
Finance adviser charts growth path for PSX KARACHI: Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad visited the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday on the invitation of its CEO Farrukh Sabzwari to discuss strategies aimed at enhancing the depth and performance of the country’s capital market. During the meeting with the PSX’s senior management, Schehzad was briefed on the exchange’s strategic initiatives to unlock the potential of capital markets. The PSX CEO highlighted the immense opportunities within the market despite prevailing challenges, expressing optimism that a well-executed strategy could drive significant contributions to the national economy. Reiterating the government’s commitment to fostering capital market growth, Schehzad mentioned its pivotal role in stabilising and supporting the country’s economic development. He urged the PSX management to formalise recommendations for structural reforms, including the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to align with government objectives and enhance market capitalisation. He also proposed rebranding the GEM Board as a platform for venture capital and startup fundraising. Schehzad discussed introducing innovative investment products, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options markets and derivatives to improve market attractiveness. Expanding the investor base was identified as a key target, with plans to increase participation to 2.0 per cent of the national population within three years by engaging brokers and mutual funds. Schehzad stressed the need for the PSX and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to work together on a roadmap to increase Pakistan’s weight in the MSCI Frontier Markets index, with the ultimate goal of inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets index. He also endorsed the formation of a formal committee comprising the PSX, the SECP, and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to leverage their collective expertise. The relaunch of cash-settled futures was lauded as a major milestone for the development of the country’s derivatives market. Collaboration with Chinese capital markets was identified as critical to facilitating cross-border investment opportunities, broadening market access and encouraging greater investor participation. Promoting the strong performance of the KSE-100 Index and instilling investor confidence were highlighted as essential tasks for brokers and other market stakeholders. Schehzad underscored the importance of fostering financial inclusion, raising public awareness and driving digitisation to position the capital market as a catalyst for economic stability and growth.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., could almost host a museum dedicated to notable moments in Seahawks history that have occurred under its roof. There was, of course, the pass that shall not be named that prevented a second Super Bowl parade. Glendale was also the locale of Russell Wilson’s first Seahawks game, and his last. It was the field on which some of the key heart and soul players of the Legion of Boom — Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner (unless there is another return in the works for Wagner) — played their final games as Seahawks. And on Jan. 7 it also hosted what turned out to be the final game as coach for Pete Carroll, whose 14-year tenure officially ended three days after a 21-20 Seattle win over the Cardinals. While much has changed since then, with Mike Macdonald taking over for Carroll, one constant apparently remaining is Seattle again heading to Glendale for a game that looms pivotal. As has been detailed since the minute last week’s 26-21 win over the Jets ended in a sigh of relief, the Seahawks now have a one-game lead on Arizona and the rest of the NFC West. That lead can grow to two with a win in Sunday’s game, which kicks off at 1:05 p.m. PT, while also giving the Seahawks the head-to-head tiebreaker on Arizona. Or, with a loss, that lead can shrink to a tie, with Arizona holding division and conference tiebreakers on the Seahawks. Arizona would also for the moment hold a tiebreaker on the Rams, who could also move into a three-way tie for first in the West with a Seahawks loss and their own win over visiting Buffalo. Depending on which analytics metric you prefer, Seattle’s chances of making the playoffs rise to roughly 70% with a win but fall to roughly 20% with a loss. And looming ahead are two home games against Green Bay and Minnesota, each with better records and lots to play for. The Seahawks haven’t shied away this week from embracing the stakes of the game. “The challenge is to keep bringing it," Macdonald said Friday. “We've earned this opportunity as a football team to go down there and have such a high-leverage game for us. So, let's go attack that opportunity and keep building, but we've got to keep moving forward." Adding to the dynamic this week is that the two teams played just two weeks ago, a 16-6 Seahawks win in Seattle . It was a game that also proved pivotal; without that win, the Seahawks would be playing out of desperation Sunday, needing a win just to stay in the playoff hunt, instead of potentially taking control of the NFC West. The Seahawks won behind a suddenly resurgent defense holding Arizona to 298 yards — far below its season average of 347.3 that ranks 11 th in the NFL — and contributing the play of the game with a 69-yard pick six by Coby Bryant on a Cardinals fourth-and-one. That leads to the question of how much can two teams change in the span of 14 days? “It's just like a halftime break," Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf said this week. “They're going to make adjustments. We make adjustments and may the best team win, see who can recover the fastest and clean up their mistakes from the first time we met." Teams facing each other twice in a three-game span isn’t a complete rarity. The Seahawks actually did it last year, losing to the 49ers 31-13 at home on Nov. 23, 2023, and then losing again 28-16 on the road on Dec. 10. That, though, came with the added complication for Seattle of a forced quarterback change, with Drew Lock filling in for an injured Geno Smith in the second game. Seattle also experienced it in 2020 when the Seahawks beat the Rams 20-9 at home to clinch the NFC West on Dec. 27, then hosted LA again two weeks later in a wild card playoff game, losing 30-20. In their history, the Seahawks have played the same team twice in a three-week span 10 times. Six times the same team won both. History, though, would indicate that most of the time, it was simply the better team winning each game, such as the 2014 Seahawks beating the 49ers twice in three weeks. Macdonald, who jokingly has called himself “the biggest overthinker in the game," said he may have to avoid the temptation to place too much importance on such factors. “It just kind of is what it is," Macdonald said. “The information that you get in is a little more recent than normal when you play a team the second time. But I think you look at it like any other week. When you play a team twice, what went into the game plan, how you felt during the game, how we debriefed, and obviously, you're going to apply that to what's happened over the last week or so, and kind of the game that was sandwiched in between it. I'd say it's definitely way more like a normal week than not." Arizona’s offense in particular will hope to use that tape to make some adjustments. “They learned a lot from just the game, not just the scheme in what they like to do and the players," Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said this week of his team’s offense. “But we kind of start from scratch on Monday. Even though we played them two weeks ago, you go through your normal process of game-planning and studying and knowing the opponent and all that. We have probably a little bit better understanding (of) the players, of what they try to do schematically versus us and then who you're going against too. It's a ‘we better learn from it.’” The history the Seahawks hope to perpetuate is their own recent success in regular-season games in Arizona — a 9-1-1 record dating to 2013. “You don't have a lot of time to kind of evolve your team and some of the tendencies on traditional breakdown timelines," Macdonald said. “But, there are a lot of things that have changed. The personnels have changed. You have all the inputs of kind of how the first game unfolded. But, there are a lot of things that we didn't get to that we wanted to and that we got to that we didn't necessarily plan to. I'm sure they feel the same way. So it's hard to put too much stock into what happened in the first game."
Traveling this holiday season? 10 things the TSA wants you to knowGhana Election 2024: Civil Society Demands Political Support for Fisheries TransparencyState Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., could almost host a museum dedicated to notable moments in Seahawks history that have occurred under its roof. There was, of course, the pass that shall not be named that prevented a second Super Bowl parade. Glendale was also the locale of Russell Wilson’s first Seahawks game, and his last. It was the field on which some of the key heart and soul players of the Legion of Boom — Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner (unless there is another return in the works for Wagner) — played their final games as Seahawks. And on Jan. 7 it also hosted what turned out to be the final game as coach for Pete Carroll, whose 14-year tenure officially ended three days after a 21-20 Seattle win over the Cardinals. While much has changed since then, with Mike Macdonald taking over for Carroll, one constant apparently remaining is Seattle again heading to Glendale for a game that looms pivotal. As has been detailed since the minute last week’s 26-21 win over the Jets ended in a sigh of relief, the Seahawks now have a one-game lead on Arizona and the rest of the NFC West. That lead can grow to two with a win in Sunday’s game, which kicks off at 1:05 p.m. PT, while also giving the Seahawks the head-to-head tiebreaker on Arizona. Or, with a loss, that lead can shrink to a tie, with Arizona holding division and conference tiebreakers on the Seahawks. Arizona would also for the moment hold a tiebreaker on the Rams, who could also move into a three-way tie for first in the West with a Seahawks loss and their own win over visiting Buffalo. Depending on which analytics metric you prefer, Seattle’s chances of making the playoffs rise to roughly 70% with a win but fall to roughly 20% with a loss. And looming ahead are two home games against Green Bay and Minnesota, each with better records and lots to play for. The Seahawks haven’t shied away this week from embracing the stakes of the game. “The challenge is to keep bringing it," Macdonald said Friday. “We've earned this opportunity as a football team to go down there and have such a high-leverage game for us. So, let's go attack that opportunity and keep building, but we've got to keep moving forward." Adding to the dynamic this week is that the two teams played just two weeks ago, a 16-6 Seahawks win in Seattle . It was a game that also proved pivotal; without that win, the Seahawks would be playing out of desperation Sunday, needing a win just to stay in the playoff hunt, instead of potentially taking control of the NFC West. The Seahawks won behind a suddenly resurgent defense holding Arizona to 298 yards — far below its season average of 347.3 that ranks 11 th in the NFL — and contributing the play of the game with a 69-yard pick six by Coby Bryant on a Cardinals fourth-and-one. That leads to the question of how much can two teams change in the span of 14 days? “It's just like a halftime break," Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf said this week. “They're going to make adjustments. We make adjustments and may the best team win, see who can recover the fastest and clean up their mistakes from the first time we met." Teams facing each other twice in a three-game span isn’t a complete rarity. The Seahawks actually did it last year, losing to the 49ers 31-13 at home on Nov. 23, 2023, and then losing again 28-16 on the road on Dec. 10. That, though, came with the added complication for Seattle of a forced quarterback change, with Drew Lock filling in for an injured Geno Smith in the second game. Seattle also experienced it in 2020 when the Seahawks beat the Rams 20-9 at home to clinch the NFC West on Dec. 27, then hosted LA again two weeks later in a wild card playoff game, losing 30-20. In their history, the Seahawks have played the same team twice in a three-week span 10 times. Six times the same team won both. History, though, would indicate that most of the time, it was simply the better team winning each game, such as the 2014 Seahawks beating the 49ers twice in three weeks. Macdonald, who jokingly has called himself “the biggest overthinker in the game," said he may have to avoid the temptation to place too much importance on such factors. “It just kind of is what it is," Macdonald said. “The information that you get in is a little more recent than normal when you play a team the second time. But I think you look at it like any other week. When you play a team twice, what went into the game plan, how you felt during the game, how we debriefed, and obviously, you're going to apply that to what's happened over the last week or so, and kind of the game that was sandwiched in between it. I'd say it's definitely way more like a normal week than not." Arizona’s offense in particular will hope to use that tape to make some adjustments. “They learned a lot from just the game, not just the scheme in what they like to do and the players," Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon said this week of his team’s offense. “But we kind of start from scratch on Monday. Even though we played them two weeks ago, you go through your normal process of game-planning and studying and knowing the opponent and all that. We have probably a little bit better understanding (of) the players, of what they try to do schematically versus us and then who you're going against too. It's a ‘we better learn from it.’” The history the Seahawks hope to perpetuate is their own recent success in regular-season games in Arizona — a 9-1-1 record dating to 2013. “You don't have a lot of time to kind of evolve your team and some of the tendencies on traditional breakdown timelines," Macdonald said. “But, there are a lot of things that have changed. The personnels have changed. You have all the inputs of kind of how the first game unfolded. But, there are a lot of things that we didn't get to that we wanted to and that we got to that we didn't necessarily plan to. I'm sure they feel the same way. So it's hard to put too much stock into what happened in the first game."
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