Karachi: Pakistan won by three runs in a final over thriller that saw the teams’ fortunes seesaw until Haris Rauf took two back-to-back wickets in the penultimate over that set up the Greenshirts’ victory in the fourth Twenty20 against England at the National Stadium in Karachi.
The two teams are now levelled 2-2 with the next leg of the series set for Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2).
Earlier, England captain Moeen Ali won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat in the fourth Twenty20 at the National Stadium in Karachi on Sunday.
Pakistan were sent to bat first and restricted to a 167-run target that by all accounts should have been easy to chase for an English side that set a mammoth 222-run score in the previous match.
But it was not to be.
Even as the Pakistani batters failed to find their footing, the bowlers delivered, literally and figuratively, with Haris Rauf (3-32), Mohammad Hasnain (2-40) and Mohammad Wasim (1-30) pressuring the English side with their pace, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz (3-35) and Mohammad Iftikhar (0-23) restricting the run rate.
The match was Pakistan’s 200th T20, the first team to reach the milestone.
England made three changes from the last game. Alex Hales and David Willey came into the side while Olly Stone was handed his international T20 debut.
They replaced Dawid Malan, Sam Curran and Mark Wood.
Pakistan left out Haider Ali (unfit) and Shahnawaz Dahani to bring Asif Ali and Naseem Shah.
Teams
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Asif Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Wasim
England: Moeen Ali (captain), Will Jacks, Harry Brook, Olly Stone, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey
Umpires: Asif Yaqoob (PAK) and Faisal Afridi (PAK)
JEHANGIRA: Former Defense Minister and PTI leader Pervez Khattak said Sunday that he is involved in all the matters related to his party and assured workers and supporters that news related to early elections will be revealed in two to three days.
Khattak, while speaking during a rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Jehangira town, warned that he will demonstrate how to overthrow the throne once he reaches Islamabad.
“No one in the world is ready to trust the coalition government and they will be taught a lesson on how to be removed from power”, he said. “These people will not be able to leave Islamabad as the decision [about their future] will be made on the ground.”
“They will either have to resign and dissolve the assemblies or come face to face with us”, he added.
On Thursday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told the PTI leadership that if it was interested in holding early elections, then chairman Imran Khan should dissolve the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“If he does so, he will go one step closer to his demand”, Ahsan said, adding that he doesn’t want to part ways with the governments.
He further said that Khan could not recover from the setback of losing power, therefore, he was waging a war against the country to avenge his defeat. That too at a time when the country was undergoing unprecedented devastation because of the floods.
ISLAMABAD, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Sunday tendered his resignation to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in a party meeting held in London.
Senior PML-N leader Ishaq Dar would replace Miftah as new finance minister. Ishaq’s nomination was put forth by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a meeting, held under the chair of PML-N supremo.
The meeting threadbare discussed overall political and economic situation of the country. It was of the opinion that the incumbent government had to steer the country out of the economic crisis caused by the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Miftah Ismail thanked Nawaz Sharif for reposing confidence on him. He said he served the country in last four months with best of his abilities.
Nawaz Sharif appreciated the efforts of Miftah for carrying out the responsibilities under the most difficult conditions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Miftah Ismail, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, and Ahad Cheema attended the meeting.
We are living in a fascinating world. A world whose charm is unending. We are lucky to be the inhabitants of this charismatic globe which offers countless pleasures. Our ancestors were however star-crossed as they lived in a comparatively less-fascinating world. They missed its hundreds and thousands of gratifications including gladdening themselves from electronic gadgets, booting out Boeings and air-buses, hanging down on manuscripts for knowledge, enjoying online shopping with virtual currencies and so on and so forth. List of our forefathers’ deprivations is too long.
Nothing is perpetual except ‘change’. The perennial presence of ‘change’ is an unchallenged fact and history is also clear-cut testimony to it. None of the surviving societies has remained static so far, nor can it afford to remain so. Those who resisted ‘change’ are now nowhere. Even history has wiped them out from its pages. Let us accept this reality in toto.
No one can deny the fact it was Muslims’ readiness to revere perpetual nature of ‘change’ that they enjoyed their ‘Golden Era’ in a dashing way. They were cordial, accommodative, tolerant and ready to mould their societies as per requirements of ‘change’. They didn’t resist the perpetual process of ‘change’; rather they devised strategies to accept ‘change’ as reality at the same time holding their faith tightly. And unluckily when they didn’t respond timely to the ‘change’ or at least miscalculated the speed of ‘change’ , they were among the losers and they also paid for it. Victory has thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
Muslims’ readiness to accept change as reality is also envisaged in their religion. We term this readiness as ‘Ijtehad’. No fault lies in our religion; it lies in our slackness.
Ijtehad is usually taken as a theological term that refers to the process of deriving laws of Islamic Shariah from its supreme sources i.e., Holy Quran and Sunnah. But if you peep deeper into the spirit of Islamic Shariah, ijtehad does not appear as such limiting; it invariably comes out as a concept that invites collective wisdom of each and every Muslim society around the globe to be part of a ‘mega collective wisdom’ that can become instrumental in handling the problems that perpetual process of ‘change’ poses or has been posing since centuries.
Early Muslim theologists rightfully believed that ijtehad could perpetuate the efficacy of Islamic jurisprudence in face of ever-changing socio-religious or politico-economic conditions of the globe. These wise men, through their God-gifted wisdom, had predicted that ‘change’ is perpetual and Islamic jurisprudence can only match up this if ijtehad is made a regular phenomenon of Muslim societies. Muslims societies have always adorned true mujtahidins. History is a clear-cut testimony of this fact.
However, during later medieval period and even till the time large swathes of Muslims’ land were colonized by the European powers, Muslims ignored the true spirit of ijtehad by making it a purely religious subject used for deliberating upon purely ideological matters which have very less to do with the practical social lives of common Muslims.
Irrespective of their glory or downfall, Muslim societies from within have always remained vibrant. Muslims are blessed in the sense that they accept wisdom as their ‘lost treasure’. As narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA), the Holy Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The wise statement is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it, then he is more worthy of it.”
Arab Republic of Egypt through its Ministry of Awqaf is currently hosting a general conference on “Ijtehad as the Necessity of the Modern Era” under the auspices of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian President. This is an event which can be safely termed as the most sincere effort from a Nation-state to redefine the word ‘ijtehad’.
Egypt, since the period of auspices of Fatimid dynasty, holds great significance in history. Even afterwards, it has immensely contributed to humanity’s intellectual and Cultural Revolution. Courtesy to University of Al’Azhar (which was opened in Cairo for prayers in 972) and vibrant leadership of this land, Egypt has been continuously patronizing intellectual growth of Muslim Ummah.
What can be more captivating than the fact that the conference even invites the focus of Muslim societies vis-a-vis protection of environment in the light of Quran and Sunnah through the institution of ijtehad. The conference has timely and aptly invited mega collective wisdom of Muslims across the globe on each and every contemporary subject: virtual currencies, corneal transplantation, machine slaughtering of animals, climate change, afforestation, media landscapes, etc. It is a big opening. Egypt has become harbinger. It would be injustice if the magnificent presence of the delegation of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not praised and acknowledged. His Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince His Highness Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud have always been supportive to all efforts carried out for the glory of Islam.
Praise and applaud is also due to Islamic Broadcasting Union ( IBU), which is a subsidiary platform of OIC, for inviting its members to participate in this two-day conference in Egypt. The way elders of IBU, especially Mr. Ahmed Al Murtda has been facilitating the guests from various Muslim countries so that they are able to reap the benefits of this conference is extremely praiseworthy.
Change is perpetual so is the religion of Islam. Muslim Ummah is once again on the path of searching out its lost treasure, the wisdom. Again congratulations to Arab Republic of Egypt.
( The writer is Director General in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan and is currently attending 33rd General Conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Egypt. ).
LONDON – Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail on Sunday resigned as finance minister while While PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has nominated ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar as Miftah’s replacement
The PML-N supremo and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting in London to discuss the ongoing situation in the country and measures taken by the sitting coalition government.
The meeting was also attended by former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Maryam Aurangzeb, Miftah Ismail, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan and Ahad Cheema.
During the meeting, Miftah Ismail tendered his resignation to Nawaz Sharif and thanked the PML-N leadership for providing him the opportunity and said that he diligently served his duties during his four-month brief tenure.
While accepting his resignation, Nawaz Sharif praised Miftah s efforts and the way he carried out his duties at a time when the country was facing an economic crisis.
The position was adopted in the meeting that the current government had to extinguish the economic disaster caused by the previous government, while Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif nominated Senator Ishaq Dar as the Finance Minister.
Ishaq Dar, himself, had told he will be coming back to Pakistan along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday and will take oath as Senator on Tuesday, adding that after the decision of PML-N bigwigs, he would take oath as Finance Minister on Wednesday.
LONDON: PML-N leader Ishaq Dar will be coming back to Pakistan along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday.
The decision was made by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PM Shehbaz after prolonged meetings that took place between the two leaders over the latter’s two-day visit to London.
Nawaz suggested Dar not to delay his return and leave with the premier tonight.
As decided by the two party leaders, Dar will assume charge as the finance minister on Tuesday, while the current Finance Minister Miftah Ismail will continue to remain part of the government.
A source told that during his meeting with PM Shehbaz yesterday, Nawaz revealed he had not been happy with the economic policies of Miftah and had called for a change in the direction of economic policies.
Nawaz, according to the source, is worried that the rise in prices of commodities had directly affected ordinary people which has impacted the support base of PML-N.
Dar, himself, had told he will take oath as a Senator immediately after his return. The former finance minister said that he would perform whatever duty is assigned to him by Nawaz and Shehbaz.
PM Shehbaz, along with Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb reached London after attending the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York a day earlier and is scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Sunday.
PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday asked the government to coordinate efforts to provide relief to the flood-stricken people in the country.
He said that it would take years to repair the damage caused by the unprecedented floods.
Aftab Sherpao said that a particular political party and its leadership were doing a disservice to the affected people by playing politics on the issue of floods.
According to a press release, he was speaking at a meeting of party office-bearers and workers from PK-56 in Charsadda.
Rejecting former prime minister Imran Khan’s demand for snap polls, the QWP leader said the elections would take place on its stipulated time.
Aftab Sherpao said the prime minister would appoint the next army chief as per the constitution therefore Imran Khan should avoid making controversial statements.
“Imran Khan is making the appointment of the army chief controversial,” he said, adding that his conduct was unbecoming of a politician.
However, he said the former prime minister would not be allowed to create anarchy in the country for his vested interests. He said the country had been submerged by the floods therefore this was not the opportune time for politicizing every issue.
Aftab Sherpao said all the political parties should join hands and help the government mitigate the sufferings of the flood-hit people.
He expressed grief over the loss of precious lives during the floods and said the entire nation should stand united to face this situation. “The nation cannot afford the politics of agitation and confrontation at this critical juncture,” he remarked, adding that the floods destruction had set the country back and it would take years to rehabilitate the affected people.
He demanded the provincial government to rebuild the flood-damaged Munda headworks to ensure the supply of water for the sugarcane and other crops.
The QWP leader said that the farmers would suffer financially if the headworks was not restored.
He also expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said the incidents of targeted killings and extortion had recorded an alarming increase. He said the situation would spin out of control if corrective steps were not taken.
He appreciated the people of Swat and other parts of the province for staging protests against lawlessness and militancy. “Peace is a prerequisite for development,” he maintained.
He asked the government to reduce the duration of electricity and gas loadshedding in KP.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produce cheap and surplus electricity but despite this fact its residents were facing hours long loadshedding which has compelled the people to stage protests.
Over 42 billion rupees has been disbursed among 1,705,332 flood-affected families
Despite weekly holiday Special Payment Campsites were kept open
DNA
ISLAMABAD, Sep 25: Benazir Income Support Programme has disbursed Rs.25,000 per family among 122,208 flood-affected families of Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan on Sunday. So far a total of Rs.42,633,300,000 has been disbursed among 1,705,332 flood affected families under Flood Relief Cash Assistance.
In Balochistan 144,080 flood affected families have received Rs. 3,602,000,000. 1,218,674 affected families of Sindh have received Rs. 30,466,850,000. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 156,828 families have received Rs. 3,920,700,00 whereas 185,506 families of Punjab have received Rs. 4,637,650,000. In Gilgit Baltistan 244 flood affected families have also received Rs. 6,100,000.
Despite weekly holiday Special Payment Campsite were kept open to facilitate the flood affectees. A control room has been established at Benazir Income Support Pogramme headquarters to ensure smooth payments.
ISLAMABAD, Sep 25: Lessons on the recovery of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19 should be replicated and modified to strengthen response and recovery from large-scale loss incurred during current floods, said Dr Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
He was speaking at the launch of a study on titled: “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises amid Disaster: Lessons from Pakistan’s Experience”. The research conducted jointly by SDPI and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is based on 750 firms across the country with special focus on women-owned and women-led firms. Among other factors, the study highlighted the impacts of supply chain and transmission disruption, resilience to bounce back, and efficacy of government interventions.
Dr Vaqar said that the study revealed that at the initial stages of crisis, there was a decrease in import-export, production and short-term consumption patterns along with liquidity squeeze and decline in capital and investment, which has left MSMEs struggling for survival. He said that tax reforms and subsidies did not have much positive impact and majority SMEs could not avail public financial facilities due to lack of awareness, doubts, cumbersome transaction costs and process whereas informal borrowings remined highly preferred. He suggested that communication channels must be improved exponentially to improve the response to crisis. He also recommended that transaction costs and time for registration of SMEs should be streamlined, and government should support resilience and recovery of SMEs through specific quotas.
Dr Arjan De. Haan, Senior Program Specialist, Sustainable Inclusive Economies, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) stressed the need to realize that governments and other stakeholders need well-researched data and policy recommendations to recover and develop resilience to COVID-19. He said that the research analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs and utilizes gender perspective to further understand the impact on different stakeholders and women-led firms.
Faheem Sardar, Senior Policy Specialist, Prime Minister’s Office said that it is crucial to identify hidden disasters and crisis and solution to these issues. He informed the participants that the processing and clearance time in cross-border trade has been brought down to 24 hours after one-window operation was introduced. He further said that MSMEs must abide by “evolve or die” when it comes to e-commerce which has simplified and sped up interaction between seller and buyer. While there is tremendous growth in e-commerce, it is crucial to remember that it creates space for cyber-crimes, which is more than worth US$3 trillion per annum.
Ms Nadia J. Seth, General Manager, Policy and Planning Division, SMEDA said that 70% of SMEs are informal and unregistered which hinders their access to government facilities. Till March 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan has provided Rs 435 billion to SMEs through various COVID-19 relief and recovery initiatives, she said, adding that such initiatives are based on learnings from post-2010 flood initiatives. So far, nearly half of the SMEs are still unaware of these initiatives mainly due to poor communication strategy, weak linkages between SMEs and government due to low registration and formalization.
Ms Kiran Afzal, Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank, said that tourism and heritage sites across the country have been extensively damaged. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, an estimated $80,000-90,000 is required for post-flood conservation and restoration. She suggested that private sector needs to increase financial and technical capacity, and emergency response services to support SMEs to recover from major shocks. She stressed the need for climate resilient infrastructure development in the long-term plan with emphasis on environment impact assessment and implementation of construction by-laws.
Dr Aadil Nakhuda, Assistant Professor of Economics, Institute of Business Administration and co-author of the study briefed the audience that the survey targeted SMEs across Pakistan; younger than 10 years as they lack the experience to maneuver through major shocks like COVID-19 and climate disasters. He said that the study identified that nearly 50% of SMEs were informal and not registered mainly due to procedural difficulties and high cost. He further highlighted various other factors which left SMEs vulnerable and how these impacts varied across the country, based on size and gender.
Ms Izzah Shahbaz, Principal of Credit, Karandaaz Capitals, said that private financial markets are highly collateralized and the necessary condition of guarantee hinders SMEs from accessing financial assistance. She further said that research conducted by Karandaaz revealed that stringent corporate governance discourages SMEs from entering formal sector and registration, which also disables them from accessing formal public financing initiatives leaving them vulnerable to external shocks.
Karachi, SEP 25: 30 containers of food medicine along with tents handed over to NDMA through honourable Minister for port and shipping Faisal Subzwari with the kind efforts of Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al Zaabi Ambassador of UAE and His Excellency Bukheet Ateeq AlRumaiti Consul General of UAE in Karachi.
