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  • Aleem Dar breaks world record of umpiring in most Tests

    Aleem Dar breaks world record of umpiring in most Tests

    Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has surpassed Steve Bucknor’s record for umpiring in most number of Test matches as he walked on to the field to officiate his 129th Test match between Australia and New Zealand at Perth, a private news outlet has reported.

    According to the details, the 51-year-old, who took up umpiring after a decade of playing first class cricket in Pakistan is standing in his 129th Test match as on-field umpire breaking Bucknor’s record of umpiring 128 test matches.

    Dar first umpired in a Test match in Bangladesh when England toured the country in 2003 and he also needs only two more ODIs to break former South African umpire, Rudi Koertzen’s record of umpiring in 209 ODI matches.

    Dar made his international debut in 2000 in a home ODI against Sri Lanka and has also officiated 46 T20Is in his career which spans over 2 decades.

    Talking to the ICC before the match, Dar said, “This is one milestone I had never thought of when I began my umpiring career. It is a truly amazing feeling and a high point of my life when I take the field here in Australia”.

    “Steve Bucknor was my idol and it is only sinking in now that I will have officiated in more Test matches than him”, Dar added.

  • Punjab IG’s office to also be protected by Rangers after lawyers’ protest

    Punjab IG’s office to also be protected by Rangers after lawyers’ protest

    Following the attack on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), the government has decided to deploy Rangers at important locations of the city including IGP [Inspector General of Police] office.

    Journalist Talat Hussain in his recent tweet has shared an official order from the government in which the interior ministry has directed the home department to deploy of rangers outside state institutes for maintainance of law and order in the city.

    According to the interior ministry’s order, 10 platoons and two companies of the paramilitary force have been deployed in the city. Other important places where platoons will be stationed include Governor House and at the area surrounding Lahore GOR I and II among others.

    The paramilitary force has been deployed under the Pakistan Rangers Ordinance 1959 provision seven and 10.

    Lawyers on Wednesday stormed the emergency ward of the PIC, vandalising public property, setting a police vehicle on fire and attacking provincial minister Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan.

    The attack resulted into deaths of four people, while several patients were forced out of the building to sit on footpaths. The mob also destroyed millions worth of health equipment inside the hospital and caused damaged to the hospital building.

  • PM Imran Khan is 2019’s 5th most influential world leader on Twitter

    PM Imran Khan is 2019’s 5th most influential world leader on Twitter

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has been ranked the fifth most influential world leader on Twitter, a recent report released by the ranking site, Twiplomacy has revealed.

    According to the report, PM Imran has an average of 6K RT (retweet per tweet) ratio on Twitter. These rankings are based on average tweets/retweet interactions on the website.

    Interestingly, PM Khan surpassed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who despite having 51.8M followers, compared to PM Khan’s 10.7M, has an average tweet/retweet ratio of only 4K. Modi ranked number nine on the list.

    King Salman of Saudi Arabia topped the list with 231K avg tweet/retweet ratio followed by President of the United States Donald Trump with 21K avg tweet/retweet ratio. Number three on the list was New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with 9K avg tweet/retweet ratio.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also ranked on the list at number 30 with 1K avg tweet/retweet ratio, while President Arif Alvi was at number 37 with 960 avg tweet/retweet ratio.

    The website also listed the PM Khan’s rankings on different social media platforms. PM Khan is the 15th most liked world leader on Instagram with 2M followers, while Modi topped this list with 31M followers.

    Previously, in October, the former cricketer became the sixth most followed world leader on Twitter with 10.5 million followers.

  • Saudi Arabia’s energy company ‘Aramco’ worth’s $1.7 trillion after a historic IPO

    Saudi Arabia’s energy company ‘Aramco’ worth’s $1.7 trillion after a historic IPO

    Saudi Arabia has recently turned Aramco (Arabian-American Oil Company) in publicly owned enterprise. By making it a public entity – that investors can buy and sell shares in the stock market.

    Shaybah

    In the Initial Public Offering (IPO) phase, the worth of the company has plunged to $1.88 trillion that break all the records of the recent decades.

    The offering price of Armaco shares were 32 Riyals ($8.53) and people bought the shares of $25.6 billion – eclipsing Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO of 2014.

    Moreover, seconds after the debut on Riyadh’s Tadawul exchange, the price per stock rose to 35.2 riyals. This development further boosted the energy giant’s valuation.

    Haradh Gas Plant (Aramco)

    On the launch ceremony, the Chairman of Aramco Yasir Al-Rumayyan said “Today the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no longer the only shareholder of the company. More than five million shareholders have joined including citizens and residents, in addition to Gulf countries and international investment institutions. The kingdom is immensely proud of this day.”

    It was the strategy of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to overhaul the oil-reliant economy.

    The IPO process had put the energy giant’s value at $1.7 trillion, far ahead of other firms in the trillion-dollar club, including Apple and Microsoft.

    The listing of Aramco, with its huge capital value, boosts the Saudi bourse — known as Tadawul — to the ranks of the world’s top ten.

  • Viral video that led to lawyers’ violent protest in Lahore

    Viral video that led to lawyers’ violent protest in Lahore

    At least four patients lost their lives after hundreds of lawyers on Wednesday ransacked Lahore’s Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), Dawn reported.

    After hours of continued violence, police arrested more than a dozen lawyers and unblocked Jail Road.

    The lawyers were protesting against a video that went viral on social media Tuesday, in which a doctor was seen narrating an encounter with some lawyers in front of a group.

    According to the doctor in the video, a group of lawyers had gone to the Punjab inspector general (IG) and told him to charge “two doctors” under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ACT). He was seen narrating that the IG had refused while the lawyers had urged him to press charges, saying “they could save face” that way.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m56dbqTyc&fbclid=IwAR3s61M9t9qzB4kcbLhBTHcAYyAmFK21NQjJzwrIEreuoFWdSjHlhj6coqA
  • VIDEO: Lawyers thrash Punjab info minister amid clash with doctors

    VIDEO: Lawyers thrash Punjab info minister amid clash with doctors

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B57ZFCqBvRZ/
    A group of lawyers, who stormed Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) on Wednesday, beat-up Information Minister Fayazul Hasan Chohan upon his arrival to mediate between the mob and doctors.

  • ‘Eight million people have gone below poverty line under PTI govt’

    ‘Eight million people have gone below poverty line under PTI govt’

    Pakistan’s renowned economist Dr Hafiz A Pasha has claimed that eight million people in the country have gone below the poverty line under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and another 10 million could slip below the same soon, Express Tribune reported.

    According to the details, Dr Pasha in an article has said that due to low economic growth and double-digit food inflation the national poverty ratio, which was 31.3% in June 2018, would sharply jump to over 40% by June 2020.

    In simple terms, people living in poverty will increase from 69 million in June 2018 to 87 million by June 2020, indicating 26% increase in poverty in first two years of the PTI government.

    “The situation is very alarming due to an economic growth rate that is close to the population growth rate and an exponential increase in prices of perishable food items,” reports quoted Pasha as saying.

    The economist said that the government’s decision to simultaneously increase taxes, energy tariffs and devaluation of currency contributed to the increase in poverty.

    He said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s decision to keep the rupee-dollar parity stable kept the inflation under check adding that the incumbent government is implementing probably the toughest IMF programme of Pakistan’s history aimed at overpowering fiscal and external accounts challenges.

    Dr Pasha is the former finance minister of Pakistan and has also advised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan at the time of building consensus on signing an IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar in response to Dr Pasha’s claims has said, “We do not have latest official poverty statistics,” adding that the country was exiting a severe balance of payments crisis which had its own implications.

    “The PTI government accelerated the poverty alleviation measures aimed at protecting the poor and vulnerable people from the adverse impact of macroeconomic adjustments”, said the minister.

  • Former president Zardari granted bail on medical grounds

    Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday approved the bail of former president Asif Ali Zardari on medical grounds and asked him to submit surety bonds worth Rs10 million.

    A week earlier, Zardari, who is under detention on charges of money laundering and presently undergoing treatment at a hospital, had agreed to file a bail petition on medical grounds at the insistence of his family members.

    His lawyers had moved the IHC for his bail.

    It had been announced by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during a brief news conference after meeting his ailing father at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) last Monday.

    In his petition, Zardari had maintained that he was suffering from a heart condition and has had three stents placed in his body. He had said that he also suffers from diabetes which means that he has to constantly monitor his blood sugar levels.

    The PPP co-chairperson’s medical reports were also submitted along with the application to the IHC so that bail may be granted.

    The high court had also admitted for hearing a bail petition filed by Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur. In her appeal, Talpur had maintained that she is the mother of a differently-abled child. In order to care for her child, she had asked the court to grant bail until the completion of the trial.

    Zardari, Talpur and other accused face charges of corruption through fake bank accounts and embezzlement in the financial facility for Park Lane Private Limited and Parthenon (Pvt) Limited. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) alleges that the national exchequer suffered a loss of Rs3.77 billion because of the irregularities.

    Zardari was shifted to PIMS in October after the medical board stated that he was suffering from cardiac problem, diabetes and other ailments, and needed medical care.

  • Pakistan: Qatari royals among seven arrested for hunting without license

    Pakistan: Qatari royals among seven arrested for hunting without license

    Seven Qatari nationals, including four royals, have been arrested for attempting to hunt the houbara bustard in Nushki district of Balochistan without permission of the Foreign Office, a private media outlet reported.

    According to reports, the Qatari nationals were en route Nushki when they were intercepted and taken into custody on the Quetta-Nushki highway. Deputy Commissioner Abdul Razzaq Sasoli confirmed the arrest and stated that they were aiming to hunt without proper license.

    He added that the Qataris had been handed over to the wildlife department.

    The four royals have been identified as Sheikh Mohammad bin Mansoor Jasim, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jasim and Sheikh Ahmed bin Ali Khalid.

    A case has been registered against the foreigners who were in the country on a three-month visa. They had been informed before that they would not be allowed to hunt if they did not possess a proper hunting license.

    According to the Wildlife Department, 100 houbara bustards can be hunted for a fee of $100,000.

  • Rao Anwar blacklisted by the US

    Rao Anwar blacklisted by the US

    On International Human Rights’ Day, former Malir SSP Rao Anwar was blacklisted by the United States. Rao Anwar was blacklisted on Tuesday for engaging in “serious human rights abuse” by carrying out alleged fake police ‘encounters’ in which scores of individuals including Naqeebullah Mehsud were killed.

    Rao Anwar is among 18 individuals from six countries that the Trump administration has imposed economic sanctions on for suspected human rights violations.

    “During his tenure as the Senior Superintendent of Police in District Malir, Pakistan, Rao Anwar Khan (Anwar) was reportedly responsible for staging numerous fake police encounters in which individuals were killed by police, and was involved in over 190 police encounters that resulted in the deaths of over 400 people, including the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsood,” the US Treasury said in a statement.

    It said Rao Anwar “helped to lead a network of police and criminal thugs that were allegedly responsible for extortion, land grabbing, narcotics, and murder”.

    According to the press release, Rao Anwar has been designated “for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.”