In this 1981 column, Cecil appears to be confusing the international acceptance of a universal prime meridian through Greenwich and adaptation of a 24 hour day with the establishment of standardized time zones around the world.
Although Canadian Sanford Fleming vigorously proposed standard time zones at the International Meridian Conference of 1884, that resolution was specifically denied. His continued worldwide promotion of standard time was not fully realized until 1929.
As to why India is a half hour out of step … at the turn of the century, the former consolidated country of India/Pakistan occupied the entire time zone and most of the population lived closer to the middle of the time zone than to its outer edges. Splitting into two time zones would have been geographically awkward and hastened the distinction of Pakistan as a separate entity.
As for Cecil’s comment about Newfoundland thumbing its nose at Canada; during that era Newfoundland was an independent entity with its own currency, postage, government, etc. The social/economic/political center was in St John’s which was located so far east it could have been in the the same time zone as Greenland/Brazil. The half hour distinction was a compromise to ensure that all inhabitants of the Island shared a common approximation of noon.