Dhaka, June 2 (IANS) Bangladesh will advance its clock by an hour from midnight of June 19 to switch over to the daylight saving time (DST).
The clock will strike 1.00 a.m. instead of midnight, a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided Monday.

Dhaka has been toying with the idea for some weeks as an energy-saving measure to enable people to have an extra daylight hour.

In effect, it means offices and businesses will open and close an hour earlier than usual, The Daily Star said.

The system is useful as that it cuts down electricity need in the evening, a spokesman of the prime minister’s office said.

Bangladesh joins 70 other countries including Britain, US, Japan, France and Taiwan in introducing the daylight saving time to save power, as it faces an acute shortage of energy in March-September, the official said.

During the period, the demand for electricity shoots up to 5,500 megawatts with average load-shedding ranging between 800 and 1,000 MW a day. Currently, the country produces around 3,800 MW of electricity every day.