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  • Pakistan’s first bicycle-sharing system launched in Peshawar

    Pakistan’s first bicycle-sharing system launched in Peshawar

    TransPeshawar, which manages the bus rapid system in Peshawar, on Thursday launched a public sharing bicycle system, ZU Bicycle to further facilitate citizens traveling through Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

    Read more – KP health coverage: PM announces Rs10 lacs per family every year

    The launch ceremony, held at the University of Peshawar, was attended by Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, KP Minister for Transport Shah Muhammad Wazir, Advisor to Chief Minister on Science and Technology Ziaullah Bangash, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash and other officials of TransPeshawar.

    Sharing pictures from the launch on social media, Jhagra encouraged citizens to use the first public sharing bicycle system.

    “Pakistan’s first bicycle sharing system is now open for public use in Peshawar. If you live in Hayatabad, or work or study in the University Campus area, use any of 360 bikes at 30+ stations to get around, be green, and be healthy. Remember to take care of public assets responsibly,” said the minister, adding: “I tried it out. So should you.”

    All the required arrangements have been made and as many as 360 bicycles have been stationed at the transit centers across the city.

    Interested riders may register for the ZU Bicycles at TransPeshawar’s sharing system as follows:

    • Get their CNICs verified at a NADRA E-Sahulat Center.
    • Sign an agreement of the terms and conditions for the use of the bicycles.
    • Bring their original CNICs with photocopies.
    • Deposit a refundable security fee of Rs. 3000.
    • Deposit a membership fee at a ZU station.
    • Only one registration is permissible under one CNIC.

    The following membership fare breakdown will be applicable on single-day/bi-weekly/monthly passes.

    The membership fee expires in accordance with relevant packages as per the BRT regulations.

    Individuals who are members of the ZU bicycle Sharing System can use the facility as per the following:

    • A single-day pass is valid for 24 hours.
    • A bi-weekly pass is valid for 14 days.
    • A monthly pass is valid for 30 days.

    Fare Deduction Mechanism

    • The amount in the ZU card or in the ZU mobile app can be used for both the bus fare (BRT) and bicycle usage.
    • With the ZU card, a passenger will be able to release a bicycle from the dock by simply tapping on the Validator/Dock (system) at the transit center.
    • For docking, passengers will be required to tap their ZU cards on the Validator/Dock (system).

    The system will measure the time of use and will deduct the fare/usage fee in accordance with the chosen payment plan. If the available balance is less than the deductible amount, passengers are allowed a one-time option to dock the bicycle and pay the remaining amount the next time.

    Travel Condition

    • Passengers must have a minimum balance of Rs 50 in their ZU cards.
    • The ZU card is to be tapped during entry and exit from the service to complete a transaction.

    Meanwhile, TransPeshawar reserves the right to block ZU cards in case of unpaid loans. In this regard, passengers looking to reinstate/reset their cards are required to visit the KIOSK website and pay their pending loans with penalties.

    When using the ZU app, customers must tap the Entry while releasing a bicycle from the dock. If a user loses a bicycle in their possession, they will have to pay Rs. 60 per hour until the full amount is paid in compensation to TransPeshawar.

    Penalty Brief

    As per the company’s guidelines, a bicycle will be considered lost if it is not returned within 72 hours. If the bicycle is lost, the refundable security will be forfeited. For compensation, the customer will be required to pay service charges at the rate of Rs. 60 per hour for up to 200 hours.

    TransPeshawar also reserves the right to block cards if the service charges are not paid in full, or in the event of misuse.

  • Sadiq Sanjrani defeats PDM’s Yousaf Raza Gilani, re-elected as Senate Chairman

    The ruling party’s candidate, Sadiq Sanjrani, was on Friday elected as the Senate chairman, defeating joint opposition’s candidate Yousaf Raza Gilani by reportedly three votes.

    According to reports, Sanjrani received 48 votes against Gilani’s 42 whereas seven of the latter’s votes were rejected during count.

    Earlier, polling for the Senate chairman’s post started at 3 pm, presided over by officials from the Senate Secretariat.

    The process of voting completed at 4:40 pm, but counting started after the official time, i.e. 5 pm.

    Earlier in the day, the newly-elected members of the upper house had taken their oath of office shortly after the session began at 10 am.

  • Adnan Siddiqui wishes to ‘relive glory days’ with Angelina Jolie

    Adnan Siddiqui wishes to ‘relive glory days’ with Angelina Jolie

    Adnan Siddiqui has taken a trip down the memory lane and recalled old memories with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt from the shoot days of his film A Mighty Heart.

    Read more – ‘Fake News’: Adnan Siddiqui says he never faced discrimination on the sets of ‘A Mighty Heart’

    Sharing the pictures on social media, the Meray Paas Tum Ho actor wrote: “What are the odds that some bygone treasures will pop up on my phone memory a day after I mused about what memories leave in their wake when they come calling!”

    “A Mighty Heart will always hold an indisputably prized place in my heart for professional and personal reasons. Looking at these photographs, I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to go back in time at The Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba and relive the glory days,” he added.

    Siddiqui worked with Angelina in The Mighty Heart which released in 2007. The film which also featured the late Irrfan Khan in a prominent role was directed by Michael Winterbottom and co-produced by Brad Pitt.

    Meanwhile, the actor was feeling nostalgic on Thursday and shared several throwback pictures on his Instagram stories.

  • Netflix plans to cancel password sharing with friends

    Netflix is reportedly testing a new feature to restrict users from sharing their passwords with those who don’t live with the owner of the original account.

    According to a report in BBC, some Netflix users have reported seeing a a pop message on their screens saying: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”

    “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so,” a Netflix’s spokesperson told the news media publication. “In the trial, users can verify they are allowed to access the account by a code, sent via text or email.”

    However, the video steaming giant, which has more than 200 million subscribers across the world, has not made the final decision about whether the company will roll this out across its network.

    It is pertinent to add that, Netflix’s terms and services say: “The Netflix service and any content viewed through the service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.”

    Earlier this year, Netflix announced that it will release more than 70 movies this year across comedy, drama, family and other genres, a lineup that underscores the streaming service’s growing prominence in the film business. It added that it plans to release a new movie every week for the entire year of 2021.

  • Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim on Friday announced the Pakistan squad for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

    Pakistan is scheduled to play three one-day internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa from April 2 till April 16. After the South Africa tour, the team will depart for Zimbabwe, where they will play two Tests and three T20Is against the Chevrons.

    In the T20I squad, Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan have returned to the team after being dropped for the matches against South Africa in Pakistan.

    Opener Sharjeel Khan has also returned to the squad, while emerging players Mohamamad Wasim Jr and Arshad Iqbal have been called up following their strong performance in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    Interestingly, Mohamamad Wasim Jr has also been named in the ODI squad.

    On the other hand, Pakistan’s star leg spinner Yasir Shah has been excluded from the Test squad due to an injury.

    Multan Sultans bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who picked up quite a lot of accolades during PSL 6, has been given his maiden Test call.

    Read more – From Larkana to PSL6: All you need to know about Shahnawaz Dahani

    T20I squad

    Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohamamad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir.

    ODI squad

    Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakil, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad, Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir.

    Test squad

    Babar Azam, Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mehmood, Sajid Khan.

  • Maryam Nawaz being threatened, says Nawaz

    Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and head of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday alleged that his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif is being threatened by some elements in the establishment that if she doesn’t stop, they will “smash” her.

    Besides Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PML-N chief also named three senior army generals.

    Later, Maryam tweeted that not only was she being threatened but she was being abused as well.

  • India child rights body demands ban on ‘Bombay Begums’ for showing ‘minors having cocaine’

    India child rights body demands ban on ‘Bombay Begums’ for showing ‘minors having cocaine’

    An Indian government agency for protecting child rights has asked Netflix Inc to immediately stop streaming its new drama series Bombay Begums after it reviewed complaints around scenes showing children consuming drugs.

    According to details, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in a letter to Netflix, asked the streaming giant to investigate the matter and submit a report within 24 hours or face further action.

    The NCPCR took action based on a complaint which alleged that the series normalises minors indulging in casual sex and drug abuse and objected to a scene showing “minors having cocaine”.

    “The series with this type of content will not only pollute the young minds of children, and may also result in abuse and exploitation of children,” the NCPCR notice said, adding “Netflix should take extra precaution while streaming any content in respect of the children or for the children and shall also refrain from getting into such things,” the commission said in its notice.

    Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

    Featuring Pooja Bhatt, Shahana Goswami, Amruta Subhash, Plabita Borthakur and Aadhya Anand, Bombay Begums is a series about five women from different parts of society trying to get ahead in modern Mumbai, formerly called Bombay.

    The controversy is the latest to hit video streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in India, where they have faced complaints also around promoting obscenity or hurting religious sentiments. Industry executives say such complaints go against freedom of speech and expression in the country.

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    A member of India’s ruling party’s youth wing last year lodged a police complaint against Netflix objecting to scenes in the series A Suitable Boy showing a Hindu girl kissing a Muslim boy against the backdrop of a Hindu temple.

    Amazon recently became embroiled in legal cases following allegations that its political drama Tandav depicts Hindu gods in a derogatory manner.

    Several users on Friday tweeted their objections and support for the new Netflix show, making #BombayBegums a top trend on the microblogging website.

    “If your child is influenced to do drugs by scenes in which a young girl does cocaine … You need to talk to your child, not the show,” Twitter user Sahir said.

  • ‘MQM London faction planning killings to trigger sectarian violence,’ police say

    A US-based female member of the London faction of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is planning assassinations on religious leaders to trigger sectarian violence in Pakistan, authorities said on Thursday.

    In a press conference in Karachi, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Omar Shahid Hamid and a Rangers official played a video showing a woman giving instructions to an unidentified hitman and promising payment on successful completion of the killing.

    Read more – Fawad sees ‘woman version of Altaf Hussain’ in Maryam Nawaz

    The woman, identified as one Kehkashan Haider, has been residing in Texas since the 1990s and is a close aide of London-based MQM founder Altaf Hussain, the officials said.

    An audio recording of a telephonic conversation between Haider and a hitman was also played during the press conference wherein she tells the individual to “send his love” to the target and demanded confirmation of the attempt, adding “our life depends on it.”

    In a separate video, she further provided details of the payments to be made to the killer and arrangements for his security and transport while adding that he would be flown abroad after the successful assassination.

    Revealing Haider’s background, DIG Hamid said that she is a member of the party’s London faction (which is still loyal to Hussain) and has established target killer groups in collaboration with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and domestic ethnic-turned-terrorist groups, including Baloch separatist groups, to target law enforcement agencies, police and political and religious leaders in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi.

    VIDEO: Altaf sings ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha’ on Indian channel

    He revealed that an intelligence-based operation (IBO) began in 2017 when the Sindh Rangers arrested a team of target killers with links to MQM-L. The details of the plot were uncovered jointly by the CTD and the Pakistan Rangers during the interrogation of recently arrested alleged hitmen from Karachi and other parts of Sindh.

    The information collected during the course of interrogations revealed that assassination teams had been re-established under the directions of the MQM-L chief Hussain, DIG Hamid said.

    “These new targeted killing teams were being patronised by Kehkashan Haider,” he added.

    On the occasion, the Rangers official, Col Shabbir, said that the murder of the target identified by Haider possessed the potential to cause sectarian rifts.

    “We wanted to bring it to your [media’s] notice how these people are attempting to spread chaos in the country from abroad,” he said.

    The CTD has registered a case against Haider under Sections 11-H and 11-N of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 pertaining to terror financing, DIG Hamid said.

    He observed it was “alarming” that a woman based in the United States was coordinating such illicit activities in Karachi “like a mafia don”.

    He announced the Foreign Ministry will “take up this matter with the law enforcement institutions of the US government”.

    “A clear line of financial transactions is appearing when we traced bank accounts and transactions,” he said, adding that the evidence of financial transactions for terror financing made Islamabad’s case stronger.

    “If there is any aspect of money laundering in this, [then] it will be investigated according to the Anti-Money Laundering Act and looked at by the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency].”

  • ‘Spy cameras’ discovered in polling booth ahead of Senate chairman polls

    Senators Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Dr Musadik Malik of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) have stated that they found spy cameras in the polling booth in Senate on the day of the Senate Chairman election.

    The opposition alliance has fielded Yousaf Raza Gilani as the joint candidate for Senate chairman while the government has fielded Sadiq Sanjrani.

    Senator Khokhar and Dr Musadik, in a series of tweets, posted pictures of cameras they found.

    https://twitter.com/DrMusadikMalik/status/1370235911255031808

    Responding to these tweets, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that those cameras were “in all likelihood CCTV” cameras and not spy cameras.

    Senator Khokhar thanked Chaudhry for the lead and said “we will check for those too”.

    A few minutes later, Senator Khokhar tweeted he found a similar screw that the minister had mentioned and thanked Chaudhry for the lead. In response to this, Fawad wished Senator Mustafa good luck.

    Senator Khokhar questioned why a screw was there.

    Senator Musadik Malik also tweeted the same.

    https://twitter.com/DrMusadikMalik/status/1370270961136713728

    A video available with The Current shows the whole saga of uncovering the screw:

    https://twitter.com/TheCurrentPK/status/1370276132986179587

    Meanwhile, the government accused the opposition of planting those cameras.

    Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar tweeted that credible sources in Senate staff have disclosed that Sadiq Sanjrani left the Senate building at 5:30am in the morning.

    Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that Secretary Senate should form a committee to investigate the cameragate before Dr Musadik and Mustafa Nawaz destroy the entire wiring system in the Senate.

    Meanwhile, Twitter has dubbed the duo of Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Dr Musadik Malik as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

    While those behind the installation of cameras are still unknown, it is worth mentioning that the elections for Senate chairman and deputy chairman are critical for both the government and opposition.

    Later, in a press conference Senator Mustafa and Dr Malik, detailed the events that transpired in the Senate as they discovered the hidden cameras.

    https://youtu.be/JIssfV4EJNc

  • Fawad Chaudhry wants an inquiry against creators of fake Aurat March video

    Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has asked for an inquiry against those who committed the ‘grave offence’ of editing a fake Aurat March video, being widely circulated on social media.

    “Those who edited the video have committed a grave offence,” he wrote, “FIA should proceed against those responsible a trail will help agencies to trace who originated the fake video.”

    Meanwhile, female journalists and supporters are demanding a ‘public apology’ over ‘disinforminformation’ spread by some people.

    A document that is signed by female journalists and activists demands :

    1. “A public apology and immediate retraction by all the journalists and media houses who have shared disinformation about the Aurat Marches and that this is put out on the social media accounts, newspapers, television shows, etc”
    2. “That individual journalists and media organisations desist from spreading false and malicious information endangering the lives of Aurat March organisers and participants.”
    3. “That media houses stop inviting individuals with a history of repeatedly and deliberately spreading disinformation on their platforms”

    “These tweets with false information were shared by Ovais Mangalwala, Ansar Abbasi, and Orya Maqbool Jan,” stated the document.

    The hashtag #ApologizeToAuratMarch is trending on social media :