PMLN demands judiciary a suo motu notice on Daska by-election

The PML-N has demanded that the judiciary take a suo motu notice on the Daska by-election for "violation of the Constitution" after a report by the Election Commission of Pakistan determined that the polls were not held in a free and transparent manner.

Addressing the media, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that Article 240 of the Constitution says all institutions should help the Election Commission of Pakistan in holding transparent elections.

He said that the ECP's report contains the names of all those involved in the "rigging" of the polls held on February 19, and that a meeting held in this regard was attended by "many PTI members".

Abbasi called for exemplary punishment of all "conspirators" and termed the report a "test" for the superior judiciary.

Presiding officers 'instructed not to interfere'
Noting the report's contents, he said that Deputy Colleges Sialkot summoned all presiding officers to Daska College and gave them instructions.

"Presiding officers were directed to keep voting slow in Daska city," Abbasi said, adding that they were "told not to interfere in whatever the police and administration do".

"Polling stations were ordered to close at 4:30pm and all Form 45," he said, in further reference to the report.

Abbasi, quoting the report, said that the Deputy Education (Female) also invited women presiding officers to her home and that Assistant Commissioner Daska and DSP Sambrial were also present at the DEO's house.

"Women presiding officers were asked to help the government and not interfere in rigging," he said.

The PML-N leader went on to say that 20 presiding officers were transferred via private vehicles under the "scheme" and were "kept at two different police stations" as well as an unknown location.

Further referencing the report, he said that one woman presiding officer was "maltreated".

"The report says the RO did not leave his office," Abbasi said, adding that the returning officers "did not know of the missing presiding officers' whereabouts till seven hours later".

Abbasi remarked that the report states that the police officers, instead of fulfulling their mandated duty to protect the electoral staff, were instead found to have "kidnapped" them.

"Only time will tell who was afraid and why," the former premier said.

He asked how the election was of any benefit to the police officers and said that the chief minister and prime minister "will have to answer such questions".

"This matter goes all the way to the chief minister and Prime Minister Imran Khan," Abbasi alleged.

He said this is but a "small example of an election" and hoped that the ECP makes the report public.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3CWaEPs

T20 World Cup: Pakistan win toss and opted to bat first against Scotish Team

Pakistan have won the toss and opted to bat first in the T20 World Cup clash against Scotland at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The star duo of skipper Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan have opened the game for the Men In Green with seven runs scored at the end of two overs.

Pakistan are unchanged, while Scotland have two changes: Macleod, Evans out; Tahir, Budge in, ESPN Cricinfo reported.

"We want to bat first, put a total and put pressure on them. We are not complacent. We are looking to carry on with our momentum. Same team," said Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said after he won the toss.

"People back home love cricket a lot and they are supporting us. We are trying to make them happy with our performances," he added.

Meanwhile, Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer said: "We've been looking forward to these games and we'll be going out there today to give our best. We have to test ourselves against the best."

"Coming into the tournament, we came in believing that we are capable of competing against the best and we'll still believe that. But we have to go through these kinds of tests. Hopefully in our journey we've inspired a few people in Scotland and around the world too," he added.

Teams
Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Scotland: 1 George Munsey, 2 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 3 Dylan Budge, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Michael Leask, 6 Matthew Cross (wk), 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Safyaan Sharif, 10 Hamza Tahir, 11 Brad Wheal

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3D5y98M

New Zealand defeat Afghanistan by 8 wickets, India crash out of T20 tournament

India were effectively pushed out of the T20 World Cup on Sunday as New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets.

New Zealand thus became the remaining semi-finalist to qualify from Group 2 after Pakistan.

Chasing a modest 125, skipper Kane Williamson (40) and Devon Conway (36) put on an unbeaten stand of 68 to drive the team home in 18.1 overs in Abu Dhabi.

The Kiwis join Pakistan as the two teams in the semi-finals from Group 2 with eight points each, leaving India's final match against Namibia on Monday a dead rubber.

England and Australia had already made the semi-finals from Group 1.

The semi-final match-ups will be decided after Pakistan play Scotland in the second match of the day.

Left-arm quick Trent Boult returned figures of 3-17 from his four overs and was ably supported by Tim Southee, who took two wickets, to restrict Afghanistan to 124-8.

Najibullah Zadran played a lone hand with his 48-ball 73 to give the Afghanistan total some respectability after they elected to bat first.

New Zealand's pace bowlers rattled the opposition´s top order with quick strikes as Adam Milne sent back Mohammad Shahzad caught behind for four in his first over.

Boult got going from the other end to get Hazratullah Zazai out for two and Southee trapped Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw for six as Afghanistan slipped to 19-3.

Zadran counter-attacked with a handful of boundaries including two off Jimmy Neesham but soon took to defence after losing his partner Gulbadin Naib for 15.

Naib dragged a wide delivery from Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi onto his stumps.

Skipper Mohammad Nabi joined Zadran at the crease as the duo attempted to push the scoring against the spinners and singled out Mitchell Santner for runs.

The left-handed Zadran smashed Santner for two sixes and later got to his 50 in a 33 balls. It was his second fifty in this T20 World Cup and sixth overall.

Southee broke the 59-run partnership, seeing off Nabi for 14.

Boult got the key scalp of Zadran with Neesham taking a good diving catch in the deep and the Afghans struggled to get runs in the final overs.

New Zealand remained clinical in their modest chase with Martin Gutptill and Daryl Mitchell mixing their singles and twos with occasional boundaries.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck with the wicket of Mitchell, caught behind for 17.

Spin king Rashid Khan then sent back Guptill bowled for 28 to bag his 400th wicket in T20 matches.

But Williamson stood firm with Conway who joined his skipper for a smooth partnership that steered the team home.

The left-hand Conway smashed four boundaries and the winning runs in his 32-ball knock.

Teams
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boul

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

 

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/302FIyJ

Pakistan good all-round team, Babar Azam a superstar: Justin Langer

Australia coach Justin Langer has praised the Pakistan cricket team as they prepare for a potential semi-final showdown with the Green Shirts at the Twenty20 World Cup this week.

Pakistan have been the dominant force in Group 2, winning all four of the matches to date, and Langer looks forward to the clash in Dubai.

Commenting on the Pakistan side, he said: “They've got a good all-round team, like we have, and they're well led."

The Australian coach also had words of praise for skipper Babar Azam and told reporters he looks forward to the clash in Dubai.

“Their captain, Babar Azam, is a superstar of the game. They've some good pace bowlers and they've a couple of good spinners, so they're a well-balanced side like we are, so it should be a great game of cricket.”

Langer's team booked their place in the last four on Saturday as David Warner's unbeaten 89 steered the Australians to an eight-wicket win over the West Indies that secured a second spot in Group 1 of the competition's Super 12 phase.

Langer believes his team can re-establish themselves as the best in the world. “Not that long ago we were the best team in the world and some of that cricket shows we can be the best team in the world,” Langer told reporters.

“I think England are leading the way at the moment and we've got exciting prospects.

“We're taking great lessons from this tournament on how we can continue to play T20 cricket now, for this tournament, and moving forward.”

The Australians made a strong start in the competition before suffering a heavy eight-wicket defeat against England that left the Aaron Finch-captained side uncertain about their place in the knockout rounds.

But comprehensive wins over Bangladesh and the West Indies ended those doubts and the Australians are likely to face Pakistan, who lead Group 2 with their final match against Scotland to be played on Sunday, in Thursday's semi-finals.

“It was brilliant again last night, I think our last few games have been outstanding cricket,” said Langer.

“The boys have really stepped up. It was quite a sobering experience against England. We knew we had to do some work and the way the boys responded to that has been brilliant, so it's nice to be in the semi-final.

“You can't win it unless you're in the semi-final. It's nice to be sitting here, knowing we're in a semi-final on Thursday.”

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3oc4XHk

Pakistan decides to buy LNG cargo at highest ever rate

In a bid to avert the looming gas crisis in the country, the Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has decided to procure an LNG cargo at the highest ever price of $30.6 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), it emerged Sunday.

Sources privy to the matter said that the state-owned company, PLL, had issued an emergency tender on November 2, seeking bids for spot cargoes after two LNG trading companies, ENI and GUNVOR, backed out of providing two LNG term cargoes due to be delivered on November 19-20 and November 26-27.

The PLL received five bids with higher prices ranging from $29.8966 to $31.0566 per mmbtu from international LNG trading companies for two spot LNG cargoes to be delivered in the last 11 days of the current month, the sources added.

The PLL has decided to buy an LNG cargo at $30.6 mmbtu, while efforts are underway to buy one more LNG cargo to meet the gas demand in the country.

Meanwhile, efforts are also underway to convince the LNG companies who have backed out of the agreements signed with PLL to review their decision in the face of skyrocketing gas prices in the international market, the sources added.

Pakistan receives expensive bids for emergency LNG cargoes

A day earlier, the Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) had received five expensive bids for emergency LNG cargoes to avert the looming gas crisis in the country.

According to the details PLL had received bids with higher prices ranging from $29.8966 to $31.0566 per mmbtu from international LNG trading companies for two spot LNG cargoes.

The country had gotten the lowest bid for November 19-20 from Vitol Bahrain at $29.8966 per mmbtu and for November 26-27 from Qatar Petroleum Trading at $30.6500 per mmbtu.

The PLL board had held a meeting, which lasted for hours, to decide if it was to purchase the LNG cargoes at the lowest bids, which are factually at a higher trajectory in terms of prices. The PLL top management, under direction from the Petroleum Division, was tight-lipped and not ready to share the decision.

PPP demands judicial inquiry into LNG scam

Earlier today, it was reported that PPP senior leader Mian Raza Rabbani called for a judicial inquiry into the recent LNG scam, saying that Pakistan is moving towards a gas crisis due the government's incompetence and non-transparent policies.

“There will be shortages and increase in tariff in winter due to the new LNG bids ranging from $29.89 to $31.05 per MMBTU,” he said.

Rejecting the increase in the prices of petroleum, sugar and the power tariff, Rabbani said the IMF has completely taken over Pakistan. “Electricity rates increased by Rs.1.68 for domestic consumers and Rs1.39 for commercial and industrial consumers,” he said, adding that the government, in the darkness of Thursday night, increased the price of petrol by Rs8.03 per litre and the price of diesel by Rs8.14 per litre.

“Two weeks ago, the price of petrol was jacked up by Rs10.49 per litre,” he said.

The IMF liquidators are occupying decision-making positions and are pushing the country towards an economic collapse, he said. “This can have disastrous consequences for the federation,” he said, adding that the failure of the government to take action against the sugar mafia despite the commission report has resulted in sugar mills once again earning lofty profits by selling sugar at Rs140 per kg.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/2ZYjldN

Augmented reality: An early taste of the metaverse?

When Facebook unveiled a mock-up last week of the “metaverse” — supposedly the internet of the future — it showed people transported to a psychedelic world of flying fish and friendly robots.

But while even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges these kinds of experiences could be many years away, some enthusiasts argue that a more modest version of the metaverse is already here.

“We’re in the early stages of the metaverse, in some ways,” Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap, said at the Web Summit in Lisbon on Tuesday.

Magic Leap makes augmented reality (AR) headsets, which have already been used by surgeons preparing to separate a pair of conjoined twins, and by factory supervisors carrying out site inspections.

In both cases, information popped up before the users’ eyes about what they were seeing.

It might not feel quite as immersive — or as kooky — as the virtual reality (VR) experiences that Zuckerberg wants to eventually bring to people’s homes. But it nonetheless blurs the divide between the physical world and the digital one, a key idea behind the metaverse.

“With VR, you put on a device, and then you’re in another world,” Johnson said. “With AR, you put on a device, you’re still in your world, but we’re augmenting it with digital content.” So far, many people’s experiences of AR have been limited to playing Pokemon Go or experimenting with image filters that transplant a comical pair of ears onto someone’s face.

But it is in healthcare that the true potential of AR is starting to be realised, Johnson said.

“You can call in experts who can look at the same thing as you are, from another part of the world,” she said. “During surgery, you can lay down digital lines where perhaps the incision is going to occur.” Founded in 2010, Magic Leap’s initial mission to bring AR to the masses generated huge hype and nearly $2.3 billion in venture funding.

Early promo material imagined it being used to bring a killer whale into a gymnasium full of schoolchildren.

But when Magic Leap’s first headset was finally revealed in 2018, there was widespread disappointment; the product was too bulky and expensive to catch on among the general public. The company was forced to lay off around half its staff last year.

Restaurant reviews and forgotten names Johnson, a former Microsoft executive, took over as CEO in August 2020 and pivoted towards developing the goggles for use by professionals.

The Florida-based company last month announced that it has raised another $500 million in funding, with a new headset, the Magic Leap 2, set to be released in 2022.

The updated version is more lightweight, but it is still set to be used mostly by people accustomed to wearing goggles at work — like surgeons performing delicate work, or defence industry specialists.

Google Glass, a pair of “smart glasses” that failed to take off when they launched in 2014, has similarly re-emerged as a product aimed at professional users.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3o8Xmcg

Pakistan have no fear of anyone at T20 World Cup: Hafeez

Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez says such is Pakistan's form at the Twenty20 World Cup they are brimming with confidence and have no preferences as to who they play in the semi-finals.

Pakistan have been unstoppable since their historic 10-wicket win over bitter rivals India at the beginning of the campaign.

The 2009 champions have gone on to beat a strong New Zealand side, Afghanistan and Namibia.

Pakistan will face the runners-up of Group 1, likely to be either Australia or South Africa who play their last group matches later on Saturday.

Hafeez — a former captain of the Twenty20 side — said Pakistan were ready for any opponent.

“To be honest, when it comes to a cricket match we don't think about who we want to play,” said 41-year-old Hafeez on Saturday on the eve of their match with Scotland.

“Whoever comes we are ready for that as our confidence is high, we are shaping up well and we are performing well.

“But first we have a game against Scotland so we need to take them on with the same intensity and confidence. The goal is to win the Cup for the nation and we are close to that," he said.

Pakistan have won all their three T20Is against Scotland, once in the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 and two in Scotland in 2018.

Hafeez said there was extra satisfaction over their strong performances considering the tricky lead-up they had to the tournament.

“We played only one match out of five in the West Indies due to the weather,” he said.

“Then New Zealand and England abandoned their tours so we were short on that front but the whole team and the management have done well in this tournament.”

New Zealand abandoned their tour due to a security alert, minutes before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi in September and then England withdrew from two T20Is in October, citing players' mental and physical health problems.

Hafeez singled out the first match against India as the confidence booster — Pakistan's first win over them in 13 World Cup matches.

Read more: 'A beautiful day for Pakistan cricket': Fans ecstatic as Green Shirts achieve historic win vs India

“In any tournament when you win the first match, it gives you confidence so when we beat India it lifted our confidence hugely.

“I have been part of many World Cup matches against India and after all those defeats we had to bear the consequences but we always used to have strong comebacks.

“This time we won and it was great to be part of that team which beat India," he said.

Hafeez side-stepped talks of retirement.

“I am focusing on this World Cup so after this tournament I will decide what to do,” he said.

“I am a very emotional sort of player and playing for Pakistan is a great pride for me. “

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3H1aFUM