KARACHI: Kane Williamson hit his fifth Test double century and tailender Ish Sodhi made a career-best 65 as New Zealand pushed Pakistan onto the backfoot with a meaningful 174-run lead on the fourth day of the first Test on Thursday. Williamson and Sodhi dug in for well over 1 1/2 hours into the second session after New Zealand resumed on 440-2 before Pakistan claimed three quick wickets through spinners. Both put on 79 runs in the first session and batted with a lot of determination even when Pakistan took the second new ball. Sodhi batted with a lot of patience and hit three boundaries against seamer Mir Hamza on the off side of the wicket after Pakistan took the third new ball. New Zealand’s lead was 24 when Nauman came close to dismissing Williamson on 116 in his second over of the day.

Share:LAHORE - More than 8,700 students have completed the training through the National Freelance Training Program (NFTP), an initiative of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to provide honorable online employment to the youth across Pakistan. The NFTP graduates have so far earned more than $2.2 million in foreign exchange. This was told in a progress review meeting chaired by PITB Chairman Syed Bilal Haider here in Arfa Software Technology Park (ASTP). The participants of the meeting were apprised that 20 training centers have been established across the country in which the unemployed youth are being given 3-month training in the fields of technical content marketing, advertising and creative designing.

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The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) to hire a firm for giving Roosevelt Hotel in New York on lease. The committee will comprise the Federal Minister for Energy, Federal Minister for Planning, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources and relevant secretaries. The federal cabinet gave final approval to the report of the Cabinet Committee on Soybean. The federal cabinet approved the Government-to-Government Commercial Transaction Act 2022 (G2G Commercial Transaction Act 2022). The federal cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meetings of the Economic Coordination Committee held on 21.12.2022 and 15.11.2022.

The sabre-rattling is louder than ever and follows some media claims in Serbia that Pristina is preparing "an attack" on ethnic Serb areas in north Kosovo. Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as an independent state, nor do the ethnic Serbs who live there. Belgrade accuses Kosovo of plotting "terrorism against Serbs" in areas where some 50,000 ethnic Serbs live. In return, Pristina says Belgrade is behind "paramilitary formations" that set up roadblocks in majority Serb areas of north Kosovo on 10 December. Reports from Belgrade alleged ethnic Serbs came under attack, but the claim was rejected by Kosovo authorities in Pristina.

In an over 35-minutes online address to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the minister reiterated that the country would not default on any international payments including foreign debt. Dar admitted that he and his economic team were managing in a tight position. “We don’t have foreign exchange reserves of $24 billion which we had in 2016. "Pseudo intellectuals …and people (mostly the rival politicians) with vested interests have been propagating that Pakistan will default,” the minister claimed. "Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves would be at a much improved level when we close the current fiscal year on June 3, 2023," he assured the PSX investors.

Share:LAHORE - Pakistan national women’s team captain Maria Jamal Khan has vowed to perform well in the Four-Nation Cup scheduled in Dammam, Saudi Arabia from January 11 to 19, 2022. Sharing her views during training camp here in Lahore, Captain Maria Khan highlighted the importance of international exposure that is needed for every player and eventually help player boost their confidence. “We have been in the training camp for the past few weeks, and the players participating in the camp are giving their best. We are hoping for positive results. The joining of Nadia Khan will give a boost to the side and will strengthen our attack that can do well,” she added.

This is with reference to the report “Cops suspended for ‘stopping judge from using foggy motorway’” (Dec 1). Two officials of the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) stopped the judge at the next interchange and challaned him for crossing and entering the closed motorway. To make matters worse, the judge wilfully disobeyed the law-enforcers and threatened them with action under terrorism charges. On the contrary, the two police officials were suspended for performing their duty as per orders. - Advertisement -This incident is a perfect example of arrogance, misuse of public office and abuse of power.

The Prime Minister has said that as a nation it needed to adopt energy-related austerity. - Advertisement -Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet on Monday and expressed regret over the arrest of senior parliamentarian Chaudhry Ashraf in a 53-year-old case. According to a statement, the federal cabinet has said that there will be no compromise on the law and order situation in the country. The federal cabinet also paid tribute to the security forces for their continuous struggle against terrorism. The Prime Minister also directed the Energy Minister to submit a detailed report on the capacity of wind power to the cabinet.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the government had “no other option” but to implement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. In the past, the PTI government blatantly breached the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The prime minister assured that the whole process would be conducted through transparent bidding via a third party. He also urged the provincial chief ministers to emulate the federal government’s launched pattern and introduce solar systems in their respective provinces, assuring the federal government’s complete assistance in this regard. The prime minister said during the Covid pandemic, the prices of gas crashed to the lowest and it was sold at $2 per unit.

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After a long dry spell, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast rain with snowfall over the hills in upper parts of the country that would subside foggy conditions and benefit the standing crops. The Met Office on Tuesday informed that a westerly wave has entered northwestern parts of Balochistan and is likely to grip upper and central parts of the country on December 28 (night) till December 29. About the possible impacts, the Met Office revealed that the rain will be beneficial for the standing crops, especially in Barani areas. Foggy conditions are likely to subside during the forecast period. Day temperatures are likely to fall by 05-07 degree celsius during the wet spell.

Share:The FIA has arrested 50 suspects for an illegal currency business in Lahore. Similarly, a few days ago, 4 illegal currency dealers were nabbed in Quetta for running an illegal money exchange business. These developments add weight to the fear around an illegal black market opening up for dollars, as insinuated by the finance minister, among others. Illegal money exchanges and practices outside the banking channel such as Hawala and Hundi hurt the stability of inter-bank market rates. We have also been recently removed from the FATF grey list so the country cannot afford a rise in currency smuggling operations.

Share:LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab Tuesday arrested Pakistan muslim League-Nawaz (PmLN) member National Assembly Chaudhry mohammad Ashraf for allegedly occupying state land illegally. Ashraf faces accusations of encroaching on stateowned land by forging the land documents and records in connivance with the revenue officer (Patwari). Gardawari is a legal revenue department document used in country that specifies land and crop details. The Prime minister said at the behest of Imran Khan, anti-corruption Punjab is being used for political revenge. The Prime minister said on the pattern of NAb and FIA, using Anti-Corruption Punjab against political opponents is very sad and condemnable.

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