Month: July 2024
Ex-PM Boris Johnson makes surprise appearance in British election campaign
LONDON: Former prime minister Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance in the British election campaign on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch bid to rally support for the Conservatives and their leader Rishi Sunak, the man who helped turf him out of office. Johnson won a big majority at the last election in 2019 before being forced to resign in 2022 by a Conservative mutiny which Sunak helped to start, and which exposed deep splits in the governing party, not least between Sunak and Johnson. Greeted by chants of “Boris! Boris!” from…
High-level committee formed to tackle monsoon emergencies
As part of precautionary measures, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday constituted a high-level committee to deal with any potential emergency situation during the upcoming monsoon season. Chairing a meeting regarding national preparedness for the monsoon in Islamabad, the prime minister directed all relevant institutions to remain on high alert. He also instructed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to assist all provincial governments and related institutions regarding the monsoon, Radio Pakistan reported. The premier said advisory to the people living in affected areas regarding any expected situation in emergency due to…
Daily Metro Times-2 July 2024
India overhauls colonial-era laws with new criminal codes
NEW DELHI: In a major development, India on Monday implemented an overhaul of colonial-era criminal laws, praised as a “watershed” movement by the top judge but which critics said could worsen an already glacially slow pace of justice. Interior Minister Amit Shah said the codes would help India “become the world’s most modern justice delivery system”. The three overhauled laws — the penal code, and codes relating to criminal procedure and evidence — were passed last year during India’s previous parliament, but only came into effect on Monday. Chief Justice…
Security forces kill 9 terrorists in two separate KP operations
Two terrorist commanders among nine militants were successfully neutralised by the security forces during two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday. As many as seven terrorists — including terrorist commanders Najeeb aka Abdul Rehman and Ishfaq alias Muavia — were eliminated by the security forces during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in the general area of Tira, Khyber District, the military’s media wing said. The killed militants were actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area and were wanted by law enforcement…
Aurangzeb expects $6-8bn IMF deal by July
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on Sunday that virtual negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are progressing positively, with an extended fund facility worth $6-8 billion expected to be agreed upon in July 2024. Addressing a news conference here, he said: “Our goal is to ensure this is the final IMF programme,” underscoring the importance of macroeconomic stability to prevent severe economic damage. Commenting on a recent resolution in the US House of Representative regarding elections in Pakistan, Aurangzeb clarified that it was unrelated to the IMF programme.…