Tag: Ready

KARACHI - Pakistan's limited overs cricket captain Shahid Afridi has made himself available for the tour of West Indies after previously opting for a break.
"Earlier I had decided to skip the tour because I wanted to take a well deserved rest from the game, but some former players and my family and friends told me to change my decision at this crucial time for Pakistan cricket," said Afridi.
Afridi, 31, who has played 320 one-day internationals, led Pakistan to the

MIRANSHAH - Tribesmen were cleaning their guns and collecting explosives for celebratory fire on Wednesday to prepare for Pakistan beating India in the cricket World Cup semi-final.
The North Waziristan region ground to a halt like cities and towns across the country. Awash with light and heavy weapons, the tribal belt - described by Washington as the most dangerous place in the world - is cricket-crazy like rest of Pakistan.
Markets, schools and offices were closed in the

KARACHI - Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Sindh Secretary-General Taj Haider is ready and willing to appear before the Supreme Court (SC) on contempt of court proceedings.
The SC on Saturday took notice of a press conference organised by PPP-Sindh in connection with a verdict of the apex court regarding former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief Deedar Hussain Shah. Issuing contempt notices to Haider and another PPP-Sindh leader, Sharjeel Inam Memon, the court also sought

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) was informed on Friday that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has given approval for creating 198 new posts in the Punjab Health Department for regularisation of assistant professors and senior medical officers who were working on contract basis. Justice Umer Ata Bandial was hearing the petition of assistant professors and senior medical officers seeking their regularisation in the health department, which was filed through their counsel Dr

President Barack Obama has left unclear the exact role it would play. Washington has F-15 and F-16 fighter jets in Sicily, while the USS Barry and the USS Stout, both destroyers equipped with sea-to-ground Tomahawk missiles, are in the Mediterranean. The USS Bataan, a helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ship, and two other vessels have also been deployed to relieve the USS Kearsarge and the transport docking ship USS Ponce in the Mediterranean. The Bataan was due to leave the state

KARACHI - Pakistan's captain Shahid Afridi said on Tuesday that his team were happy to play their World Cup knockout stage matches in India despite earlier voicing concerns about their security.
"It does not matter to us where we play our quarter-final. The biggest issue for us was to qualify for the knockout stage and we have done that now," Afridi said. "We are ready to play our quarter-final at any venue now," the experienced all-rounder said.
"That is a thing of the

LAHORE - It will be Tariq Lutfi versus Bob Houghton as the coaches prepare for the 23rd international soccer encounter between Pakistan and India in the fourth AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers on March 23 at Kuala Lumpur. Pakistan are clubbed in Group B and they will take on Turkmenistan on March 21 before locking horns with India, followed by a clash with the Chinese Taipei on March 25.
Pakistan have chopped down the squad to twenty two from the 37 probables, while India left out

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid is ready to take its fight with the Unification members to the hometowns of each and every rebel who is supporting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
It is learnt that the PML-Q is planning to hold public meetings in the constituencies of each and every member of Unification group in coming days. Sources disclosed that in these meetings, the party leaders would announce their future candidates for the next parliamentary elections from the

CHITTAGONG - Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has admitted his team-mates were tense ahead of Friday's crucial World Cup match against England, but said the task was not beyond them. The Tigers, who have just one win from three games, will almost certainly drop out of the race for the quarter-finals from Group B if they lose the day-night game at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium. "The boys are tense, but they are also confident that they can put up a good show," said Shakib. "We

PALLEKELE - In-form Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq said his team was ready for the double challenge of facing New Zealand as well as a mystery World Cup pitch on Tuesday. The Group A rivals meet at the newly-built Pallekele stadium in the first-ever one-day match at the venue, a factor which vice-captain Misbah believes will give both teams plenty to think about.
"Of course, it adds to the challenge because we don't know how the pitch will behave but that's the same for both

KARACHI - Sindh Food Minister Nadir Magsi may be famous as Karachi's best car racer, but he is also an agriculturalist - albeit one who makes his living by allegedly sowing poppy and guarding the cultivation with all his (mighty) force, Pakistan Today has learnt. Coupled with the fields, a number of factories also operate under the patronage and protection of Magsi - producing refined heroin that sells for millions of rupees in Sindh and Balochistan, well-placed sources in the

THE REALITY CHECK - After an inspiring win over hosts Sri Lanka, Pakistan will take on the unfancied Canada in Colombo today. It was a good win for Shahid Afridi and his team. The win would have boosted the confidence of experienced players like Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. Canada might not pose any serious threat to the Pakistanis especially after their far-from-impressive show against Sri Lanka as well as Zimbabwe earlier in the tournament.
Yet Pakistan should

Lahore - The Unification Bloc MPA Arshad Jutt had demanded Rs 50 million for joining PPP but the party refused to adopt turncoats, said former ministers of Punjab cabinet Tuesday. Addressing a news conference held at Lahore Press Club (LPC), Pakistan People's Party PPP's former minister for population welfare, Neelam Jabbar added that the PPP did not believe in horse-trading and had turned down all offers of turncoats in the past.
Neelam said PPP believes in serving the masses

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday offered talks to all those militants who were ready to surrender to tribal agents. Responding to the points raised by Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao during debate on the law and order in the National Assembly, Gilani said, "We are ready to hold talks with them. We are ready to bring them into mainstream."
He reiterated the government's resolve to continue pursuing the policy of 3Ds, dialogue, development, deterrence, assuring

TEHRAN - Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said the country had begun marketing plans for the imminent exports of its gasoline, local satellite Press TV reported on Wednesday. Zeighami said that neighboring countries were Iran's priority, according to Press TV.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) has issued a permit for the export of one billion litres of gasoline, Zeighami was quoted as saying. He expressed hope that four shipments of

HAMBANTOTA - Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam said Sunday his unpredictable team were fully charged up for the World Cup despite losing their last warm-up against England. "The boys are confident of launching their World Cup campaign on a positive note," Alam told AFP, after team's arrival from Dhaka.
"We want to win all our group matches."Pakistan, who beat Bangladesh before going down to England in the lead-up to the tournament, open their campaign with a match against lowly

LAHORE - The Lahore Police have taken measures to ensure foolproof security on the Eid Miladun Nabi to avoid any untoward incident in the provincial metropolis. Police have deployed around 1,000 policemen to perform duty on routes of processions, at and around sensitive and important installations while 1,600 Mujahid Squad officials and 25 Elite Force vehicles will patrol the streets.
The City Traffic Police have also chalked out a traffic plan and deployed around 500 traffic