Karachi Ching-Chis rev up in protest

 

The drivers said that police were tormenting them under the garb of enforcing routes. The police on the other hand say that they are forcing routes as a number of motorcycle rickshaws were violating route restrictions. Police also say they received complaints to this effect from the Karachi Transport Ittehad.

 

Police have imposed heavy fines of rickshaw drivers found violating the routes. The rickshaw drivers took out a rally from Purani Numaish MA Jinnah Road.

 

All Karachi Motorcycle Rickshaw Welfare association leader Syed Safdar Shah Qadri said police have arrested many drivers in the name of crackdown. He also said police were trying to block their rally by saying there was VIP movement on MA Jinnah Ropad, but rickshaw drivers are determined to reach Tibet Centre.
 

Judges restoration through executive order challenged

 

A writ petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court, challenging the restoration of judges including Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry through an executive order.

 

The restoration has been challenged under Article 199.
 

Rival groups exchange fire in Rawalpindi

 

Armed men exchanged fire over property dispute on Adiala road in Rawalpindi. Markets of the area were shutdown soon after the incident while the traffic was also stopped.

 

The situation remained intense for a long time as more than 25 armed men exchanged heavy fire.

 

Police contingent reached the spot to control the situation, however no casualty has been reported. 

Protests in Indian occupied Kashmir over youths killing

 

Protests broke out in Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir, after a 22-year-old youth was killed allegedly in firing by Indian armed forces on Friday night.

 

Ashiq Hussain, a resident of Lesar village in Rafiabad area of Baramulla district, 75 km from Srinagar, died after being hit by a bullet around 9 pm, villagers said.

 

Local residents alleged that Hussain was killed in firing by Indian Army personnel who were present in the area.

 

Meanwhile, state police has registered FIR in the case. The state government is yet to come out with an official statement. 

Actress Naomi Watts to play Princess Diana in biopic

LONDON: British-Australian actress Naomi Watts is to play Princess Diana in a movie about the late royal’s final two years, filmmakers have announced.

Producers said “Caught in Flight” would focus on a period when Diana, the former wife of heir to the throne Prince Charles, found “true personal happiness” shortly before her death in a 1997 car crash in Paris.

Diana wed Charles in a glittering ceremony in 1981, but the unhappy marriage ended in 1996. Charles wed his long-time companion Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005.

Watts, who won widespread critical acclaim for her role as Betty Elms in the 2001 psychological thriller “Mulholland Drive”, said it was an honour to be able to play the “iconic role” of the woman known as the “People’s Princess”.

“Princess Diana was loved across the world and I look forward to rising to the challenge of playing her on screen,” said the 44-year-old, who also won an Oscar nomination for her role as a recovering drug addict in “21 Grams”.

The movie about the Princess of Wales, who was just 36 when she died, will be directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, best known for his epic 2004 film “Downfall” about the final days of Hitler.

“I am delighted to have such a truly exceptional actress who embodies the warmth, humanity and empathy of such a global icon as Princess Diana,” said Hirschbiegel.

The film-makers did not confirm whether the biopic will feature Diana’s relationship with Dodi Fayed, the son of Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed who was the princess’s boyfriend and died with her in the crash.

Watts, who was born in Britain but emigrated to Australia in her teens, will start work on the Britain-based production later this year.

US actress Jessica Chastain, who starred in “The Tree of Life” with Brad Pitt, had originally been in talks to take the role.

Diana was played by Lesley Harcourt last year in a US television drama about the princess’s son Prince William and his wife Catherine, while in the 2006 movie “The Queen” she was played by a French lookalike. AGENCIES

Karachi violence claims seven lives overnight

TrendPK.com
KARACHI: At least seven people including a woman lost their lives and five others were injured in another surge of violence across the metropolis overnight, TrendPK reports Friday.

According to details, some unidentified miscreants opened fire at a car near Murtaza Chowrangi in Landhi killing a woman on the spot.

Meantime, body of a man was found fro Dhobi Ghat in Lines Area, who was shot to death.

Also, man who was injured with a gunshot in Jatt Lines, succumbed to his injury overnight.

In different incidents of firing, at least four people were killed and five others injured in Nagan Chowrangi area, Qasba Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Kharadar. TrendPK

PM Gilani’s contempt case hearing underway

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s intra-court appeal against the court order to indict him on February 13, is being heard at Supreme Court (SC), TrendPK reports Friday.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Aitezaz Ahsan, who is counsel of the PM Gilani in the contempt case, is to finalize his arguments before the eight-strong bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry.

The bench includes Justice Shakirullah Jan, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Tariq Pervez, Justice Amir Haani Muslim, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali. TrendPK

11 militants dead in Orakzai operation

TrendPK.com

ORAKZAI AGENCY: At least 11 militants were killed and 19 wounded when security forces pounded their hideouts in Upper Orakzai region on Thursday.

According to details, security forces shelled suspected militant positions in an area of Upper Orakzai Agency, killing 11 militants and injuring 19 others.

Seven militant hideouts were also destroyed.

Reports say security forces surrounded the entire area. TrendPK

‘Avatar’ robot made in Japan

YOKOHAMA: A Japanese-developed robot that mimics the movements of its human controller is bringing the Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar” one step closer to reality.

Users of the TELESAR V don special equipment that allows them not only to direct the actions of a remote machine, but also to see, hear and feel the same things as their doppelganger android.

“When I put on the devices and move my body, I see my hands having turned into the robot hands. When I move my head, I get a different view from the one I had before,” said researcher Sho Kamuro.

“It’s a strange experience that makes you wonder if you’ve really become a robot,” he told AFP.

Professor Susumu Tachi, who specialises in engineering and virtual reality at Keio University’s Graduate School of Media Design, said systems attached to the operator’s headgear, vest and gloves send detailed instructions to the robot, which then mimics the user’s every move.

At the same time, an array of sensors on the android relays a stream of information which is converted into sensations for the user.

The thin polyester gloves the operator wears are lined with semiconductors and tiny motors to allow the user to “feel” what the mechanical hands are touching — a smooth or a bumpy surface as well as heat and cold.

The robot’s “eyes” are actually cameras capturing images that appear on tiny video screens in front of the user’s eyes, allowing them to see in three dimensions.

Microphones on the robot pick up sounds, while its speakers allow the operator to make his voice heard by those near the machine.

The TELESAR — TELexistence Surrogate Anthropomorphic Robot — is still a far cry from the futuristic creations of James Cameron’s “Avatar”, where US soldiers are able to remotely control the genetically engineered bodies of an extra-terrestrial race they wish to subdue.

But, says Tachi, it could have much more immediate — and benign — applications, such as working in high-risk environments, for example the inside of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, though it is early days.

“I think further research and development could enable this to go into areas too dangerous for humans and do jobs that require human skills,” he said.

Japan’s famously advanced robot technology was found wanting during the crisis at Fukushima, where foreign expertise had to be called on for the machines that went inside reactor buildings as nuclear meltdowns began.

Tachi said a “safety myth” had grown up around atomic technology, preventing research on the kind of machines that could help in the wake of a disaster.

But he said his kind of robot technology could help with the long and difficult task of decommissioning reactors at Fukushima — a process that could take three decades.

A remote-controlled android that allows its user to experience what is happening far away may have more than just industrial applications, he added.

“This could be used to talk with your grandpa or grandma living in a remote place and deepen communications,” he said. AGENCIES

Memo commission resumes proceeding

TrendPK.com

ISLAMABAD: The commission tasked with probing the alleged memo scandal has resumed its proceeding in Islamabad High Court today (Friday).

Barristar Zafarullah said “Mansoor Ijaz is a proclaimed offender in two civil suits in the top court of America.”

Mansoor Ijaz will not come to any Pakistan high commission abroad, he asserted. The high commission, he said, is Pakistani space.

In his argument, he said security situation is not too good in the US where the 9/11 happened. 

Zafarullah said it would be an insult to the commission if it decides to go abroad to record Mansoor Ijaz’ statement. TrendPK

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