TIMESTAMP based on UTC
The Hive TIMESTAMP in CDH was not UTC-based. CDP supports UTC-based, SQL TIMESTAMP.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), also known as Coordinated Universal Time, Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), Z time, or Zulu time is a coordinated time scale managed by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM).
Before Upgrade to CDP
Hive used the local time (java.sql.Timestamp) to represent the TIMESTAMP data type without a time zone. This behavior misrepresented the time in some zones.
After Upgrade to CDP
UTC is used instead of the local time to represent the TIMESTAMP data type without a time zone (HIVE-12192).