Open market currency rates

The US dollar is being bought at Rs 86.00 and sold at Rs 86.50 in the open market.

The British pound is being sold at Rs 142.52 and Euro is being sold at Rs 123.89. Meanwhile, the Saudi ryal is being sold at Rs 23.09 and the UAE dirham is being sold at Rs 23.59.

7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Various Cities of Pakistan

Breaking News
Massive Earthquake Hits Pakistan: An earthquake of 7.4 magnitudes hit the country on Wednesday at 1:28am. The shocks of earthquake were also felt in India, Afghanistan and UAE.

The jolts were felt in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Nowshera, Gilgit, Sawat, Muzzafarabad, Naseer Abad, Peshawar and other areas of the country. The earthquake lasted for around 1second to 60 seconds in different parts of the country.

According to the US Geological Survey, the intensity of the quake was 7.3 and its epicenter was around 50 kilometres west of the town of Dalbandin, close to the border with Afghanistan.

According to Chief Meteorologist Muhammad Riaz after shocks can be felt in coming days.

Two women died one in Quetta hospital from a heart attack following the quake but no major damage to property has been reported. People, harassed by the sudden shocks of earth quake, came out of their houses and started to recite verses of Holy Quran. The country witnessed one of the worlds worst earthquakes back in 2005 and people still cannot get out of the horrors of that quake.

Zulqarnain is still waiting for Political Asylum in England

The former wicket keeper of Pakistan cricket team Zulqarnain Haider is still waiting for the political asylum in United Kingdom. Retired Wicket keeper batsman was reportedly missing on 8th of November and was not arrived with the team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the deciding ODI against South Africa. After this these news were came in the media that Zulqarnain is immediately disappeared.

Zulqarnain landed in London late Monday night. He claimed that he had received death threats after scoring the winning runs in the last one-day international match he played he posted a message the on a social networking website “Facebook” saying that he was leaving Pakistan cricket because he had received a threat message from one man to lose the last game. He also phoned his brother and a media journalist, alleging he received a threat after close-fought match against the South African side.

After coming in London he talked to a private Pakistani electronic media channel and announced the decision of his retirement from international cricket. He said that

“I have decided it is best for me to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats, it is best for me to step down because I can’t play in these circumstances. But I would like to continue to play domestic cricket”.

An official of Pakistan Cricket Board told that Zulqarnain retrieved his passport from team management, saying he needed it to buy a mobile phone SIM card. The PCB announced an immediate inquiry and a fact finding committee to follow Zulqarnain’s case. The information shared with the PCB fact finding committee by the local authorities indicates that Zulqarnain has left the UAE for England, the PCB said in a statement. “The PCB continues to monitor all of this situation and is in contact with concerned authorities in this regard.”

Zulqarnain’s coming to London and leaving the team in such mysterious way was on the heels of September’s corruption scandal when three Pakistani players became embroiled in match-fixing allegations. Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Amir and the captain Sulman Butt are under suspension after being accused of accepting money via a middleman “Mazhar Majeed” to bowl no-balls at specific points and after specific known intervals in the fourth test match between Pakistan and England which was played in September.The wicketkeeper was questioned by officers of Scotland Yard and ICC Anti-Corruption unit in London.

On 4th of December former cricketer posted another message on Facebook that he would disclose all the secrets pertaining to spot-fixing within two days. In this message he again told about the threat calls and letters he and his family is receiving. But still nothing is disclosed by him. He has changed his lawyer and said that he did not want to talk about cricket matters until his Political Asylum application decision did not came.

UAE cabinet ratifies extradition treaty with Pakistan

ABU DHABI: The UAE cabinet Sunday ratified an extradition treaty with Pakistan and a civil nuclear cooperation deal Abu Dhabi has signed with Britain.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum chaired the meeting, which was attended by Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, among others.

The cabinet has also given its consent to the budget of the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) for the fiscal year 2011.

The ministers reviewed the recommendations forwarded by the Federal National Council on the registration of veterinary medicines and the hike in commodity prices after the recent rise in petrol prices. Trend Pk

Pak receives $4.43b remittance in 5 months

Pakistani overseas have sent 4.43 billion of dollars remittances to the country during the last five months.According to the report released by SBP, 1.4 billions dollars were received from UAE and that was the highest amount and 84 million of dollars were received from USA. The report further said, in November 2010, an amount of $926.89 million was sent, while in August 2010, an amount of $933.06 million was received as remittances. State Bank of Pakistan, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis had undertaken a joint initiative called Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) with a view to facilitating the flow of remittances through formal channels. Pakistan has been reported as a top nation which has shown the highest growth in the world in remittances despite global financial crisis.

Zulqarnain vows to disclose all hidden facts in 5 days

Zulqarnain Hiader has vowed to disclose all the hidden and secret facts in a matter of five days, trendpk.Com reported on Sunday.

In a message sent on facebook, Zulqarnain has said that he would soon disclose the names of those who benefited from spot-fixing and match-fixing. It is to be remembered that Zulqarnain went missing during Pakistan’s recent tour of UAE in which the national team played test, one-day and T2O matches against South Africa under mysterious circumstances.

Talking to trendpk.Com on the matter former test cricketer Abdul Qadir said that Zulqarnain should explain and disclose everything once and that his time and again appearance on media is humiliating for the country. He said that we, the Pakistanis, should always work to increase the respect and prestige of the country.

Haider questioned by Scotland Yard, ICC Anti-Corruption Unit

KARACHI: Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who retired from international cricket under pressure of death threats for refusing to fix matches, was on Tuesday questioned by Scotland Yard and ICC Anti-Corruption unit in London in connection with his claims that he was approached by bookies.

The glovesman, who fled to London midway through a series against South Africa in the UAE after receiving death threats for refusing to fix matches, said he was issued a temporary stay permit by the United Kingdom border agency.

“The Scotland Yard and ICC ACU guys have questioned me and the border agency has issued me a temporary permit to stay for one month,” Haider told a Pakistani news channel.

Sources said Haider had applied for political asylum on reaching Heathrow airport last night and had been questioned by the UK border agency in this regard.

“He now has one

Wicket keeper Zulqarnain Haider announces retirement

KARACHI: Wicket keeper Zulqarnain Haider, who fled to London midway through a series against South Africa in the UAE after receiving death threats for refusing to fix matches, announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.

Haider told a private news channel from London that he had taken the decision to retire since there was lot of pressure on him and he was getting threats from the people who wanted him to fix matches in the recently concluded one-day series against South Africa in the UAE.

“My family is also still getting threats. I have decided to retire because there is lot of pressure on me and I can’t take it,” he added.

Haider left the team hotel in Dubai yesterday under mysterious circumstances and flew to London. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later announced that it would hold an inquiry into the whole matter.

“I will be

Zulqarnain reportedly goes missing

Staff Report

DUBAI: Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has reportedly gone missing and has not arrive with the team at the ground for the deciding One Day International (ODI) against South Africa.

Pakistan Cricket Board has contacted Dubai administration over Zulqarnain’s disappearance.

Team manager Intikhab Alam said: “I can’t make much comment on this, but I can only confirm that Haider did not come with the team to the ground and we are looking for him.” A cryptic message left as a status update on the player’s Facebook page said: “leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game.”

It is not clear whether Haider has left the UAE because, generally, the passports of players are kept with management officials.

Television channels spoke to Haider’s relatives, including his brother Aqil, but they

Islamic Bonds to be issued to control budget deficit

The government is due to issue Islamic Bonds worth 460 million dollars by the end of the current month in order to control the budget deficit, Dunya News reported on Tuesday.
According to an international news agency these bonds would be issued for a period of three months and would be worth 460.60 million dollars. A local Islamic bank is supporting the government in this regard.
Sale of the Islamic Sukook Bonds remained only 12 billion dollars during the current year whereas it was 12 percent higher during the last year. Apart from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, UAE and Malaysia are also expected to issue Islamic bonds.

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