ICC Rejected Appeals of Salman Butt and Muhammad Amir

Pakistan’s three players appealed against ICC suspension and the date of hearing was set on 30th and 31st October. One player draws back his appeal and decided to appeal later to ICC. Asif said that he is planning to go with full preparation to ICC. Amir and Salman Butt remained with appeal and reached Dubai on Friday for hearing.

According to information in yesterday hearing the behavior of ICC was not good with them and at one stage Muhammad Amir got tears in his eyes. Both players are stayed on their innocence. Yesterday the appeal hearing was adjourned till today. In today’s hearing ICC has given decisions against both players and in the short order it was announced that the suspension of both players will be sustained.

ICC hearing was chaired by Michael Beloff and who later on announced the decision. Now players have no right to appeal against the decision of Michael Beloff. They can now appeal against the final decision of ICC. They have to prove them innocence in the final hearing of the case. The final hearing of spot fixing case is expected soon. Muhammad Asif is also announced suspended and his suspension will also remain there. Both players are disappointed after the rejection of their appeal.

Pakistan”s forex reserves rise to $16.70 bln

KARACHI: Pakistan”s foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.70 billion in the week ending July 16, from $16.63 billion a week ago, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $12.86 billion from $12.82 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $3.84 billion from $3.81billion, said Syed Wasimuddin, the SBP”s chief spokesman.

Pakistan”s forex reserves rose to a record high of $16.77 billion in the week ending July 2, thanks to foreign inflows worth $750 million received during the week.

The previous record high was $16.45 billion in October 2007.

In May, Pakistan received $1.13 billion, the fifth tranche of a $10.66 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

The IMF loan package was agreed to in November 2008 to help avert a balance-of-payments crisis and shore up reserves.

Stocks witness volatility at KSE

KARACHI: Local equities ended flat on Thursday amid light trading as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the anticipated monetary policy, due to be announced on July 30, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange”s benchmark 100-share index, fell 0.05 percent, or 5.17 points, to end at 10,228.86 points.

Volume fell to 60.22 million shares, compared with 118.68million shares traded on Wednesday.

Dealers speculated that the light trading was because the government rejected all bids for the Pakistan Investment Bondat an auction on Wednesday as the cut-off yields for the bids received were much higher.

“The market seemed confused about the rejection of the auction with most analysts trying to look for answers and its likely investors will stay on the sidelines until the announcement of the monetary policy,” said Asad Iqbal, chief investment officer at Faysal Asset Management Ltd.

Bulls add 240 more points to KSE-100 Index

KARACHI: Investors at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) ignoring the turning down of KSE recommendations by the government, took fresh positions pushing the benchmark KSE-100 Index up by 240 points to 9,677.

The share market opened 100 points low in reaction to the rejection of KSE’s recommendations but investors found good buying opportunity when the Index lost 119 points. All major and small investors as well as financial institutions went for accumulation, contributing 240 points to the Index at market close.

The market turnover was recorded at 138.4 million shares, 40 percent higher compared to yesterday’s trade.

Lotte Pakistan beat all actives as it took the lead at Rs9.05, up by paisas 9.

According to market analysts the investors are accumulating scrips on expectations of sound financial results of companies.

Maliks presidential pardon challenged in LHC

Interior Minister Rehman Maliks pardon, given by President Asif Ali Zardari, has been challenged in Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday.
Imtiaz Qureshi, making President House, Federal Government, Rehman Malik and Chairman NAB a party in the case, maintained in the petition that Rehman Malik was given pardon on political basis. After the rejection of pleas against Rehman Malik, the petition was to be filed in the Supreme Court. All requirements of the appeal were not fulfilled yet, so the president could not give pardon to Rehman Malik.
On Monday, the president using his discretionary powers pardoned Malik hours after the LHC had dismissed his appeals.

Japan Welcomed Decision By Delegates At A UN Wildlife Trade Meeting

DOHA : Japan welcomed on Friday a decision by delegates at a UN wildlife trade meeting to reject a ban on cross-border commerce in rapidly declining Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay.

Backers of a ban, the European Commission and the United States both regretted the result, with the Commission warning the consequences could be catastrophic for the future of the species.

After aggressive lobbying by the Japanese, the controversial proposal was crushed at a meeting in Doha of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The proposal, which had been put forward by Monaco with the backing of the United States and European Union, had needed the support of two thirds of the nations present.

In the end, there were 68 votes against the measure, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions.

“We welcome the rejection” of a ban on cross-border trade of bluefin caught in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic as well as an amendment to allow a moratorium on the ban, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.

“We will continue our efforts to get understanding of our country’s position” so that the rejection will be adopted at a general meeting on March 24-25, it added.

US Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland lamented the vote as “a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna,” but vowed to “keep fighting” for the sustainable management of the fishery.

The European Commission warned that rejecting the ban threatened the species with extinction.

Environmental groups and experts also slammed the result.

“The abject failure of governments here to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction,” said Oliver Knowles of Greenpeace International.

Last November, ICCAT agreed to cut its catch for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean regions by 40 percent, from 22,000 tonnes in 2009 to 13,500 in 2010.

Industrial-scale harvesting on the high seas has caused bluefin stocks to plummet by up to 80 percent in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, the two regions which would have been affected by the ban.

A single 220-kilo (485-pound) fish can fetch 160,000 dollars (120,000 euros) at auction in Japan, which consumes three quarters of all bluefin caught in the world, mainly as sushi and sashimi.

Meanwhile, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned that another expensive delicacy, caviar, had pushed sturgeon into the most threatened creature on the planet.

“Four species are now possibly extinct,” it said in a report on the conference sidelines.

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Japan Welcomed Decision By Delegates At A UN Wildlife Trade Meeting was first posted on March 19, 2010 at 3:18 pm.
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