LAHORE: With just a couple of days left before the ongoing financial year ends, no meeting has been held so far to present the 2024-25 budget of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) before the Board of Governors (BoG) for approval. According to well-informed sources, no internal budget meeting has been held so far and there is no chance of any such meeting in the near future, as PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi is currently in West Indies on the invitation of the International Cricket Council to watch the T20 World Cup final scheduled to be held in Bridgetown on June 29.…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KABUL: Afghans mourned the end of their T20 World Cup dreams on Thursday but said the cricket team’s performances in reaching a first semi-final gave them hope for the future. An all-male crowd of hundreds — among them armed Taliban — watched on two large screens at Kabul Cricket Stadium as South Africa thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad. Hopes had been high that the Afghans would defeat South Africa, after shocking the mighty Australia for the first time on the way to the last four. Fans cheered and clapped their support even as Afghanistan were routed for a meagre 56 runs. Instead…
NEW DELHI: A dominant India ended England’s title defence by handing them a 68-run thumping in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday and secure their place in the final against South Africa. Put into bat in the rain-hit match, India posted a strong 171-7 with skipper Rohit Sharma (57) and Suryakumar Yadav (47) scoring bulk of the runs on a slow track at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The 2007 champions then returned to bundle out England for 103 inside 17 overs with their spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav wreaking havoc with the…
Slowing her breath and focusing on a bullseye in her pistol’s sights, Kishmala Talat is aiming to become the first woman from Pakistan to win an Olympic medal. At the Paris 2024 Olympics starting on July 26, Talat will compete in the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events, going for glory abroad and defying stereotypes at home. The nation’s medal prospects are undercut by modesty codes which dissuade women from participating in sport. 21-year-old Talat, who comes from a military family, is the first Pakistani woman to qualify for Olympic shooting. “In Pakistan there’s a prevalent taboo that dictates girls should…
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday approved major changes to the federal government’s pension system, set to be notified on July 1 after formal endorsement of the federal cabinet. The ECC, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, also sanctioned nearly Rs500 billion in technical and supplementary grants just two days before the close of the fiscal year 2023-24. The committee also decided to relaunch the “Risk Coverage Scheme for SMEs” and approved a Ministry of IT summary to return Rs11.13bn to the Universal Service Fund (USF) to address the budget shortfall. Informed sources said…
QUETTA: With the budget for fiscal year 2024-25 pending approval, the Balochistan Assembly on Thursday passed supplementary grants worth Rs47 billion for the outgoing financial year. Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani presented 45 grant demands in the house, only three days before the end of FY 2023-24. Supplementary grants are presented when a government fails to meet its expenditures from the amount allocated in the budget. Since opposition members moved no cut motion, all 45 demands for non-development extra expenditures were approved. The highest amount, Rs13.78 billion, was spent on pensions and other benefits for the Balochistan government’s retired employees. The extra…
KARACHI: Amid optimism for a smooth passage of the budget for fiscal year 2024-25 and a subsequent deal with the International Monetary Fund, the stock market continued its recovery momentum on Thursday. Investors engaged in value-hunting in oil and banking shares, which helped the benchmark index extend its overnight bull run. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said the finance minister’s proposal to abolish 15 per cent additional tax on banking profits and the government’s approval of releasing Rs82 billion for Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Rs92bn in interest payments in 12 monthly instalments under the circular debt settlement plan drew investors’…
KARACHI: The budget proposals for FY25 will stifle growth and innovation in the informal technology sector and exacerbate brain drain through high taxation, the chief of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said on Thursday. Atif Ikram Sheikh, the FPCCI chief, said at a press conference that despite repeated assurances from the incumbent government, budgetary proposals submitted by the IT industry had been completely ignored. He said the Finance Bill for FY25 showed the finance division’s “short-sightedness vis-à-vis the IT industry”, expressing apprehensions that the new proposals would “derail the IT sector”. The Pakistan Software Houses…
VIENNA: Vienna is still the world’s most liveable city for a third year in a row, while the rating of Tel Aviv in Israel slumped, according to a new survey published on Thursday. In The Economist’s annual ranking, the Austrian capital again came first, followed by the Danish capital Copenhagen and Zurich in Switzerland. Melbourne in Australia and Calgary in Canada completed the top five in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Index. “Western Europe remains the most liveable region, but has seen a decline in stability scores amid increasing instances of protests [….] on a variety of issues,” said a…
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday briefed his Chinese counterpart Qi Yanjun on the progress made in the probe into the Bisham attack in which five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed. During a meeting at the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in New York, Mr Naqvi and Mr Qi discussed bilateral relations, security-related matters and cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of two countries. The Chinese minister expressed satisfaction over the progress in the unfortunate incident and praised Pakistani agencies for their hard work and professional approach. He said China would provide full cooperation in training and capacity…
