India’s third-highest Test wicket-taker Ravichandran Ashwin says that he nearly quit several times between 2018 and 2020 due to injury and because he did not “feel backed”. “I contemplated retirement for a lot of reasons,” the star spinner told ESPNcricinfo. “I felt like people were not sensitive enough to my injuries. I felt like a lot of people were backed, why …

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has again reclaimed the top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 International (T20I) Batting Rankings, a week after slipping to second place behind Englishman David Malan. After the latest update by the ICC, Azam now shares the number one rank with Malan, both having a rating of 805 points. “With scores of 0 …

KARACHI: Trading on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained choppy on Tuesday as the news of the monthly current account deficit widening to $1.3 billion dampened investors’ sentiments. The volume of shares traded was subdued while trading patterns were sideways as the market witnessed hefty volumes in third-tier stocks, according to Arif Habib Ltd. Profit-taking occurred in the first trading …

The federal government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed six agreements amounting to $1.543 billion to finance projects related to the energy sector, urban infrastructure, social protection, roads and water resources, the Ministry of Economic Affairs in a statement. The agreements were signed by Economic Affairs Division Secretary Mian Asad Hayaud Din and ADB’s Country Director Yong …

ISLAMABAD: Both the houses of parliament are set to begin their winter sessions from Wednesday (today) as the government plans to present a “mini-budget” involving fiscal adjustments and expenditure cuts worth about Rs600 billion as part of an understanding with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and opposition parties vow to resist the move with full force. The Ministry of Finance …

LAHORE: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir on Tuesday reassured the business community of facilitation of priority sectors, including agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), housing and exports. He was speaking at the cheque distribution ceremony held at the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) to mark disbursement of the first set of loans by Meezan …

ISLAMABAD: A freight train service was inaugurated here on Tuesday with an aim to boost trade between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, inaugurated the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) freight train at Margalla railway station. Ambassadors of Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday made veiled criticism of the United States for creating in Afghanistan a humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of people and allowing it to worsen. “A man-made crisis is being created despite knowing that it can be averted if (Afghanistan’s) accounts (in the US) are unfrozen and liquidity is put into their banking …

SANAA: UN aid flights into Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa have been halted by air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition which supports the government, an airport official said on Tuesday. Due to coalition air strikes targeting the Houthi rebels, “the airport is no longer able to receive aircraft operated by the United Nations or international humanitarian organisations”, the official …

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday that Russia was prepared to take military steps in response to “unfriendly” Western actions over the Ukraine conflict, in a sharp escalation of rhetoric. The Russian president has for weeks accused the United States and the Washington-led Nato military alliance of stoking tensions near Moscow’s borders, but these were his first comments hinting …