BUENOS AIRES: An Argentine court on Thursday delayed to March 2025 the long-awaited criminal trial of seven of the eight medical professionals accused of negligence in the death of Argentina football legend Diego Maradona. The trial was set to start next month, after a previous postponement in May, but is now on track to begin on March 11 next year, according to a ruling seen by AFP. Maradona died in November 2020 at age 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades of battling cocaine and alcohol addictions. He was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife,…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
LAHORE: Decisions over spending billions of rupees were approved in a matter of a few minutes during the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Board of Governors’ (BoG) last two meetings, Dawn has learnt. Across the two meetings — the first held at the PCB’s headquarters here on July 6 and the second held at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday — a budget of Rs12.8 billion was approved for the revamping of three stadia to prepare them for hosting the ICC Champions Trophy next year. Dawn, however, understands that the duration of the two meetings totalled to a mere 23 minutes, which is unusually short for…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE has said significant strides have been made in implementing the seven memorandums of understanding signed recently with the Gulf country for cooperation in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, finance and technology sectors. Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi met the UAE under-secretary for investment, Mohamed Al Hawi, in Dubai on Friday to review the implementation of MoUs. The MoUs, signed last year, relate to energy, port operations, wastewater treatment, food security, logistics, minerals, and banking and financial services sectors. The two sides acknowledged the progress and discussed how the agreements benefited the two countries’ economies. Ambassador Tirmizi said the…
ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has directed all relevant departments to prioritise the completion of the Diamer-Bhasha dam project and avoid further delays to ensure Pakistan’s water and food security. The minister chaired a review meeting on the progress of the Diamer-Bhasha dam project. The secretary of planning, Wapda chairman, and senior officials from relevant departments attended the meeting. An official announcement said that Diamer-Bhasha dam is a crucial project for the country’s water and food security and must be completed expeditiously in the national interest. The minister said that until 2018, the estimated construction cost of the dam was…
KARACHI: Expressing disappointment over the 200 basis points cut in the benchmark interest rate by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the business community has demanded an immediate reduction in the rate by another 300bps to facilitate the trade and industry facing extreme liquidity crunch. In a statement issued on Friday, the United Business Group (UBG), representing top businessmen and industrialists, said the 200bps cut is insufficient to spur growth. “While a 200bps cut will provide a slight relief to businesses, in reality, traders, exporters, importers, and small businesses are facing severe financial challenges, primarily due to a liquidity crunch,”…
KARACHI: The stock market surged above the 80,000 level intraday on initial buying triggered by an interest rate cut and the fixing of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting to review a bailout for Pakistan, but late selling substantially trimmed the early gains on profit-taking mainly driven by foreign investors on Friday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday delivered the much-anticipated third straight cut in its policy rate, which was above the market expectations of 150bp but far lower than the trade and industry’s demand of up 500bps reduction since inflation receded to single digits in August. Ahsan Mehanti…
ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), rose 14.36 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Sept 12 owing to an increase in prices of essential food items. The SPI-based inflation reversed to a modest increase after a seven-week consecutive deceleration. It increased by 0.01pc from the preceding week, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data released on Friday. The upward trend in short-term inflation is due to the rising prices of perishable food products, such as tomatoes and chicken, while electricity rates also increased week-on-week. However, petrol prices fall slightly in the last three weeks, lowering the transportation cost of…
In Balochistan’s Mastung district, two Levies Force personnel were martyred, and three others, including a senior officer, were injured on Friday when tribesmen opened fire near a Levies station. The attack followed the arrest of a tribal elder’s brother, sparking protests that blocked the Quetta-Noshki Highway. In a separate incident, eight security personnel were injured in Kalat after an IED explosion targeted their vehicle. The injured were transported to local hospitals, and security forces launched a search operation to apprehend the attackers.
PTI founder Imran Khan revealed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was “picked up” by the military after a rally in Sangjani, though Gandapur has remained silent about the details. Khan praised Gandapur’s grace in not discussing the incident, despite concerns raised about his disappearance following a fiery speech at the rally. Khan also endorsed Gandapur’s proposal for direct talks with the Afghan Taliban to address terrorism in KP, criticizing the federal government’s reluctance to support the initiative. The PTI leader stressed that dialogue with Afghanistan is essential to ending terrorism, warning that failure to act could lead…
On Friday, three major opposition parties—Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M)—warned their members that they could face de-seating from parliament if they voted in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age of judges by three years. BNP-M President Akhtar Mengal, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar all reaffirmed their opposition to the amendment. The opposition, which holds 91 seats in the National Assembly, is united in its stance, with party leaders cautioning against supporting any legislation perceived as undermining the Constitution or democracy. Meanwhile, Minister for…
