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  • Tony Hemming resigns as Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief curator

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    Australia’s Tony Hemming has resigned from his position as the chief curator, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Saturday.

    He was appointed as chief curator in July last year as no extension was given to previous chief curator Agha Zahid.

    “One of Hemming’s immediate tasks will be to prepare pitches for the upcoming five ICC World Test Championship matches against Bangladesh [two in August/September] and England [three in October]. Hemming will also oversee pitch preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which Pakistan will host from Feb 19 to March 9,” the PCB had said at the time.

    “Hemming is a highly respected curator with nearly four decades of experience. He has worked at various iconic cricket grounds in Australia, including Melbourne, Perth and Tasmania, as well as in countries such as Bangladesh, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where he was the ICC Head Curator from 2007 to 2017 in Dubai.

    “During his time with the ICC, Hemming also oversaw pitch preparation at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which was one of Pakistan’s home [series] venues between 2009 and 2019,” the PCB statement had further said.

  • What does recognising a Palestinian state mean?

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    Paul Adams BBC diplomatic correspondent PM: UK will recognise Palestinian state unless conditions met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced the UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel meets certain conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and reviving the prospect of a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

  • Raksha Bandhan: A sisterly act honouring someone special

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    KARACHI: Seven-month-old Mayur Sunil experienced his first Raksha Bandhan festival when his older sister Nomisha and cousin Jaya Ramesh tied the sacred thread around his little wrist with the flowing waters of Chinna Creek as witness at the Shri Lakshmi Narayan temple here on Saturday.

    It was a memorable moment for the children’s mother and aunts, who were beaming with a glint of joy in their eyes. Earlier, Mayur’s older cousin Nikhil Ramesh, who held the baby while his sisters tied the red rakhi on his wrist, also got his rakhifrom his younger sister Jaya.

    Meanwhile, Faqira Vikash got a rakhi from Radhika Parmar. They were not real brother and sister but Radhika said that she saw Vikash as her protector and wanted to honour him by making him her brother.

    Raksha Bandhan, the bond of love and protection between sisters and brothers, is celebrated annually on purnima, a full moon, in the Hindu month of Shravana, which is also commonly known as Sawan in North India. It is the fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar.

    Hindus celebrate the festival of siblings on the full moon of Sawan

    There are many myths and legends attributed to Raksha Bandhan, one of which is about Lord Krishna injuring his hand which was quickly bandaged by Daupadi who tore off a strip of cloth from her saree pallu to do the needful and stop the bleeding. She always looked up to him as a brother.

    Later, when she was harassed by some rascals who pulled her saree pallu, Krishna came to her rescue. With his extraordinary powers, the pallu kept unwinding as the men pulled without any end to it.

    The rakhis used in this sweet ritual were available in abundance in an extensive variety from right outside the temple. You could buy 12 Pakistani rakhis for a hundred rupees and Indian rakhis, brought here in personal baggage, for double the price.

    All the vendors were surprisingly Muslim. But then it was also not surprising to find Muslim women also coming to buy the rakhis for friends whom they look up to as brothers.

    “In Pakistan, the festival may carry religious significance for Hindus but for Muslims, it is also a cultural festival. I’m going to tie a rakhi around my friend in college, who is always looking out for me,” said Ayesha Mahmood, a customer buying several threads from a stall.

    Asked how many were she going to tie around one person’s wrist, she laughed and shared that many of her female friends had also requested her to get a rakhi or two for them as they also wanted to honour someone special.

    Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025