AHMEDABAD: Skipper Virat Kohli said India were ‘relieved’ to make the inaugural World Test Championship final and would now focus on that ‘one big game’ against New Zealand in June after seeing off England. India crushed Joe Root’s side inside three days in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad on Saturday to clinch the series 3-1 and finish top of the …

LAHORE: Half-money favourite Sahil lived up to his top billing when he won the JWD Pakistan Derby after a tough duel with his fellow colt Governor in the crowning event of the Lahore’s racing calendar before a large crowd of equine sport’s connoisseurs. Trained by Rashid Latif and ridden by jockey Aftab Chaudhry, the shapely colt felt no problems during …

KARACHI: Three days after the shambolic postponement of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL)’s sixth edition following seven Covid-19 positive cases surfacing, the Pakistan Cricket Board on Sunday announced a two-member independent fact-finding panel, comprising of top medical experts to investigate the causes behind the bio-secure bubble breaches. The panel — which includes infectious disease experts Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood …

WELLINGTON: A century opening stand by Martin Guptill and Devon Conway saw New Zealand clinch their Twenty20 International series against Australia in Wellington on Sunday after the tourists faltered in the face of an experimental spin attack. Set a target of 143 for victory in the fifth and final match at the Sky Stadium, New Zealand claimed victory by seven …

NEW DELHI: The popular Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin in Chennai on April 9 and will be played across six venues, initially without spectators, the Indian cricket board said on Sunday. The world’s richest Twenty20 competition was shifted to the United Arab Emirates last year as India grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic. Sunday’s IPL governing council meeting decided to …

With the world facing unprecedented challenges, official policymaking is now confronted with some baffling questions. What kind of economic recovery will the traditional structural reforms with Covid-19-related adjustments deliver? Will it be fragile or robust, inclusive or not, sustainable or sort term? These issues are now under the global spotlight and at the centre of a public debate as highlighted …

Pakistan’s resurging trade deficit isn’t surprising given the nation’s heavy reliance on imports and the limited range of products it can sell to the world. This was expected to increase in the wake of new growth in import demand with the pick-up in economic activities and consumption. Few believed that the government and central bank could reduce the trade gap …

In Pakistan, 90-94 per cent of farm loans are offered for production and only 6-10pc for agricultural development. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the share of development loans in total agricultural finance stood at 6pc in 2018-19. This percentage improved to 6.7pc in 2019-20 and further to 10pc in the first seven months of this fiscal year. …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s liquefied natural gas terminals are overstressed and LNG value chain is very fragile from all parameters against global standards and could face operational and safety risks, contrary to common perception in public discourse that terminals are underutilised. “Even with the low ratios of ‘re-gas to storage’ and ‘LNG import capacity to storage’, the overall utilisation rate of LNG …

As the results’ season draws to a close, analysts work feverishly on their calculators to determine the corporate profitability for the quarter ended on Dec 31, 2020. The results are pleasantly surprising. The aggregate profit earned by listed companies in the quarter amounted to Rs213.9 billion, registering impressive growth of 38 per cent year-on-year. Sector-wise reviews show the segment with …