Tech news
The new iPhone5 3D skull case inspired by Hugo Arcier art

iPhone5 cases are now attracting a large number of users.The latest trend in iPhone5 casing is the newly launched iPhone5 3D skull case. The case is selling like hot cakes and has an attractive design. The new iPhone5 3D skull case looks great and inspired by Hugo Arcier The  skull case has a price tag of $52.25 available at 3D Printer Case.

iPhone5

The Skull from Hugo is specially designed for the iPhone 5. The skull design is actually overlaid on the case itself. The design therefore clearly shows the curves edges and different spots of the skull.There are two different designs available

  •     The detailed skull case design
  •     The degenerated case design…..based on mesh triangles

3D Skull iPhone Case

There are other types of skull casing also out there in the market portraying a more abstract and polygonal design

 

Tech news
National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) has launched a new Smart National Identity Card (SNIC)

National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) has launched a new Smart National Identity Card based on latest state of the art chip technology. The new card will provide information about the card holder. In comparison to old Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) the new Smart National ID Card (SNIC) is more efficient, smarter and advance based on chip designed to store data which will directly be connected to NADRA’s central database service.

SNIC

National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) is Pakistan’s national database designing, and implementation entity. NADRA has successfully carried out a number of projects including National ID card & Multi-Biometric e-Passport solutions for Pakistan. Beside Pakistan it is one of the leading database solution provider and Passport Issuing System integrator in countries like for Bangladesh, Kenya and Sudan.

For user of SNIC there is free life insurance for two years. Other facilities for integration include motorway tolls e-tag, biometrics, driving license, weapon license, school card passport, health card and electronic voting. It will also aid financial transactions and there will be provision for storing data.

Chairman NADRA Mr. Tariq Malik in a statement said that the new SNIC is the most secured ID card in the world. It has multiple layers with each layer having unique security features.

President Asif Ali Zardai is the first Pakistani national issued with SNIC smart identity last month.

The Salient Features of SNIC are as follows

1. Chip based Smart Identity Card with 36 security features
2. Multi dimensional usage and services
3. Social and financial inclusion programs
4. State of the art encryption technology
5. Live identification of captured fingerprints
6. Easy pension disbursement
7. Accidental death insurance of Rs.100,000 for 2 years
8. Compliant with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Standards
9. Data written on card both in English and Urdu which will be very useful for overseas Pakistanis and people who used to travel abroad.

SNIC Fee
Currently NADRA is charging Normal fee of Rs.1500 per SNIC with validity period of 10 years.

 

Sports Tennis
Nadal to return in Abu Dhabi this month

Former world Number One Rafael Nadal who was out of the professional tennis circuit for the last 6 months has confirmed that he will play at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. The tournament is an exhibition tournament to be commenced on December 28. Nadal has already started practice almost a month back after six months of rest due to a knee injury.
Nadal, who is currently world number 4 was last seen in action against Czech player Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon in June. He suffered a shock defeat in five sets in that match. After the match, the 11-times Grand Slam singles champion was diagnosed with a partial tear of the patella tendon and an inflammation in his left knee. Due to his injury, Nadal had to miss the Olympics as well as the US Open. He was the defending champion at both the events.
Nadal had won the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in 2010 and 2011 and was eager to get back to winning ways by lifting the trophy again. He will either play world number three Andy Murray of Britain or ninth seed Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. The other players to participate in the tournament are World number one Novak Djokovic, fifth ranked David Ferrer and world number six Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic.
Cricket Sports
Injured Broad Awaits Scan Results
Stuart Broad who had suffered left heel injury before the start of India’s tour has again got himself injured while practicing in nets for the final test against India. He had to leave the field due to discomfort and had to take medical treatment before coming back again for brief moment. He had a scan of the injury during the second test. However, he played all the three tests. He now awaits the scan results and is highly unlikely to play the fourth test starting from December 13, 2012.
Broad, who is the England Twenty20 captain, is also likely to miss the two T20 matches if the scan results are not satisfactory. The team management is worried about fitness issues of the T20 skipper. The two T20 matches will be played in Pune and Mumbai on December 20 and 22 respectively. If Broad misses the T20 matches, Eoin Morgan who is England’s Twenty20 vice-captain would be the stand in captain. The selectors may need to replace Broad in an inexperienced 13-man squad which contains only three other specialist seamers.
Tech news
3G is becoming a dream for Pakistanis:Doctor Khawar Siddique Khokhar has termed recent appointment of three consultants for 3G auction as illegal

It seems that 3G is becoming a dream for Pakistanis and a number of people are thinking y 3G why not 4G.A number of carriers like AT&T and Sprint in US has already implemented 4G.
Anyways auction of 3G spectrum is an ongoing tussle. THE News reported that Doctor Khawar Siddique Khokhar has termed recent appointment of three consultants for 3G auction as illegal and said it is a violation of PPRA rules and without approval of authority. He disclosed all this in a letter written to Principal Secretary to PM, cabinet secretary and secretary information technology. 
PTA had announced in November that it hired three consultants for auction of 3G spectrum by early 2013.
Dr. Khawar Khokhar, in his letter showed total ignorance about these consultants and said that he came to know through media about all this.
On the otherhand Chairman PTA, Muhammad Farooq Awan is of the view that he has the authority to appoint such consultants without anyone’s permission. 
Chairman PTA statement clearly shows the differences within PTA and between Member Technical and Chairman of PTA.
Earlier, Member Technical denied to brief media on 3G against the will of chairman PTA in October and had walked out of the press conference.
It maybe recalled that hiring process of consultants for 3G auction went unsuccessful twice, due to which the 3G auction has been delayed for over a year now.
PTA hired following three consultants at cost of USD$5,45,000 (PKR Rs 51,775,000) for three months.
  •  Mr. Dennis Ward : Spectrum Auction Deign Advisor
  • Mr. Rob Nicholls :Valuation Advisor & Spectrum Regulatory Policy Advisor
  • Mr. Martin Sims : Auctions Software Advisor

Football Sports
Mueller lauds record-breaker Messi

When Argentina and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi scored twice against Real Betis to break Gerd Mueller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year, Mueller was the first one to congratulate him. He has hailed Lionel Messi as an incredible player and was happy that the world’s best player has broken his record. Mueller had scored 85 goals in 60 matches in year 1972 when playing for Bayern Munich and West Germany. His record for most goals in a calendar year stood for 40 years. Messi now has 86 goals in 67 games.
Mueller was generous in applauding Messi and hoped that he would further add to his tally while playing in the remaining 3 games of the year 2012 so that the record might then stay for 40 more years. Mueller wished if Messi were there in Bayern Munich.
Besides breaking Mueller’s record, Messi’s two goals against Betis made him the top goal scorer in Barcelona in league games. The previous leading goal scorer was Cesar Rodriguez who scored 192 goals. Messi has now scored 194 league goals for Barcelona. He is already Barca’s record goal scorer after breaking record of 232 goals which was also set by Rodriguez during the 1940s and 50s.
Mueller lauds record-breaker Messi
Messi’s team-mates were also all praise for him and expressed him as supernatural, beyond limits. His contributions for the club would always be remembered. Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta expressed that the records made by Messi were coming so fluently and quickly that they would be appreciated in due course of time as they seem so effortless and simple.
Messi was humble and modest when asked about the record and said that the victory for the club was more delightful event than the personal glory. However, he pledged scoring more goals to make it difficult for the next player who tries to break this record.
Cricket Sports
Shahid Afridi Axed from Pak ODI Squad for India

Pakistan has announced its one day and T-20 squad for the Indian tour this month. Flamboyant Shahid Afridi has been dropped from ODIs, however he has been included in twenty20 squad. Afridi only scored seven runs and took one wicket in two ODIs against Australia in UAE this September.
Shahid Afridi Axed from Pak ODI Squad for India
A total of 6 changes have been made in the ODI squad that was selected against Australia. Similarly, there are also 6 changes in T-20 squad which was selected for world cup played in Sri Lanka. Other five players to be dropped from the ODI squad are left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, fast bowlers Aizaz Cheema and Sohail Tanvir. Shoaib Malik and Asad Shafiq have been dropped because of injury. They have been replaced by Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, and Zulfiqar Babar. Batsman Sohail and left-arm spinner Babar will be making their debut for the greens. Fast bowler Wahab Riaz last played for the country in Asia Cup.
Those dropped from T20 squad are allrounders Abdul Razzaq and Yasir Arafat, opening batsman Imran Nazir, Shafiq and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan. Shafiq and Hasan were axed because of injuries. Those who have made to the team are fast bowler Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar, Asad Ali, Mohammad Irfan and Umar Amin.
Pakistan will play two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs against India from December 25 to January 06. The squads of ODIs and T20 are:
ODI squad: Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(C), Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar.
T20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez(C), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shehzad.
Tech news
RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger version 7 is giving users opertunity to make phone calls to BBM contacts via wifi
Now RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger version 7 is giving users opportunity to make phone calls to BBM contacts via Wifi. RIM initially launched the BBM voice calling feature in its beta version launched last month and owing to the good response of users it was made the permanent feature of final version. BBM 7 supports smartphones running Black Berry-6 or higher.


The user can initially start up the conversation using chat and later switch to calling buddy via wifi.  The users once login comes to know which contact is available for voice call.
Black berry also offers split screen option to switch among multiple tasks like checking e-mail, SMS, and voice calling. Users BBM profile, groups and contacts are directly linked with BlackBerry ID for back up and restore when needed.

Tech news
England won third test from India taking 2-1 lead

(BBC). England wrapped up a seven-wicket victory on day five of the third Test to take a 2-1 lead and move close to a first series win in India since 1985.
England won third test from India taking 2-1 lead
James Anderson bowled last man Pragyan Ojha with the 10th ball of the day, dismissing India for 247 in Kolkata.
Chasing 41, England lost Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen to slip to 8-3, but were taken home by Nick Compton and Ian Bell.
The final Test begins in Nagpur on Thursday at 04:00 GMT.

f England avoid defeat, not only will they end their 27-year wait for a series win in India, but also condemn their hosts to a first home loss since Australia won 2-1 in 2004.

Victory in the final match for Cook’s men would also see India lose three matches in a home series for the first time since the all-conquering West Indies side triumphed 3-0 in 1983.

The win at Eden Gardens, where India were unbeaten in seven games dating back to 1999, completes a remarkable turnaround for the tourists, who were thrashed by nine wickets in the first Test in Ahmedabad.

After that defeat they faced criticism for another failure to make first-innings runs in Asia and the decision to omit left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.

But, despite India captain Mahendra Dhoni winning the toss in Mumbai and Kolkata on turning wickets that would supposedly favour the hosts, England have outplayed the home side in all departments.

In a repeat of Mumbai, England’s third-Test win came as a result of restricting Dhoni’s side on day one, making a huge first-innings total, then taking advantage of India’s batting fragility in the second innings.

With India’s problems exposed, Dhoni was seen in animated discussion with coach Duncan Fletcher and chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil on the outfield before play began on day five.

The efforts of Ravichandran Ashwin had at least ensured that the home side dragged the match into a final day.

Ashwin was unbeaten on 83 overnight and, with the help of numbers 10 and 11 Ishant Sharma and Ojha, had saved India from an innings defeat.
Chasing a second Test century, Ashwin cracked two boundaries from Steven Finn’s first over of the day but could not keep hold of the strike for the second.
And, with his fourth delivery of the morning, Anderson got one to move away from Ojha, just making enough contact to persuade the off bail to fall from its groove.

Intent on racing after the target, Cook ran past an Ashwin off-break to be stumped off the fifth ball of the run chase, with Trott trapped lbw on the front foot by left-armer Ojha.

Pietersen lasted only four balls before he edged Ashwin behind, but Bell, in need of some confidence-boosting runs, showed signs of fluency in his classy, run-a-ball 28.

It was Bell that turned Ashwin to square leg to seal England’s first win at Eden Gardens since 1977, a victory that ensures Cook’s men will not slip behind Australia in the world Test rankings.