces debate over its practicality despite local government support.