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Pakistan introduces daylight saving time

ISLAMABAD: Starting Saturday midnight, Pakistan will go 30 minutes ahead of India instead of the usual half hour behind.

With Pakistan introducing daylight saving time (DST) from Sunday as a power-saving measure, India is set to have one country to its west that will be ahead in time. The anomalous situation will last three months, as DST will remain in force until August 31.

Along with DST, which seeks to take advantage of the longer daylight hours in summer, several other electricity-saving measures announced by the government earlier this month will come into force from Sunday. Pakistan is reeling under a severe power shortage, with production lagging behind estimated power requirement. Shops will close at 9 pm; they will remain shut on Fridays and open on Sundays, the idea being to get people to shop during the day. In government offices, air-conditioners would to be switched on only at 11 a.m.

Three to 12 hours of load-shedding has been in force for the past three months. But while most agree that energy-saving measures are required, there is strong opposition to the steps coming in to force from Sunday.

Critics are pointing to an earlier experiment with DST that ended in failure as vast numbers of people either did not know about the measure or were too confused to understand it. People have also said it will disrupt prayer timings.

Shopkeepers are resisting the earlier closing time on the plea that shoppers stir out only late in the evening during the summer. As for switching on air-conditioners in government offices late, people are dismissing it as a gimmick.

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