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LAHORE: Punjab officials are tight-lipped on reports that claim the provincial government has acquired a Gulfstream aircraft for “VIP transport role”.

Meanwhile, the alleged move continues to draw criticism.

On Monday, it was claimed by an X account, The Stratcom Bureau — which mainly shares defence and security news — that the “government of Punjab, Pakistan has acquired a new, 2019-manufactured Gulfstream GVII-G500 aircraft for their VIP transport role”.

In a separate post by the same account, it was claimed that “the registration number of the luxury plane is N144S” and its “old Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registration would be changed to Pakistani registration soon”.

The post also said that the approximate asking price for the aircraft was $38 million to $42m.

Meanwhile, the US FAA registry shows that the aircraft is currently owned by TVPX Aircraft Solutions Inc. Trustee, which, as per its website, commonly acts as the registered owner for aircraft trusts, facilitating the buying, selling, and leasing of planes, particularly for non-US citizens or for privacy reasons.

According to flight tracking service Flight Radar, the aircraft has been flying between various airports in Punjab since at least February 12.

Dawn reached out to several officials for a confirmation of the purchase’s claims, but they remained tight-lipped on the matter.

Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and Additional Chief Secretary Ahmad Raza Sarwar did not respond to calls and text messages to clarify the Punjab government’s position.

Additional Secretary (Welfare) Waseem Hamid, however, denied the claims of the aircraft’s purchase and abruptly disconnected the call.

Dawn also tried to contact Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari, but she, too, did not respond to any calls or the query sent to her as a text message.

Amid this silence by the officials, the reported purchase of the aircraft continues to draw criticism, including by former finance minister Miftah Ismail and ex-Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair.

Sharing the Stratcom Bureau’s post on X, Miftah juxtaposed the reported purchase of the aircraft with the recent hike in petroleum prices by the government.

“So while Pakistanis are supposed to tighten our belts and sacrifice, Punjab’s entitled VIPs are fastening their seatbelts for taking off in luxury private jets,” he said.

Similarly, Zubair posted on X: “Such a beautiful plane worth more than 1,000 crore, which has been bought by the Punjab govt for the use of its CM and party’s elite.”

He questioned whether a nation facing economic difficulties, with 45 per cent of the people living below the poverty line and amid record unemployment — afford this luxury.

“Punjab government aay issue a denial if not true,” he said about the claims of the aircraft’s purchase.

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Dipendra Singh Airee hit an unbeaten 50 as Nepal saved their best for last to end their T20 World Cup campaign with a seven-wicket win over Scotland on Tuesday.

Chasing 171 for victory, Nepal looked in trouble at 98-3 in the 14th over before Airee took the initiative in his 23-ball knock as his team achieved the target with four balls to spare in Mumbai.

Airee put on 73 runs with Gulsan Jha, who made 24 not out, as Nepal earned their first win after three losses in Group C.

Nepal’s fans erupted with joy at the Wankhede Stadium after seeing their team win for the first time in the tournament since 2014.

“I want to thank the fans who came from Nepal and supported us, that gives a lot of motivation to all of us,” said player of the match Airee.

“And in the last World Cup, we didn’t win a single match. So that’s why this win is very important for us.” It was Nepal’s first victory in the T20 World Cup since they beat Hong Kong and Afghanistan in the opening stage 12 years ago.

Nepal had given England a mighty scare in their opener before losing by four runs and then went down in the next two games.

Put in to bat, Scotland posted 170-7 after a 45-ball 71 by opener Michael Jones

Nepal pace bowler Sompal Kami stood out with figures of 3-25.

Nepal started strongly with Kushal Bhurtel scoring 45 as he put on 74 runs with fellow opener Aasif Sheikh, who made 33.

Spinner Michael Leask picked up three quick wickets as Scotland fought back but Airee led Nepal over the line for a memorable win.

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KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched ‘Cyber Shield’, a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy, to counter growing global and domestic cyber threats to the financial ecosystem, aligning with international best practices.

As part of its Vision 2028 agenda, the SBP launched Cyber Shield, a major initiative aimed at strengthening the safety and robustness of the country’s banking and financial system.

The banks have been facing increasing incidents of cyber crimes, while the international organisations believe that every second Pakistani is facing the cybersecurity problem.

With the rapid digitisation and very high growth of online payments, cyber threats have also increased. Bankers said the situation is not alarming, but there is a need to implement quick remedies to control it, which would help strengthen the banking system in Pakistan.

Outlines key priorities to counter growing threats by 2030

“The milestones laid down in the strategy will be implemented in a phased manner by 2030. All regulated entities are required to align their internal cybersecurity programs with the strategy to ensure compliance,” said the SBP.

The central bank said the strategy has been designed to better protect banks and financial institutions from cyber threats, thus ensuring that people and businesses can continue to access financial services safely.

The SBP said it set out a clear roadmap to help financial institutions strengthen their systems and controls, prevent cyber incidents, respond quickly when cyber threats materialise, and recover effectively from them.

“As the banking ecosystem faces increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, the strategy aims to enhance cyber defences of the regulated entities through a holistic, forward-looking and collaborative approach,” said the SBP.

Bankers said cybersecurity experts are not available to meet the growing demand in financial institutions, as many young Pakistani experts prefer jobs abroad with higher pay. There is no attractive policy to retain cybersecurity experts in the country.

The SBP said the Cyber Shield focuses on five key priorities: strengthening the ability of banks to withstand cyber incidents, improving governance and accountability for cybersecurity, encouraging cooperation and information-sharing across the financial sector, building skilled cyber talent, and continuously updating security practices to keep pace with new risks.

“The SBP will closely monitor both global and domestic cyber developments and will update the strategy as needed to address emerging threats,” said the SBP.

By strengthening cyber resilience across the banking sector, SBP aims to safeguard customers, support digital innovation in a secure environment and ensure financial stability, it added.

About 90 per cent of bankers believe that cybercrime is the biggest challenge confronting the banking industry in the country, according to a previous survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Pakistan.

Seventy per cent list fraud as their major concern, and 60 per cent believe terrorism financing is the biggest threat, the survey showed.

“Banks in Pakistan operate within an evolving financial crime compliance ecosystem,” said the survey report.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2026

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi apologised to the people of his province on Monday, saying that PTI workers had taken to the streets of their own accord.

His statement comes against the backdrop of protests at multiple places by PTI activists in KP. The party workers have blocked entry and exit points to the province, resulting in inconveniences for the people and KP being cut off from the rest of the country.

The protests began on Friday, simultaneously with sit-ins by opposition parliamentarians and Tehreek Tahafuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan leaders in Islamabad, over PTI founder Imran Khan’s health.

When KP CM was asked today about what would be the next line of action for PTI workers, he said: “We have not given any line of action to the workers. The workers have come out on their own. Our strategy was just for the parliamentarians.”

He said the plan devised for parliamentarians was to stage a “peaceful sit-in” outside the Parliament in Islamabad. “But, unfortunately, some of us were stopped at the KP House, some at the Parliament Lodges and some at the Parliament House.”

He again reiterated that “no official call” had been given to party workers for the protest, and they had taken to the streets of their own accord.

“They have shut down KP,” he acknowledged, apologising to the people of the province.

He said the PTI was facing a hard time, with its leader jailed and facing health issues.

“The [PTI] workers might have acted emotionally, but you [the people] please have patience. You have voted for the PTI, and you love Imran Khan. So if you have faced difficulties for two or three days for his sake, I apologise. Please wait a little more, and the situation will get better,” Afridi said.

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• Palestinian presidency calls the move a ‘serious escalation’
• Hamas condemns Tel Aviv’s attempt ‘to steal and Judaise lands’
• Israeli strikes kill 12 more people in less than 24 hours despite truce

JERUSALEM: The Israeli government has approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967, in clear violation of the international law that states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories, Al Jazeera reported.

The development was annou­nced by Israeli public broadcaster KAN on Sunday when Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palest­inians in less than 24 hours, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

The proposal, approved by the Israel security cabinet, was submitted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defence Minister Israel Katz. “We are continuing the settlement revolution to control all our lands,” Smotrich said.

The Palestinian Presidency slammed the Israeli government’s decision, calling it a “serious escalation” and saying the Israeli move effectively nullifies signed agreements and clearly contradicts resolutions of the UN Security Council, Wafa news agency reported.

Most Palestinian land is not formally registered because it is a long, complicated process that Israel stopped in 1967. Regis­tra­tion of land establishes permanent ownership. International law states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories.

However, Katz described the move as an “essential security and governance measure designed to ensure control, enforcement, and full freedom of action for the state of Israel in the area”, the Jerusalem Post stated.

Palestinian group Hamas condemned the decision, calling it an attempt “to steal and Judaise lands in the occupied West Bank by registering them as so-called ‘state lands’”.

In a statement, the group called the approval “a null and void decision issued by an illegitimate occupying power. It is an attempt to forcibly impose settlement and Judaisation on the ground, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.”

De facto annexation

Analysts describe the move as a de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory, warning that it will profoundly reshape its civil and legal landscape by eliminating what the Israeli ministers cal­led longstanding “legal obstacles” to the expansion of illegal settlements there.

Speaking from Ramallah, political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera that Israel is “packing annexation into some sort of a bureaucratic move”. He said the International Court of Justice in 2024 said that Israeli actions amount to annexation of the occupied West Bank.

“People should understand this is not just a step towards annexation, we are experiencing annexation as we speak today.

What the Israeli government is doing is implanting their political programme — a policy that has already been presented,” he said.

Strikes amid ceasefire

In multiple strikes since dawn on Sun­day, Israeli forces killed at least 12 people, Gaza’s civil defence agency reported.

Despite a US-brokered truce that entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for violating the agreement.

The civil defence agency said five people were killed and several injured in the attack on a tent sheltering displaced people in Jabalia, five others were killed and several injured in a separate early morning strike in the southern city of Khan Yunis, and another Palestinian was killed in Israeli shelling in Gaza City. Besides, Israeli gunfire killed one person in Beit Lahia in north Gaza, it added.

“Israel doesn’t understand ceasefires or truces,” said Osama Abu Askar, who lost his nephew in the Jabalia attack.

He said the people were killed as they slept. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 601 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began, while Israel claimed at least four of its soldiers were killed in the same period.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026

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There are nights when Pakistan versus India feels like theatre: breathless, chaotic, hanging by a thread. And then there are nights like the one in Colombo.

At the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, this was not a last-over classic or a heart-stopping choke. It was clinical. India posted 175, Pakistan were rolled for 114. A 61-run defeat. No controversy to dissect, no umpiring debate to hide behind, no “if only” moments to cling to.

Just a gulf.

Here are five takeaways from a game that was disappointingly straightforward.

Agha’s captaincy: bold or baffling?

Salman Ali Agha did not hide behind convention and that alone deserves akcnowledgement.

He decided to chase on a slow Colombo surface that was expected to grip more under lights. Bold. He opened the bowling himself and dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck - poetic, especially after publicly stating he wanted the Indian opener to play. He even promoted himself to bat at no.3 earlier in the tournament, leading by example.

But bold decisions are a double-edged sword. On a wicket likely to slow further, bowling first was always going to be a gamble. When India reached 175, that decision loomed large. Tactically, there were lapses in his usage of bowlers like introducing Usman Tariq later than ideal, despite his mystery element and control, and repeatedly feeding leg-spin - Abrar, Shadab and Saim - to left-handers Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma.

Then came Agha the batter. After Pakistan collected 13 runs off a Jasprit Bumrah over, including a boundary that briefly unsettled India’s premier pacer, he gifted his wicket away. That was reckless. If you take on Bumrah and win the round, you don’t throw the next punch blindfolded.

Shaheen Afridi: Living on past headlines

There was a time when Shaheen Shah Afridi against India felt like an event within the event. Headlines once screamed, “They cannot play him”. Now, they comfortably do.

Since returning from injury, Shaheen has looked diminished; lower pace, inconsistent lengths, and less bite. In seven T20Is against India, he now has six wickets at an average that hardly intimidates. In Colombo, he conceded 31 runs in just two overs before collecting a consolation wicket.

Ishan Kishan took 15 off his first over and flipped momentum instantly. Meanwhile, Salman Mirza - 22 wickets in 14 T20Is and three in Pakistan’s opening World Cup game watched from the sidelines. Naseem Shah’s record against India is statistically superior. Yet reputation trumped form.

Pakistan cricket has a habit of clinging to narratives. The “eagle” narrative once fit. Right now, the numbers don’t.

The Ishan Kishan gulf

Pakistan’s batting and Ishan Kishan existed in parallel universes tonight.

Kishan’s 77 off 40 balls was not just an innings; it was a statement. A fifty off 27 deliveries. Authority against pace and spin alike. He dismantled Abrar’s mystery with 11 in his first over and treated Shadab’s leg-spin as a warm-up drill, plundering 17 in one. By the time Saim Ayub removed him, India were 88/2 in 8.4 overs, scoring at over ten an over. The game was effectively sealed.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s top order evaporated inside two overs. No scoreboard pressure. No scoreboard at all.

Usman Khan’s 44 off 34 offered some resistance, but in the context of 175, it was insufficient. When your second-highest scorer is your No. 10, the problem is not tempo, it is structure. Babar Azam had the perfect chance to anchor and remind the world why he’s elite but he faded quietly despite earlier form in the tournament.

Pakistan, at one time, was struggling to reach 100, let alone threaten 175. Embarrassing, particularly given they had no travel fatigue and were arguably more familiar with Colombo conditions than India, something Agha himself highlighted during the toss.

India bowled in units, Pakistan bowled in episodes

India’s bowling card tells a story of balance: Hardik’s variations, Axar’s control, Bumrah’s precision and Varun’s mystery, all getting two wickets apiece. No overindulgence, no panic, just pressure applied in layers.

Pakistan’s bowling, by contrast, operated in fragments. Saim Ayub and Nawaz built pressure in spells while Usman Tariq provided control but the expensive overs in the first half of the innings allowed India to surge. The trio in particular, Shaheen, Abrar and Shadab, leaked 86 runs in six overs; nearly half of India’s 175.

T20 cricket thrives on partnerships, both with bat and ball. India functioned as a unit. Pakistan swung between moments of discipline and stretches of leakage.

When one bowler tightened, the next released. When one batter resisted, the rest retreated.

Spirit of Cricket - 404 Error

India once again avoided the toss and post-match handshake with their Pakistani counterparts. In a fixture marketed as cricket’s grandest rivalry, the absence of basic sportsmanship is jarring. You can compete fiercely, you can carry political baggage, but refusing a handshake after sharing a field for three hours feels petty, not powerful.

Cricket loves preaching the “spirit of game” yet, when it comes to this clash, that spirit has gone missing for a while now. Players are not policymakers; they are professionals. And professionals acknowledge each other.

The irony remains that this contest is the financial engine of the International Cricket Council ecosystem as broadcast numbers soar, sponsorships inflate, and global attention spikes. So, if the sport can monetise the rivalry so comfortably, surely it can insist on preserving its dignity too.

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Header image: The Indian cricket team celebrates their win against Pakistan at the end of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup group stage match in the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Feb 15, 2026.

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Pakistan on Sunday lost their blockbuster clash with arch-rivals India by 61 runs, being bowled out for 114 in Colombo.

With the win against Pakistan, India made it to the Super Eight. Pakistan, however, will have to beat Namibia in their last group-stage match on February 18 to qualify for the next round.

After the match, criticism of the national team’s performance flooded social media, coming from former players and cricketing icons.

Former Pakistan player and commentator Ramiz Raja called the match “a bit of a disaster — especially batting”.

“India have been fielding [the] same bowling attack against Pakistan since last two or three years, and every time [the] batsmen have been woefully ordinary,” he said in a post on X, adding that there was no growth.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf took aim at Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan, saying that “time’s up” for them.

“Pakistan’s T20 squad needs new performers, not empty wins against weaker sides,” he said.

Former opener Ahmed Shahzad called Pakistan’s performance “pathetic cricket” and said it was the “sad story of Pakistan cricket. Same old faces, same old results. Please don’t fool the nation anymore.”

However, he noted that there was still time to bring in some positive change by bringing in Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay and Salman Mirza.

“They should be playing,” he added.

Pakistan player Sohaib Maqsood criticised Pakistan’s bowling, calling it “by far the reason for today’s defeat”.

“It’s not a 180 [run] pitch, even 140 could have been tough to chase on this pitch,” Maqsood said on X.

He added that Pakistan prepared on similar pitches against Australia at home before [the] World Cup, noting that “Agha won all the tosses and batted first. Why [choose] to bowl first today?”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan opined that India “seem to intimidate Pakistan on the cricket field”.

“They (India) are so much better in all facets of the game and [have] such a better mentality of coping with the huge occasion,” he said.

Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle stated that Pakistan’s cricket administration put far too much pressure on the team.

“You could see that in how tentative they were,” he wrote on X.

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Sports presenter and television host Zainab Abbas said the game was turning out to be a “one-sided affair” & “really indicative” of the gap between the two sides over the years.

“That said, Pakistan did not even come close to playing to its potential, bowled poorly & batted recklessly,” she continued.

In her X post, she said, “The ones Pakistan have backed and relied on in bilaterals have put up a poor show in tournaments & not for the first time.”

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More to follow

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