The Japan government launched a third major round of auctions on Friday to select operators for two new offshore wind power areas capable of generating 1.05 gigawatts (GW) in the northern part of the country. One area is in the southern side of the Japan Sea off Aomori prefecture, near Tsugaru city and the town of Ajigasawa which will have …

KARACHI: After creating a storm on social media on Monday morning, the Pakistan Football Federation Norma­lisation Committee hinted at a u-turn. Having earlier said it was exploring a neutral venue, the PFF NC said on Monday evening that Pakistan’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Jordan on March 21 could yet be played at Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium, whose readiness for …

MELBOURNE: Qualifier Dayana Yastremska and giant-killer Linda Noskova continued fairytale runs into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday but it was all familiar faces on the men’s side as Carlos Alcaraz led a trio of top seeds through. Alcaraz charged past Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park for the first time but, with two …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Chief Minis­ter Punjab Mohsin Naqvi has emerged as the frontrunner to become the new chairman of the Pakistan Cric­ket Board’s (PCB) interim Management Committee, sources told Dawn on Monday. The media mogul, according to sources, has the backing of caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar — who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief — to take up the role. Mohsin’s …

ISLAMABAD: The Track and Trace System (TTS) implemented by the FBR was failing, with a rising incidence of fake stamps being affixed to counterfeit packs of prominent cigarette brands. Senior officials of the tobacco industry on Monday decried a lack of enforcement measures in the sector, expressing concerns about the sustainability of this business as Pakistani markets were flooded with …

KARACHI: Borrowing by the private sector has gone down by 86.3 per cent to Rs57.4 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year, from Rs419bn during the same period of last year. Only the Islamic banks were able to extend loans to the private sector during the first half of the current fiscal year, reflecting an extremely poor …

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has started marketing more loans to Pakistan with a formal $425 million upfront offer to finance microfinance banks and social sector projects including the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). This was disclosed by the Ministry of Finance after Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar had a meeting with a World Bank team led by its Country …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports of non-textile value products saw a contraction in the first half of 2023-24 from a year ago. The negative growth was observed despite an increase in the country’s main exports of textiles and clothing in the same period, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In the July-December period, the exports of leather garments …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) traded in the green on Tuesday, gaining more than 500 points amid reports about the government’s plan to settle down circular debt. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index climbed 473.82, or 0.74 per cent, to stand at 64,413.23 at 12:58pm from the previous close of 63,939.41. The index continued its upward trajectory …