LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has declined Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s respective requests for NOC’s to participate in the Global T20 — a franchise tournament to be played in Canada this month. In an announcement regarding the matter late on Friday night, the PCB said the decision was in accordance with the board’s workload management policy, given Pakistan’s packed cricket calendar from August to March next year. “The PCB had received NOC requests from Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi for the Global T20 event, amongst other players,” read the statement. “After taking into…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
DAMBULLA: Pakistan were outclassed by archrivals India in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup opener as the latter’s bowlers ruled the roost in their seven-wicket win at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Friday. India bundled out Pakistan for a below-par 108 after being asked to bowl and then chased down the target with as many as 35 balls remaining. Chasing 109, Indian openers Shafali Verma (40) and Smriti Mandhana (45) was at their best as they toyed with the Pakistani attack from the word go. It was an aggressive display of batting from both the Indian openers as they…
TROON: Shane Lowry moved into the lead of the 152nd British Open at seven under par after his second round at Royal Troon on Friday as a tame Tiger Woods limped to 14 over to miss the cut in the blustery conditions on Scotland’s west coast. Lowry had been usurped at the top of the leaderboard late on Thursday by unheralded Englishman Daniel Brown, who posted a six under 65. However, the Irishman, who won his sole major at the British Open in 2019, recovered from a dramatic double bogey on the 11th that threatened to derail his charge to…
NOTTINGHAM: Kavem Hodge scored his maiden Test hundred as West Indies made life tough for England in Nottingham on Friday during their first day in the field since James Anderson’s international retirement. West Indies were 351-5 in reply to England’s first-innings 416 at stumps on the second day of the second Test at Trent Bridge, a deficit of 65 runs. Hodge, dropped on 16, made 120 in what was just the 31-year-old’s seventh innings at this level. He shared a partnership of 175 with fellow Windward Islands batsman Alick Athanaze (82), who fell in sight of what would have been…
ISLAMABAD: With textile exports registering a decline in June, exporters have asked the government to reconsider its agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to salvage what’s left of the ailing industry, claiming that the current cost of electricity is too high, due to capacity charges. The need to revise these agreements was raised by former caretaker minister for Commerce and Industry Gohar Ejaz, who criticised the government for collecting Rs24 per unit from consumers in IPP capacity payments. Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Patron-in-Chief Khurram Mukhtar also raised the issue and called for a revision. The issue of IPP capacity payments arose as a…
ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) continues to rise due to an increase in petroleum prices, official data showed on Friday. SPI-based inflation saw an increase of 24.36 per cent year-on-year in the week ending on July 18. It witnessed a 0.76pc week-on-week increase. SPI-based inflation has been continuously rising for the past seven months. The Finance Act 2024, which imposed several indirect taxes which are currently being applied as of July 1, has been gradually adding to inflation in recent days as costs of pharmaceutical, stationery and poultry products began to rise following the imposition of sales tax on these…
ISLAMABAD: The government has started to return the Rs60 billion, taken from the account of the Universal Service Fund (USF) in 2013-14 to clear its circular debt, the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom was informed here on Friday. Chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan, the committee was briefed by senior USF officials, who highlighted the fund’s role in bringing telecom and internet services to the underserved and unserved areas, where operators do not venture due to low return on investment. However, the committee was told that USF projects had been facing delays over the past one and a half…
ISLAMABAD: Abu Dhabi will invest $250 million in 10 years in the Karachi Port to upgrade it for boosting economic activities. According to the PM Office, Abu Dhabi Ports Pakistan CEO Khurram Aziz Khan on Friday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and informed him that the company would invest $250m in the port during the next 10 years. Accompanied by a delegation, the company’s CEO explained that a fully equipped multipurpose terminal would be completed within two years with an investment of $130m. With the new infrastructure, cargo ships of up to 120,000-tonne capacity would be able to anchor…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will focus on meeting its external financing needs by speaking with foreign governments and lenders to draw foreign investment as well as seeking loan rollovers, Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb said on Friday, as the government prepares to execute its new $7bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement. Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement for the 37-month loan programme earlier this month. Tough measures such as raising tax on agricultural incomes and lifting electricity prices have prompted concerns about poor and middle-class Pakistanis grappling with rising inflation and the prospect of higher taxes. Pakistan has relied heavily on IMF programmes for years, at times…
WASHINGTON: Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within “one or two weeks”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday. Blinken said that “what we’ve seen in the last weeks and months is an Iran that’s actually moving forward” with its nuclear programme. The United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal, which was designed to regulate Tehran’s atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. Speaking at a security forum in Colorado, Blinken blamed the collapse of the nuclear deal for the acceleration in Iran’s capabilities. “Instead of…
