<p>ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed that a comprehensive strategy be formulated to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to financing.</p> <p>He made these remarks while chairing a review meeting of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) in Islamabad.</p> <p>According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier directed the authority to formulate a comprehensive strategy, in coordination with the State Bank of Paki

<img src='https://i.cbc.ca/ais/306e14f6-5e60-43cc-82ae-12cc067c1d21,1783363967001/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C309%2C5749%2C3233%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29' alt='Microsoft&apos;s logo and company name are seen in front of an office building at night.' width='620' height='349' title='A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 25, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo'/><p>Microsoft said on Monday it would cut 4,800 jobs, o

<p>• Delay breaches July 1 structural benchmark under IMF $7bn EFF<br>• Officials blame legal issues over Ogra chief’s appointment and unresolved UFG targets</p> <p>ISLAMABAD: Amid over Rs3.44 trillion circular debt in the gas sector, the government has missed its July 1, 2026 deadline for notifying the biannual gas tariff as required under structural benchmark of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF).</p> <p>Under two new gas sector structural b

<p>ISLAMABAD: The new management of Ufone and Telenor Pakistan has decided to rebrand the merged telecom company and has filed an application with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in this regard, it emerged on Monday.</p> <p>Earlier this month, the Telenor Pakistan was formally <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2012241">amalgamated</a> into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) — the legal name for Ufone — after final approval by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).</p> <p>Sources in P

<p>Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, the state electricity company said.</p> <p>The impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before US President Donald Trump imposed an <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1966660">oil blockade</a> in January, which has depleted the already dwindling supply of fuel for Cuba’s power plants.</p> <p>“There has been a total disconnection from the national electricity generation system,”

<p>Azad Jammu and Kashmir Information Department Secretary Muhammad Rashid Hanif claimed on Monday that state institutions had evidence of Indian funding behind the <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2005462">banned</a> Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) “agenda” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.</p> <p>Addressing a press conference in Muzaffarabad, the information secretary said that state institutions had credible information about foreign funding behind ongoing activities in AJK.</p> <p>“

<p>US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review a red-card foul against USA striker Folarin Balogun and that he did not think the foul, called by the “horrible” referee, was fair.</p> <p>“All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.</p> <p>The unprecedented move has thrust FIFA’s disciplinary process into the global spotlight and prompted an angry response from Belg

<p>Microsoft said Monday it was eliminating about 4,800 jobs — roughly 2 per cent of its global workforce — in a cost-cutting move that will deliver a sweeping restructuring of its struggling Xbox gaming division.</p> <p>The cuts include the deepest overhaul in Xbox’s history, with approximately 3,200 gaming jobs to be shed over the coming fiscal year, four game studios being spun off or sold, and a fifth entering a review process that could lead to closure, the company said.</p> <p>The an

<p>Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Istanbul on Friday for an official visit to Turkiye at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said a statement by the government.</p> <p>The premier, earlier today <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2012668/pm-shehbaz-cdf-munir-pay-respects-to-irans-assassinated-supreme-leader-khamenei">attended</a> the funeral Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1976870"><u>assassinated</u></a> in a US-I

<p>LAHORE: Punjab’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday launched its first skimming boat designed to remove plastic waste from canals and rivers, in a major step towards tackling plastic pollution.</p> <p>The boat will begin operations as a pilot project in the Lahore Canal, marking the introduction of a technology-based solution to address water pollution in the province.</p> <p>EPA Punjab officials said the skimming boat, with a waste collection bin installed at its front, would