Clocks to go one hour ahead June 19 midnight

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ABODELESS: A helpless cyclone-victim has taken shelter in a roadside makeshift shanty at Koyra in Khulna, as his house was destroyed by 'Aila' last week. — AFP photo

The cabinet Monday decided to advance the clock by an hour from zero hour on June 19 to make the most of sunlight as a measure for solving the prevailing crisis of electricity, reports UNB.
In its meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, the cabinet also decided to suspend the recovery of agricultural loans in the Aila-affected areas, as the cyclone battered life and livelihood of many people in the country's coastal areas.
As part of the post-cyclone relief and rehabilitation recipe of the government, a decision was also taken by the cabinet to repair the damaged embankments in the Aila-hit districts.
Prime Minister's Press Secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, briefed journalists about the meeting in the conference room of Press Information Department (PID).
"Considering the growing demand for power for rapid socioeconomic development, the cabinet decided to advance the clock in a bid to make best use of sunlight," the Press Secretary told the post-meeting press briefing.
Azad said scope for generating more power within a short time is very little. But the days from March to September are longer than other times of the year.
"So, if best use of daylight can be made, the shortage of power can be made up to some extent," he said.
Azad informed that journalists in the world's 70 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Denmark, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Iran, the Philippines and Pakistan, go by this system of advanced timings.
About the power shortages he said that, on average, the extent of load shedding during peak hours is 800-1000 MW as everyday the demand for power rises up to 5,500 from 5,000 megawatts in the evening outweighing the aggregate generation.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the cabinet meeting assigned four ministers to the emergency task of supervising the relief and rehabilitation operations in the Aila-hit areas.
They are Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque (Satkhira), State Minister for Religious Affairs Shajahan Miah (Patuakhali), Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Mashiur Rahman (Khulna) and LGRD State Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak (Bhola and Barisal).
Azad said 51 upazilas of 11 districts have been affected by the cyclonic storm nicknamed Aila, which took a human toll of 179 lives by official count to date.
He said the storm hit the areas on May 25 while the authorities concerned completed their preparation to face the calamity at 4pm on May 24 at an urgent meeting of the Preparation Implementing Committee to Face Cyclone.
At present 455 medical teams comprising 272 doctors are working in the affected areas, Azad said, after the cabinet did the stocktaking of the aftermath.
Another agendum of the cabinet meeting was a review of implementation of the decisions so far taken in the meetings of the nearly six-month-old cabinet of Sheikh Hasina.
Azad said a total of 124 decisions were taken in the 23 cabinet meetings held since January 7 till May 25.
"Of these, 67 decisions have been implemented fully and 57 others are being implemented. Drafts of 68 acts have been finalized. Of the drafts, 37 were turned into laws through 32 bills in parliament. Eleven draft acts are waiting to be placed in the House through 10 bills. And others are still under process in the related ministries and departments," Azad said.
The PM's press secretary said PM Hasina directed the authorities concerned to implement the cabinet's decisions fast, and fully.