MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic’s lawyers filed court papers on Saturday in his challenge against deportation from Australia that show the tennis star tested positive for Covid-19 last month and recovered, grounds he used in applying for a medical exemption to the country’s strict vaccination rules. The top-ranked Djokovic was denied entry at the Melbourne airport late on Wednesday after border officials cancelled his visa for failing to meet its entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated for Covid-19. Djokovic was given a medical exemption backed by the Victoria state government and Australian Open organisers on Jan 1, based on information…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
SYDNEY: Usman Khawaja’s stunning return to Test cricket continued on Saturday with a blistering century in Australia’s second innings on day four which led the hosts to 265-6 declared and set England an unlikely 388 runs to win the fourth Ashes Test. Openers Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed then survived a nervous 11 overs in fading light to get England safely to stumps at 29 without loss at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Pakistan-born Khawaja, who scored 137 in the first innings in his first appearance since the 2019 Ashes series in England, headlined another dominant day for Australia with…
The six HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises on Saturday picked additional players and submitted partial replacements for unavailable players in a supplementary and replacement draft, said a statement from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The statement said the draft was held through a virtual session and the order of selection was decided through random draw. Karachi Kings had the first pick for the supplementary draft and chose Sahibzada Farhan, winner of the PCB Domestic Cricketer of the Year Award 2021. Lahore Qalandar who had the second pick chose Mohammad Imran Randhawa. “In the next four picks; Islamabad United added pacer Musa…
Battle-weary England dug in for a gripping draw with just one wicket left to deny dominant Australia a 4-0 series lead in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney on Sunday. Number 11 batsman James Anderson safely played out a tense 102nd and final over from leg-spinner Steve Smith in deteriorating evening light as England ended on 270 for nine chasing a 388-run target in a heart-pumping finish. It all came down to the last six balls at the Sydney Cricket Ground with eight fielders crowding around the bat as Anderson fended off Smith’s part-time leg-spin. Australia had dominated the majority…
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has accepted Pakistan’s request to postpone the review of its $6 billion loan programme scheduled for Jan 12, sources told on Saturday. The review is now expected to take place either on Jan 28 or 31, they said. The government on Jan 4 laid the controversial Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, generally known as mini-budget, before the Senate following its introduction in the National Assembly on Dec 30, 2021 along with the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021. Meeting now likely to be held on 28th or 31st The approval of the two bills is necessary to ensure…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports of services posted a growth of over 22.94 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year (5MFY22) from a year ago, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In absolute terms, the value of export of services reached $2.72bn between July-November 2021 from $2.22bn over the corresponding months of last year. On a monthly basis, the growth in exports of services also posted growth in November as it posted a growth of 15.41pc to $582.93m against $505.12m over the corresponding month of last year. On a month-on-month basis,…
KARACHI: The private sector’s credit off-take witnessed a record increase of over five times in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of the last year, suggesting the country may achieve the 5 per cent GDP growth target on the back of higher economic activities. The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest data showed the private sector borrowing jumped by 508pc to Rs715.7 billion in the July-December period against Rs117.7bn in the same period of FY21. The country achieved an economic growth rate of 3.9pc in FY21 despite low credit off-take by the private…
KARACHI: A number of cement makers are setting up solar and coal-fired power plants to curtail surging electricity expenses which is a material component of cement manufacturing cost. From January 2021 till date, manufacturers have also informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) about their plans and commissioning of solar and coal-fired plants. Attock Cement Pakistan Ltd (ACPL) company secretary Irfan Amanullah told Dawn that the Rs1.8 billion 20-megawatt solar power plant had successfully been commissioned from Jan 1 at the existing plant premises in collaboration with Attock Energy (Pvt) Ltd and leading Chinese suppliers. He said if the cement makers do not…
KARACHI: Alfalah GHP Investment Management Ltd is going to list on the bourse its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Jan 17, said company CEO Nabeel Malik while speaking to Dawn on Saturday. Traded on the exchange like an ordinary stock, ETFs let investors take exposure to a basket of companies while combining high returns of direct stock investing with the diversified base offered by mutual funds. The ETF will track the Alfalah Consumer Index, which is a benchmark consisting of 20 stocks from seven sectors that happen to be direct beneficiaries of growing consumer demand in the country. It’s going to be…
ALMATY: Kazakhstan’s former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state security agency said on Saturday, as the former Soviet republic cracks down on a wave of unrest and starts to assign blame. The detention of Karim Massimov was announced by the National Security Committee which he headed until he was fired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday after violent protests swept across the Central Asian nation. Tokayev’s office said he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that the situation was stabilising. “At the same time, hotbeds of terrorist attacks persist. Therefore, the…
