KARACHI: After hitting Sohail Khan for an M.S. Dhoni’s signature “helicopter shot”, Afghan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz maintained his pose for a few moments as the ball travelled over the midwicket boundary. The pose symbolised Islamabad United’s utter dominance over Peshawar Zalmi as the former two-time champions kicked off the seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League with a fabulous nine-wicket win. Gurbaz, on the next ball, pulled Sohail for another maximum and followed it with a boundary off his hips. At 160-1, Islamabad were cruising, with just nine more runs to win in five overs. England opener Alex Hales…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
When Grand Slam title No. 21 belonged to him, when the Australian Open final was over after 5 hours, 24 minutes of twists and turns and he somehow completed a comeback from two sets down, Rafael Nadal dropped his racket to the court, covered his face with his taped-up fingers, then shook his head and smiled. Just unforgettable, is how he described his 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Daniil Medvedev, a result that seemed particularly unlikely when Nadal faced three break points midway through the third set. Tapping his heart with his right hand, Nadal added: One…
KARACHI: It was the Fakhar Zaman show at the National Stadium on Sunday. Under floodlights, Fakhar was the shining star for Lahore Qalandars, single-handedly carrying them to victory against Karachi Kings with a century in their HBL Pakistan Super League match. The opener Fakhar made 106 off just 60 deliveries but unfortunately couldn’t finish the job, ending up getting caught at deep third-man off Umaid Asif at the end of the 19th over. Samit Patel (26 not out off 18) finished things off, hitting Lewis Gregory for two boundaries on the first two legitimate balls of the final over to…
In six and a half months of this fiscal year, growth in reserves money (RM), a sure indicator of inflationary buildup, remained higher than in the last year. This means inflation during this fiscal year will be higher than in the last year, despite all the fiscal and monetary tightening we have seen so far. Between July 1 and Jan 14 2021-22, RM grew 2.79 per cent against 1.19pc in the year-ago period, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) data. The SBP indicated in its latest monetary policy statement that inflation during this fiscal year would remain close…
Tradeoff in macroeconomic stability and economic challenges can be successfully achieved with the collaboration of the finance ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Much is needed to understand central bank independence, why is it required, its role in the economy and its management. Pakistan is far behind from the perspectives of politics, economics, and intentions to select and implement policy variables required for achieving the SBP independence. This is because of the excessive role of the government specially and specifically, the finance ministry in the affairs of the State Bank. This can be validated from the SBP Act…
“Imran Khan is not wrong, there is money in the market,” says a small trader in the Karachi market. A container from Shanghai to Karachi that used to cost $1,500 before March 2021 now costs $8,500, he says outlining the challenges. It’s the working capital that matters for importers, he explains. The dollar impact and higher container charges have increased the cost. Two years back, if we had say Rs10 million at hand to invest it meant we had roughly $65,000 but now it is about $55,000. But, the PTI loyalist insisted empathetically that despite these challenges, his business was…
In the first half of this calendar year, the country will see much delayed, staggered local government (LG) elections that would open up nationwide but uneven avenues at the grassroots level for the people to assume responsibility for the socio-economic development of their areas. This may eventually unleash the potential for things to move in the right direction. Under the proposed diverse models, the level of fiscal, administrative and political autonomy granted to LGs would differ from province to province, depending on the political orientation of party/coalition governing a federating unit. No firm date has been fixed for LG polls…
Peasants were entering fields, some harvesting sugarcane while others managed bright oranges. Travelling on a foggy January morning in upper Sindh with the sun trying to make its presence felt from behind clouds while the mustard crop was in full bloom on both sides of the highway made the trip a pleasure. However, a considerable stretch of the National Highway remains disturbing with broken patches beyond Hyderabad. Citrus, guava, mango and palm date orchards besides the cultivation of cash crops in any district make it a rich agriculture zone. Given their potential and diversity, farmlands on the left bank of…
BAGHDAD: Iraqi air strikes killed nine suspected fighters of the militant Islamic State group, including four Lebanese, in retaliation for an IS attack on Iraqi army barracks earlier this month, officials said on Sunday. IS gunmen in Iraq broke into a barracks in the mountainous al-Azim district outside the town of Baqouba on Jan 21, killed a guard and shot dead 11 soldiers as they slept. It was one of the boldest attacks by the militants in recent weeks and came amid an uptick in violence that stoked fears the group has been re-energised. Yehia Rasool, the spokesman for Iraq’s…
HASAKEH: US-backed Kurdish forces on Sunday said they had defeated all fighters of the militant Islamic State group left inside the Syrian jail that the jihadists stormed 10 days ago sparking battles that left over 330 dead. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the end of its mopping-up campaign inside the prison “after ending the last pockets in which IS terrorists were present”, it said in a statement. IS fighters on January 20 launched their biggest assault in years on the Ghwayran prison in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh, aiming to free fellow jihadists. After six days…
