Clocks to be advanced by an hour

Islamabad: Facing a huge energy deficit, Pakistan has drawn up a comprehensive plan for conserving power by advancing clocks by an hour and ordering markets to close by 9 pm local time from June 1. The adjustment in the Pakistan Standard Time (PST) would take it six hours ahead of GMT.

Pakistan, which faces an energy shortfall of 4,000 Megawatt, has twice before attempted to introduce daylight saving time but has failed on both occasions. The federal cabinet decided to call for international bids for generating 1,200 Megawatt of electricity on a fast-track basis.

The country's industrial zones will now observe off days on a rotation basis and air-conditioners in all government offices will be switched off between 8 am and 11 am. Half of the street lights will remain switched off during the next three months. The government will also import ten million energy-saving bulbs.