Commemorating 25 years of SAARC

On April 29, 2010, Bhutan issued a set of eight commemorative stamps on the eve of 25 Years of SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The eights stamps depict the national flags of all eight memebr countries of SAARC.

Bhutan also issued a stamp on the eve of holding the 16th summit conference at Thimpu, which coincided with the Silver Jubilee of creation of SAARC.

The SAARC initially comprised seven South East Asian countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2005. With its headquarteres in Kathmandu, Nepal, the organization aims at joining hands in cooperating in the fields of agriculture, education, culture, and sports; health, population, and child welfare; the environment and meteorology; rural development, tourism, transport; science and technology, and communications.

Besides it eight member, Australia, China, European Union, Japan, Iran, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and the USA also attend the SAARC proceedings as observers.

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Pakistan Postage Stamps - 1966 from my collection

On February 13, Pakistan Post issued a multicoloured 15 Paisa stamp to mark the armed Forces Day. The stamp with yellow background had emblems of all three branches of the armed Forces of the country.

On the eve of the inauguration of the first atomic reactor of the country, under the auspices of PINSTECH (Pakistan Institute of Science and Technology), located at Nilore near Islamabad. The institute was to become a hallmark in the history fo Pakistan which later paved way for further development and research on atomic power in the country. The 15 Paisa stamp showed the elevation of the PINSTECH building was issued on April 30, 1966.

Habib Bank Limited was the only bank in the private sector on the eve of creation of Pakistan. On august 25, a multicoloured stamp showing the emblem of the bank was issued on the eve of its 25th year of operation.

A red and yellow coloured stamp (above ) of 15 Paisa face value was issued on October 3, 1966 to commemorate the International Children Day.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of UNESCO, a 15 Paisa stamp was issued (below) on November 24. The stamp displayed the emblem of UNESCO.

President Muhammad Ayub Khan had a dream of building a capital city for Pakistan. The work on the project started under the foothills of Margalla Hills near Rawalpindi in 1960 and the capital was formally inaugurated in 1966. On November 29, Pakistan Post issued a set of two stamps priced at 15 and 50 Paisa respectively as shown above on the formal inauguration of the new capital. The stamps displayed the Pakistani flag, the federal secretariat building and photos of president Ayub Khan both in uniform and in suit.

The capital Development Autrity (CDA) is celebrating the 50 years or the Golden Jubilee of the day this year. 

On the foundation of the Health and Tibbi Research Institute, a 15 Paisa dull green and salmon coloured stamp was issued on December 3. The stamp displayed the portrait of famous Muslim scholar and researcher Avicenna or Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā. Ibn-e-Sina, as he is commonly known has great contribution in the field of medicine. 

The last set of two stamps of 1966 was issued on December 25 to commemorate the 90th birth anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, commonly known as the Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan. The two stamps valued at 15 and 50 Paisa showed the portrait of the father of nation wearing the famous Jinnah Cap or the Karakul Cap, which became the national headdress of Pakistan.

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Flip Ultra HD Digital Video Camera

Flip have released the slightly less portable, but more capable Ultra HD. It’s chunkier than the Mino and has enough built-in storage that it can record a total of 2 hours of footage.  The slightly larger size makes allowance for HDMI video output, a larger display and an accessible battery compartment that takes in AA batteries willingly. Something tells me getting rechargeable batteries to work with the Flip Ultra HD is a no-brainer. The Flip Ultra HD is expected to have the same 720p recording and 4GB (2 hours) of storage as the Flip Mino HD but the same form factor as the standard-definition Flip Ultra.

Source: Techzug

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Amazing Anara Tower in Dubai

What is that thing in the middle at the top of the proposed Anara tower in Dubai? In most of the renderings it looks like a wind turbine integrated into the building, but when you look closely (image below) you can see that the hub is inhabited and that it is supported by the three blades. So now architects don't even bother with the real thing, they just borrow the imagery and put fake turbine-like things on the top of their buildings because they look cool. This Skyscrapper will be called Anara Tower, and while it's not going to be the tallest in the world (it'll be about 500 feet shorter than the Burj Dubai at 2,150 feet), it's still incredible all on its own. The defining element of the Anara Tower is the massive propeller-like structure at the very top, at the center of which will be a glass-ceiling hub containing one of the world's most luxe restaurants. Strangely, the propeller doesn't rotate. Inside the tower there will be 300 super-expensive apartments, a 250-room luxury hotel and gardens every 27 floors. It will have a total of 125 stories.

Source: Techzug

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Pakistan Post - Two First Day Covers of 1963

While sharing stamps from my album of 1963, I shared, besides others, two stamps; the UN Force for West Iran and centenary celebrations of PWD in Pakistan. Herein under I am sharing the FDC of both these stamps for the love of philatelists.

Related reading: My collection of Pakistan's postage stamps of 1963

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Save Vanishing Species

The efforts to save endangered and vanishing species under the auspicies of the UN and WWF is a long struggle - but a lot needs to be done to preserve these mightly and beautiful animals and wildlife like African elephants and rhinos, the Blind Indus Dolphin and the near extinct Snow Leopards only to be found in the rugged and extremely inaccessible mountain areas of Pakistan. 

Adding to the efforts of the WWF, the US Postal Service is also joining hands by issuing a new stamp with the theme of Save Vanishing Species around the world. By purchasing these stamps everyone will be contributing to a coalition of great wildlife conservation organizations. 

The stamp itself has a beautiful drawing of an Amur tiger cub created by Nancy Stahl.

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A Flight of Helios

Image Credit: Carla Thomas, courtesy DFRC, NASA

An example of solar-powered flight, NASA's Helios aircraft flew almost one hundred years after the Wright brothers' historic flight on December 17, 1903. Pictured here at 3,000 meters in in skies northwest of Kauai, Hawaii, USA in August 2001, the remotely piloted Helios is traveling at about 40 kilometers per hour. 

Essentially an ultralight flying wing with 14 electric motors, the aircraft was built by AeroVironment Inc. Covered with solar cells, Helios' impressive 247 foot wide wing exceeded the wing span and even overall length of a Boeing 747 jet airliner. Climbing during daylight hours, the prototype aircraft ultimately reached an altitude just short of 30,000 meters, breaking records for non-rocket powered flight. 

Helios was intended as a technology demonstrator, but in the extremely thin air 30,000 meters above Earth's surface, the flight of Helios also approached conditions for winged flight in the atmosphere of Mars.

Source: NASA Picture of the day

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