Day: October 25, 2021

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PRCS, TRC send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Islamabad, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in collaboration with Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRC) on Saturday has sent a consignment of food package for 16,000 people in Afghanistan. The aid was handed over jointly by PRCS and TRC officials to the representatives of Afghanistan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) during a simple ceremony at the Torkham border crossing point.

PRCS, TRC officials, representatives of ARCS and volunteers attended the ceremony. The humanitarian aid was delivered to Afghanistan under the joint project of Pakistan and Turkey. 33 tons of food supplies contain food package with consumable items including red bean, pasta, sugar, rice, cooking oil and chickpeas etc for distribution among the affected Afghan population.

In his message on the occasion, Chairman PRCS Abrar ul Haq said that PRCS is serving the suffering humanity to the best of its capability and without any discrimination. He said Pakistan and Turkey have always stood side by side with people in distress. He also paid rich tributes to the TRC for their magnanimous support and long-term partnership with the PRCS in humanitarian interventions in the last decades. “The TRC has always fulfilled its commitment to support PRCS as a reliable partner in case of any disaster or emergency,” he said.

Abrar ul Haq said that people of Afghanistan are facing immense challenges due to the crisis and Covid-19. “In Afghanistan conflict, extreme drought, pandemic have adversely affected the people, with thousands displaced by the recent conflict, and millions more suffering high levels of acute food shortages”, he said adding that this humanitarian assistance is the expression of solidarity with the vulnerable people of Afghanistan amid these challenging times. “The quantity of food packs being distributed may not be that huge, but what matters is the demonstration of close relations and brotherhood between the people of Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan”, he concluded.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS)
PRCS National Headquarters, H-8, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-300-8508138
Ph: +92-51-9250404-5
Fax: +92-51-9250408
E-mail: hilal@isb.comsats.net.pk
Web: http://www.prcs.org.pk

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Rabada: We must stay positive for West Indies despite Australia defeat 

Dubai, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada insisted there is no point dwelling on his side’s opening Super 12 loss to Australia ahead of the game against the West Indies.

Temba Bavuma’s men registered a below-par 118 for nine batting first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi but almost managed to pull off an unlikely win before a match-winning partnership of 40 off 26 balls between Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade saw Australia home with two balls to spare.

South Africa now face the West Indies, who had an even tougher time of it against England in a repeat of the ICC Men’s World T20 2016 final after being dismissed for just 55 on their way to a six-wicket defeat.

“It’s just one game that we couldn’t get over the line. Tomorrow is another day. Why be negative about it? Be positive. Whatever happens, happens,” said Rabada, who scored 19 lower-order runs and took one for 28 in his four overs in his side’s first hit out in the competition.

“Yeah, it obviously wasn’t the ideal start with the bat, and rarely do you ever have a perfect cricket game, although you would want both departments to balance out or balance each other out.

“If you also have a look at Australia, as well, we bowled extremely well, but yeah, their bowling outshined their batting, too.

“So, I guess it was probably a day for bowling, but in saying that, it’s no excuse. We know that we have to perform well in all departments. We’ve analysed what we have needed to do, and the guys are on it at the training grounds.

“At the end of the day it’s just another game of cricket. However, we need to rock up with proper intensity and play close to our best.

“That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to win the World Cup, otherwise why would we be here?”

Despite seeing the West Indies’ batting line-up collapse against England, Rabada insists South Africa will not be taking the defending champions lightly when they face off in Dubai on Tuesday.

“They’re a dangerous team. You can’t underestimate anyone. Tomorrow is a new day,” he added.

“We’re going to have to go and be as disciplined as we were in our first game [with the ball]. We cannot take anything for granted.”

West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick said making sure the players are enjoying themselves is the key to regaining form after the heavy defeat to England.

He said: “Well, one bad game doesn’t make a summer. We realise we had a bad game. We’ve had a chat about it. The players had some volleyball yesterday to help them to relax, to try to build some team spirit.

“The one thing you can do is, once you lose a game you can look for all the excuses in the world. You can nitpick all you want. You’ve got to back the players.

“Our job is to get the players up, make sure they remain confident, make sure they still believe in their ability. Make sure the dressing room is still a happy place and let them go enjoy the game of cricket, because that’s why they started playing.

“You start playing cricket because you enjoy doing it. They’re fortunate enough that they become international superstars and they are representing their country.

“But at the end of the day, it’s all about enjoyment. And once the enjoyment comes first and the attitude is right, then your skill level will remain high, and your discipline will remain very high.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

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PRCS celebrates International Youth Day

Islamabad, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):The issues and priorities keeping in view the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly demands actions and measures to bring improvement in our health, environment and food systems, youth should have to work together towards this end and to promote health care and hygiene culture across the country through their education, skills, innovation and entrepreneurial solutions, this was stated by Chairman PRCS Abrar ul Haq while addressing the volunteers countrywide in a webinar held in connection with International Youth Day at PRCS, National Headquarters here today.

More than 5000 youth and volunteers from different districts of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Merged Areas (FATA), Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Federal Capital Islamabad attended the webinar. PRCS Secretary General Dr Adeel Nawaz, officers were also present on the occasion.

International Youth Day is celebrated on 12th August throughout the world every year. The theme of International Youth Day 2021, “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”, highlights the success of such a global effort will not be achieved without the meaningful participation of young people.

Addressing the participants of webinar, Abrar ul Haq said PRCS volunteers have strong acceptance in the communities, they are Agents of Behaviour Change and they have always played an effective and efficient role in changing the minds of people during awareness campaigns, thereby promoting a culture of peace, tolerance and non-violence through community watch.

Abrar ul Haq said the COVID19 pandemic affected millions of people worldwide and caused disruptions at the global level including in healthcare provision and food system. He said that the current generation of youth is the largest in history and young people often comprise the majority in countries marked by armed conflict, unrest and climate change, therefore youth can play important role in deterring and resolving conflicts, and are key constituents in ensuring the success of both peacekeeping and peace building efforts.

Chairman PRCS said the unique idea of ‘Muhafiz Force’, comprising trained volunteers, did well and its actuation benefitted 96,000 households across the country, provided food and health advice to more than 600,000 people. “PRCS volunteers collected food from philanthropists and affording communities and passed it on to the poor families, the idea was appreciated by the US media and declared it as the most workable solution to the subject”, he added.

He directed PRCS Programme heads and officers to provide the volunteers with adequate capacity development with respect to the resilience of food systems, in particular during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and in its aftermath. In the end, Chairman PRCS Abrar ul Haq administered pledge to volunteers under the theme of International Youth Day. Earlier, Dr. Nosheen Abbas, HoD nutrition at PAF hospital gave a detailed presentation to the participants on wellness and eating habits in youth.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS)
PRCS National Headquarters, H-8, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-300-8508138
Ph: +92-51-9250404-5
Fax: +92-51-9250408
E-mail: hilal@isb.comsats.net.pk
Web: http://www.prcs.org.pk

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Records tumble as Afghanistan put in complete performance 

Dubai, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):Several records were broken as Afghanistan inflicted a 130-run defeat on Scotland in their opening match of Group 2.

For Afghanistan, the win marked their biggest victory in T20 internationals, for Scotland the opposite, their worst score in a T20I as they could only post 60 in reply to Afghanistan’s 190.

Afghanistan were as dominant with the ball as they were with the bat, as Mujeeb Ur Rahman took five for 20 on his T20 World Cup debut while Najibullah Zadran hit 59 from just 34 balls.

Afghanistan’s batting innings began with Hazratullah Zazai, a left-hander, and a Mohammad Shahzad, a right-hander, a theme maintained throughout the match and something which Mark Watt, Scotland’s most economical bowler, admitted was a challenge.

Watt said: “Before the game, we knew it was going to be a short boundary one side, so we’re just trying our best to protect it.

“But I thought Afghanistan’s left-hand hand-right hand combination out in the middle, we found it quite tough to protect the short boundary, but we tried our best.”

Zazai would soon claim the longest six of the Super 12s so far, smashing Brad Wheal a massive 101m.

By the end of the innings, that distance had been beaten with Zadran crashing a six 103m, which was one of five maximums to go over 97m in this innings, making up the top five so far in the Super 12s.

Afghanistan didn’t stop there, they made use of the shorter boundary eight times, as they chalked up 11 sixes in total, the most in the tournament.

But it wasn’t just boundaries where Afghanistan got their runs, they scored 73 of their 190 by running through the wickets.

The second left-right combination of Zadran and Gurbaz were particularly quick between the wickets even having two runs scratched off for being short of their ground at the turn.

With 190 on the board, Afghanistan’s highest score in a T20 and what would be Scotland’s biggest chase, Afghanistan looked to wrap up the game as quickly.

Mujeeb announced himself on the World Cup stage taking three wickets in his second over, including two in two balls.

Captain Kyle Coetzer was the first to go, clean bowled by Mujeeb for 10 before Calum MacLeod was dismissed off the next ball, trapped lbw, with a review giving him out on umpire’s call.

It was the same fate for Richie Berrington, who went for a duck, as did Matthew Cross and Michael Leask as Scotland became the first side to have batters from three to six all make ducks.

Mujeeb would also pick up opener George Munsey who top-scored with 25 and Watt to take five for 20 off his four overs.

Two of his wickets were lbw with Rashid Khan dismissing three batters leg before wicket, this saw Scotland match the Netherlands as having the most dismissals by lbw in men’s T20I cricket.

Khan took the final two Scotland wickets in two balls to collect four for nine from just 2.2 overs as Afghanistan moved top of Group 2 with a net run rate of +6.5 to cap a dominant display.

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

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Afghanistan will not be complacent despite win, says Naveen

Dubai, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):Afghanistan will not get complacent despite their huge win over Scotland in Group 2 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, insists Naveen ul-Haq.

The seamer was the only other bowler to take a wicket with Mujeeb Ur Rahman (5-20) and Rashid Khan (4-9) reducing Scotland to 60 all out.

Their dominance with the ball came after a clinical batting performance which saw Afghanistan make 190 for four.

Naveen said: “Every tournament, the first game is very important so it was a good team effort and we needed that win to start our journey into the tournament.

“It was a good one. Our players were ready for it. We were well prepared. Lots of our players were playing and participating in different leagues, so all the boys were ready for this tournament and this match.

“We had this plan of the left-right combination, so for both the batsmen, it was easy to target the shorter side and we had this plan and we executed it well.

“We needed that win to start our tournament so we won’t be complacent about this win, we move forward.

“We will enjoy the victory, it was a great game, but looking forward into the tournament we have still four games.”

For Scotland, it was an evening to forget as they recorded their lowest total in a T20I and head coach Shane Burger believes it will be a difficult defeat to get over.

“It’s obviously a tough pill to swallow,” he said. “We’ve had really good momentum recently, so you get into a rhythm of what that feels like and that’ll be really tough to swallow.

“But this competition doesn’t allow you to think about it for too long. We’ve got another game in a couple of days’ time, we have to just regroup, reset and go again against Namibia.

“The game is all about small margins, fine margins at times, and we didn’t quite get momentum on our side this evening.

“They just showed that with a few of their world-class players, they were able just to pile on the pressure at the right times and in T20 cricket that can happen. It can go against you.”

Scotland saw the dangerous Calum MacLeod and Richie Berrington both dismissed lbw and reviews showed the wickets being decided by umpire’s call, with fine margins consigning Scotland to their fate.

“Sometimes those things can go your way and I’m not here to speak about decisions because I feel sometimes we make our own luck,” Burger added.

“But when those small and fine decisions go against you, it’s really hard to get back into the game and with the quality that they have, they just keep piling on the pressure.

“They keep coming at you and we’ll just learn a lot from that and we’ve got to be able to just manage those situations a little bit better.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

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KP Assembly adopts five resolutions, passes one bill 

Islamabad, October 25, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) adopted five resolutions and passed one government bill on Monday, observes Fee and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.

Following are key observations of the House proceedings during the 18h sitting of 20th session:

Members’ Participation

The House met for two hours and 15 minutes.

The sitting started at 03:15 pm against the scheduled time of 02:00 pm.

The speaker presided over the entire proceedings.

The deputy speaker was also present.

The leaders of the House (Chief Minister) and the opposition were absent.

As many as 49 PAs (34 percent) were present at the outset and 52 (36 percent) at the adjournment of the sitting.

Parliamentary leaders of all PPPP and BAP were absent.

Three out of four minority lawmakers attended the sitting.

Output

The House witnessed introduction of two government bills including the KP Mines and Minerals (Amendment), Bill, 2021 and the KP Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) (Amendment), Bill, 2021.

Moved by minister for labour, the House passed the KP Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The House adopted a resolution paying tributes to late nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Four other resolutions were also adopted which demanded to shift private educational institutions from residential premises of Kohat and cantonments areas of the province to commercial areas, introduce one month training for applicants of driving licenses and give five years relaxation on upper age limit to students belonging to erstwhile FATA for admission in higher classes.

The House adopted a report of Standing Committee on Establishment.

Representation and Responsiveness

A privilege motion of PPPP lawmaker against station house officer of Jagam police station, Upper Dir was referred to the relevant committee.

The House took up two calling attention notices (CANs) about registration of coal miners with workers welfare board and accommodation issues being faced by government officers and minority community in Civil Colony of Miran Shah, North Waziristan.

The House took up six out of ten starred questions while the lawmakers asked three supplementary questions.

Order and Institutionalization

The House was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 02:00 pm.

Transparency

‘Orders of the Day’ was available for the legislators, observers and the media.

Attendance of the lawmakers was not available for the observers and the media.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org