LAHORE: Three recent debutants were among the players named in the central contracts list for the national women’s team by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday. Spinner Tuba Hasan and batters Gul Feroza and Sadaf Shamas, who were capped in Pakistan’s recent home series against Sri Lanka, were awarded maiden contracts in the Category ‘D’. Veteran batter Javeria Khan’s demotion …

BIRMINGHAM: Virat Kohli became the latest high-profile wicket in paceman Matthew Potts’s fledgling England career as the India star’s long wait for another Test hundred continued on Friday. Kohli was out for 11 and India had declined to 98-5 in the delayed fifth Test at Edgbaston before Rishabh Pant counter-attacked in typical style. Pant’s quickfire 53 not out, and an …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed satisfaction over functioning of 720MW Karot Hydel Project and pledged to overcome the electricity generation crisis in the country by restoring all halted power projects. In a tweet, the prime minister said the Karot project was the first hydel project established under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He expressed gratitude to the …

KARACHI: The government has put on hold the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) and Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Schemes (PMKJ-YES), launched by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and is reviewing the same. The MPMG low-cost housing scheme has been put on hold for two months while banks were advised by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to stop …

LAHORE: After increasing petrol and diesel prices, the government on Friday also raised the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rates by Rs2 per kg for the current month, according to a notification issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. The LPG Distributors Association said the price now jumped to Rs220 per kg from Rs218. The domestic LPG cylinder will now …

KARACHI: Despite highly attractive returns foreigners avoided investing in treasury bills (T-bills) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) instead they withdrew over $1 billion from these domestic bonds during 2021-22. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that very high returns on T-bills and PIBs could not attract foreign investors as expected earlier. The inflows almost stopped during …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday said the energy prices will keep increasing for the next three to four months because of ‘landmines laid by Imran Khan’ and then start a downward trend in November–December this year. Speaking at separate news conferences here, energy ministers – Khurram Dastgir and Musadik Malik – on Friday said the previous government had tied their …

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned on Friday from an overseas tour to face multiple crises, including the latest resignation of a senior Conservative from his scandal-hit government. The embattled leader found his ruling Tories mired in another controversy about sexual impropriety shortly after he landed back in Bri­tain from Nato summit. In a letter to Johnson, Conser­vative MP …

ISLAMABAD: The United States Mission in Pakistan has expanded the interview waiver eligibility for Pakistani citizens renewing their B1/B2 tourist and business visas at the US embassy in Islamabad and the US consulate general in Karachi. “Pakistani citizens of ages 45 and older and whose B1/B2 visas are valid or have expired within the last 48 months are eligible to …

WASHINGTON: Khizr Moazzam Khan, a Gold Star father who rose to fame in 2016 for challenging Trump’s knowledge of the US Constitution, will receive America’s highest civil award — the Presidential Medal of Freedom — from President Joe Biden on July 7. The founder of the Consti­tu­tion Literacy and National Unity Center is among the 17 individuals from across the US who …