Pakistan

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Pakistan is probably the only cricketing nation where the discussion around pitches becomes bigger than debates on team selection or performance. This obsession did not appear recently. It really took shape three years ago, when Pakistan went through a painful home stretch. They lost a Test series to Australia with two dull draws and one defeat, were whitewashed 3-0 by England on lifeless tracks, and drew both home Tests against New Zealand. These series exposed a major flaw. Instead of being an advantage, Pakistan’s home conditions had become neutral or even harmful. Flat pitches were presented as good for batting and supposedly good for long term development, but they killed any chance of producing results. When the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman at the time, Ramiz Raja, defended this philosophy by saying it would take a year for Pakistan to be able to prepare proper five-day Test pitches, fans felt even more frustrated. Pakistan was not only losing matches but also losing identity. The shift that ha...

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Police on Friday detained 24 PTI leaders and workers following a protest at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), held to demonstrate the party’s concerns over former prime minister Imran Khan’s well-being. Reports about Imran’s ill health had swirled on social and foreign media a day ago, prompting both government and PTI leaders to dismiss the rumours and state that the former prime minister — currently held incarcerated at Rawalpindi’s Adial jail — was doing well. Several PTI workers, including women, carried banners bearing slogans in favour of the former premier as they moved towards KPC today. The party workers and leaders chanted slogans and delivered speeches. Authorities had sealed all routes leading to the KPC by placing barricades and parking vehicles. A sizeable police presence was noted at the KPC and in the surrounding areas, supported by women personnel. PTI Sindh spokesperson Mohammed Ali Bozdar said 20 PTI workers and leaders were detained; however, South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed...

The lowest price offered in the tender from the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to purchase 100,000 metric tonnes of rice for supply to Bangladesh was estimated at $394.95 CIF liner out, European traders said on Friday. CIF liner out terms include cost, insurance, and freight shipping to a port in Bangladesh, as well as the seller’s unloading costs. No purchase has been reported and offers are still being considered, they said. Reports reflect traders’ assessments, and further price and volume estimates are still possible later. The lowest offer was reportedly submitted by the company Jhulay Lal. There were 11 participants in TCP’s tender, with other prices ranging from $397.25 to $424.80 a tonne CIF liner out, traders said. Bangladesh has been undertaking a series of import tenders in the past weeks to cool local prices. The TCP tender seeks long-grain white rice to supply to Bangladesh. Price offers have to be valid for 21 working days after submission. The rice must be available for shipment within 4...

A Nasa rover has recorded evidence of lightning on Mars for the first time, its microphone picking up the sounds of tiny “zaps” whipped up by the dust storms constantly sweeping across the planet. Scientists have long debated whether electrical discharges could be sparking in the dusty and little-known Martian climate - but proof has been hard to come by. It turns out that Nasa’s Perseverance rover, which has been roaming the red planet since 2021, was inadvertently recording the sounds of lightning, according to a study published in Nature this week. These are far from the thundering, kilometre-long lightning bolts we see on Earth. Instead, they are “little zaps” similar to “what you might feel in dry weather when you touch your car door and there’s a bit of static electricity,” lead author Baptiste Chide of France’s CNRS research centre told AFP. While low in energy, these discharges are happening “absolutely all the time — and everywhere” on Mars, the planetary scientist said. The process starts when tiny ...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has launched a project to build a new air traffic control (ATC) tower and a modern rescue and firefighting station (RFFS) at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a PAA press release said on Friday. According to the press release, the design phase of the project is expected to be completed within six months, with a two-year construction period for the tower and the station. “The facilities will be designed and constructed by MM Pakistan in [a] joint venture with CEMOSA and Fairbanks Architects from Spain, bringing international expertise in airport planning and communication and navigation/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems integration,” the press release read. A photo of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from December 26, 2024. — Abyan Amir It added that senior architect Bruce Fairbanks and CNS/ATM specialist Juan Cruz Canabate participated in a four-day workshop at Jinnah International, where they interacted with local aviation professionals to establish d...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss all aspects of their countries’ “privileged strategic partnership” when Putin visits New Delhi next week, the Kremlin said. India, a major buyer of Russian oil, has also bought its weapons for decades, though a top defence official said the country had bought US arms worth nearly $30 billion in the past decade and aims to produce more of its own equipment. “They (the Russians) have been our friends through both fair and foul weather, and we are not going to sort of stop our defence cooperation with them anytime soon, but I do want to stress that India follows a policy of strategic autonomy,” Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said in New Delhi on Friday. India was diversifying its suppliers, he told an industry event, adding: “But more than anything else we are trying to ensure that we increasingly do spend the bulk of our money within the country.” Putin last visited India in December 2021, just a few months before Russia...

The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) has observed that the November 23 by-elections were marred by “recurring violations” of campaigning restrictions and “gaps” in results transparency. The ruling PML-N secured close to 64 per cent of the total votes polled in the by-elections for six National Assembly constituencies held on Sunday as it emerged victorious on all seats. Five constituencies were located in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats, except for one, were vacated due to the disqualification of the opposition PTI MNAs. The PML-N also won six out of seven Punjab Assembly seats in the province by securing 82.41pc of the polled votes. On the seventh seat, it had not fielded its candidate in PP-269, Muzaffargarh, against PPP nominee Alamdar Qureshi. The elections monitor had issued its by-election observation report a day earlier. In an accompanying press release, it noted: “The November 23rd by-elections for 13 National and Punjab Assemblies constituencies, though largely well-managed, ...

Noor Zaman staged a stunning 3-2 victory over compatriot Hamza Khan to retain his title at the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Serena Hotel International Squash Championship in a battle of the junior world champions. Hamza dominated the first two sets 11-9, 11-7 before second seed Noor flipped the script and took the next three games 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to win the final and retain his title at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday. Noor kept his cool as he began his comeback in the third game before demolishing Hamza in the fourth. The final remained relatively smooth-sailing as both players accepted the referee’s rulings and kept arguments to a minimum. Noor dominated the fifth set with a massive 6-1 lead over Hamza before he scored another point, only for Noor to switch gears and take the score to 9-2. Hamza was inching his way back to victory at 8-10 when Noor won the game and match, dropping his racket and throwing his hands in the air in celebration. The two embraced in a long hug and exchanged words before walking ...

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Friday fixed a date for the Arshad Sharif murder case, where the request for an independent probe into the killing would be heard. Prominent journalist Sharif was shot in the head when Kenyan police opened fire on his car in October 2022. He had left Pakistan in August 2022 after multiple cases of sedition were registered against him in different cities. The suo motu case was taken up by a six-member constitutional bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan in the Supreme Court. However, after the passage of the 27th Amendment and the formation of the FCC, it was granted jurisdiction over both constitutional and suo motu cases. On Friday, the FCC cause list showed that a hearing had been scheduled for December 3, with the attorney general, the Islamabad inspector general of police (IG), and the foreign secretary among other respondents. It will be heard by a two-member bench comprising Justices Aamir Farooq and Rozi Khan Barrech, regarding an “independent and transparent ...

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq again ostensibly made an offer of talks to the opposition, telling a group of parliamentarians visiting him on Friday that dialogue was the way to resolve issues. He made similar offers to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition, the PTI, in the past as well. But, no substantial headway has been made so far, and differences between the two sides largely remain unresolved. A handout issued by the NA Secretariat today said Sadiq met with opposition members of both houses of Parliament in his chamber in Parliament House soon after the adjournment of the NA session due to lack of quorum. The visiting opposition members included Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Senator Faisal Javed, former NA speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. MNAs Iqbal Afridi, Atif Khan, Sardar Latif Khosa and Jamal Ahsan Khan. “Our bond of brotherhood and mutual respect is greater than politics. I have been in contact with you brothers since 2014. Politi...

Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, has filed a contempt of court petition against the Adiala jail superintendent and others over their failure to comply with an earlier Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that reinstated a twice-a-week meeting schedule for the incarcerated former premier. The petition was filed after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, along with several other PTI members, staged an overnight sit-in outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Imran has been imprisoned since 2023. The sit-in was staged as CM Afridi was denied a meeting with Imran for the eighth time on Thursday. Previously, Imran’s sisters, including Aleema, had also staged sit-ins outside the prison in Rawalpindi on multiple occasions after they were barred from meeting the former premier. The PTI ended its latest sit-in on Friday morning, with the KP CM announcing that they would be approaching the IHC, where Aleema has now filed a contempt plea. View this post on Instagram Apart from Adiala Jail Super...

The Federal Board has announced the results of the SSC Part I and Part II Second Annual Examinations 2025.

The power supply of four housing projects in Bahria Town Lahore has been cut over the non-payment of bills amounting to more than Rs682 million, it emerged on Friday. The move has prompted an outcry from residents, who have planned a demonstration in front of the Bahria Town offices after Friday prayers. Muhammad Ramzan Butt, the chief executive officer of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), said that Bahria Town had defaulted on its payments. “They have failed to pay a total of Rs682m on four bulk power supply connections,” he told Dawn. “We will not restore the power supply till the bills have been paid,” he asserted. According to him, the initial deadline for paying the bills was November 21, which was then extended to November 23 at the request of the Bahria Town officials. However, they continued to file for extensions till November 26 (Wednesday), he said. The Lesco official said that the last deadline was November 27. “Instead of paying the bills, they have reportedly approached the court,” he ...

The Punjab government has approved 20 amendments to the Traffic Act aimed at improving road safety and enforcing stricter compliance across the province.