Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Dec 2, 1969

Issued for : In March 1919 the Australian Government offered a prize of £ 10,000 for the first aeroplane to fly from England to Australia. The Air Race was won by the Vickers Vimy biplane commanded by Sir Ross Smith who took off from England on November 12, 1919 and reached Australia on December 10, 1919 after making brief stop-overs at various places including Karachi. The 50^th Anniversary of this epic journey is being celebrated this year by a special re-enactment flight which will follow as closely as possible the route flown by Sir Ross Smith in 1919. To commemorate the occasion, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a postage stamp of 50-Paisa denomination on December 2, 1969, the date on which the re-enactment flight from London is scheduled to land at Karachi en-route to Australia.

Design : The format of the stamp is rectangular and horizontal. The “Vickers Vimy” which was the first aeroplane to reach Australia from England via Karachi in 1919 forms the central part of the design. The Karachi Airport building as it existed at that time has been shown in the back panel. The colour of the aeroplane is brown and black and the airport building has been shown in light brown against a pale blue background. The caption on the top of the stamp reads “50^th Anniversary of First Aeroplane Flight England-Australia (1919-1969)” which is in red colour. The value “50” on the right side of the stamp as well as the dots pin-pointing London to Darwin is indicated in reverse. The words “Paisa” and “Postage” on the right side of the stamp, the date of issue of the commemorative “2-12-1969” and the words “London”, “Karachi Airport” and “Darwin” are in black.

A dark blue panel at the bottom bears the word “Pakistan” in English, Urdu and Bengali in reverse.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 50 Paisa

Colour : Blue, red, black and brown

Size of stamp : 41 x 33.1 mm.

Size of print : 38 x 30.1 mm.

Perforation gauge : 13 x 13½ (C)

Quantity printed : 10,00,000

Number of stamps in each sheet : 50

Process of printing : Photogravure

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Ltd., Karachi

About : 

• The Air Race was open upto the 31^st December, 1919 and the flight was to be completed within 30 days of leaving England. In all six aircrafts participated in it. A gallant Frenchman named Etienne Poulet also took off from Paris during this period planning to accomplish the first flight from Europe to Australia. He was, of course, not eligible to compete for the prize. Poulet had left Paris on October 14, 1919, but the Vickers Vimy did not leave London until November 12, which was almost a month later. Another Australian aircraft with a crew of two had left London three weeks before the Vimy but they were snowbound in a very wintry Europe.
• When Captain Smith accompanied by his brother Lieut. Keith Smith and two mechanics Sergeants Bennett and Shiers left London the weather was entirely unsuitable for flying and the forecast was most discouraging. This did not deter Capt. Smith who was anxious to get on the trail of Poulet. The falling snow made visibility so poor that the Vimy knocked down the camera equipment of an optimistic photographer who had contravened instructions by setting up his apparatus in the haze at the end of the runway.
• After they left England the Vimy crew found that the weather was becoming even worse, as it forced them to an altitude of 8,000 feet at which height their lunch of sandwiches was frozen. When they arrived at Lyons in France, the ground staff were amazed that an aeroplane had flown from England in such shocking weather conditions. The snow and rain hindered their progress through Europe and on some occasions the airstrip surfaces were so bad that Bennett was forced to weigh down the tail of the aircraft during take off and quickly clamber back into the cockpit as the Vimy became airborne.
• On November 23, 1919, the Vimy reached Bander Abbas on the Persian Gulf. They left next day at 7 A.M. for the 730 mile flight to Karachi. The journey took eight and a half hours and they landed at Karachi on November 24. The airmen had a very pleasant time in Karachi where they stayed over night. The crew were specially over-joyed with the news they received in Karachi that Poulet was at Delhi, only one day’s flying away from them. They were hopeful of overtaking him but Poulet stayed ahead of the Vimy and became the first man to land an aeroplane in Burma, when he alighted at Akyab.
• At 7.40 A.M. on November 25, the Vickers Vimy took off from Karachi and circled the city several times to enable the local residents to have a better look at the aircraft which was quite huge by comparison to others.
• It was at Akyub in Burma that the Vickers Vimy caught up with Poulet on November 29. The two aircrafts left Akyub on the same day, the Vickers Vimy being one hour after Poulet, but due to its high power the Vimy reached Rangoon before Poulet. While Poulet experienced trouble in Moulmein, the Vimy forged ahead to reach Darwin on December 10, 1919 with just two days to spare and Capt. Smith and his crew won the £ 10,000 prize.
• The Vimy crew carried commemorative airmail from London and other letters were handed over to the then Australian Prime Minister in Melbourne. A commemorative stamp was also prepared by the Government of Australia and affixed to all letters which received a souvenir postmark.
• In all the countries visited by the Vimy in 1919, souvenir philatelic airmails will be uplifted by the re-enactment aircraft which is scheduled to reach Karachi on December 5, 1969. Philatelic airmail from Pakistan will be uplifted by the aircraft and all mails will be back-stamped in Melbourne by a special commemorative stamp.
• Issued by the Director-General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 29, 1969

Issued for : The Posts and Telegraphs Department feels proud in bringing out a special stamp on the Birth Centenary of this great servant of Society which falls on 29^th November, 1969.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is vertical and depicts a portrait of Thakkar Bapa.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Brown

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 3.34 X 2.46 cms.

Printing Size : 2.99 X 2.10 cms.

Perforation : 13½ x 14

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 54

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar

Born on Nov 29, 1869 at Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India

 Died on Jan 19, 1951

About : 

• “Thakkar Bapa is a rare worker. He is unassuming. He wants no praise. His work is his sole satisfaction and recreation. Old age has not slackened his zeal. He is himself an Institution“. “I sometimes grow envious of Thakkar Bapa when I observe his methods while travelling. We are both more or less of the same age, but he is entirely regardless of his physical comforts. His life demonstrates what is sincere service and we will do well to follow his example“. Such was the tribute paid to Shri A. V. Thakkar, affectionately known all over India as Thakkar Bapa, by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Truly Thakkar Bapa was the supreme embodiment of human sympathy considering his interest in various fields of enduring service such as in famine relief work, Bhil Seva, Harijan Seva, Kasturba work and in the Service of all sections of humanity that are neglected.
• Thakkar Bapa was born on the 29^th November, 1869 in a middle-class family of Bhavnagar in Saurashtra. His father Vithal Das Thakur named the child Amrit Lal. He received his first schooling for benevolence and service to humanity from his father. He got his L.C.E. (Licentiate in Civil Engineering) from Poona in 1890. He worked as an engineer creditably in Porbander and later went out of India to serve in laying the First Railway Track in Uganda (East Africa). He served also as chief engineer in Sangli State for sometime and then was employed in Bombay municipality. It was here he saw, for the first time, the miserable conditions of those scavengers who had to dispose of the refuse of the whole town of Bombay. He was shocked to see the filthy colonies where the Sweepers had to live and made a firm resolve to devote the rest of his life to alleviate the lot of these people.
• After taking this decision he resigned from service and in 1914 joined the “Servants of India Society“. He served the famine-stricken areas in Orissa in 1920-21. He established Bhil Seva Mandal in Dohad (Gujarat) in 1922 and attracted the attention of the country towards the exploited Adivasis. He later organized a ‘country-wide movement’ for their welfare and social integration. Thakkar Bapa was the right hand of Gandhiji in serving the economically exploited and socially segregated Harijans. It was solely due to his keen devotion and selfless service in 1923 that the work of the Harijan Sevak Sangh spread and progressed throughout the country. The economic, social and the educational development of Harijans became his life mission. In spite of his indifferent health he accompanied Gandhiji to Noakhali in 1947 and reached out all possible help to the afflicted.
• Truth was his guideline for all the institutions he looked after. He was also particular about the correct accounting of public funds. On more than one occasion great leaders of the nation like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajindra Prasad, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel complimented him for his self-less service. He was the inspiration of many missionaries in the cause of the service of the backward classes and the tribal people and for other constructive work. For him the service of the people was a labour of love. We shall always be proud to claim him as the man of our generation and there is no doubt that the next generation will always look to his example for inspiration and guidance.
• He steadfastly struck to his mission of service of the weaker sections of society to his last breath. He never took any rest. His work was his respite. His death on 19^th January, 1951 was a great loss to the country.

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Issued by Japan

Issued on Nov 26, 1969

Issued for : To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the International Labour Organization, a special 15 yen postage stamp will be issued.

Design : A worker.

Designer : Saburo Watanabe

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 15 Yen

Printing colour : Multicolour

Size of impression : 27 mm x 22.5 mm

Quantity issued : 19,500,000 stamps

Sheet composition : 20 (5 x 4) stamps

Printing process : Photogravure

About : 

• The object of the ILO is to contribute to the realization of everlasting peace by promoting social justice and to improve the labour condition as well as to further public welfare through the international movements. It was founded on April 11, 1919 and became one of the specialised agencies of the United Nations in 1964.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 25, 1969

Issued for : Vaswaniji‘s earthly pilgrimage ended on the 16^th January, 1966 in Poona where a beautiful shrine stands and where the torch of his humanity and activity continues to shine. The Posts and Telegraphs Department considers it a privilege to honour the memory of the great educationist and humanist, Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, by issuing a commemorative stamp on his 90^th birth anniversary.

Type : Block of 4 Stamps, Mint Condition

Colour : Blue black 

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 4.06 X 2.28 cms.

Printing Size : 3.80 X 2.00 cms.

Perforation : 14½ x 14

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive Stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani

Born on Nov 25, 1879 at Hyderabad, Sindh, Sind Province, British India [now in Pakistan]

 Died on Jan 16, 1966 at Pune, Maharashtra, India

About : 

• “I have been blessed, for amidst the deserts of Sind, I have found a true prophet, a messenger of the new spirit, a saint, a sage, and a seer – a rishi of new India” so said Mon. Paul Richard, a French writer and savant.
• Shri Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani was born on November 25, 1879 in Hyderabad (Sind). A brilliant student, an ‘Ellis Scholar‘ and a Fellow of the D.J. Sind College, Karachi, he was appointed a professor at the Metropolitan College, Calcutta after passing his M.A. Examination. The college is now known as the Vidyasagar College. He was 30 years of age when he went to Berlin (Germany) as one of India‘s representatives to the Welt Congress– a world congress of religions.
• He became the Principal of the Dyalsingh College, Lahore. Later. he distinguished himself as Principal of Victoria college, Cooch-Behar and as Principal of Mahindra College, Patiala. From the beginning, Shri Vaswani longed to dedicate his life to the service of God and his suffering children. When his mother passed away in his 40^th year, the only link with earthly existence was snapped. He resigned his lucrative job in 1919 to enter into the larger service of the nation. To keep himself free for God‘s work, he remained a ‘brahmachari‘ all his life.
• When Mahatma Gandhi appeared on the Indian scene and launched his Satyagraha Movement, Shri Vaswani was one of the earliest supporters of his movement and a close associate of the Mahatma. In 1920, he presided over the meeting addressed by Gandhiji at Karachi and the very first article on the front page of the first issue of Gandhiji‘s ‘Young India‘ was an article by Vaswaniji in support of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Later, he wrote many inspiring articles, besides several books like ‘India Arisen‘, ‘India in Chains‘, ‘Awake Young India‘, ‘My Motherland‘, etc. Shri Vaswani‘s true spirit of patriotism was such that even as a young professor at Calcutta, he took part in the Swadeshi awakening, associated with the agitation against the Partition of Bengal.
• Vaswaniji moved across the length and breadth of India. He went to the cities, he visited the villages; he met men, women and children from all classes of society. His message to young India was: “Be simple, be manly, be strong. Spend your strength in the service of the broken and the poor ones.” He took great interest and pleaded for a new peasant renaissance. He felt that the redistribution of land is essential to his scheme of Swaraj; and desired that the poor agriculturist should be taught scientific methods of intensive agriculture and co-operative organisations.
• In 1933, Shri Vaswani founded the “Mira Movement in Education” which has today its headquarters at Poona. The Mira Movement aims at enriching the minds of students with vital truths of modern life and at the same time making them lovers of the Indian ideals and India‘s culture. Following this, in 1962, Vaswaniji started St. Mira‘s College for Girls at Poona.
• A number of humanitarian activities are being conducted at Poona under the ever-living inspiration of Shri Vaswani. They include charitable dispensaries, St. Mira’s College and St. Mira’s schools where education is imparted free to poor students, as also a ‘Jiva Daya‘ Department dedicated to the welfare of brother birds and animals.
• Vaswaniji was a prolific writer, the author of several hundred books in English and over 300 books in his own vernacular, the Sindhi language. Some of his English books have been translated into German and other Indian languages. Vaswaniji was a born orator. When he spoke, he filled the hall with the rich music of his words and the richer music of his heart. He was a poet, a mystic, a sage, a servant of the poor. And as the Irish poet, Dr. Cousins, called him, “A thinker and a revealer of the deep truths of the spirit.“

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 24, 1969

Issued for : India is proud to play host to this international meeting to be held on November 24, 1969 and the Posts and Telegraphs Department is happy to celebrate the occasion by issuing a special postage stamp to mark the inauguration of the Conference.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is horizontal and depicts a picture of a tiger head in the middle alongwith two hands below it with a global background in white lines. The tiger head is adopted from the Photo by Shri K.S. Sankhala, Director, Zoological Park, New Delhi.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Olive Green and Light Brown

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 4.06 X 2.28 cms.

Printing Size : 3.80 X 2.00 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14½

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive Stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (known in brief as IUCN), which is an international organization, defines conservation as the rational use of earth’s resources to achieve the highest quality of living for mankind.
• The Union’s main field of activity lies in conserving the plants and animals, the soil, water, air and other natural wealth which constitute the earth’s basic assets. 
• The IUCN promotes:
  • (1) Awareness through education, so that as many people as possible may understand the value and importance of renewable natural resources and appreciate the need to use them wisely.
  • (2) Research to discover the best measures for conservation and to advance the study of ecology upon which all practical conservation depends.
  • (3) Assistance in providing advice based on ecological considerations, scientific and technical data, source material and references and all the manifold contacts required for the co-ordination and conduct of practical conservation programmes.
  • (4) Action on a national and international scale, in support of conservation programmes as well as in strengthening legislation and improving its enforcement.
• The IUCN is comprised of six Commissions:
  • (i) Survival Service Commission: It was formed in 1949, to prevent the extermination of threatened species of wild life.
  • (ii) Commission on Education: The Commission on Education is primarily responsible for educational aspects and acts as a clearing-house for educational material relating to the conservation of nature and natural resources.
  • (iii) Commission of Ecology: It serves as the primary scientific advisory body for the Union.
  • (iv) International Commission on National Parks: It specialises in encouraging the establishment of national parks throughout the world.
  • (v) Commission on Legislation: It has two basic functions. It provides information on legislation or regulations concerning conservation of nature and natural resources to governments, and advises governments, parliaments and other authorities on proposed legislation or regulation, including international agreements and conventions.
  • (vi) Commission on Landscape Planning: It is concerned with the relations of man and his environment. Since man’s present well-being, and indeed his future survival, depends upon how well he uses and manages the earth’s natural resources, planning for land use assumes a position of urgent and vital importance.
• The Union convenes a General Assembly every third year in order to act upon issues of current importance, and to serve as a forum for discussion of conservation problems. Between 1948 and 1966, General Assemblies were held in Fontainebleau (France), Brussels (Belgium), Caracas (Venezuela), Copenhagen (Denmark), Edinburgh (Scotland), Athens (Greece), Warsaw (Poland), Nairobi (Kenya) and Lucerne (Switzerland). The tenth General Assembly is being held in New Delhi (India). 
• The importance of the Conference for India is obvious considering that it is second to only Africa in its natural grandeur, wide variety of nearly 500 species of mammals and nearly over 2000 species of colourful and singing birds, apart from nearly 30,000 insects, fishes, reptiles, etc. 
• It is hoped that the deliberations of the I.U.C.N. will lead to the conservation of our nature and natural resources, including wild life.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 23, 1969

Issued for : The 500^th Birth Anniversary or Guru Nanak is being celebrated the world over this year and the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department is proud indeed to associate itself with the celebrations by bringing out a special stamp depicting Nankana Sahib, in honour of this great son of India.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is horizontal and depicts a picture of Gurudwara “Shri Nankana Sahib”.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Gravure Blue Grey

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 3.34 X 2.46 cms.

Printing Size : 2.99 X 2.10 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 13½

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked adhesive stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 54

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Nanak

Born on Apr 15, 1469 at Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan

 Died on Sep 22, 1539 at Kartarpur, Punjab, India

About : 

• Our history is studded with names of outstanding personalities who have made notable contributions to every walk of life – art, literature, politics, science and religion. One such outstanding figure is Guru Nanak. He preached the religion of love and unity to all mankind. He did not teach unworldliness or retirement from the world to attain God: rather he preached active participation and working for His attainment. For him, there was only one God and one man. He made no distinction between man and man and did not believe in untouchability or caste.
• Born 500 years ago in Punjab at Talwandi (also known as Nankana Sahib, now in Western Pakistan) on the full moon day of Kartik (November), “Nanak was a child of smiles and his eyes were silent and wise“. As a child, he showed the signs of a saint at a very early age. He composed music, talked of God and life. His mind was a marvel to every one.
• Sent for education at school Nanak did not stay long there. He devoted most of his spare time to meditation of the Absolute ‘Nirankar‘. His sister Nanki was inspired and became his first disciple. Rai Bular, the Muslim Governor of the place of his birth, followed the spirit.
• Nanak‘s father thought that marriage would deviate the boy from the path of other worldliness and he, therefore, married him to Sulakhani at the age of 14. But the father soon found that Nanak was always engulfed in the flood of his own thoughts and wonder. In truth Nanak himself was swallowed by the Infinite and came to be known as Nanak “World Teacher”. No longer interested in his work, he shortly afterwards left it altogether. He was not Nanak now, but Guru Nanak. From now on his life look a different turn. He roamed from place to place and inspired everyone who came in his contact with his message of love and brotherhood and realisation of the God. They found in him their God, their world, their lost soul.
• Accompanied by Mardana, the rebec player, the Guru went to Sangladeep and other islands in the south of India, as also the Nilgiris Hills. In the east he crossed the borders of Assam and in the north the trans-Himalayas. He went to Baghdad, Bokhara and right up to the Caucasian mountains. He later visited Mecca. He travelled through the north-west frontier of India including Kashmir. None has travelled so much with a single purpose, namely, to thrill the earth from end to end with the working of his spirit. He gathered around himself a galaxy of disciples, who were struck with his simplicity and straightforward approach to Divinity.
• The wanderings of Guru Nanak in his effort to bring home the fundamentals of his teachings were unprecedented when viewed in the context of the facilities and conditions prevailing in those days. He did all this to bring out the hollowness of the rituals, superstitions, beliefs and futility of superficial pilgrimages to the holy places.
• Guru Nanak appeared on the Indian firmament at a time when the country was badly divided, strife stricken and mauled by foreign attacks with the moral standards at the lowest ebb. The people had been so thoroughly demoralised that they had neither the will nor the strength to fight oppression. It was Guru Nanak‘s inspiring hymns, which for the first time brought a message of hope and cheer to the millions of people.
• Undoubtedly, Guru Nanak revolutionised the religious thoughts of his time. According to Guru Nanak, God was a Being to be approached and loved, as a fond and faithful wife loves her spouse. Guru Nanak calls Him ‘Nirankar‘, that is formless, yet he also believed that He pervades all creation.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 19, 1969

Issued for : While complimenting the astronauts of Apollo 11, Edwin Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong, the Indian P & T Department wishes to express its good wishes and appreciation for their achievement. At the same time, the Department wishes the astronauts of Apollo 12 a happy landing and safe return to the good old earth. In token of admiration of this memorable event, the P & T Department has great pleasure in issuing a commemorative stamp depicting ‘Man on the Moon’.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is vertical and depicts a man on the moon with the Lunar Module and Earth in the background.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Raw Sienna

Denomination : 20 Paisa

Overall Size : 4.06 X 2.28 cms.

Printing Size : 3.80 X 2.00 cms.

Perforation : 14½ x 14

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive stamp paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• “Stimulant of man’s poetic utterances, arbiter of his amours, assistant at his nocturnal activities and the dictator of his nautical enterprises, the moon for all its familiarity always remained an enigma.“
• Fifteen years ago, talk of sending man to the moon would have been dismissed as sheer ‘moon-shine’, but today, such a fantastic voyage is not only technologically feasible; it has become a reality. On July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong took man’s first, hesitant step on the moon surface, man’s conquest of space has taken a novel turn and assumed greater significance. That “One step for man” became “one giant leap for mankind.“
• On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressing the Joint Session of the United States Congress set forth the goal by saying, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth….” President Kennedy‘s prediction has been fulfilled with remarkable accuracy.
• Man’s landing on the moon has climaxed the most productive decade in the history of technology. The next 10 years should be just as fruitful. The exploration of the moon may further extend to other planets probably including Jupiter and Mercury. By 1980, scientists probably will have answered definitely the question whether there are life forms on Mars. Soviet Russia‘s attempt in putting a space platform is no mean achievement and will further facilitate man’s conquest of space.
• The tasks performed by the astronauts on the moon will help answer some of the questions about the earth’s closest cousin. But already man has discovered that moon is geologically as complicated as earth. The samples of rocks brought by the astronauts from the moon have been distributed to 142 scientists in 9 countries and by subjecting these priceless specimens to an unprecedented array of experiments, scientists hope to answer many of the questions man has pondered over for centuries.
• Hardly has the excitement caused by the landing of astronauts on the moon through the Apollo 11 mission subsided, when the United States of America has launched another space probe for landing man on the moon. Apollo 12 spacecraft carrying astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard F. Gordon, Jr., and Alan L. Bean, was expected to land on the moon surface on November 19, 1969.

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Nov 4, 1969

Issued for : To salute the memory of Abu Ali Al Hasan ibnul Hasan ibn al-Haitham (Alhazen) and the monumental achievements bequeathed by him to mankind, the Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of 20 Paisa denomination on 4^th November, 1969 on the occasion of the celebration of the 1000^th Anniversary under the auspices of Hamdard National Foundation.

Design : The stamp is rectangular and horizontal in format. It is divided into two portions by the diagram indicating reflection of light drawn by Ibn-al-Haitham, the father of optics. This diagram joins the main part of the design and is in black colour with markings in reverse. The words “IBN–AL–HAITHAM” appear in black above the diagram, against the blue upper portion of the stamp. The words “FATHER OF OPTICS” and the period “(965-1039)” appear in reverse on either side of the diagram. The lower portion of the stamp is green with the denomination figure, the words “PAISA”, “POSTAGE” and “PAKISTAN” (in English, Urdu and Bengali) in yellow on either side of the diagram.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 20 Paisa

Colour : Blue, black, yellow and one extra colour in green in the lower panel has been formed by combination of blue and yellow operations.

Size of stamp : 49.2 x 30.7 mm.

Size of print : 46.2 x 27.7 mm.

Perforation gauge : 13 x 13 (c)

Quantity printed : 15,00,000

Number of stamps in each sheet : 50

Process of printing : Photogravure

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Ltd., Karachi

Name : Abū ʿAlī al–Ḥasan ibn al–Ḥasan ibn al–Haytham

Born on Jul 1, 965 at Basra, Buyid Emirate [now in Iraq]

Died on Mar 6, 1040 at Cairo, Fatimid Caliphate [now in Egypt]

About : 

• Science, has no country. It is international; we all share in the fruits of the investigations of all people, of all kinds and traditions and of all ages.
• The early following of the human intellect was around the shores of the Mediterranean. Sumer, Babylon, and Egyptian civilisations gave way to the Greek. When this declined there was danger of breaking of the continuity of understanding of natural phenomena, but fortunately for all mankind it was picked up by the great Muslim scholars of the 8^th-13^th centuries. They strengthened and enriched it with their own profound wisdom, keen observation and experiments and passed it on to the West.
• The names of these Arab scholars is legion: Al–Kindi, Rhazes, Jabir, Haly Abbas, Albiruni, Avecenna, Abulcasis, Al–Farabi, Alhazen are prominent figures in the phalanx of the universally learned Muslim scholars who characterize the golden age of Islamic science.
• In this year of grace, when man has first set foot on the moon and is reaching out to other heavens, it is salutary to remember and acknowledge the great debt that modern science and technology owes to the patient and exacting work of the early pioneers. This year we celebrate the 1000^th Anniversary of one of the greatest of them, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibnul Hasan ibn al-Haitham who according to George Sarton, the American historian of science, is “the greatest Muslim physicist and one of the greatest students of all times”. Alhazen was a man of many parts – astronomer, mathematician, physicist and physician. He had a 20^th century mind in a 10^th century setting and his contributions to knowledge, especially optics, were quite extraordinary.
• Ibn–al–Haitham was born in Basra in 965. After his education, he moved to Cairo which was then the hub of the Islamic world and a great centre of learning. His reputation as an outstanding mathematician and engineer excited the curiosity of the Fatimid Caliph, Al–Hakim, who after having met him, took him into his service. Ibn-al-Haitham was held in high esteem by al-Hakim for sometime. The River Nile in its annual inundation used to cause devastation of life and property. Alhazen proposed a plan for building a dam on the destructive river. But this ambitious scheme became impracticable and Ibn-al-Haitham fled from the caliph’s wrath and its consequences and simulated madness until al-Hakim’s death. His dream and vision came true when the Aswan Dam was built by the Egyptian government a thousand years later. This period of hiding and simulated madness however proved very fertile and ingenious. He copied many ancient treaties on mathematics and physics and himself composed many works on these subjects and on medicine which was his original profession. He returned to Cairo after al-Hakim’s death with rare accomplishments and gave to the world, a vast wealth of wisdom and knowledge.
• His greatest work is “On Optics” or the Kitabul Manazir; the original book in Arabic is lost, but the book survives in Latin. In it Ibn-al-Haitham explodes the theory of Euclid and Ptolemy that the eye sends out visual rays to the object of vision. He states that “it is not a ray that leaves the eye and meets the object, that gives rise to vision. Rather the form of the perceived object passes into the eye and is transmitted by its transparent body (i.e. the lens). Although most of his successors did not adopt his theory of vision, not did the oculists of later periods of Islamic science, Al-biruni and Avicenna however shared fully and independently his opinion. Ibn-al-Haitham also discussed the propagation of light and colours, optic illusions and reflection, with experiments for testing the angels of incidence and reflection. His name is still associated with the so-called “Alhazen’s problem” : “In a spherical concave or convex, a cylindrical or conical mirror, to find the point from which an object of given position will be reflected to an eye of given position”. It leads to an equation of the fourth degree which Alhazen solved by the use of hyperbola which has won the admiration of the entire world of science.
• The refraction of light rays has been examined by Alhazen through transparent mediums such as air and water. Theoretically he had almost discovered magnifying lenses through his experiments through spherical segments (glass vessels filled with water). These lenses came into existence in Italy three centuries later, whilst more than six centuries were to pass before the law of sines was established by Snell and Descartes. Alhazen’s optical thesaurus forms the basis of the optical works of such great Western writers as Roger Bacon, the Pole Witelo. His influence on Leonardo da Vinci, Johana Kepler and the great Sir Issac Newton is well-known.
• Besides this most celebrated book on optics, the great Arab scholar wrote no fewer than 44 treatises on philosophy, geometry, astronomy and mechanics. In his treatise on the Twilight Phenomena which is extant only in Latin, he maintains that this atmosphere is about 10 miles in height. His other works deal with the rainbow, the halo, the spherical and parabolic mirrors. These and some other books on shadows and eclipses are of a highly mathematical character. He puts his calculations into practice by constructing such mirrors of metal. The bulk of his works were produced in the last decade of his life. His fundamental study “on the Burning Glass” in which he created a dioptric was far superior to that of the Greeks. This work shows the profundity and accuracy of his conception of the nature of focussing, magnifying, inversion of the image and formation of rings and colours by experiments. He wrote a commentary on the optical works of Euclid and Ptolemy, on the “Physics” of Aristotle and on the Aristotelian Problemata. He observed the semi-lunar shape of the image of the sun during eclipses on a well opposite a fine-hole made in the window-shutters – the first record of the camera obscura.
• In his book called the Balance of Wisdom he discussed dynamical principles, generally supposed to be the monopoly of modern science. He described minutely the connection between the weight of the atmosphere and its density, and how material objects vary in weight in a rate and in a dense atmosphere. He discussed the submergence of floating bodies, and the force with which they rise to the surface when immersed in light or heavy media; he fully understood the principle of gravitation, and recognised gravity as a force. He knew correctly the relation between the velocities, spaces, and times of falling bodies, and had very distinct ideas of capillary attraction.
• Ibn-al-Haitham died about 1039 A.D. The translation of his historic book Kitabul Manazir was first undertaken by Risner in 1543. Before this a commentary on Kitabul Manazir was written by Kamaluddin Farsi in 1320. This book named “Tanqueeh–ul–Manazir” is in two thick volumes.
• Ibn-al-Haitham tolerated no philosophical aloofness. His enormous intellectual effort led the way in optics on the one hand and designed the bridge across the Nile on the other. He has left a legacy for all nations – a lively interest in the promotion and sharing of scientific knowledge.
• The treasure of Islamic science have begun to be opened. During the last few years the mass of material recovered from the libraries in Constantinople, Cairo, Damascus, Mosul, Baghdad, in Iran and India and in the Escorial Library in Spain, has gone far to subvert our former conceptions and has thrown a flood of light on the history of scientific thought in the Islamic World.
• Today there are signs of a new understanding of the East. As this knowledge spreads and the East recovers its rightful place in the life of humanity, oriental literature, art and science may once again perform their historic functions and assist us to liberate ourselves from the narrow and oppressive conceptions which would limit all that is significant in literature, thought and history to any one small segment of the globe.
• The celebration of the Millenary of Ibn-al-Haitham under the auspices of Hamdard National Foundation Pakistan serves to remind us of the humility with which we should view our own achievements, for they would be as nothing had we not the contributions of the past to guide us. We are justly reminded that the present is short, the past is long and that to advance in the future, we must keep the past well in mind. No revivalist movement has ever brought back the past, nor will this celebration of the Millenary of one of the illustrious men of the past the man who laid the corner-stone of science, but it can take and adapt old ideas of the past. That is not however the chief benefit that can be got from this renewed interest in Ibn-al-Haitham. It may not contribute a single artistic motif, or mechanical device, or scientific concept, but it must inevitably break down much narrowness, enlarge the sympathies, and fire ambitious by bringing into contact with greatness that is not less great for not being modern.
• [Write-up contributed by Hakim Mohammed Said].
• Issued by the Director-General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

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Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Nov 1, 1969

Issued for : With the inauguration of its service to Tokyo from November 1, 1969, P.I.A. completes a full half circle around the globe. The opening of the Tokyo service over the appropriately named “PEARL ROUTE” marks the fulfilment of a long cherished desire of the airline. Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of two commemorative postage stamps of 20 Paisa and 50 Paisa denominations on November 1, 1969 to commemorate the occasion.

Design : The format of the stamp is rectangular and horizontal. The stamp is divided into three panels. A Japanese doll is placed in the extreme left side of the stamp against the three panels and points at the caption. The top and lower panel are green in the 20 Paisa stamp and blue in the 50 Paisa stamp. The top panel bears the caption “PIA PEARL ROUTE INAUGURAL DACCA–TOKYO” in reverse. The lower panel bears the value 20 and 50 in yellow colour in the lower right corner. The word “PAISA” and “PAKISTAN” in English, Bengali and Urdu and the date “1^ST NOVEMBER 1969” appear in reverse against a green and blue background in the 20 Paisa and 50 Paisa stamp respectively. The central panel consists of a map of the world. The land mass is shown in yellow colour and the sea in grey. Black lines in the map mark the route followed by PIA to different parts of the world. The red line indicates the new Pearl Route Dacca–Tokyo. The word “POSTAGE” is in black against the grey colour of the sea on the right side of the stamp.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 20 & 50 Paisa

Colour :
20 Paisa – Green, red, yellow and black
50Paisa – Blue, red, yellow and black

Size of stamps : 41 x 33.1 mm.

Size of prints : 38 x 30.1 mm.

Perforation gauge : 13 x 13½ (c)

Quantity Printed :
20 Paisa – 15,00,000
50 Paisa – 10,00,000

Number of stamps in each sheet : 50

Process of printing : Litho Offset

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Ltd., Karachi

About : 

• The selection of the name ‘PEARL ROUTE‘ for the Pakistan–Japan service reflects the characteristics of the countries the flight is to touch on its route. Dacca is known for its pink pearls and Bangkok for precious stones. Manila is the capital of the Philippines which is called the Pearl of the Pacific and Tokyo is internationally famous for its cultured pearls. But more than that, the word ‘Pearl’ is in character with the emphasis that PIA lays on excellence in all spheres of its operations. And that explains why, despite its rather recent origin and smaller size as compared to the older international airlines, PIA has own world-wide acclaim for its efficiency and punctuality; its technical excellence and distinctive service; its courtesy and hospitality.
• This is no mean achievement for an airline from a new Asian country which started operating only in 1954. At the outset PIA inherited only a small fleet of piston-engined aircraft from its predecessor, the Orient Airways. But with this it also inherited a formidable challenge of bridging the 1,000-mile distance between East and West Pakistan, as also of providing modern, convenient airlinks between distance regions within two provinces.
• No less important was the objective of projecting Pakistan on the fast expanding map of world aviation.
• PIA met the challenge with imagination, courage and a supreme sense of national devotion. With three super-constellation aircraft it started the first direct air link between East and West Pakistan without landing in India enroute. In February 1955 it inaugurated its first international service from Karachi to London through Cairo and Rome. In March 1955, Orient Airways, which was till then operating domestic routes was finally merged with PIA and the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation came into being as a body corporate under a statute.
• Since then the story of PIA has been one of rapid growth. It has continued to follow a forward looking policy, content with nothing less than the best in equipment and the highest standards of technical and professional competence. By 1959, Vicker Viscounts were operating trunk routes in West Pakistan and the following year Fokker Friendships (F-27) were introduced in East Pakistan and on the shorter sectors in the West wing. When the jet age dawned, PIA was quick to lease a Boeing 707 from Pan American World Airways, and in March, 1960 it became the first Asian airline to operate an international route by a jet aircraft.
• In 1964 PIA hit world headlines by becoming the first non–Communist airline to start a Boeing service to Canton and Shanghai. The same year it achieved the distinction of being the first international airline to be allowed to operate a service through Moscow to other destinations in Europe.
• PIA has since continued to forge ahead with its fleet modernization programme. Today it has a fleet of seven Boeings, four Tridents and eleven Fokker Friendships, all jet powered aircraft. It holds reservations on two American Supersonic (SST) aircrafts. At home it has scheduled services to distant regions within the two wings of the country. Abroad it operates eleven services a week to London through the Middle East and Europe. The countries served by it are China, Thailand, Burma, Nepal, and now Japan in the East and U.S.S.R., Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, U.A.R., Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland in the West. In due course PIA hopes to further expand its operations both East and West.
• Throughout its expansion programme, PIA has strictly adhered to the highest standards of technical competence and service efficiency. It takes pride in having maintained high record of punctuality. Its safety record is among the best in the world.
• The graceful service and uniform of its air-hostesses and the exceptional quality of its cuisine and inflight service have given it a place of prestige in the rank of world airlines.
• PIA has always attached the greatest importance to its maintenance facilities. Its engineering complex today is the biggest East of Suez. It is not only self-sufficient in its own engineering needs, but is providing maintenance service to a number of foreign airlines. Its workshops are now capable of carrying out the biggest and the most complex engineering tasks, including the complete overhaul of Boeing aircraft which was till recently being done in the United States. PIA’s engineering facilities have the approval of the United States Federal Aviation Agency and the British Air Registration Board.
• Issued by the Director General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

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Issued by India

Issued on Oct 30, 1969

Issued for : India is proud to play host to this international Conference and the Posts & Telegraphs Department of the Government of India has great pleasure in celebrating the occasion by issuing a special postage stamp to mark the inauguration of the Conference.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is horizontal and depicts a globe with replica of Parliament House, New Delhi.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Bronze Blue

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall Size : 4.06 X 2.28 cms.

Printing Size : 3.80 X 2.00 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14½

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked paper

Number Printed : 30,00,000

Number per issue Sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• The 57^th Inter-Parliamentary Conference was held in New Delhi from the 30^th October to the 7^th November, 1969. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international association, possessing a semi-official character, of Parliamentary Groups constituted within the national Parliaments of various countries of the world. Its headquarters is in Geneva. The aim of the Union is “to promote personal contacts between members of all Parliaments, constituted as National Groups, and to unite them in common action to secure and maintain the full participation of their respective countries in the firm establishment and development of democratic institutions and in the advancement of the work of international peace and co-operation.” The Union also studies and seeks solutions for all questions of an international character suitable for settlement by parliamentary action and makes suggestions for the development of parliamentary institutions, with a view to improving the working of those institutions and increasing their prestige.
• The origin of the Inter-Parliamentary Union dates back to 1889. At present, about 70 countries are members of the Union.
• India became a member of this international Organisation in 1949 in pursuance of a motion moved by the then Prime Minister, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly of India (Legislative) and adopted on the 16^th August, 1948. Since then Indian Parliamentary Delegations have been regularly taking part in every annual Conference of the Union which is held in the capitals of member countries by rotation. The Speaker of Lok Sabha is the President, Members of Parliament are members and the Secretary of Lok Sabha is the Secretary of the Indian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
• This was the first time that the Inter-Parliamentary Conference is going to be held in India. About 600 foreign delegates (Speakers, Ministers, Members of Parliament) representing about 70 member countries participated in the Conference. In addition, 16 International Organisations sent Observers to attend the Conference.
• The subjects discussed at the Conference are: (1) International situation (2) Role and responsibilities of medium and small Powers in the maintenance of international peace (3) Social progress as a factor and condition of economic development (4) Prospects for agreement on the control of armaments (5) Role of parliaments in the protection of human environment and conservation of natural resources for future generations (6) Relations between parliament and local authorities and (7) Cultural exchanges as a means of increasing understanding between countries.

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