Dubai: Pakistan grabbed 2nd position in the International Cricket Council's Test Championship ranking following a marvelous victory over Bangladesh by 8 wickets in Chittagong Test.

According to details, Pakistan National Cricket Team have surpassed India National Cricket Team to become the No.2 ranked side in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 points table.

The #WTC23 standings after Pakistan’s victory over Bangladesh 👇 pic.twitter.com/z8c8JgYDXX

— ICC (@ICC) November 30, 2021

Sri Lanka is at the top of the points table in the Test Championship while Pakistan has played 3 matches, won 2 and lost 1 match.

Pakistan has won two series under the championship, India is on the third spot on the points table and West Indies is on fourth.

Similarly, the winner of the first Test Championship New Zealand bagged fifth place and England is on sixth spot.

The second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh will start from Saturday in Dhaka.

The euro zone’s inflation rate has risen to a record high in November, preliminary data showed Tuesday, prompting further questions about what the European Central Bank will do next with its monetary policy.

Headline inflation came in at 4.9% for the month, compared to the same month last year. This was above a consensus forecast of 4.5% from Reuters and was higher than October’s 4.1%. The figure was the highest on record in the 25 years that the data has been compiled.

According to Europe’s statistic office, Eurostat, energy is on track for its highest annual price rise in November at 27.4%, from 23.7% in October.

The data comes at a time when policymakers are waiting for more data on a new Covid-19 variant, omicron, which was reported for the first time last week in southern Africa.

The travel restrictions implemented in the wake of the new variant are raising concerns about how economies could suffer. Experts argue that societies are better equipped to deal with the virus now compared to the first Covid lockdowns, but market players have been on edge with the prospect of further restrictions.
ECB
Nonetheless, consumer prices rose once again in the euro zone off the back of higher energy costs and supply chain issues.

In Germany — a country historically scared of high inflation — the inflation rate hit a 29-year high in November. They were up by 6% from a year ago, as measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices.

The trend is the same in France, where the inflation rate reached 3.4% in November, the highest reading since 2008.

The question going forward is how the ECB will square the high inflation readings with uncertainty over the pandemic.

ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said last week that the central bank still plans to end its emergency bond purchases program in March. However, market players want to know how the central bank will be adjusting its other tools.

“The Omicron variant has increased the level of uncertainty even further but for now we suspect that it will have a fairly small impact on inflation,” Jack Allen-Reynolds, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, said in an emailed note to clients.

On the other hand, Rupert Thompson, chief investment officer at wealth manager Kingswood, said the latest figures make it more likely that the ECB will have to reduce monetary stimulus.

“Euro zone inflation now looks set to remain well above the ECB’s 2% target for much of next year and these numbers will make it all the harder for the central bank to justify continuing its QE [quantitative easing] program and holding off on any rate rise before 2023,” he said.

In addition, Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments, said: “It may be wishful thinking on the part of ECB President Lagarde when she declares that price pressures won’t run out of control – they already are and it’s difficult to follow the argument that it will abate soon.”

SOURCE: CNBC

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Tuesday said the masses would hold Prime Minister Imran Khan accountable for every misery he had incurred upon people.

The country has been facing complete failure of a government that is "toying with Pakistan's future and its people," he said while addressing the PPP's 54th foundation day event. 

Bialwal said after three years every Pakistani was aware that the real face of 'tabdeeli's' was surging inflation, historic poverty and unemployment, adding those were the antics of Khan, and this is 'Naya Pakistan'.

Talking about the recently gone viral tapes, which allegedly featured ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and another of PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, he said: "Let the conspirators plot their conspiracies, let people leak tapes, we will struggle along with the people and foil every conspiracy."

Bilawal, reciting a poetic verse for PM Imran Khan, said: "Tumse pehle wo jo aik shaks yahan takht nasheen tha, usko bhi apne khuda hone par itna he yaqeen tha (the person who held the reins before you, was confident of being a god, just like you)."

The PPP chairman told PM Imran Khan that "only oppress people to the extent which you can yourself bear", as he reminded the premier that people who sat in his office earlier were also of the view that the country's future depended on them.

The PPP chairman said people who had earlier blamed PPP leaders for corruption and "phoned courts to take action against them", are now certified "thieves".

Bilawal asked PM Imran Khan to halt his "anti-democratic methods", as he vowed that in the upcoming local body elections, PPP and the masses would hold him accountable.

"Imran will not be allowed to run away. No plane would land late at night to fly him to Saudi Arabia or London," Bilawal warned the premier.

The PPP chairman announced that the party would hold countrywide protests against the constant increase in petrol price on December 10. On December 17, after Friday prayers, PPP workers would protest against the ongoing gas crisis at their district headquarters.

Following these, a historic rally will be held in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, where an action plan against the incumbent government would also be announced.

Criticising the government for inflation in the country, the PPP stalwart said prices of basic commodities increased manifold in recent months just because of a lack of planning and vision.

"PPP will stand with the inflation-hit masses in taking "revenge" from the incumbent government," he maintained.