PRECISE PANCHANGAMS VARY BY LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE
Though many Hindu follow the panchangams printed in India, the India dates for the "tithis" (which are the precise days of the phase of the moon, ) are actually different in other countries. With computers now used to calculate the sacred Hindu calendar in a matter of minutes, people are more and more observing the tithis according to true astronomical calculations for their geographical location.

As an example, check out this testimony from San Diego, California:
"Surprise! A Kadavul Hindu temple retreat period for Purnima and Prathama (full moon and the first day of the waning moon) may be a 2 day period in Hawaii, but 3 in San Diego! So when devotees in San diego thought it was gold retreat star 3 (which occurs when the prathama tithi crosses overnight to the next day.) on Monday Sept. 7th, which it was in San diego, it was actually Sun 1 (Dvitya tithi) at the Kauai Aadheenam. Sannyasini Shanmuganathaswami says, this is normal and does happen. Surprise, never heard that before! It makes sense though. ItŐs a 4 day phase in San Diego but 5 in Hawaii. So we have extra holidays here, smile!

I suppose it's rare, and next week the two cities are back in sync, but this could lead to possible confusion; for example, we had an appointment for a conference call to the aadheenam on "sun 3" - but that is Wed in Kauai and Thurs in S.D. this week.

An interesting curiosity, which just happened to fall on a 3-day national holiday."

aum aum
sadhu

Yes, it can and does happen and that is one of the reason why even the sacred night of Maha Sivaratri may be celebrated at different nights in different locations.

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA BANNED
United Press International.

NEW DELHI, India, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Indian authorities have banned imports and sale of the CD version of Encyclopedia Britannica, saying ts map of the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir is incorrect. However, the ban will not affect the printed version of the encyclopedia.
The disputed Kashmir state is divided between India and Pakistan after they became independent 51 years ago. Both nations claim the region and have fought two wars because of the dispute.
All maps appearing in international publications in India must depict Kashmir as part of Indian territory or risk being prominently stamped as being wrong. Since it was not possible in the case of computer disks, the authorities decided to impose a ban on Britannica CD.
Indian maps show the entire territory as part of Indian soil, in line with Delhi's insistence that Kashmir has been an integral part of the country.