Here is how you complain about your telephone not working, Lahori style!

The banner in the picture reads:

We have been trying to get out PTCL number 042-6371795 fixed for the last six weeks, but without any success!

It is not clear whether putting up a banner to register your telephone complaint worked or not. But one can only imagine how desperate this person had to be that he resorted such extreme measures of spending money on the printing of this banner and then hoisting it on a busy city road. Or, maybe, he is just trying to make light of what has to be a really frustrating situation. As they say, “Lahore, Lahore hai!”

03/11/08  LAHORE :Lahore High Court Bar Association in protest of November 3, 2007 action by former president Pervez Musharraf will take out a protest rally in Lahore during the day. The Association will hold a General House Meeting prior to this event. The lawyers in order to halt court proceedings have announced to put locks on all the higher and lower courts during their protest.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to arrange a home series have been dealt a blow as West Indies have opted not to tour next month because of security concerns.
Senior players had already expressed concerns about visiting Pakistan and the decision comes a week after the West Indies women’s team called off the Pakistan leg of their Asian tour.Donald Peters, the chief executive of the West Indies board, said negotiations are on to reschedule the tour. “We are in talks with the PCB at present with the hope of getting the tour deferred to another date, but at this time we are not going to tour the country,” Peters told Caribbean Media Corporation Sport.

“At the end of the last (WICB) board meeting, the directors wanted a security report on the situation in Pakistan and I contacted the PCB. I had requested a security plan from them that was okayed by their police and military.

“They got this plan and sent it to me and we were then looking further at getting an independent security firm but this was not done because we had decided that at this point it was not really safe for the players to go to Pakistan.”

Pakistan have already had two high-profile postponements this year: Australia’s tour was put off, as was the Champions Trophy. They have not played a home Test since October 2007 and the only tournaments they have hosted this year are the Asia Cup and ODI series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

I must say no matter what happens we are a tough nation. Finding our own way through the thick and thin of all times. Even finding humor in the saddest of all situations.

On festive events such as Eid, across Pakistan you will come across punch lines as “Dhamaka Sale Jaari Hay” so often. “Khudkush Sale” (Suicidal Sale) is the new term coined in market.

The shopkeeper was right in thinking that the word “khudkush” will attract everyone. I do hope it doesn’t attract Mr. Khudkhush himself but the genuine buyers only.

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued an Invitation to Tender (ITT) Letter for Audio-visual Rights of International Cricket in Pakistan for the period 2009-2013.
In essence the Rights on offer constitute television rights for international cricketing events to be held in Pakistan which are controlled by the PCB, said a spokesman here on Friday.The ITT has been offered to leading broadcasters and agencies worldwide. Interested parties may acquire the ITT from the “Marketing & Commercial Division” of PCB at Gaddafi Stadium, over the next couple of weeks, while submission of bids is scheduled around the second week of November 2008.

The PCB expects that the entire process will be completed by the end of November 2008.

“The process that has been adopted for award of these rights is in accordance with international best practices and is being monitored by an independent forensic accountant of international repute and credentials. Ehsan Mani, former president ICC is advising the PCB management on the whole process,” he added.

LAHORE, Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Justice Syed Zahid Hussain, adjourned on Monday the hearing of petition filed by Pakistan Cricket Board against Shoaib Akhtar.

PCB had submitted a petition in the court asking whether the pacer can represent Pakistan without paying the Rs7.0 million fine imposed by the Appellate Tribunal.

The board’s lawyer told the court, national squad was being finalized for National Twenty20 Championship and four-nation tournament to be played in Canada and pleaded before the court to explain further whether Shoiab could be included in the team.

The court, after issuing the notice to Shoaib Akhtar, adjourned the hearing till October 3.

LAHORE:Troubled fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will remain barred from all Pakistani cricket until he pays an outstanding fine, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) legal adviser said Tuesday.The 33-year-old was not named in any of the 16 teams for Pakistan`s inaugural Twenty20 competition, and will not be considered for next month`s four-nation T20 tournament in Canada if he does not play the October 4-8 domestic event.Akhtar, who is currently playing for English county side Surrey, owes seven million rupees (100,000 dollars) for criticising the PCB over its failure to award him a central contract.He was originally banned for five years but the penalty was eventually reduced to a fine by an appeals commission and the Lahore high court.

“Legally speaking the Lahore High court upheld the fine and suspended the ban so if he wants to play for Pakistan and in Pakistan, Akhtar will have to pay the fine,” PCB legal adviser Taffazul Hussain Rizvi said.

Rizvi said Akhtar has not replied to letters demanded payment and has not tried to fix a date for the hearing of his high court petition against the fine.Last month the PCB included Akhtar in a 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, saying his appearance did not depend on paying the fine. However, the Trophy was postponed for 12 months over security fears.Akhtar`s colourful career also includes a doping ban which was later rescinded. He has not played for Pakistan since the last Test against India at last December.

LAHORE, Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja believes Imran Khan is the right man to rescue Pakistan cricket from its current crisis and hopes the cricketer-turned-politician will consider heading the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is yet to appoint its chairman after Nasim Ashraf quit last month. “You cannot find a better person to lead the cricket board. He can see us through this crisis. The PCB is facing problems and Imran is the right man to put the game back on track,” he told reporters.

Imran, since retiring from international cricket in 1992, has been away from the game. He entered Pakistan politics and formed his own political party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf. In a passionate appeal Ramiz said Imran’s presence as head of the board would help Pakistan’s cause at the international level. Not only was he confident that Imran “would play a key role in increasing Pakistan’s influence in the ICC, he would also be able to convince other boards to get their players to tour Pakistan.”

“While it is true that at this moment it is difficult to convince teams to tour Pakistan because of the prevailing circumstances, I feel even now the board can, with sensible policy and support of other boards, resume international cricket activities in Pakistan,” he said.

With the postponement of the Champions Trophy and the shortage of international matches at home, former Pakistan players are understandably concerned about the state of affairs. Earlier, Javed Miandad had urged the new Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to keep a close watch on the working of the PCB and eliminate the unnecessary positions created by the previous regime.

LAHORE: Four players of Pakistan’s cricket team have left for South Africa to take part in shooting of an Indian documentary film based on cricket.According to reports, Captain Shoaib Malik, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Suhail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal are among the players, who have left today for Johannesburg.

Besides Pakistani players, other international cricketers are also expected to participate in the film ‘victory’.

LAHORE, With South Africa pulling out of the proposed tri-series, Pakistan is now looking to play in a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka later this month. ‘’The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has shown an interest in hosting Pakistan for a five-match ODI series later this month,” reported a cricket website on Sunday, quoting Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources. After the postponement of the high-profile Champions Trophy, the Sri Lanka tour has emerged as a very good chance for Pakistan players to experience some top class cricketing action. The strife-torn nation were supposed to host the eight-nation tournament from September 12 to 28 but due to security concerns voiced by various teams –-South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand – the International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed it till October 2009.

However, to compensate for the Champions Trophy, the PCB proposed to Cricket South Africa (CSA) to host a tri-series involving the hosts, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But after a few positive developments, the plans failed as CSA was unable to attract any broadcaster for the event. The CSA was also under pressure from its players as they were against the idea of having the tri-series immediately after a marathon tour of England. However, on PCB’s part, they were mulling the idea of staging a tri-series in Abu Dhabi with the support of the local cricket officials and promoters. But for materialising such a plan at a short notice would require an arduous effort. The PCB has a 15 day-window to hold the tri-series by the end of September, as almost all leading teams will get back to their future tour commitments from early next month. A senior PCB official said: “It would be difficult to rope in leading teams at such short notice and another challenging task will be to sign television rights and sponsorship deals.’’

An invitation from the SLC at this scenario would appear as a major breakthrough for the PCB, which is desperate to arrange international games for its teams this September. “We would welcome any kind of matches if they are against a leading team, ”Syed Ali Raza, chairman of the PCB’s international committee said. “We are weighing all our options,” he added while admitting the fact that time was running out from the hands of the PCB.