[ILUG-BOM] Problem setting date in debian "testing" with KDE 3.5

Hello, I have a peculiar problem with my system date. I'm using debian "testing" with KDE 3.5. When i set the date, either through the KDE control center, or through the backend using the "date" command (as root ofcourse), it gets reset everytime i reboot my m/c. Btw, i have a hp (Compaq nc6400) lappy. Actually, the problem seems to be with the locale. In control center, if i set the time, with the locale, after a reboot, the same time is shown as UTC. Whereas, if i set the UTC time through the "date command" (i don't know how to pass locale to date command, so i'm assuming that it sets the UTC time), then after reboot, the UTC time itself moves 5.5 hrs ahead :(

Thanks a lot in advance. regards, Pradnyesh.