The forthcoming tri-series between South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan will now take place in Multan, according to the announcement made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The tri-series, which was originally planned to take place in Multan, will instead be hosted in Karachi and Lahore as the PCB gives priority to getting ready for the Champions Trophy.

The National Stadium in Karachi and Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host games in the series, which is scheduled to begin in the second week of February.

The decision was made in view of the Champions Trophy preparations that are now taking place at these locations.

The PCB claims that this change shows the board’s ability and dedication to modernising the stadiums to worldwide standards.

The Gaddafi Stadium’s capacity will be raised to 35,000, and the ongoing renovations at the National Stadium will be finished on time.

The PCB can better coordinate its Champions Trophy planning thanks to the tri-series shift, which also guarantees that the venues are prepared for the event.

Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Umar Tanveer Butt have been convicted of terrorism by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad. The case is related to demonstrations against the disqualification of Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra heard the case, and processes to designate former Federal Minister Amir Mahmood Kayani as a proclaimed offender were also initiated. PTI leaders Wasiq Qayyum and Faisal Javed also made an appearance before the court during the hearing.

The proclaimed offenders’ cases would be kept apart from the other accused by the court. For a few of the defendants who were not present, arrest warrants were issued.

In his petition, Senator Faisal Javed asked that the case’s terrorism-related clauses be eliminated. The hearing was postponed until January 15 by the court, which also ordered arguments on the petitions that were filed.

A demonstration against Imran Khan’s disqualification led to the case’s registration at Islamabad’s I-9 Police Station in 2022.

According to official estimates, electricity prices can be lowered by up to twenty rupees per unit. By revising agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), the federal government has devised a formula to lower electricity prices by Rs20 per unit, with a potential reduction of Rs9.70 per unit.

Negotiations with 14 IPPs have been concluded, according to the working document, while agreements with six will be cancelled. All IPP agreements will be revised, which will lower power costs by Rs9.70 per unit.

In order to implement the “Electricity for Payments” strategy, the government intends to persuade commercial power plants. Next Monday, the Cabinet is anticipated to get a summary of these IPPs.

Convincing IPPs to implement the “Electricity for Payments” strategy will reduce capacity payments by half, the documents claim. At the moment, capacity payments from customers are Rs1,916 billion per year. The revised agreement will lower this sum to Rs967 billion.

Eight separate taxes that are applied to electricity bills are also being eliminated by the Ministry of Energy. Every year, these taxes cost consumers Rs. 954 billion. Prices for power might drop by an extra Rs. 9 per unit if these taxes are eliminated.

Additionally, according to the working paper, converting coal-fired power facilities from imported to domestic coal will result in an additional Rs. 2 per unit reduction in electricity costs.

During yesterday’s federal cabinet meeting, the prime minister said the country’s economy is stabilising and that the government intends to ask the IMF to lower electricity prices.

He underlined that lowering electricity costs is necessary for the expansion of exports, businesses, and agriculture.

In order to speed up the process, the PM indicated that more meetings would be conducted this week and that talks are still going on with possibilities to reduce electricity bills.