Ballot boxes for Malvides’ elections to be placed in India
Male, March 17: The ballot boxes for Maldives’ upcoming parliamentary elections will be placed in India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, after around 11,000 Maldivians submitted re-registration requests to relocate their polling stations, the country’s election commission announced on Sunday. The six-day window for people to relocate their voting stations for the April 21 parliamentary elections expired on Saturday, media reports said, citing an Elections Commission notification. The top electoral body said that ballot boxes for the island nation’s elections will also be placed in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), the capital of Kerala, Sri Lanka’s Colombo and Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur after at least 150 people re-register to vote in each of the three countries. (PTI)
No additional funds for CPEC: Pak assures IMF
Islamabad, March 17: Pakistan has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it does not plan to allocate an additional budget to settle the Rs 493 billion dues of Chinese power plants, media reported. The global lender is also questioning the efficacy of the power sector’s anti-theft campaign. The IMF inquired about the Pakistan government’s decision on the allocation of funds for the Chinese power plants over and above the budgeted amount of Rs 48 billion for this fiscal year, Express Tribune reported. The IMF was informed that there was no plan to approve additional funds for retiring the outstanding debt of the Chinese power plants. The outstanding dues of power projects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) alarmingly increased to a record Rs 493 billion or $1.8 billion as of January-end. The amount was Rs 214 billion or 77 per cent higher than June last year. The build-up of Chinese debt violates the 2015 Energy Framework Agreement, which binds Pakistan to allocate sufficient money in a special fund to keep Chinese investors immune from the circular debt. Sources said the IMF appeared sceptical about the long-term success of the government’s anti-theft campaign and the military’s involvement in monitoring the performance of power distribution companies, Express Tribune reported. (IANS)
Shooting in Washington leaves 2 dead
Washington, March 17: Two people have been killed and five others injured in a shooting in the nation’s capital early Sunday. Police were looking for a single gunman after the seven people were shot around 3 am in the Shaw neighbourhood of Washington. The five people who were injured were all taken to local hospitals, said Jeffrey Carroll, the executive assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department. All of the victims are adults, he said. Police did not immediately provide details of the circumstances surrounding the shooting or the conditions of those injured. The District of Columbia is struggling with a sharp increase in violent crime, which went up 39% in 2023. The increase was largely fuelled by a 35% rise in homicides and growth in carjackings. (AP)