<p>The federal cabinet on Monday approved a comprehensive Haj Policy for 2027–2030, aimed at providing more facilities to pilgrims and improving operational efficiency.</p> <p>The cabinet commended Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf and his ministry’s team for the excellent Haj arrangements made this year.</p> <p>A detailed briefing on the new Haj policy was presented to the cabinet. The meeting was informed that, unlike previous one-year policies, the new framewor

<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

<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>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>KARACHI: An additional district and sessions judge on Monday granted interim bail to five of the six accused in the deadly <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1967683">Gul Plaza blaze</a>, including the building union president and an 11-year-old boy.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1967505/search-operation-begins-to-locate-over-50-missing-people-at-karachis-gul-plaza-as-fire-doused-after-24-hours"><u>deadly inferno</u></a>, which <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1967582/three-

<p>PPP’s Amjad Hussain on Monday was sworn in as the chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan in a ceremony attended by his party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.</p> <p>Advocate Hussain was <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2009973">elected</a> for the role on June 22 following the <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2005670">June 7 elections</a>, in which the PPP emerged as the largest party, with 12 seats in the 24-member GB assembly.</p> <p>Addressing the ceremony in Gilgit after taking the oath

President Asif Ali Zardari will head to Kyrgyzstan on Monday for a four-day official visit, according to the Foreign Office (FO). Accompanied by a high-level delegation, President Zardari will undertake the visit at the invitation of the Kyrgyz...

<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>ISLAMABAD: A quadcopter flown from an unidentified location crash-landed on the rooftop of a house in the capital’s rural area.</p> <p>Police said that a resident of the house, located in Model Town Humak, informed them about the quadcopter’s crash landing.</p> <p>After receiving the information, police reached the house and cordoned off the area, and confiscated the quadcopter.</p> <p>A police official said that efforts were under way to identify and trace the location from where the qua

<p>India approved on Friday the purchase of a range of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1917556">military equipment</a> for its defence forces worth $5.46 billion, including missiles, electronic warfare systems and Kamikaze drones.</p> <p>The acquisition was approved “in-principle” by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) comprising top military officers and headed by the defence minister, according to a government statement.</p> <p>The statement said the estimated cost of the deal would b