In the opening match of HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9, Islamabad United defeated Lahore Qalandars by 8 wickets.
In the match played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan won the toss and invited Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Afridi to bat.
Playing first, Lahore Qalandars scored 195 runs for 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Sahibzada Farhan played an innings of 57 and Abdullah Shafiq scored 28 runs, David Wesa scored 14 runs and Fakhzaman scored 13 runs. Van der Dusen remained unbeaten with 71 off 41 balls.
Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan took one wicket each while Tymal Mills dismissed 2 players.
Islamabad United achieved the target of 196 runs at the loss of 2 wickets in the 19th over. United captain Shadab Khan remained unbeaten with 74 runs off 41 balls with 5 sixes and 6 fours.
Agha Salman was not out with 64 runs off 31 balls, Agha Salman’s innings included 3 sixes and 7 fours. Apart from them, Alex Hales scored 36 runs and Colin Munro scored 5 runs.
Zaman Khan and Salman Fayaz took one wicket each for Lahore Qalandars.
In a notable shift in the precious metals market, the per-tola price of 24 karat gold in Pakistan witnessed an increase of Rs800, reaching Rs213,200 on Saturday. This rise is compared to its previous sale at Rs212,400 on the last trading day.
Similarly, the price of 10 grammes of 24 karat gold experienced an uptick, climbing by Rs686 to Rs182,785 from Rs182,099. The All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association reported that the prices of 10 grammes of 22 karat gold also saw an increase, reaching Rs167,553 from Rs166,924.
On the other hand, the price of per tola silver exhibited a decrease of Rs30, settling at Rs2,550. Simultaneously, the price of ten grammes of silver witnessed a decline of Rs25.72, reaching Rs2,186.21.
Internationally, the price of gold ascended by $9, reaching $2,034 from $2,025, as reported by the Association. These fluctuations in the precious metals market reflect the dynamic nature of global economic conditions, influencing prices both domestically and internationally.
The killer of seven-year-old Abaan Mazhar has been arrested in the Federal B area of Karachi and in a shocking turn of events, he is the cousin of the victim.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Central Zeeshan Siddiqui, the arrested suspect Sufyan is between 14 and 15 years old and he is the cousin of the deceased Abaan and lived with him.
The police informed Geo News that the suspect said that Abaan used to complain to his father about him, leading to the older boy getting scolded many times.
The accused killer said in his statement, “I made a mistake”.
On the day of the incident, he took Abaan to the park from a back street and killed him inside the bushes at Dhobi Ghat.
Sufyan then washed the knife and kept it in the kitchen.
The police are still investigating the matter.
In an exclusive footage obtained by Geo News, it can be seen that the cousin was taking Abaan along with him while the little boy was strolling totally at ease holding his hand.
Regarding this, SSP Central Zeeshan Siddiqui said that two teams were working on this high-profile case. The accused was put on the suspect list on the first day, but being a family member, it was difficult to arrest him immediately.
Previously, the body of a seven-year-old boy, Abaan Mazhar, was found in bushes in the Federal B Area in Karachi on Wednesday afternoon.
The boy, whose throat had been slit with a sharp instrument, was found within the limits of the Yousuf Plaza police station near the Cardio Hospital Federal B Area Block 16. Station House Officer (SHO) Shahid Rao told The News that around 3:30 pm, a call was received by Madadgar-15 about an injured boy found in bushes.
A police team rushed to the location in Federal B Area Block-16 and shifted Abaan Mazhar to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. SHO Rao said the boy was alive when he was found and when people heard him screaming, they immediately contacted the Madadgar-15 hotline.
Witnesses saw the child lying injured, trying to speak but was unable to do so. They added that they had not seen any suspect near the boy when they found him.
Abhan was a resident of Federal B Area Block 16. He was a student of second grade and the second of three brothers. According to his family, he had left home two hours ago. They maintained that the family had no enmity with anyone.
SHO Rao said they had talked to Mazhar, the aggrieved father, who said his son studied in a private school in the area and as he worked in a private firm, he had hired a private person to pick up and drop his son from school.
The father also said that as per the daily routine, Abaan had returned from school at 2 pm but after a few minutes, someone knocked on the door of his residence and the boy again left the house. It was at around 3:30 pm, the family received the information about the boy’s death. The father told the police that he had no enmity with anyone and he did not know who had killed his son.
The post-mortem report revealed that the throat of the minor boy was slit with a sharp weapon, while no evidence of abuse was found, reports ARY News.
Samanabad DSP Asghar Mehdi told the media that the child died on his way to the hospital. He added that a woman living in a nearby flat first saw the child and shouted for help.
The police has been making efforts to obtain CCTV footage. A case has been registered and investigations are underway.
Lahore Traffic Police has issued an advisory plan for the first phase of the ninth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL). According to the details, PSL season 9 festival will be held today, the opening match will be played between Islamabad United and the defending champions Lahore Qalandars at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
For this, the City Traffic Police (CTO) has issued a traffic plan for effective flow of traffic and awareness of cricket fans, during which four SPs, 12 DSPs, 90 inspectors will perform their duties. CTO Lahore Amara Athar said that more than 900 wardens will be deployed at Gaddafi Stadium, teams’ routes, alternative routes, while 20 forklifts, five breakdowns will also be deployed to eliminate wrong parking.
Amara Athar has said that three parking stands have been allocated for the convenience of cricket fans and easy access to the stadium, no road will be closed for traffic during the match, Mall Road, Canal Road, Jail Road, Main Boulevard. Gulbarga Road will remain open for traffic. The city traffic police will welcome the cricket fans in a traditional manner.
It should be noted that according to the PSL schedule, this season of PSL will continue till March 17. In the first phase, the matches will be played in Lahore and Multan, while the second phase matches will be played in Karachi and Rawalpindi.
It has been three days since the forest fire in Zargat mountain in Balochistan’s Musa Khel district started spreading but local authorities have failed to control it.
On Thursday, fire ignited in the forests of the mountains. The fire is reportedly so intense that its flames can be seen 18 kilometers away from the city of Musa Khel, affecting olive groves and wildlife.
The caretaker chief minister of Balochistan had given instructions for emergency measures to extinguish the fire on Thursday, but the residents of the area say that the fire could not be controlled till now.
Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leader and lawyer Salman Akram Raja has been arrested by the police near PTI’s Jail Road office, for participating in the party’s call for nationwide protest against electoral rigging. Salman participated as a PTI backed independent candidate in general elections
“They’re arrested me illegally, and I’m with the public, we will continue raising my voice for truth” he said while being arrested
PTI yesterday had called for nationwide protests against electoral rigging.
Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaqat Ali Chattha has announced his resignation after claiming that the general elections 2024 were rigged in his division.
While holding a press conference at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Liaqat Ali Chattha said, “I did injustice in Rawalpindi Division during the elections. We changed the losing margins to 50 thousand leads, 13 MNAs of Rawalpindi Division were losing, they got 70 thousand leads and toyed with the country.”
Accepting responsibility of election rigging in Rawalpindi Division and handing himself over to the police, he announced resigning from my post. “I should be given the death penalty in Rawalpindi’s Kachehri Chowk,” he remarked.
He said that Election Commission of Pakistan, Chief Election Commissioner and Chief Justice of Pakistan are also involved in the rigging of the election. “These people should also resign from their positions.”
He said “I was under pressure from social media and overseas Pakistanis, I tried to commit suicide this morning after Fajr prayer, then I thought why not? Let me put all the things in front of the people, why should I die a forbidden death, I am going through grief and political people are going around to become ministers after wearing a sherwani, the stabbing in the back of the country does not let me sleep, I want to remove the burden of my grief. I want a peaceful death.”
However Caretaker Information Minister Punjab Aamir Mir vehemently denied the allegations of Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaquat Ali Chatta and called it a political stunt.
The Commissioner was due for retirement in just three weeks.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will hit the streets today at 12pm across the country to protest against what they claim is rigging and tampering with election results from February 8th.
Major parties that won the most seats have been looking for allies and making alliances to form the next governments at both the national and provincial levels.
The PTI expressed disappointment with the election results, where its affiliated candidates won over 90 National Assembly seats, making them the largest group. They announced plans to hold peaceful protests countrywide against what they called “record-high rigging” in the recent general elections.
“The PTI has called for country-wide protests against the unprecedented, massive, brazen rigging in general elections 2024, where PTI’s win of 180 National Assembly seats and a two-thirds majority in the parliament, was cut down to half,” the party said in a statement.
In the week concluding on February 15, 2024, the Weekly Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the Combined Group exhibited a slight decrease of 0.78 per cent week-over-week (WoW).
However, compared to the same period last year, the SPI surged by 34.25 per cent YoY, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The combined index, standing at 315.18, marked a slight dip from 317.65 recorded on February 8, 2024. A year ago, on February 16, 2023, the index was substantially lower at 234.77.
Analysing the data further, out of the 51 items monitored, the average price of 22 items increased, 11 items witnessed a decrease, and 18 items remained stable.
Notably, PBS did not release SPI data last week, following a 0.28 per cent WoW decline in the preceding week.
During the week under review, significant decreases were noted in the prices of eggs (28.82 per cent), chicken (4.23 per cent), onions (3.48 per cent), LPG (2.85 per cent), and gur (1.13 per cent).
Conversely, notable increases were observed in the prices of bananas (4.64 per cent), potatoes (2.80 per cent), match boxes (1.31 per cent), long cloth (1.29 per cent), and cooked daal (0.77 per cent).
Analysing the SPI percentage change by income groups, a uniform decline of -0.82 per cent to -0.72 per cent was witnessed across all quantiles.
The lowest-income group experienced a weekly decline of 0.78 per cent, while the highest-income group recorded a decrease of 0.77 per cent.
On a yearly basis, SPI increased across all quantiles, ranging between 28.68 per cent and 38.54 per cent. The lowest-income group saw a 28.68 per cent increase, while the highest-income group recorded a 32.08 per cent rise.
The average price of Sona urea fell to Rs4,513 per 50 kg bag, marking a 0.50 per cent decrease from last week and a significant 54.84 per cent increase from the previous year.
Meanwhile, the average cement price recorded at Rs1,234 per 50 kg bag marked a 2.05 per cent increase from the previous week and a 14.27 per cent hike from the prices recorded last year.
In a volatile market environment, these fluctuations in the SPI indicate the dynamic nature of the economic landscape, impacting consumers across various income groups.
In January, Pakistan experienced a boost in economic activity, thanks to the financial aid provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as reported by Bloomberg Economics Tracker.
However, there are three key developments that may impact future economic conditions.
Firstly, the aftermath of the inconclusive February 8 election has resulted in persistent political instability, presenting a potential obstacle to new investments.
Secondly, there is a likelihood of more stringent conditions associated with additional IMF loans. Lastly, there is an increasing probability that the State Bank of Pakistan will delay rate cuts.
Despite the challenges, January saw a positive trend with a 0.9 per cent increase in economic activity compared to December, breaking a four-month contraction streak.
The injection of IMF loans and eased trade restrictions contributed to this improvement, enabling increased purchases of essential import supplies.
Looking ahead, the unresolved election outcome may prolong political uncertainty, affecting potential investments.
The recent hike in gas prices on February 15 will likely drive inflation higher, further reducing the chances of a March rate cut.
Considering these developments, Bloomberg Economics is considering revising its growth outlook.
While Bloomberg currently predicts 2.1 per cent GDP growth through June 2024 (up from a 0.2 per cent contraction in the previous fiscal year), the consensus estimate is 2.5 per cent, and the IMF forecasts 2 per cent.
It’s essential to note that the Bloomberg Economics monthly tracker assesses inflation-adjusted indicators of activity.
