Author: newsdesk

  • Shaheen Afridi climbs to third spot in Tests, Babar Azam loses top rank

    Shaheen Afridi climbs to third spot in Tests, Babar Azam loses top rank

    In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies.

    Shaheen headlines the bowling rankings in the latest weekly update for men, which is carried out on Wednesdays and includes the second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan, which Pakistan won by an innings and eight runs to clinch full ICC World Test Championship points from the series.

    Shaheen has continued his climb with three wickets in the match while off-spinner Sajid Khan has zoomed up 52 places to 49th after a 12-wicket haul that won him the Player of the Match award. Mohammad Rizwan (up five places to 18th) and Fawad Alam (up seven places to 20th) have moved up in the batters’ list after their useful half-centuries.

    In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies. He moves to number 3 while Mohammad Rizwan has retained his fourth spot.

    Pakistan’s Haider Ali has gained 86 slots to reach 98th position after scores of 68 and 31 while the rankings for bowlers see spinner Shadab Khan back in the top 10, moving up five slots to ninth position.

    Fast bowler Haris Rauf is up three places to 19th while Mohammad Nawaz has gained 29 slots to reach 54th position. For the West Indies, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosen has gained 73 slots and is now 68th among bowlers.

    Team Pakistan has won two out of three matches in the three-match T20I series with West Indies in Karachi. Babar has scored 0 and 7 runs in both the matches respectively. While the Men in Green are set to play their third and final match against the Windies tomorrow (Thursday) in National Stadium Karachi.

  • ‘Shekhar gave 1.5 lakh dollars, 52 lakh’s horse, cat worth a million’: Jacqueline Fernandez’s blasting revelations to police

    ‘Shekhar gave 1.5 lakh dollars, 52 lakh’s horse, cat worth a million’: Jacqueline Fernandez’s blasting revelations to police

    Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez  was quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate in a series of meetings in last few weeks.

    NDTV confirmed that the Race 2 diva has now confessed to receiving lavish gifts worth crores from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar who is being probed in a 200 crore money laundering case.   

    The ED in its charge sheet stated that Chandrashekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul and six others are key people in the case. As  for Jacqueline, Chandrashekhar befriended Jacqueline by making a “spoof” call by replicating the office number of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, NDTV reported.

    Jacqueline has confessed to receiving a 1.5 lakh dollar loan from Chandrashekhar as well as gifts that included a horse worth Rs 52 lakh and a Persian cat worth Rs 9 lakh. 

    He also reportedly gave her a pair of multi stone earrings, an Hermes bracelet and a Mini Cooper. However, Jacqueline reportedly returned the Mini Cooper later.

    Mini Hatch - Wikipedia

    ED investigation revealed that the conman was in “regular contact” with her since February, until the Delhi Police arrested him on 7 August. 

    Jacqueline Fernandez

    The Enforcement Directorate, probing conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in the ₹ 200 crore money laundering case.

    An ED charge sheet filed in the matter clearly stated that “during the investigation, statements of Jacqueline Fernandez were recorded on 30.08.2021 and 20.10.2021. Jacqueline Fernandez stated she received gifts viz three designer bags from Gucci, Chanel, two Gucci outfits for gym wear, a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes, two pairs of diamond earrings and a bracelet of multicoloured stones and two Hermes bracelets. She also received a Mini Cooper, which she returned.”

    All the accused are presently in judicial custody. Advocate Anant Malik and Advocate Rohan Yadav appeared before the court for Sukesh Chandrashekhar, Leena Maria Paul and Ramnani brothers in the matter.

    Advocates Atul Tripathi and Mohammad Faraz, Special Public Prosecutors along with RK Shah, appeared for ED.

    The ED, a financial probe agency, has recently arrested them under the PMLA in the extortion racket which was being run from a Delhi jail. Two co-accused Pradeep Ramdani and Deepak Ramnani have been also arrested by the ED in case.

    Jacqueline Fernandez under fire for leaked intimate pictures with Indian conman

  • Court sentenced former policeman for throwing acid on ex-fiance

    A Session court in Karachi gave life imprisonment to a former policeman, Zeeshan Umar for throwing acid on his ex-fiance, Raheela to take revenge over refusing his marriage proposal in 2015.

    Zeeshan Umar was found guilty of attacking 19-year-old Raheela Raheem, her brother, and her nephew on July 5, 2015, in Mobina Town. Another accused Agha Sohrab was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

    Additional District and Session Judge Javed Hyder Phulpoto pronounced the verdict reserved after recording arguments and pieces of evidence. The trial took six years to reach the final verdict.

    A fine of Rs1 million was also imposed on the convict by the judge.

    Counsel of the complainant, Salahuddin Panhwar said that according to the prosecution, Umar and Raheela got engaged in 2015 but their relationship was called off after a few months because the victim’s family considered him (Umar) a mugger.

    He further said that Raheela went to a local shop to put henna on her hands on the day of the incident, a day before Eid. She was standing outside the house carrying her six-month-old nephew, Muhammad Hadi, when the culprit suddenly appeared and threw acid on her face and the child.

    She lost one eye and her face got completely burnt. Her nephew also suffered serious burn injuries.

    Prior to this, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the police to give security to the victim and her family in 2017. The counsel emphasised that they still need protection since higher-ups of police failed to follow court’s orders.

  • Junaid Safdar, Maryam Nawaz and Ayesha Saif opt for multiple A-list designers for the fairytale wedding

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Safdar’s son, Junaid Safdar’s Barat ceremony took place last night in Lahore. It was a royal traditional event.

    Junaid on his big day wear wore Hassan Sheheryar Yasin’s customized attire and looked pleasant in a white sherwani. HSY shared the pictures of the couple on his Instagram with the couple, “Junaid Safdar in HSY. Classic off white sherwani made in all natural material from Pakistan. Worn over a 100% Pakistani Cotton Shalwar and Kameez. The raised band collar created a regal silhouette. The metal buttons are in a gloss finish. His pagri is a nod to his years at Aitchison college.”

    Junaid’s wife Ayesha Saif Khan opted for Bunto Kazmi’s Jora.

    Junaid’s Mother Maryam Nawaz wore a Nomi Ansari dress.

  • Zardari corruption case: NAB references busted, not in accordance with law

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari ‘ultra vires and not according to the law’, reports The News.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah condemned NAB authorities and said that all its references got busted for not being prepared as per law. He said that the Bureau was just wasting its time by making pointless references, adding that NAB was not above the law.

    “How the bureau could declare null and void the Income Tax Order by itself,” the CJ observed, adding that NAB did not have any jurisdiction to nullify the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Assessment Order.

    Earlier, IHC had noticed that NAB challenged the acquittal request of Zardari, without obtaining the original record of the case.

    The court noted that it took NAB seven years to realise that the appeals were filed without possessing the original record.

    CJ Minallah said NAB should now admit it had made a mistake by filing these references since it did not have proof against the former president.

    “And if indeed, there were no proofs, then the court will also take action against the former bureau chairman in whose tenure these cases had been filed,” said the IHC CJ.

  • Asian Development Bank to develop irrigation system in Pakistan

    Asian Development Bank (ADB) approves to develop an irrigation system in Pakistan.

    This irrigation system will boost agronomy and food security in Punjab province.

    “Given Pakistan’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, it is essential to build irrigation infrastructure for climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “ADB’s support will help boost the supply of local produce and promote food security while increasing economic growth.”

    “By integrating infrastructure and agricultural interventions, this project directly supports smallholder farmers to manage their limited resources more efficiently and maximize the benefits from irrigated agriculture,” said ADB Principal Portfolio Management Specialist Natsuko Totsuka.

    “The project will strengthen the capacity of local authorities to maintain these irrigation systems, boost rural economic growth and help to reduce poverty in the province.”

    However, Pakistan is now facing scarcity of water and mismanagement of water resources because of very old irrigation systems.

  • ‘Set the record straight’: Jahangir Tareen responds to allegations of giving PM Khan pocket money

    ‘Set the record straight’: Jahangir Tareen responds to allegations of giving PM Khan pocket money

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) disgruntled leader Jahangir Tareen, clears the air on the allegations levelled towards him of bearing the expenses for Bani Gala, the residential place of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    Jahangir took to Twitter and wrote, “Regardless of the current status of my relationship with Imran Khan, the truth must be told. I did whatever was in my capacity to help PTI in the quest to build a new Pakistan.”

    “I never gave a penny for the household expenses of Bani Gala. Just want to set the record straight,” tweeted Jahangir.

    Earlier, former PTI leader, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, claimed that PM Khan’s monthly household expenses were once catered by Tareen.

    Wajihuddin revealed that Tareen initially gave funds worth Rs3 million per month for Imran Khan’s household expenses, which was later increased to Rs5 million per month.

    Speaking further about the honesty of the premier, Wajihuddin said that the notion about Imran Khan being an honest man is “completely wrong”.

    “This belief is entirely false that Imran Khan is a [financially] honest man,” Wajihuddin said. “His condition is such that he hasn’t been running his household himself for years.”

  • Lahore’s air quality reaches 981, normal air quality should be below 50

    Lahore’s air quality reaches 981, normal air quality should be below 50

    Lahore recorded the worst air quality in four years on Wednesday. An Air Quality Index (AQI) of 981 was recorded near the Mall Road, Samaa has reported. As per United States Environmental protection agency, the hazardous category indicates an AQI of 301–500. The ‘good’ category is 0–50, which is followed by ‘moderate’ at 51–100 while anything in the 101–301 AQI range is considered unhealthy.

    The AQI on Wednesday was recorded above 700 in most areas of Punjab’s capital. A level of 761 was recorded in Gulberg Town, 625 in Fatehpur, while the air quality in Model Town was recorded 591, Samaa reported.

    In November, Lahore was also ranked number one while Karachi ranked fifth among the top five cities with bad air quality in the world.

    Meanwhile, in November, Provincial Minister of Punjab for Environment Protection Muhammad Rizwan claimed that there has been no smog in Punjab, including Lahore, for the last two years.

  • Sri Lankan cricket legend Ranatunga thanks PM Khan for ensuring justice for Priyantha Kumara

    The former 1996 Cricket World Cup-winning Sri Lankan captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, thanked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for his efforts to find all those involved in the lynching of Priyantha Kumara and his support for the deceased’s family.

    Sharing the letter he wrote to the premier, Arjuna tweeted, “Thank you for all your efforts in bringing justice for the crime committed against Priyantha Kumara, and for the continued support and commitment toward his family.”

    The letter reads, “You [Imran Khan] have always been unwavering in facing challenges whether it be on the cricket field or the political arena. Since you’ve become the prime minister of Pakistan, you have been carefully addressing some controversial issues in the country.”

    Earlier this month, 49-year-old Kumara, a manager at Rajco factory in Sialkot, was lynched by a mob. The mob tortured him to death and later burnt his body.

    Following the news, PM Khan condemned the incident and ensured the punishment of those who were involved.

    A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 900 workers of Rajco Industries and several arrests have been made.

  • Teenage son adds drugs to biryani, tortures, kills father for refusing pocket money

    A teenager in Lahore murdered his 50-year-old father for not paying him pocket money by electrocuting him to death. The two boys who also assisted him were his cousin and friend which took place in Johar Town, Lahore.

    According to the initial investigation of the police, which took place on Tuesday, the victim’s teenage son gave a drug-laced biryani to his father and then tortured him for “two to three hours.”

    The police said that he handcuffed his father and violently mistreated him through electrocution.

    Saddar Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Operations Hafeez ur Rehman Bugti said, “The three teenagers, including the son, plotted the murder.”

    Bugti added that the perpetrator wanted to inherit his father’s property as he would not pay him pocket money.

    The police have arrested all three accused including the deceased’s son, cousin, and his friend for the murder.

    The teenage boy is the only son of the victim, he added.

    The young son confessed his crime and also claimed that he murdered him because neither he was paying him pocket money nor letting him do a job.

    The body will be handover to a family after a postmortem.