In the 2026 board exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education, for classes 10 and 12, the gates of the exam centers close at 10 a.m. The exam starts at 10:30, with reading time from 10:15. “No student will be permitted to enter the examination center beyond this cut-off,” PW News reported.
Seventeen Minutes Late
In June 2024 a candidate for the UPSC civil services preliminary exam arrived at a center in Sector 47, Gurugram, at 9:17 a.m. The exam began at 9:30. The candidate was not let in. A video of the candidate’s parents weeping at the gate spread widely online. “The gate was closed at 9:00 am but the examinee reached at 9:17 am,” the school’s principal said.
Around 18:04
“Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the Moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST,” The Quint reported, following ISRO’s announcement. Live coverage was to begin at 17:27 on ISRO’s website, YouTube, Facebook and DD National. ISRO asked schools and institutions to show the landing to their students live.
The Night Shift
In 2004 the trade magazine Voice&Data described a basic fact of the call center business. Because of the time difference with the United States, “international call centers have to operate at night in India.” Staffing follows the calling patterns of American customers. The night shift brings its own costs, such as late-night transport, cafeterias and higher staff turnover.
In 2022 Telangana Today reported that major IT companies in Hyderabad pay a night shift allowance of 300 to 400 rupees a night.
Sunday Morning
Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan ran on Doordarshan from January 25, 1987, to July 31, 1988. A new episode premiered at 9:30 every Sunday morning. “Streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began,” the BBC recalled.
Almost Three Years Early
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was set up in 1995, with E. Sreedharan as managing director. Construction began on October 1, 1998. The first phase, a network of 59 stations, was completed in 2006, on budget and almost three years ahead of schedule.
Business Week called it “nothing short of a miracle.”
Eighty-Four Seconds
On January 22, 2024, the idol of Ram Lalla was consecrated in the new temple at Ayodhya. The auspicious moment lasted 84 seconds, from 12:29:08 to 12:30:32. Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid of Kashi had fixed it.
Some parents planned births for the same day. At one hospital in Surat, doctors performed more than 22 cesarean deliveries, “all mothers choosing this date for their babies’ arrival.”
Before Rahu Kaala
On March 6, 2026, Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the state budget at 10:15 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. Rahu Kaala, a daily period of about ninety minutes that many regard as inauspicious, began at 10:30 that day.
He later said that his family and officials had advised him to avoid it. “I didn’t want to disappoint them or hurt their feelings,” he said. “This is the first time in my political career that I did so.” He added that he still does not believe in good or bad times.
The Auspicious Hour
On December 13, 2018, K. Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as chief minister of Telangana at 1:25 in the afternoon. Priests of the Yadadri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple had fixed the time. “The auspicious period will continue for another one-and-a-half hour,” the head priest said.
Earlier that year Rao had dissolved the state assembly at a time given by priests of the Sringeri Mutt.