Pakistan News

India may be forced to forfeit a Davis Cup play-off hosted by rival Pakistan, with the local tennis association saying on Thursday that the team was waiting on government approval to travel. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) asked the sports ministry for approval to travel to Pakistan after a request to shift the fixture to a third country was rejected by the International Tennis Federation tribunal. “The proposal is still pending with the ministry and we are awaiting a decision,” AITA secretary-general Anil Dhupar told AFP . The World Group 1 clash is scheduled for February 3-4. New Delhi last hosted the Pakistani tennis team in 2006 and the Indian Davis Cup team last travelled to Islamabad in 1964, according to news outlet India Today . Local media reports said a 2019 match was moved to Kazakhstan , with the AITA citing political tensions as the reason for the request. Sports matches between Pakistan and India are rare owing to decades of hostility between the two nati...

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday rejected a petition seeking the removal of caretaker Federal Minister for Privatisation and Inter-Provincial Coordination Fawad Hasan Fawad from the caretaker cabinet, deciding that the official would remain in his position. The petition was filed in October seeking the removal of “biased” members of the federal cabinet to ensure the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections in February next year. The verdict of the electoral watchdog comes days after the ECP ordered the removal of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Establishment Ahad Cheema from his post in the same case. Fawad was principal secretary to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, while Cheema was an aide to Shehbaz Sharif when the latter was premier. In the short order issued last week, the ECP had said the petitioner’s request for Cheema to be removed was “reasonable and is accepted” on the basis that the latter was a part of the previous government ...

Over the last 14 years, I have travelled to Islamabad many times, holding a framed picture of my father, Dr Deen Mohammed Baloch, and screaming my heart out, demanding to know his whereabouts. Each time I have come to Islamabad, it is with the hope that one day, the authorities will listen to me and give me back my father. Or at the very least, give me some answers as to where he disappeared. You see, my father was abducted from Ornach hospital in Khuzdar, Balochistan, on June 28, 2009. I was a little girl of hardly 10 years old. Two years after his abduction, in April 2011, I participated in a train march along with seven other families, followed by another train march in 2013. Sammi Deen Baloch sitting outside the Frere Hall in Karachi on August 30, to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.— Photo: Anushe Engineer/ Dawn.com In 2014 came the most difficult journey of my life — the long march to Islamabad — when I, along with relatives of other mi...

MONTREAL — Let’s dive straight in! Over 50 questions came in for this mailbag and the majority of them were on this subject, which was to be expected. This has been lingering since well before the season started and, though the trade deadline is still over two months away, we’re 33 games in and getting closer to the Canadiens needing to solve at least part of this riddle. That’s not to say they’re completely resolved just yet on how they’ll go about it. It’s just that, with general manager Kent Hughes already publicly stating his intention to sign Lane Hutson at the end of the player’s sophomore season at Boston University, decisions are looming — and not just to clear space for Hutson’s imminent arrival but to also make some to reintegrate one (or both) of Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris . The latter is close to returning from a lower-body injury, the former is in the process of refining his defensive game in the American Hockey League, and the sudden emergence of Jayde...

In line with expectations , former federal minister for interior Faisal Saleh Hayat on Wednesday quit the PPP and joined the PML-N ahead of the upcoming general elections. According to a Dawn report, the announcement of Hayat switching parties was expected on Monday or Tuesday when PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif were expected to visit Jewana. However, the announcement was made today (Wednesday) outside Hayat’s residence in Shah Jewana in the presence of Shehbaz only, with his elder sibling and party chief missing. “We are confident that Hayat’s induction will strengthen the PML-N, especially in Jhang and Chiniot, but also in his other constituencies,” Shehbaz said as he welcomed the latest inductee into his party. He said that Hayat’s presence in the party will bolster Nawaz’s leadership. “Nawaz will, God willing, become the prime minister for the fourth term. He is not just a politician but also a statesman.” Hayat, a former PPP and PML-Q member, had given clear i...

Pakistan on Wednesday conducted a successful flight test of Fatah-II, the military’s media affairs wing said. According to the ISPR, Fatah-II is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, sophisticated navigation system and unique flight trajectory. “The weapon system is capable of engaging targets with high precision up to a range of 400 kilometres,” it said. The ISPR said that the flight test was witnessed by “senior officers from tri-services and dedicated scientists and engineers”. It further said that President Dr Arif Alvi, interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir congratulated participating troops and scientists on successfully conducting the flight test. In October, Pakistan had conducted a successful flight test of the Ababeel Weapon System. The ISPR said the missile system was “aimed at strengthening deterrence and enhancing strategic stability in the re...

Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon put Australia in the driving seat of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday to leave Pakistan tottering at 194-6, still 124 runs behind on day two. At stumps, Mohammad Rizwan was on 29 and Aamer Jamal not out two after Cummins took the crucial wickets of Abdullah Shafique (62) and Babar Azam (one), then Agha Salman (five). Lyon chipped in by removing Imamul Haq (10) and Shan Masood (54), while Josh Hazlewood bowled Saud Shakeel for nine as Pakistan’s dream of a first Test win in Australia since 1995 faded. The visitors had claimed seven wickets in the morning session on a pitch offering seam and swing, restricting the hosts to 318. Aamer Jamal spearheaded Pakistan’s charge with 3-64 after Australia resumed on 187-3 after being sent into bat, with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring on 63. Openers Haq and Shafique made a positive start in reply, surviving a series of loud appeals. But veteran spinner Lyon, fresh from taking his 500th wi...