Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada

TRINIDAD: Pakistan U-19 recorded an impressive 24-run win over Afghanistan in their Group ‘C’ to make it to the quarter-finals of the ICC U-19 World Cup at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Thursday. Chasing a 240-run target, Afghanistan were restricted to 215-9 in their quota of 50 overs as Pakistan bowlers and fielders produced an outstanding performance to defend their 239-9. Pacer Awais Ali, who took six wickets in the Pakistan’s opening fixture against Zimbabwe, produced ano­ther brilliant bowling performance that yielded him figures of 3-36 in nine overs. Captain Qasim Akram took 2-39 while Player-of-the-match Maaz Sadaqat…

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KARACHI: Starting his international career as 18-year-old lanky pacer for Pakistan back in 2018, Shaheen Afridi has seen a phenomenal rise. In 2021, the left-armer was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, bowled a sensational spell in their historic win against arch-rivals India in the ICC T20 World Cup and got nominated for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of The Year award. The pace sensation will start 2022 as the captain of Lahore Qalandars in the upcoming seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League. Though the franchise league is a totally different ball game as compared to international cricket, Shaheen…

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KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board has pulled all stops to ensure the seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League goes ahead according to plan. If it doesn’t, its fate will be nothing other than a cancellation. And with the seemingly uncontrollable nature of the raging wave of the coronavirus in the country, the PCB has prepared itself for virtually every scenario that can possibly emerge during the PSL. The final — set to be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore — in any case, has to be played on February 27, exactly a month after the opening game…

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KARACHI: The cost of fuel for electricity generation in December 2021 surged 72.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs8.24 per unit, according to data released by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. The increase in the fuel cost, which is one of the three components of the final rate that power producers charge their government-backed buyer, was 30.4pc on a month-on-month basis. The steep increase was because of a jump in furnace oil (FO) and regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG)–based cost of power generation, according to Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Ltd. The two sources of fuel collectively…

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ISLAMABAD: Approved by the National Assembly recently, large scale amendments in the SECP Act 1997 have curtailed the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Policy Board not only to finish the overlapping functions of the board and the commission but also to maintain a balance between the two. The amended law has omitted the suo motu powers of the Policy Board. Under the amended act, out of six independent members of the SECP Policy Board, at least one will be from each province. The maximum age for the member of Policy Board has been fixed at…

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KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC) and Honda Atlas Cars Ltd (HACL) have jacked up prices by Rs63,000-493,000 following an increase in Federal Excise Duty (FED) after the passage of Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 commonly known as mini-budget. According to the price announcement, the price of various Toyota Yaris models has surged by Rs63,000-76,000. The new rate of Yaris 1.3GLI MT, GLI CVT, ATIV MT, ATIV CVT, 1.5 ATIV XMT and 1.5 ATV X CVT is Rs2.612 million, Rs2.817m, Rs2.745m, Rs2.919m, Rs2.970m and Rs3.175m. Toyota Corolla variants prices have been increased by Rs81,000-100,000. The new price of 1.6MT, 1.6AT, 1.6AT SE,…

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ISLAMABAD: Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) posted paltry growth of 0.30 per cent in November on a year-on-year basis, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday. The LSM recorded negative growth of 1.19pc in October. The slight improvement shows a revival in large industries. The PBS has rebased the index for the manufacturing sector to 2016-17, but the estimation for November was still made on the old base of 2005-06. The lowest positive growth in the LSM was witnessed in September 2021 at 1.19pc after it clocked in at 12.74pc in August. The second-lowest LSM expansion took…

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LAHORE: The third Islam­abad-Istanbul freight train is likely to proceed for Turkey on Sunday, as the second one carrying goods weighing 525 tonnes has arrived in Istanbul via Iran. The booking for goods transportation Pakistan by this service has also started in Turkey, Dawn has learnt. “The second train has arrived in Istanbul a few days ago after it started its journey from Pakistan on Dec 28. The goods loaded in the train were mostly the soapstone that was transported to Turkey,” an official source in the Pakistan Railways told Dawn on Friday. After being dispatched on Dec 21 with…

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PARIS: French ruling party lawmaker Pascal Bois was at home asleep a few days after Christmas when firefighters banged on his front door to tell him his garage was in flames. Startled by the noise in the early hours of the morning, Bois stumbled out of bed and went to inspect the damage, seeing the outside structure consumed by fire with his electric vehicle inside. “I realised very quickly that it was a deliberate act,” said the married father of two, who had been on alert after receiving a bullet in the post in November. “There’s a moment of shock,…

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UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged world leaders to ensure that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) general allocation of $650bn of new special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are utilised for the recovery of developing economies. SDRs are international reserve assets created by the IMF in 1969 and are allocated to member states to supplement existing official reserves. In August 2021, the IMF created a new SDR fund of $650 billion to boost global liquidity amidst the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Addressing a meeting of the Group of 77 and China at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir…

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