Opinion Printline Pakistan
During a series against South Africa in the UAE,Pakistans wicketkeeper,Zulqarnain Haider vanished,according to newspapers.
Caught beyond
During a series against South Africa in the UAE,Pakistans wicketkeeper,Zulqarnain Haider vanished,according to newspapers. Pakistan lost that game by 57 runs,and the five-match series 3-2. Dawn,on November 8,reported: Zulqarnain Haider has arrived in England after mysteriously disappearing hours before the fifth and final ODI against South Africa in Dubai. I have come here on my own expenses on a one month visa, Zulqarnain told a private news channel after spending nearly four hours with immigration authorities at Heathrow Airport. I will speak… on the reasons for my decision to leave Dubai and come to London later on. The Pakistan Cricket Board responded with a statement quoted in the November 11 Daily Times: The PCB has suspended the stipend contract of Haider for violating terms and conditions and a three-man committee will look into the facts surrounding the incident. The report added that the wicketkeeper has claimed he was told by a person to cooperate in fixing the last two ODIs against South Africa in Dubai for which he could earn a lot of money,or otherwise he would be out of the team and could also face a lot of problems. Haider said he fled to London out of fear.
Reacting to Obama
US President Barack Obamas support for a permanent seat for India in the UNSC has Pakistan fuming,suggests a report in The News on November 9: The spokesman at the Foreign Office… said Pakistan hopes the US… will take a moral view and not base itself on any temporary expediency or exigencies of power politics. Dawn reported on November 9 that the Pakistans foreign secretary conveyed its concerns to the American ambassador. Dawn added on November 12: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that despite the US support,India needed to cover a lot of ground before realising its ambition… Speaking at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini,Qureshi used the Persian phrase Hanuz Dilli Door Ast (Delhi is still far away) in response to a question about the expansion…
No sugar today
Sugar prices in Pakistan have become a problem,reported Daily Times on November 9: Following a surge in price,sugar was being sold at Rs 120 per kg in cities and Rs 110 per kg rural areas. Dawn reported the prices went up because the government had removed its subsidy on sugar,in compliance with IMF guidelines. However,information minister,Qamar Zaman Kaira was quoted by Daily Times as saying that profiteers and hoarders have artificially created the sugar shortage. The News added that Pakistani consumers… are paying almost twice the world price for one kg of sugar. The report quoted anonymous officials as saying that the problem was that Pakistans sugar industry has been politicised most of the producers and sellers of the commodity are sitting in Parliament.
Finally,taxes
Daily Times reported on November 11 the levying of an additional flood relief tax on Pakistans better-off. The cabinet agreed to impose Flood Relief Surcharge,raising income tax payments by 10 per cent for the next six months for those earning Rs 300,000 or more a year… We will collect Rs 40 billion from well-off people, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said.
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