Issued by India

Issued on Nov 25, 2025

Issued for : Department of Posts is proud to release a commemorative postage stamp on 350^th Martyrdom Day of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Brochure/Cancellation Cachet : Ms. Nenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 303300

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Tyag Mal

Born on 1 Apr, 1621 at Amritsar, Punjab, India

Died on 24 Nov, 1675 at Delhi, Mughal India

About : 

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was born on April 1, 1621, in Amritsar, the son of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib ji and Mata Nanaki, and was named Tyag Mal at birth. He later became the ninth Guru of the Sikhs and was known as Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. From childhood, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was trained in martial arts, swordsmanship, and horsemanship. In the Battle of Kartarpur (1635), fought between the Sikhs and the Mughals, Guru Sahib displayed exceptional bravery and remarkable swordsmanship. Pleased with his bravery, his father, Sri Guru Hargobind ji, bestowed upon him the title of “Tegh Bahadur”.
• On November 24, 1675, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur ji was publicly executed in Delhi on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for opposing forced conversions and defending religious freedom. Gurdwara Sisganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, is the site of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s supreme martyrdom. This year marks the 350^th anniversary of that supreme martyrdom. On this occasion, it is time to reaffirm the values that empower interfaith dialogue, civic consciousness, and our shared cultural unity. In this sense, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji is an eternal source of inspiration for India’s cultural soul.
• Text : Based on the content provided by Ministry of Culture.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 19, 2025

Issued for : The Department of Posts is releasing a commemorative postage stamp on the Birth Centenary of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Brochure/Cancellation Cachet : Sh. Suresh

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise (4)

Miniature Sheets Printed : 241200

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju

Born on 23 Nov, 1926 at Puttaparthi, Madras Presidency, British India [now in Andhra Pradesh, India]

Died on 24 Apr, 2011 at Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, India

About : 

• Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born on November 23, 1926, in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh. At the age of 14, he began his mission to promote human values of truth, righteous conduct, peace, love, and non-violence, while stressing the unity of all religions. His life of service and compassion inspired the establishment of numerous institutions devoted to education, healthcare, and rural development, benefiting millions, around the world.
• The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT) continues his vision by offering free healthcare, education, and social welfare services without discrimination. Recognised by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with a Special Consultative Status, the Trust operates two super-speciality hospitals, two general hospitals, and two mobile hospitals that treat around 3,000 outpatients daily, completely free of charge. These hospitals are highlighted by NITI Aayog as exemplary not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare models devoted to “service to society as service to God”.
• In education, the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning provides free undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes, combining academic excellence with character building. More than 5,000 students study in all these institutions and receive quality education free of cost. About 102 Sri Sathya Sai Schools, with about 60,000 children under the aegis of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation (SSSSO), are being provided with financial assistance to improve their infrastructure, like buildings, furniture, and computer facilities, to enable quality education to reach the grassroots.
• Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s vision of rural upliftment led to major drinking water projects supplying safe water to over 1,600 villages and three million people in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu. The Trust’s Sai Mitra Solar Energy Project generates 6.1 megawatts of clean energy. It also provides disaster relief, builds houses for affected families, and feeds nearly one lakh people daily.
• Besides, to instil human values in youth, the “Bal Vikas” programme educates over 4,00,000 children through 20,000 voluntary teachers.
• Text : Based on the content provided by the Proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Feb 25, 2018

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to issue a Commemorative Postage Stamp on Auroville International Township – Golden Jubilee 1968-2018.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Brochure/Cancellation Cachet : Sh. Brahm Prakash

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 6.46 lakh

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• For millennia, we have been developing outer means, outer instruments, outer techniques of living, and finally those means and techniques are crushing us. The sign of the new humanity is a reversal in the standpoint, and the understanding that inner knowledge and inner technique can change the world and master it without crushing it.
• Auroville is the place where this new way of living is being worked out, it is a centre of accelerated evolution where man must begin to change his world through the power of the inner spirit. – The Mother
• Inspired by Sri Aurobindo’s vision ideals of human unity, Mirra Alfasa, Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual collaborator and universally revered as ‘The Mother’, founded Auroville as an international cultural township on 28 February 1968. In its physical manifestation as a human settlement, its founders envisioned Auroville as a “living laboratory” for applied researches.
• “Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity”. – The Mother
• The core purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity in diversity, on behalf of humanity as a whole. Today, Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness, also concerned with – and practically researching into – sustainable living and the future cultural, environmental, social and spiritual needs of mankind.
• A planned town for up to 50,000 people from around the world, Auroville began on a degraded barren plateau in south-east India. Located mostly in the State of Tamil Nadu, close to the Coromandel Coast and some 10 km north of Pondicherry and 150 km south of Chennai. Over the last 50 years an unknown rural area has been transformed into a lush green Conscious City, acting as a magnet for men and women seeking a higher purpose of life.
• In terms of physical development, Auroville aims at becoming a model of ‘the city the earth needs’. It wants to show the world that future realisations in all fields of work will allow us to build beautiful cities where people sincerely look towards a more harmonious future.
• One of the most remarkable concepts of Auroville is its master plan, laid out in form of a Galaxy – a galaxy in which several ‘arms’ or Lines of Force seem to unwind from a central region.
• At the centre of the township lies the Peace Area, comprising the Matrimandir, the ‘soul of Auroville’, a place for individual, silent concentration and its gardens, the amphitheatre with the Urn of Human Unity that contains the soil of 124 nations and 23 Indian states, and the project of a lake to help create an atmosphere of serenity.
• Radiating out beyond the Matrimandir Gardens are four Zones, each focusing on an important aspect of the township’s life:
  • Industrial Zone, a zone for “green” industries, is focused on Auroville’s efforts towards a self-supporting township. It contains small and medium-scale industries, training centres, arts and crafts.
  • Cultural Zone is a site for applied research in education and artistic expression. Facilities for cultural, educational, art and sports activities are located in this zone.
  • Residential Zone is designed to provide a well-adjusted habitat between individual and collective living, with large areas of greenery and smaller built surface, thereby creating an urban density balanced by nature.
  • International Zone hosts the national and cultural pavilions, grouped by continents. Its central focus is to create a living demonstration of human unity in diversity through the expression of the genius and contribution of each nation to humanity.
• Surrounding the city area is a Green Belt consisting of forested areas, farms and sanctuaries. The Green Belt stands as an example of successful transformation of wasteland into a vibrant eco-system, a remarkable demonstration site for soil and water conservation, ground water recharge, and environmental restoration.
• “Greetings from Auroville to all men of goodwill are invited to Auroville all those who thirst for progress and aspire to a truer life” was the message to youth of the world, in 1968. Inspired young men and women came from world over in caravans chasing a dream; a dream which belongs to nobody in particular. A place where youth will never age. A place searching for answers to the struggles of the world.
• Over the years the population has grown and today 2800 permanent residents from 54 countries have made Auroville their home. Many more thousands come for a shorter experience and take the fragrance of Auroville back to the lands they come from. Young minds are attracted to learn from this aspiration for a new way of living and feel inspired to join Auroville.
• Embracing ‘All Life is Yoga’, a message of Sri Aurobindo, Auroville is an answer to humanity’s aspiration for a higher perfection where unity with the Divine is not achieved by withdrawing from but by embracing all the challenges of life, and turning the difficulties of human existence into stepping stones of growth and progress. Auroville is indeed the practical expression of India’s eternal philosophy of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakkam”.
• Auroville is a place of unending and lifelong education, a seat for learning and continuation of our age old tradition of Gurukul, where learning is not confined to classrooms but where life is a living laboratory. Experiments in content and methods of a new system of education are undertaken. Emphasis is on developing all aspects of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual growth of a human being. Along with academics, sports, arts, culture are spiritual development consist an important part of learning. Additionally special schools are run for local villages to provide holistic education. Making education a joyful learning experience, Auroville runs more than 20 educational centers and numerous courses and diverse activities to serve the learning needs of all ages.
• The economy of Auroville is based on the fundamental of no ownership of lands and enterprises. All actions are a service and offering to the Divine. Money is not meant to generate money; money should generate an increase in production, an improvement in the conditions of life and a progress in human consciousness.
• The enterprises are run on principle of trusteeship above needs of personal possessions. Beauty in matter is a cherished goal behind creating a wide range of products. Nearly 400 artisanal small enterprises employ more than 6,000 people from local villages. Apart from income from internal units, Auroville receives grants and donations from several well-wishers from all over the world, including the Government of India.
• Encouraging creativity and innovative thinking Auroville has made rapid progress in applied research in areas of health and healing, environmental regeneration, organic farming, water harvesting, solid waste management, electrical mobility and renewable energy. Auroville has become a centre for sustainable architecture and green practices, producing 125% of energy consumed from renewable sources like wind and solar energy.
• Collaboration is the essence of Auroville’s experiment. Transforming local villages around Auroville has been an important aspect of co-development. The developmental footprint of Auroville effort in rural development has had a transformative effect in the bioregion. Through several initiatives of micro finance, micro enterprises and skill development, Auroville has brought improvement in lives of nearly 1,00,000 people in the surrounding villages.
• Art and culture are integral part of life in Auroville. The exuberant vitality is visible with works of several artists and potters who made Auroville their home. Several residents have become well-known artists and writers through their works of arts, music, acting and literature.
• The organization of Auroville is based on principles of equality, inclusiveness, transparency, collaboration, empathy and plasticity. Recognizing the importance of the Auroville experiment, the Government of India created a statutory body by in-acting the Auroville Foundation Act 1988, functioning under the Ministry of Human Resources and development.
• The General Assembly of UNESCO unanimously passed in 1966, 1968, 1970, 1983 and 2017 resolutions of support to Auroville, inviting ‘member states and international non-governmental organisations to participate in the development of Auroville as an international cultural township designed to bring together the values of different cultures and civilisations in a harmonious environment with integrated living standards which correspond to man’s physical and spiritual needs’.
• The footprint of Auroville has spread beyond its geography through several projects of its units and actions of its residents. Transformation of the surrounding villages of Auroville is the most visible impact. Recognizing the wider impact The UNESCO resolution passed by the General Assembly in 2017 for the 50^th year noted, “that Auroville has developed into a centre of expertise in a wide range of fields, benefiting India and noting its success in sharing its experience and helping the development of its neighboring rural population”.
• Over the years Auroville has been recognized by several national and international Awards like ‘Hasan Fathi Award for Architecture in 1992, Best Earth Buildings to Centre for Scientific Research, Award by HUDCO to Auroville Building Centre in 1994, 1995 and 1996, Ashden Award for renewable energy to Aurore (Auroville Renewable Energy) in 2004, Award of Excellence by Ministry of Textiles to Upasana Studio, Low Carbon Award’ of the ‘Green Building Solutions Awards in 2016’ to Auroville Earth Institute, Rush Light Award for 2017-18 to Auroville Consulting.
• Text : Based on the material received from proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Oct 11, 2017

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to release a Commemorative Postage Stamp on Nanaji Deshmukh.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Brochure/Cancellation Cachet : Smt. Nenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.5 million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh

Born on 11 Oct, 1916 at Kadoli, Hingoli district, Maharashtra, India

Died on 27 Feb, 2010 at Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

About : 

• Nanaji Deshmukh also known as Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh was born on 11 October 1916 in Kadoli, a small town in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra to Amritrao Deshmukh and Rajabai Amritrao Deshmukh. At an early age, he lost his parents and was brought up by his maternal uncle. His early life was full of strife and struggle, however, he grew up to become a dedicated social activist and also worked in the fields of education, health and rural self-reliance. He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.
• Nanaji Deshmukh became inspired by Lokamanya Tilak and his nationalist ideology. He was also in close association with eminent leaders such as Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who he met for the first time in the year 1940. In 1947, on the launch of two journals, Rashtradharma and Panchjanya, and a newspaper called Swadesh, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was assigned the responsibility of the editor and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was made the Margdharshak with Nanaji as the managing director.
• Nanaji Deshmukh was given the charge of Bharatiya Jan Sangh in Uttar Pradesh as General Secretary. Deshmukh’s groundwork was a great help in strengthening Bhartiya Jan Sangha (BJS) at the grass roots. By 1957 BJS had established its units at each and every district in Uttar Pradesh and credit for this goes to Nanaji who had extensively travelled all over the state and put in a lot of hard work.
• Nanaji Deshmukh also actively participated in Bhoodan Movement started by Vinoba Bhave. He spent two months with Vinoba, and was greatly inspired by the success and appeal of the movement. Later, when Jayaprakash Narayan gave the call for “Total Revolution”, Nanaji responded by giving total support to this movement. Nanaji Deshmukh was elected in 1977 from Balrampur Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He was offered a Cabinet portfolio which he declined.
• In 1980, when he turned 60, he opted out of politics, devoting himself completely to social and constructive work, living in ashrams and keeping a low profile. He did pioneering work towards anti-poverty and minimum needs programmes. Other areas of his work were agriculture and cottage industry, rural health and rural education. Nanaji assumed chairmanship of the Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) which he had founded in 1972 to validate the philosophy of Integral Humanism propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Integral Humanism gave a vision for Bharat that with an approach to man and his relationship to society that is integral and complementary could transform India turning it into a self-reliant and compassionate example for the world to follow.
• Nanaji propounded a model for the development of rural areas on the basis of Integral Humanism. After initial experiments in Gonda (U.P.) and Beed (Maharashtra), Nanaji fine-tuned a program that would cover health, hygiene, education, agriculture, income generation, conservation of resources, and social conscience, that is both sustainable and replicable. The vision of the project was ‘Total transformation through total development with people’s initiative and participation’. He was also instrumental in carrying out social restructuring programme in over 500 villages of both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• He finally settled down at Chitrakoot, a holy place on the borders of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It was in 1969 that Deshmukh had visited Chitrakoot for the first time and was moved to see the condition of the society. He resolved to change the face of Chitrakoot during his lifetime. He established Chitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya, India’s first rural University, and served as its Chancellor.
• He was nominated to Rajya Sabha in the year 1999 in recognition of his services to the nation. He was also awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1999. India’s former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam praised Deshmukh for his “single-minded devotion to the uplift of the people”. He died the age of 94, on 27 February 2010 in the premises of Chitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya.
• Text : Based on the material available on internet.

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 4, 2016

Issued for : Department of Posts is pleased to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Saint Teresa on the occasion of her Canonization.

Credits :
Stamp / Souvenir Sheet / FDC / Cancellation Cachet : Ms. Alka Sharma

Type : Souvenir Sheet, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 5000 Paise

Souvenir Sheet Printed : 0.4 million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu

Born on Aug 26, 1910 at Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire [now Skopje, Republic of Macedonia]

Died on Sep 5, 1997 at Calcutta, West Bengal, India

About : 

• Mother Teresa was an icon of God’s tender mercy, radiating the light of God’s love to so many through her works of mercy, both spiritual and material.
  
• Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an ethnic Albanian family in Skopje, in what is now part of Macedonia, Mother Teresa came to India as a Sister of Loreto in 1929. On her arrival in India, she began working as a teacher. On 24 May 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity”. From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching at St. Mary‘s and in 1944 became the school’s principal. A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters and her students, Mother Teresa‘s twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy.
  
• However, the widespread poverty around her made a deep impression on her; and this led to her starting a new order called “The Missionaries of Charity”. The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Receiving what she described as a “call within a call”, she began her missionary work with the poor and laid the foundation for what would become the Missionaries of Charity.
  
• The Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic (Latin Church) religious congregation was established in 1950 by Mother Teresa. In 2012 it consisted of over 4,500 religious sisters. A member of the congregation must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and the fourth vow, to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”. Today, the order consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries. Missionaries care for those in need of care and assistance. They have schools run by volunteers to educate street children and run soup kitchens as well as other services as are required by the community. They have 19 homes in Kolkata (Calcutta) itself and services are provided, without charge, to people regardless of their religion or social status.
  
• In 1965, by granting a Decree of Praise, Pope Paul VI granted Mother Teresa‘s request to expand her congregation to other countries. The Congregation grew rapidly, with new homes opening all over the globe. The congregation’s first house outside India was in Venezuela, and others followed in Rome and Tanzania, and eventually in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe, including Albania.
  
• Following her death in 1997, St John Paul II waived the usual five-year waiting period and allowed the opening of the process to declare her sainthood. She was beatified in 2003.
  
• According to the norms, the Catholic Church requires one “medical” miracle before a deceased Catholic can be declared “blessed”, and another such miracle, occurring after that declaration, before he or she can be canonized as a saint.
  
• Mother Teresa, who will now be a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. This was the first step towards sainthood. In 2002, the Vatican officially recognised the first miracle she was said to have carried out after her death. On December 20, 2015, Pope Francis recognised a second miracle attributed to the Mother in Brazil, where, according to a write-up handed out by the Missionaries of Charity, a man with an incurable bacterial brain infection was cured on December 9, 2008 after his wife prayed to Mother Teresa in a parish church.
  
• Mother Teresa‘s work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards. Mother Teresa was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian work in 1979.
  
• The date of Mother Teresa‘s canonization will coincide with the conclusion of the Year of Mercy pilgrimage for workers and ministers engaged in works of mercy. With the canonization of Mother Teresa, the Church presents her as an inspiration to those who like her, “long to light the fire of love and peace throughout the world”. She assisted the poor, the sick and the abandoned with tireless dedication, offering smiles and simple gestures, finding strength to preserve with her vocation through prayer and trust in God.
  
• Text : Based on information available on internet.

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Issued by India

Issued on Jan 13, 2013

Issued for : The Department of Posts is privileged to issue a commemorative stamp on this remarkable leader who left behind the example of a distinguished and fruitful life for others to emulate.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC : Gulistaan
Cancellation : Nenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.31 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nashik

Name : Chelat Achutha Menon

Born on Jan 13, 1913 at Puthukkad, Thrissur, Kerala, India

Died on Aug 16, 1991

About : 

• C. Achyutha Menon (1913-1991) is remembered for the brilliant development initiatives that he took as the Chief Minister of Kerala, which not only transformed the economy of the state but also stimulated a new intellectual awakening in the society.
• Born into a lower middle class family, the early part of his life was spent at Thrissur, a town in Kerala known for its cultural tradition. Though the young Achyutha Menon began practising Law at Thrissur, he soon heeded the call of the National Movement. He worked for the Congress initially, but joined the Communist Party, which was more aligned to his radical thinking in 1942.
• In the first Communist Ministry of Kerala that was elected to power in 1957, Menon was second in rank and held the Finance portfolio. When the party split, he was made the Secretary of the state unit of the Communist Party of India. Achyutha Menon was chosen to lead the coalition Government that was formed in the state in 1969.
• As a Chief Minister, Menon adopted a welfare approach rooted in the principles of socialism. Co-opting the services of science and technology for the overall development of the people was also central to his approach. Achyutha Menon set up Kerala’s first Science and Technology Department, and formulated a Science Policy Resolution. He also took the initiative to start a string of advanced research institutions that would help to take the fruits of science to the common people. These included the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), the Sri Chitra Tirumal Institute for Medical Science and Technology (SCTIMST), the Forest Research Institute (KFRI), the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) and the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS).
• Successful implementation of land reforms, which wiped out the vestiges of the old feudal order in the agrarian system was another significant achievement of Achyutha Menon as Chief Minister. His other noteworthy achievements were the nationalization of forest lands, the implementation of the Laksham Veedu programme (a housing scheme of massive scale for the homeless), the improvement of the working conditions of both industrial and farm labourers and the strengthening of the Public Distribution System.
• Achyutha Menon was a humanist whose universal vision often made him look beyond party interests. Though his faith in Communism was firm, he sought to place the communist vision in a broad perspective. He often expressed admiration for Gandhism for its positive aspects like the emphasis it placed on truthfulness, moral values and ahimsa. Achyutha Menon‘s intellectual pursuits were not confined to the domain of politics. He has a few short stories and plays to his credit. However, his essays and pen sketches were a greater contribution to literature wherein the sincerity of his prose, together with his uncomplicated style made him a widely read writer.
• He led an active intellectual life even after he stepped down from the position of Chief Minister in 1977 to lead a retired life. As a human being, he concerned himself with all that was happening around him. He raised his voice whenever he felt that justice and human dignity were being threatened, often chiding politicians in power and trying to reassure the common man. For more than half a century, he enriched the social, political and cultural life of Kerala with his presence.
• Text : P.N. Ranjit Kumar.
  

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Issued by India

Issued on Sep 8, 2011

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Tripuraneni Gopichand.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : S.S.P. Hyderabad

Name : Tripuraneni Gopichand

Born on Sep 8, 1910 at Krishna, Andhra Pradesh, India

Died on Nov 2, 1962

About : 

• Tripuraneni Gopichand, who adorned Telugu literature as a writer, novelist, dramatist, essayist and cine script writer, was born on 08.09.1910 in a family rich in Telugu literary and cultural heritage. His father Shri Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdhry, popularly known as Kaviraju was a freedom fighter, rationalist and a great poet, and his mother was Smt. Punnamamba.
• He authored ten novels, twelve plays, numerous essays, sketches, letters and a hundred short stories. His stories fall into four broad categories i.e. political, social, domestic and autobiographical. Social problems and gender conflict are the favorite themes, ‘Apadbandhavyam’ is one of Gopichand‘s best stories which depict the psychology of a woman on a flight. An innovative technique used by Gopichand is to present the stories of non-human beings as soliloquies as if they are human. An element of satire and a delicate sense of humor run through his stories. Though Gopichand read many European writers, he was not a blind imitator of any of them. His stories have a purpose : they are meant to educate. He had the courage to attack age-old traditions, to expose self-deception and to condemn tyrannies of every sort.
• All his writings reflect a purpose and are thought-provoking. Shri Gopichand was presented with a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1963 for his work “Panditha Parameshwara Sastry Veelunama”. He rendered invaluable services to the Telugu literary heritage for nearly 35 years.
• Shri Gopichand passed away on 02.11.1962. However, his literary creations continue to inspire generations of readers.
• Text : Based on the text provided by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 15, 2010

Issued for : India Post is happy to honour Shri Lakshmipat Singhania by issuing a commemorative postage stamp.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC/Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 1.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Lakshmipat Singhania

Born on Nov 23, 1910 at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Died on Nov 13, 1976

About : 

• Lakshmipat Singhania was born on 23^rd November 1910 in Kanpur to Smt. Ram Pyari Devi and Lala Kamlapat Singhania, the founder of JK Organisations. Lakshmipat Singhania was a visionary and leader. He inherited the legacy of his father. As a young boy he grew up against the background of the freedom struggle as his father was participating in the Swadeshi movement and moving among leaders like Shri Motilal Nehru, Shri Madan Mohan Malviya, and others. He, therefore, naturally absorbed the nationalist fervour. His true vision was to see a vibrant and self-reliant India. He championed the cause of domestic industry and was one of the prime architects of industrial development in India.
• Under his leadership and pioneering zeal, many companies were formed for the first time in the country. Starting with Straw Products Ltd. in Bhopal, he went on to set up, in 1938, a pulp & paper mill producing high quality writing and printing paper at Koraput in Orissa and this is still operating the name of JK Paper Limited. The output of the Steel Baling hoops plant set up in 1940 replaced the imports of the jute industry. In 1944, he produced aluminium from the bauxite available in India and his company went on to produce aluminium sheets, extrusions and foils. He was also instrumental in setting up of industries like JK Tyre, JK Lakshmi Cement Limited, etc. Under his Chairmanship, National Insurance Company had achieved the highest growth rate and became 3^rd largest insurance company of the country with a large network abroad.
• Lakshmipat Singhania was also a humanitarian. He was one of the founders of the All India Heart Foundation. He established a hospital for treating Cardio Vascular diseases. He also built JK Institute of Radiology & Cancer Research and Kamlapat Hospital at Kanpur. He set up JK Institute of Sociology in Lucknow University and JK Institute of Applied Physics in Allahabad University. His contribution to the education sector was substantial. He set up several educational institutions across the country including scores of primary schools in the rural areas.
• He sought to build “a Society which is proud of its past, conscious of the present and full of hope for the future – A society where every citizen would be equally conscious of his rights and responsibilities”. The mantra of his achievements was “It is not only machinery that becomes obsolete: one has to guard against the obsolescence of the mind”. True to his words, he achieved many of his objectives in his life time by giving impetus to industrial growth in India. He passed away on 13^th November 1976.
• Text : Based on material provided by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Jan 21, 2009

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue commemorative postage stamp on Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.

Credits :
Stamp, FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Abdul Rahman Muhammad Basheer

Born on Jan 19, 1908 at Thalayolaparambu, Kottayam district, Kerala, India

Died on Jul 5, 1994 at Beypore, Kozhikode district, Kerala, India

About : 

• Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was born in the village of Thalayolapparampu in northern Travancore, in Vaikom on 21 January 1908, he was the eldest child. His father was in the timber business as a contractor, but the business did not do well enough for his large family to live in anything luxury. After beginning his education at the local Malayalam medium school, he was sent to the English medium school in Vaikom, five miles away. While at school he fell under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi. He started wearing Khadder, inspired by the swadesi ideals.
  
• He resolved to join the fight for an Independent India, leaving school to do so while he was in the fifth form. Since there was no active independence movement in Travancore or Kochi – being princely states – he went to Kozhikode to take part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. He was arrested and sent to Kanpur where he got inspired by historic stories of Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev, Rajguru. He and about 600 political prisoners then at Kanpur were released after the Gandhi–Irwin pact of March 1931, he was freed from prison, he organized an anti-british movement and edited a revolutionary journal, Ujjivanam (‘Uprising’). A warrant was issued for his arrest and he left Kerala.
  
• After leaving Kerala, he embarked upon a long journey that took him across the length and breadth of India and to many places in Asia and Africa, a journey which spanned seven years, doing whatever work that seemed likely to keep him from starvation. His occupations ranged from that of a loom fitter, fortune teller, cook, newspaper seller, fruit seller, sports goods agent, accountant, watchman, shepherd, hotel manager to living as an ascetic with Hindu saints and Sufi mystics in their hermitage in Himalayas and in the Ganga basin, following their customs and practices, for more than five years. There were time when, with no water to drink, without any food to eat, he came face to face with death.
  
• After the journey, when returned to Kerala (1936-1937) – where he chose to live for the rest of his life – he found that his family had gone bankrupt. He tried to make a living as sports agent in Ernakulam. After a bicycle accident, he lost the job, and wandered searching for a new one. He walked into the office of a newspaper ‘Jayakesari’ whose editor was also its sole employee. He did not have a position to offer, but offered to pay money if Basheer wrote a story for the paper. Basheer wrote his first story Ente Thankam (which was later published in the collection Vishappu under the name Thankam) at his request; the main character of the story based on a woman he saw everyday coming to draw water at a public water pipe in front of his residence.
  
• Following this, he became a full time writer. During this period, he was near starvation most of the time. He struggled to pay rent and could not find money even for ink, paper and stamps, yet he wrote prolifically, stories, poems and political essays and sent them to various newspapers and publishers, for which he was rarely paid. Basheer’s short-book Hathabhaagyayaaya ente naadu (My ill-fated motherland) and one act play Pattahinte Pekkinaavu (The terrible nightmare of Pattam) were banned in Travancore and a warrant issued for his arrest if entered Travancore. He met Shri M.P. Paul, who offered lodging at Pauls’s tutorial college, and also offered him to supervise the mess at the college. When Paul’s tutorial shifted to Kottayam, Basheer also went to Kottayam. It was during a meeting of writers Sahitheesakhyam at Kottayam that Basheer read his draft of Baalyakaalasakhi.
  
• At Kottayam (1941-42), he was arrested and put in a police station lock-up, and later shifted to another lock up in Kollam Kasba police station. The stories he heard from policemen and prisoners they appeared in his later works, and he wrote a few stories while at the lock-up itself. He spent a long time in lock-up awaiting trial and after trial was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment. He was sent to Thiruvananthapuram central jail. While at jail, he forbid M.P. Paul from publishing Baalyakaalasakhi. He wrote Premalekhanam (1943) while serving his term and published it on his release. Baalyakaalasakhi was published in 1944 after further revisions, with an introduction by Paul.
  
• He then made a career as a writer, initially publishing the works himself and carrying them to homes in order to sell them. He ran two bookstalls in Ernakulam, Circle Book House and later, Basheer’s bookstall.
  
• After Independence, he showed no further interest in active politics.
  
• He suffered from mental illness and was twice admitted to mental sanatoriums. He wrote one of his famous works, Paaththummaayude aadu (Pathumma’s Goat), while undergoing treatment in a mental hospital in Thrissur. The second spell of paranoia occurred after his marriage when he had settled down at Beypore. He recovered both times, and continued his writings.
  
• Basheer is known for his unconventional style of language. He did not differentiate between literary language and the language spoken by the commons and did not care about the grammatical correctness of his sentences. Initially, even his publishers were unappreciative of the beauty of this language; they edited out or modified conversations. Basheer was outraged to find his original writing transcribed into “standardized” Malayalam, devoid of freshness and natural flow, and he forced them to publish the original one instead of the edited one. Almost all of Basheer’s writing can be seen as falling under the heading of prose fiction – short stories and novels, though there is also a one-act play and volumes of essays and reminiscences. Basheer’s fiction is very varied and full of contrasts.
  
• There are poignant situations as well as merrier ones – and commonly both in the same narrative. There are among his output realistic stories and tales of the supernatural. There are purely narrative pieces and others which have the quality of poems in prose. In all, a superficially simple style conceals a great subtlety of expressions.
  
• Basheer is fondly called as Beypore Sultan (Sultan of Beypore). Though his works have been translated to English and eighteen Indian Languages, the peculiarity of the language he uses makes the translations lose a lot of sheen.
  
• The government recognized his contributions by awarding him prestigious Padma Sri in 1982.
  
• He passed away in Beypore, on 5 July 1994.
  
• Text : Based on material supplied by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 10, 2008

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Sankha Samanta
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 1.0 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration is recognition of the fact that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world and reaffirmation of faith, of the peoples of United Nations in the Fundamental human rights.
  
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states in clear and simple terms the rights which belong equally to every person. It inter alia envisages that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and are entitled to enjoy all rights and freedoms set forth in the declaration without distinction of any kind. Everyone has right to life, liberty and security of person, equality before law and equal protection of law and freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression. The declaration enunciates various civil, economic, social and cultural rights.
  
• The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.
  
• Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.
  
• It is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. It is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations. The people of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. A common understanding of these right and freedoms is of the greatest important for the full realization of this pledge.
  
• The theme for 2008. “Dignity and justice for all of us” reinforces the vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a commitment to universal dignity and justice. It is not a luxury or a wish-list. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its core values, inherent human dignity, non-discrimination, equality, fairness and universality, apply to everyone, everywhere and always. The declaration is universal, enduring and vibrant, and it concerns us all.
  
• The National Human Rights Commission of India is a fully compliant internationally accepted Paris Principles for independent and autonomous National Human Rights Institution. The National Human Rights Commission of India was constituted under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 for better protection and promotion of human rights. Its functions include enquiring suo motu or on petitions into complaints of violations of human rights, review safeguard provided under the Constitution or any law and study laws, treaties and other international instruments of human rights and make recommendations for their effective implementations, undertake and promote research on human rights issues. Spread human rights awareness and encourage efforts of non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights. During last 15 years, the Commission has endeavoured to promote a culture of human rights. It has earned the trust and confidence of the people in substantial measure.
  
• Text : Based on material given by the proponent.

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