Players’ mental development is paramount for their individual and collective success, both on and off the field. Given the rising importance of motivational (mental) training in modern day sports, we in recent history have witnessed several international outfits hiring the services of high-performance counsellors and motivational speakers for players and their coaches. Cricket no doubt is a sport that requires strategic thinking by the captain, coach and the entire team. Match pressure coupled with pessimism can break the best of players, captains as well as the teams. We all know what happened to England batsmen Jonathan Trott in the last Ashes and to Graham Thorpe and Marcus Trescothick before him. They were all very fine cricketers but could not handle pressure.
China’s President Xi to make first visit to India
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first visit to India as head of state on a regional visit starting this week which will also take in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Tajikistan, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Xi will begin his trip in Tajikistan where he will attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Thursday and Friday, the ministry said. China, Russia and four Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — formed the group in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighbouring Afghanistan.
Obama promises more US aid to stem Ebola outbreak
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is pledging more US assistance to help contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The White House says the president made the pledge in a telephone conversation Monday with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Obama has said previously that the deadly outbreak is a US national security priority and that the American military will help set up isolation units and equipment in West Africa and provide security for public health workers.
Brazil, Pakistan Relations Poised For A Quantum Leap
ALFREDO LEONI
Ambassador of Brazil talks to Centreline and DNA
Ansar Mahmood Bhatti
Ambassador of Brazil Alfredo Leoni talks to Centreline and DNA
Ambassador of Brazil to Pakistan Alfredo Leoni gave an exclusive interview to Centreline and DNA. Ambassador Leoni has completed his term in Pakistan and shall soon assume his new assignment in Poland as Ambassador. Ambassador Leoni talked in detail about various aspects of bilateral relationship. Also he talked about recently held football world cup. Here are excerpts from his interview.
‘I see Brazil An Alternate Universe Of Pakistan’
MOHSIN HAMID
Known Pakistani literary figure Mohsin Hamid
Takes part in FLIP festival in Brazil
Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, Pakistan and attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. His first novel, Moth Smoke, won the Betty Trask Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Prize. His second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, spent over two months on the New York Times bestseller list. It was published in over 30 languages and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and was named by the Guardian as one of the books that defined the decade. Hamid contributes to Time, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications. He lives in Lahore.
2014 Football world Cup: a diplomatic success Story of Brazil
20 delegations headed by Heads of State or Government attend the mega eventAs many as 20 delegations headed by Heads of State or Government attended the world cup matches in Brazil. The event was declared as a huge diplomatic success of Brazil. It was a rare scene to see a great number of foreign dignitaries gathered in Brazil on this occasion. The Brazil embassy in Islamabad made elaborate arrangements on the occasion which include publication of a magazine on Football published in English and Urdu, informative broachure about Brazilian cities, stadiums and names, photo exhibition title Football by the Brazilian photographer Jorge Rodrigues, opening reception for the photo exhibmtion with a penalty competition for guests, welcome ceremony for Pakistan Street Child team, appreciation ceremony in Lyiari, distribution of 1.300 footballs and other gifts for school and street children in Islamabad.
Forex effect felt as banks re-arm for turbulence
After a decade in which reserve managers built ever greater stockpiles to shield themselves against external shocks, global reserve growth stalled last year as the Federal Reserve’s plans to taper stimulus prompted a flight from emerging markets. But a year on from the ‘taper tantrum’, global reserves are growing at the fastest pace since early 2012, according to a Citigroup analysis of eight countries that publish figures on a daily or weekly basis. With low volatility fuelling an exuberant carry trade in emerging markets assets, some authorities are taking the opportunity to rebuild their defences in preparation for an eventual rise in US interest rates.
BRICS Agree to Base Development Bank in Shanghai
FORTALEZA, Brazil—The leaders of the Brics countries took another step toward carving a larger role for themselves in the global financial system when they agreed Tuesday to base a new development bank in Shanghai. The New Development Bank, as it will be called, is intended to finance infrastructure projects in the founding members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and in other emerging-market countries as well.
At least a dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike
GAZA CITY: Israeli air strikes attacked Gaza on Sunday, killing at least a dozen people, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the bloody offensive would continue as long as necessary. Israel and Hamas, who have been fighting for 48 days, looked unlikely to end their deadly face-off even after Egypt called for an indefinite ceasefire and new truce talks to end a war that has killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and 68 Israelis, mostly soldiers.









