Author: newsdesk

  • Shoaib Malik has ‘butterflies’ over facing Australia

    Shoaib Malik has ‘butterflies’ over facing Australia

    Pakistan’s veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik has admitted that the semi-final match against Australia is giving him “butterflies”.

    Pakistan completed the Super 12 stage with five wins in as many games with a clinical 72-run win over qualifiers Scotland in Sharjah on Sunday.

    Shoaib smashed 18-ball 54 not out, the fastest half century of the tournament as Pakistan scored 189-2 in 20 overs before keeping Scotland down to 117-6.

    Pakistan is all set to play a semi-final against Australia in Dubai, a repeat of the 2010 T20 World Cup last-four, which the Australians won on the last ball in St Lucia.

    “Of course, we are watching Australia play good cricket and so are we, so it will be a tough match for both teams,” said the 39-year-old cricketer after his man-of-the-match knock, which contained six sixes and a four.

    “It will be a tough challenge for both teams and will give us butterflies but that is always encouraging.”

    Shoaib, who has played in all seven editions of the T20 World Cup, said: “We will take the semi-final as just another game and I think if we do that then we will be able to plan things in a better way.”

    Australia finished runners-up in Group 1, winning four of their five matches, but losing out on top spot to England on net run-rate.

    Having not won a Twenty20 World Cup yet, the Australians are peaking at the right time with opener David Warner returning to form, scoring 89 not out against the West Indies on Saturday.

    Read More – Australian Cricket team to tour Pakistan in March-April 2022

    “We will have a good rest, we are the form team so we need to plan well for the semi-final and this rest will surely help in doing that,” added Shoaib.

    “I am enjoying cricket and keeping fit, always love to come to the ground and do my best for my country and today’s innings was like that, highly enjoyable and it helped the team.”

    Shoaib, who was not part of the initial squad and was only included when Sohaib Maqsood was ruled out with a back injury, said that the omission had hurt.

    After his smashing win against Namibia, Malik took to Twitter and said that he dedicate this win to his team memebers.

    Meanwhile, Indian cricket commentator Aakash Chopra told Pakistan to “keep the trophy in the subcontinent”.

  • IN PICTURES: Star-studded trailer launch of Sajal Aly, Bilal Abbas starrer ‘Khel Khel Mein’

    IN PICTURES: Star-studded trailer launch of Sajal Aly, Bilal Abbas starrer ‘Khel Khel Mein’

    After the reopening of cinemas, Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan starrer movie Khel Khel Mein is set to release on November 19th, being the first film to release in the post-pandemic era. The film is based on true events and is set on the backdrop of a university group dwelling into the secrets of 1971’s liberation of East Pakistan.

    The trailer launch of the movie was held in Karachi which turned out to be a star-studded affair with celebrities like Fahad Mustafa and Manzar Sehbai gracing the event:

    Celebrities like Fahad Mustafa and Zhalay Sarhadi were present at the launch event.

  • ‘Govt and TTP agree on complete ceasefire’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘Govt and TTP agree on complete ceasefire’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced on Monday that a complete ceasefire had been reached between the government and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).

    The minister said that talks between the government and the TTP were underway in line with the Constitution and that the ceasefire would be extended keeping in view the progress of the talks.

    “The state’s sovereignty, national security, peace in relevant areas, and social and economic stability will be considered during the talks,” said Fawad.

    Fawad added that the interim Afghan government had facilitated the negotiations and progress on the restoration of “complete peace” in these areas of the country was a positive development.

  • Ayeza, Danish go big on décor for son Rayan’s ‘Superman’ themed birthday, Maya and Reema cheer

    Ayeza, Danish go big on décor for son Rayan’s ‘Superman’ themed birthday, Maya and Reema cheer

    Celebrity couple Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor celebrated the fourth birthday of their son Rayan Taimoor in a Superman-themed birthday bash in Karachi. The Mere Paas Tum Ho star took to her Instagram account to share pictures from the birthday celebrations.

    The duo went big on décor as always.

    Have a look at the pictures :

    Fellow celebrities dropped comments to cheer the Meherposh duo.

  • ECB chief Tom Harrison flies to Pakistan in bid to repair relations between England cricket and PCB

    ECB chief Tom Harrison flies to Pakistan in bid to repair relations between England cricket and PCB

    England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison will meet with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, as well as Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja, in a bid to repair relations with Pakistan in the wake of last month’s cancelled T20I tour.

    Read More – New Zealand cancels Pak series due to ‘security concerns’ despite PM Khan’s call to NZ PM

    Officials at the PCB were enraged when England pulled out of the two-match tour at short notice a few weeks ago.

    Now Harrison has flown in to assure Ramiz, the new chairman of the PCB, that England remain committed to their Test tour of the country at the end of 2022. England have not toured Pakistan since late 2005.

    He is also set to meet with PM Khan, Pakistan’s greatest allrounder and World Cup-winning captain, prior to his move into politics, who also serves as patron-in-chief of the PCB.

    Speaking in the wake of the cancelled T20I tour, which followed hot on the heels of New Zealand’s abandonment of their own tour on the morning of their opening ODI in Rawalpindi, Ramiz hit out at what he called cricket’s “western bloc”, and said that the PCB would be making contingency plans to protect their home itinerary in the event of another England pull-out next year.

    Reportedly, Harrison’s trip is only expected to last a couple of days. He is due in the UAE later in the week as the ICC hold their first in-person chief executives’ meeting since the start of the pandemic.

    The news came after Cricket Australia announced its plans for a three-Test, three-ODI and one T20I tour in March-April 2022. If it goes ahead as planned, it will be their first tour of the country since 1998.

  • Govt to stop release of weekly Sensitive Price Index after severe backlash due to inflation

    Govt to stop release of weekly Sensitive Price Index after severe backlash due to inflation

    After severe criticism due to uncontrolled inflation, the federal government has decided to stop the release of weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI) data and instead release monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI), reports Business Recorder.

    This decision was taken by the Federal Cabinet in its meeting held on November 2, presided over by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    The cabinet took note of the presentation by the Finance Division on prices of essential kitchen items and observed that despite inflationary pressure, prices in Pakistan were still lower in comparison to other regional countries.

    The Cabinet directed the Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Division to only release CPI on monthly basis, instead of weekly SPI, in line with the practice prevalent internationally.

    The Cabinet also directed the Finance Division to include Sri Lanka in the price comparison with regional countries.

  • Pakistan Covid positivity rate drops to 0.94%, lowest since March 2020

    Pakistan Covid positivity rate drops to 0.94%, lowest since March 2020

    Pakistan’s Covid-19 positivity rate on Tuesday dropped to 0.94 per cent, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The recorded positivity rate is the lowest since March 2020, Geo News has reported. During the last 24 hours, 42,373 tests were conducted across the country of which 400 returned positive.

    The country has administered at least 113,188,078 doses of COVID vaccines so far.

  • Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Police have started an investigation in the case of a young girl whose body was found dumped in a washroom of a metro bus station in Islamabad’s G-11, ARY News reported.

    The girl whose body was found on Monday has not yet been identified. She was aged between 11 and 12 years.

    The police suspect that the marks on her neck indicate that the girl was subjected to sexual abuse before she was strangled. Police will tell the actual cause of the death after the autopsy report.

    The police have detained two security guards of the metro bus station for an inquiry. A team has been constituted to probe her death.

    The body was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) where a medical board conducted an autopsy on the deceased. Samples were taken from the body and given to the police for chemical examination.

  • National Assembly approves Journalists Protection Bill and NAB Ordinance Bill

    National Assembly approves Journalists Protection Bill and NAB Ordinance Bill

    The National Assembly (NA) on Monday passed seven bills, including one related to three recent amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO-1999) that gave extension in service to the incumbent NAB chairman, reports Dawn.

    Among these bills was one related to the protection of journalists. The other five bills related to protection against harassment of women at workplaces, the National Commission on the Rights of Child, the juvenile justice system, and amendments to criminal laws.

    Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari took to Twitter and announced the passing of the bills.

    The bills presented by Mazari were Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill 2021, Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplaces Bill 2021, National Commission on the Rights of Child (Amendment) Bill 2021, Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill 2021, and Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection (Amendment) Bill 2021.

    The other two bills were Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 and National Accountability (Amendment) Bill 2021.

  • ‘Disappointed’: Shoaib Akhtar vows to fight lawsuit after receiving recovery notice from PTV

    ‘Disappointed’: Shoaib Akhtar vows to fight lawsuit after receiving recovery notice from PTV

    Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar has vowed to fight a legal battle after Pakistan Television (PTV) sent a legal notice to him as he resigned on-air in the aftermath of a heated exchange with Dr Nauman Niaz.

    Read More – ‘I resign from PTV’: Shoaib Akhtar, Nauman Niaz exchange hot words on air

    In a recent development in the PTV Sports controversy, PTV has sent a legal notice worth Rs100 million to ‘Rawalpindi Express’ after he stepped down during the live transmission of Game On Hai.

    Akhtar, 46, after receiving a legal notice for ‘breaching his contract’, expressed disappointment with the state-owned television.

    Taking to Twitter, the former cricketer turned analyst wrote: “Utterly Disappointed. After miserably failing to safeguard my respect and repute while I was working for PTV, they have now sent me a recovery notice. I am a fighter & will not give up & fight this legal battle. My lawyer Salman Niazi will take this forward according to law.”

    PTV reportedly sent the recovery notice to Akhtar for “being absent from shows during the T20 World Cup and for resigning from his position without serving a notice period”.

    He was served Rs100 million defamation notice due to the loss incurred by the state-run sports channel, after his appearance on an Indian news television channel in Emirates.

    Furthermore, PTV also demanded a three-month salary payment from the former fastest bowler for his non-notice period resignation.

    Read More – Shoaib Akhtar vs Nauman Niaz: Whose side is Twitter is on?

    The controversy, which garnered international attention, started in a post-match show, after Green Shirts’s victory over New Zealand. Show host Dr Nauman Niaz and Akhtar were involved in a heated debate.

    Recently, former PTV host Nauman Niaz also expressed regret over the controversy saying “he can apologise not only once but a million times” while legendary player Shoaib Akhtar said he had forgiven Nauman for the sake of Pakistan and state institutions.

    Last month, the administration of PTV also formed a committee to investigate the matter and ordered to keep the duo off-air until the completion of the inquiry.