Issued by Nepal

Issued on Dec 31, 2009

Issued by :
Nepal Philatelic Bureau
Sundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal

Designer : Mohan N. Rana

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : Rs. 5

Colour : Four Colors with Phosphor print

Size : 31.5 mm x 42.5 mm

Format : Horizontal

Paper : High Quality Stamp Paper

Quantity : 2 Million

Sheet Composition : 50 Stamps each sheet

Process : Offset Lithography

Printer : Cartor Security Printing, France

About : 

• The Sun god is worshipped in the Chhath Festival. Creation cannot be imagined without Sun. Sun has been discerned on its importance since Vedic period. Women take part on Kartik Sukla Khasthi for Chhathi Mata at this festival. They take fasting the whole day and offer Jala (water) to Sun in the second day to Sun in the morning. Then after they take rice and women stand in the water with fruits and bread to offer water to Sun before it rises. It is believed that women who take part on this festival will have bestowed son and live long. It is the ceremony to offer water to Sun, therefore it is celebrated in the pond and river bank. This festival is celebrated specially in Janakpur, Siraha, Saptari, Parsa etc. But since a few years it has been a great attraction in Kathmandu also.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 29, 2009

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

Credits :
Stamp design, FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

Name : Sujan Singh

Born on Feb 13, 1707 at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India

Died on Dec 25, 1763 at Shahdara, Delhi, India

About : 

• Maharaja Surajmal was born on 13^th February 1707 (Magh Mahina, Shukla Paksha Dashmi, Samvat 1763). He was the son of Maharaja Badan Singh and his wife Rani Devaki. He was influenced by the sacrifice of Jat revolutionaries like Veer Nandram Jat, Veer Gokul Singh, Veerdheer Rajaram, Thakur Churaman of Agra–Bharatpur Mandal, who had revolted against forceful collection of tax by Mughal rulers.
  
• He established an independent Bharatpur state and built historical temples and buildings in Bharatpur, Deeg, Kumher, Vair and near Delhi. Maharaja Surajmal earned a name for bravery in his youth by winning the Chandros (Aligarh) “Kaul” battle killing Asad Khan in 1747. He helped Ishwari Singh in the historical battle of Bagru (Jaipur) on 20^th August 1748 where, by defeating the joint army of seven Rajas, he put lshwari Singh on the throne of Jaipur. On 1^st January 1750, he defeated Mir Bakshi and his army forcing to flee from Faridabad and Ballabhgarh.
  
• He won “Ghasera” battle in 1753, defeated Nawab Gajrauddin on 10^th May 1753. On 18^th May 1754 in Jat-Maratha battle, the Maratha siege of ‘Kumher’ lasted for four months and Maharaja Surajmal got victory by killing Khanderao, the son of Indore‘s Holker.
  
• On 12^th June 1761, he won Agra and Farruk Nagar in 1763 by defeating Baluchs.
  
• After a lifetime spent in several battlefields where his valour became legendary, Maharaja Surajmal sacrificed his life on 25^th December 1763 in Shahadra (Delhi). He respected all sects of religion. He loved art and traditions. He was a great builder – Deeg fort, Nawal Singh‘s Haveli & Jawahar Singh‘s Chhatri in Agra Fort are examples. Maharaja Surajmal ruled over Bharatpur, the state of which then included Dholpur, Agra, Etah, Etawah, Farruk Nagar, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Bulandshahar, Khurja, Meerut, Kanpur, Gurgawa, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Rewari, Neemrana, Mewat, Alwar, Faridabad, Ballabhagarh and Mathura. It was one of the biggest state of the time.
  
• Text : Based on the material provided by the Proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 27, 2009

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Indian Mathematical Society.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Suresh Kumar
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• The Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) is the oldest scientific society in India founded on 4^th April 1907 by Shri V. Ramaswamy Aiyar, the Deputy Collector in the services of the then Madras Province with twenty members with its Headquarters at Pune. The society was then known as ‘Analytic Club‘ and later changed to ‘Indian Mathematical Club‘. In 1910, a new reused constitution was adopted and the club acquired its present name, “The Indian Mathematical Society“, Today, the IMS is the oldest and the largest mathematical society of India. Professor B. Hanumantha Rao was the first President of the Society from 1907-1912.
• The object of the society is the promotion of Mathematical Study and Research in the country. Its core activity is to inspire and encourage researchers, educationists, students and all the mathematics loving persons. One of the crowning achievements of the society was the discovery of Srinivasa Ramanujan – the greatest mathematical genius of modern times in India.
• The Library of the Society was started in 1907 at Fergusson College at Pune which has been shifted to Chennai in 1950 and is now housed in the campus of the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, University of Madras, Chennai. The Library receives many journals on exchange basis and has a rich collection of back numbers of reputed mathematical journals received from all over the world.
• The Society publishes two periodicals, The Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society (JIMS) and The Mathematics Student (MS).
• From the inception of the Society, it published, ‘Progress Reports‘, which were rechristened as the Journal in 1909 and it was published every two months till 1933. The Reports and later the Journal were ably edited by M.T. Naraniengar (till 1927) and later by R. Vaidyanathswamy (upto 1950). In 1934 the present new series of JIMS was started turning it into a quarterly Journal. Under these two pioneering editors the JIMS established itself as one of the leading international Journals, a position which it continues to hold even today. Only research papers of high quality are published in the Journal.
• It is significant that the 1911 volume of JIMS contains the earliest contributions of Srinivasa Ramanujan. They were in the form of questions. In fact a fifteen page paper entitled “Some Properties of Bernoulli Numbers” contributed by Ramanujan also appeared in the same 1911 volume of the Journal.
• It was decided to start the publication of another periodical named The Mathematics Student in 1933 with A. Narasinga Rao as its first editor. His devoted services placed it on a firm footing. In the beginning, for many years the Mathematics Student used to publish book reviews, announcements, news, notices, problems and solutions, reports of the Conferences of the Society etc.
• In order to encourage and inspire the young and budding research workers, the society holds, during its Annual Conferences, a special session of paper presentation competition for various prizes to be awarded to the best research paper presented in each of the specified areas as stipulated. The special session is held as a part of the academic programme.
• Text : As per the material provided by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 27, 2009

Issued for : India Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Venkataramana Bhagvathar.

Credits :
Stamp, FDC & Cancellation : Neenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

Name : Srimad Venkataramana Bhagavathar

Born on Feb 18, 1781 at Ayyampettai, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India

Died on Dec 15, 1874

About : 

• Venkataramana Bhagvathar was born on 18 February 1781 as the fifth son of Kuppiah Nannusamy Bhagvathar at Ayyampet in Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu. Venkataramana Bhagvathar was a great composer of Carnatic songs and a musician of eminence. He was one of the most illustrious disciples of Saint Thiagaraja of Tiruvaiyaru, the cradle of Carnatic music located in Tiruvarur of Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu.
  
• After his marriage, he moved to Walajapet in the then North Arcot of Madras Province. Saint Thiagaraja two months prior to his death called Venkataramana Bhagvathar and entrusted to him the idol of Sri Ram which he worshipped, the bundles of palm leaves containing his Kritis (Compositions) and other articles. These palm leaves and manuscript copies of various scriptures of Saint Thiagaraja were later popularly known as “Walajapet Collections”, attracting the attention of scholars, researchers, musicians for study.
  
• Venkataramana Bhagvathar had himself written hundreds of kritis on palm leaves. He wrote Dhyana Sloka, Adiguru Stotra Panchakam, and Thiagaraja Mangalashtakam all in praise of Saint Thiagaraja. He also wrote “Sri Thiagarajashtakam” which is being rendered at the end of all concerts during the Thiagaraja Music Festivals. “Nowka Charitam”, an opera written in Telugu by Saint Thiagaraja was later rendered in Sanskrit by Venkataramana Bhagvathar.
  
• Venkataramana Bhagvathar was not only a musician and composer of great eminence, but also a great preceptor. He had a chain of disciples, which was later popularly known as “Walajapet Chian Disciples”.
  
• He had profound knowledge of the Sanskrit and Telugu vocabulary which is amply displayed in all his works. Venkataramana Bhagvathar’s Kritis espouse Bhakthi, Rama Nama Prabhava and Vedantic philosophy. His compositions are found to be excellent pieces, highly classical in form and spirit, amalgamating the stylist traits of the musical Trinity (Thiagaraja, Muthusamy Dikshitar and Shyama Sastrigal).
  
• Venkataramana Bhagvathar passed away on Tuesday, the 15^th December, 1874 at the age of 93. His contribution to Carnatic music and the care and dedication with which he preserved the valuable scripts of Saint Thiagaraja stand as a real and great testimony to prove his services to Carnatic music.
  
• Text : As per the material provided by the proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 22, 2009

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Lal Pratap Singh.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Suresh Kumar
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 : Lal Pratap Singh

Born on Kalakankar, Uttar Pradesh, India

Died on Feb 19, 1858 at Chanda, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

About : 

• The Visen Rajputs were the Talukdars of Kalakankar of which Rampur was the capital for the state known as Rampur-Dharupur. This branch of the family descended from Roop Mull, younger brother to a ruler of Majhauli in today’s Gorakhpur District. The branch moved to Manikpur near Allahabad till it was finally established in what came to be called Kalakankar by Raja Hanumant Singh.
  
• The rulers of Kalakankar always fought for independence and against inequity. Among the bravest of such warriors was Lal Pratap Singh, the eldest son of Raja Hanumant Singh.
  
• During the turbulent period of 1857, when Wajid Ali Shah, ruler of Awadh, was ousted by the East India Company and exiled to Calcutta, and Begum Hazrat Mahal took over the regency of the state for her twelve year old son, Raja Hanumant Singh was the Talukdar of Kalakankar. The East India Company had enforced a system of taxation called “Mahalwari”, which involved constantly increasing revenue demands with consequences disastrous to the landlords and farmers. Their increasing indebtedness led to dissatisfaction and the talukdars sided with the Begum to reinstate the Nawab and overthrow the British. Their trained armies stood ready to assist Awadh at short notice.
  
• At the behest of the Begum, Hanumant Singh raised a battalion of 1000 soldiers under the command of his eldest son, Lal Pratap Singh. This battalion, called ‘Pratap Jang’, rose to action in February 1858 when the English under Colin Campbell attempted to recapture Lucknow. Colin Campbell was aided by a Gurkha battalion and two Company Battalions. The three forces summoned by the Begum, including the one from Kalakankar, camped at Chande in Sultanpur district, awaiting the signal for battle.
  
• On 19^th February 1858, as the ‘Pratap Jang’ contingent sat down to breakfast, the army of the East India Company attacked them. Each soldier of the ‘Pratap Jang’ picked up whatever weapon came to hand and pitched into the battle till ammunition ran out. The reinforcements were cut off by the Company troops and scattered remnants of the other forces of the Talukdars had been forced to retreat.
  
• Lal Pratap Singh was advised to withdraw so that he could fight another day. But the brave young warrior led his troop into the final battle, of which the result was inevitable. Many brave soldiers and warriors died that day. Among them was Lal Pratap Singh for whom a glorious death was preferable to the shame of cowardice. The humiliation inflicted on his body by the Company troop Commanders could not decimate the glory of this young warrior. His untimely death devastated his father. He left behind him a young widow, Diggach Kunwari and a son, Ram Pal Singh, born in August 1848. Lal Pratap Singh, a loving son with a kind and generous nature, led a disciplined life, a life that has inspired his future generations to fight the good fight.
  
• Text : Based on the material provided by the proponents.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 19, 2009

Issued for : India Post, by issuing a commemorative Postage Stamp carrying the message to save Polar Regions is contributing to the effort to sensitize people to leave the Earth a better place for future generations.

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

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise each

Stamps Printed : 3.0 Million each

Miniature Sheets : 0.8 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• Earth’s Polar Regions, also known as Frigid Zones, at the North Pole and South Pole, are dominated by the polar ice caps, resting respectively on the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica.
• Polar weather influences climates in areas as far away as the tropics and changes will have effects across the world. Polar sea ice is currently diminishing, possibly as a result of anthropogenic Global warming. Some scientists have estimated that the Arctic basin will experience ice-free-summers by 2040 or even sooner, as the ice serves as a moderator of the planets climate, in part by deflecting heat radiation back into space. The breaking down of ice in the polar regions has resulted in an increase in temperature by 2.5 degree Celsius over the past 50 years.
• Decline in ice and snow in both the Polar regions is affecting human livelihood as well as local plant and animal life in the Arctic as well as global atmospheric circulation and sea level. Climate change affects various factors of the habitat of animals adapted to live in really extreme conditions and put population at risk.
• Several species of living things call the Polar regions their home from tiny lichens encrusting the rocky landscapes of the Arctic tundra to huge blue whales swimming through the frigid water of the southern Ocean. Some animals are only part time residents, migrating to warmer, lower latitudes during the winter months.
• Polar bears, penguins, seals, whales and walrus are just a few of the species living in these very cold regions. They are specially adapted to survive the extreme cold of the Polar regions.
• The Emperor penguins the world largest penguins could be pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of this century due to the melting of Antarctic Sea ice caused by global climate change. Similarly Polar bears in the Arctic, the largest bear species, also rely heavily on sea ice.
• “No man is an island” – said the poet. And today this stands as a scientific reality before us, proved by the interconnectivity of human life across the globe with all animal and plant species, the earth, the climate and the air around us. It is essential that the delicate balance of ecology be understood and maintained with a sense of commitment and responsibility.
• Text : Based on Material available in the internet.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 15, 2009

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to “strike the strain” in honour of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio by issuing this commemorative postage stamp.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Brahm Prakash
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

Name : De Rozario

Born on Apr 10, 1809 at Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Died on Dec 26, 1831 at Kolkata, West Bengal, India

About : 

• Nineteenth-century Bengal Renaissance was characterized by a massive socio-cultural churning, marking a watershed moment in the Indian ethos where tradition met modernity. It was ignited by a man whose radicalism and free-thinking challenged the obscurantist and superstitious orthodoxy of the time – Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, widely regarded as the pioneer of the Bengal Renaissance. He was born on 10^th April 1809.
  
• Portuguese by descent, he was a liberal-humanist at heart. His radical style of teaching at Hindu College, Kolkata (the present Presidency College) questioned all issues – from colonialism to women’s education to social customs. The teacher and the student moved beyond classroom teaching to discuss and deliberate upon ideas. The Young Bengal movement, as it was called, became a trigger for free enquiry. The vast conservative majority saw this as a major threat to traditional norms. The Governing Body of the College reacted later by expelling Derozio on charges of attempting to turn young people into atheists and provoking the young into disregarding traditions.
  
• Despite the expulsion, Derozio’s influence continued unabated, not only taking Kolkata of his time by storm, but setting the tenor of most of the socio-religious reform which was to follow in the latter half of the 19^th century. “Expanding like the petals of young flowers,” he wrote in a sonnet for his students, “…I watch the gentle opening of your minds…”.
  
• Equally intense was his poetry, which he started composing at a very early age, and contributing to the “India Gazette” magazine under the pseudonym Juvenis. He went on to become the Assistant Editor of the India Gazette in Kolkata and published a volume of poems at the young age of 18. In 1827-28, he published a second volume of poems, which was a reprint, but with some notable additions like “The Faqir of Jungeera”, a poem which established him as the first modern Anglo-Indian poet to be published in English, a trend which continued right up to Sarojini Naidu and further.
  
• His use of the English language idiom and his poetry was inextricably linked with the tussle between traditional orthodoxy and the rise of the modern free-enquiry spirit. It reflected contemporary thinking on issues like widow remarriage, the glory of India as seen in its literature and art etc. This body of English writing by Derozio and Rammohan Roy and others, created a new idiom in Indian literature and ushered in the transition from the classical-vernacular to the new modern-day language of the colonialists.
  
• But the real legacy of Derozio lies in his challenge to an obscurantist and divisive agenda, a legacy which is still relevant to India, a legacy which was to inspire the founding of Devendranath Tagore’s Tattvabodhini Sabha, an attempt to find a middle ground between the best of tradition and modernity. The Brahmo Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission later were to be predicated on this notion of the middle path which Indian society should take in the late 19^th-century. An intense nationalism characterizes his work, along with the equally radical nature of his questioning of the social customs and religious beliefs of his time. Truly a Renaissance man, who died at the very young age of 22 in 1831, Henry Derozio, long relegated to the margins of Indian history, must be revisited to understand the continuing relevance of his ideas today, in a world still divided on the fault-lines of caste and creed. The legacy of Henry Derozio needs to be resurrected, not only as a poet but as a national figure who was the first among great luminaries of the 19^th century to awaken national consciousness. As he wrote in “Harp of India”: “This music once was sweet, who hears it now…. Harp of my country, let me strike the strain…”
• Derozio breathed his last in December 1831.
  
• Text : Pranav Khullar.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 10, 2009

Issued for : The Government of India has taken several initiatives for the development and promotion of the hand loom sector, introducing five comprehensive schemes during the 11^th Five Year Plan to: the Integrated Handlooms Development Scheme for developing Handloom Weaver Groups to be sustainable with skill upgradation and diversified products; the Handloom Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme which provides insurance coverage in case of accidents, disability or death; the Marketing and Export Promotion Scheme to build awareness and publicity and provide brand development and financial assistance; the Mill Gate Price Scheme to make all types of yarn available at appropriate rates; and the Diversified Handloom Development Scheme which focuses on design development, skill upgradation, training, R&D etc.

The Department of Posts celebrates India’s heritage of textiles through this set of postage stamps.

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

Type : Miniature Sheet, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise each

Stamps Printed : 0.8 Million each

Sheetlet : 0.4 Million

Miniature Sheets : 0.4 Million 

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• India has a rich tradition in textile production spanning almost 5000 years. The materials and techniques vary with geo-climatic conditions, traditions and history. Each reflects a marvel of the creative minds and hands that have worked anonymously to create a masterpiece. Four are depicted on the set of postage stamps.
• Kalamkari :
  • The term means pen work and denotes the painted and printed textiles of Andhra Pradesh. They belong to two distinct schools : the Masulipatnam ones patronized by Muslim rulers and the Sri Kalahasti ones by Hindu temples. The former are influenced by Persian paintings and the tenets of Islam; the latter reproduce scenes from Hindu mythology. The pen was often replaced by blocks for the repetitive patterns at Masulipatnam while Kalahasti continues to use the ‘kalam‘ as the main tool. The Kalamkari paintings also play an important role in the rural life of Andhra Pradesh, its rituals and ceremonies. The craft has stood the test of time and shown an adaptability to change.
• Apa Tani Weaves :
  • The Apa Tani inhabit the lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, in North East India. The women weave primarily for their own households – a tradition that is passed down from mother to daughter. Almost every family possesses one or two looms. The loom, a single heddle, reed less, loin loom, is small, simple, portable and easy to operate. It is a family heirloom only inherited by the women. The weaving is done in plain weave or tabby and the patterning is done using the extra weft technique. The traditional Apa Tani colours are red, green and yellow, all obtained from leaves, roots, creepers and the bark of trees. Now dyed yarn is available in a variety of colours. The ordinary Apa Tani cloth gets its character from the use of broad stripes alternating with narrow ones and an inexhaustible variety of geometric patterns achieved with the extra weft technique.
• Kanchipuram Silks :
  • The figured and brocaded silk-woven saris of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu are as famous as the temples of this centre for Hindu pilgrimage. Ancient southern texts date the rich silks to the 2^nd century, though many attribute the origin of the craft to the migration of weavers at different periods. The silk industry grew with royal and temple patronage and trade facilitated by the river Palar and produced temple cloths, wall hangings and chariot decorations, furnishings and the nine-yard sari. The weaving of a Kanchipuram Sari is a slow process done on a throw shuttle pit loom or a raised pit loom. The process requires two weavers to work together with three shuttles while the designer reads out the graph to facilitate the lifting order of threads. Now jacquard and dobby machines are also being used. The saris have a distinctive style, combining simple borders and grounds in rich contrasting colours with elaborate patterns woven with rows of animals, birds, flowers and creepers or geometric patterns. The silk is compact, thick and richly textured due to the use of twisted three-ply yarn. The use of colour and the lustre of the silk give Kanchipuram Silks their identity.
• Varanasi Brocades :
  • Varanasi, also called Banaras and Kashi, in Uttar Pradesh has been a cultural and religious centre for centuries, its lifeline being the sacred river Ganga. Its fame, apart from its temples, musicians etc. rests on the brocades and the versatile Varanasi draw loom. There are different views on the introduction of the draw loom into India. It is a complex hand loom for weaving figured textiles of great complexity and width. Designs or “naqshas” form the basis of the pattern woven. In brocade – weaving, extra weft threads of different coloured silk or zari, metallic threads, are woven into the base fabric in areas where they are to form a pattern. The brocades vary in the use of fabric, the type of metallic thread used and the silk or cotton yarn used. Today most commonly mulberry silk from Karnataka and from Bengal is used, as also imports from China.
• Text : Based on material given by the Ministry of Textiles.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 2, 2009

Issued for : India Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Ambala Cantt.

Credits :
Stamp, FDC & Brochure Design & Layout : Kamleshwar Singh
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• The Congregation of Jesus & Mary was founded in the year 1818 by Mille Claudine Thevenet in Lyons, France. In the aftermath of the French Revolution many young children became orphans. The Congregation of Jesus & Mary wanted to reach out to the young and destitute orphans of the French Revolution. Thus was born the first convent and today the Congregation has spread to 26 countries, all over the world. They came to India in 1842. It now runs several English and Vernacular Medium Schools, Degree Colleges, Teacher Training Centres and Boarding (Houses) Establishments in both urban and rural areas of India.
• Mother St. Luice, then Provisional Superior of the Congregation of Jesus & Mary purchased some property in the year 1908 at Ambala with the purpose of serving as a rest house and winter residence for old, ailing sisters of Shimla. Fr. Julius, Vicar General of Most Reverend Archbishop Gentili requested the sisters to open a convent in Ambala, and the Sisters opened the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, on 2^nd December, 1909, in a small cottage on the premises of 121, Staff Road, Ambala Cantt with just one pupil, the son of an Army man. Today the school has strength of 1400 pupils drawn from different classes, castes and religious and social backgrounds.
• The school was originally a girl’s school; however, boys were admitted and could study up to Class V, while the girls studied up to Matriculation. The situation changed during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict, when soldiers moved to the war front leaving behind their wards. A decision was taken by the school authorities, to allow boys also to continue up to Matriculation, on compassionate grounds. Since April 2007, however, the Convent has once again become a girl’s school.
• Over the past 100 years the Convent of Jesus & Mary, Ambala has kept up with the changing times and challenging demands of education. The commendable result which it achieved in the very first Board exam in the year 1979 earned it an encomium from the Central Board of Secondary Education which graded it as the “Best in All-India”. Besides, academics, curricular activities and sports are also encouraged. The students are also imbued with social, ethical and spiritual values, which help them to integrate into the mainstream of life as diligent and morally upright citizens.
• The school is blessed with a family spirit supported by a climate of love, forgiveness, compassion and trust – so exemplified in the life of its Mother Foundress Claudine Thevenet. With an up to date curriculum, latest teaching facilities, a committed faculty and a self evaluation programme, the Convent of Jesus and Mary has made tremendous strides in the field of education.
• The school celebrates its Centenary Year with joy and pride and rededicate itself to the service of the mankind.
• Text : Based on material provided by proponent.

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Issued by India

Issued on Dec 2, 2009

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Second Lancers.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Brahm Prakash
Cancellation : Neenu Gupta

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nasik

About : 

• 2^nd Lancers (Gardener’s Horse) was raised as Gardener Corps of Irregular Horse by Lt. Col William Linnaeus Gardener on 12 May 1809 for police and revenue duties in the ceded and conquered provinces between Ganga and Yamuna. The regiment performed with distinction in the Nepal War in 1815, Burma campaign in 1824, Sindh in 1844, where it was presented the Musketoons and bestowed an Honorary Standard Squadron. It was also presented an Honorary Standard bearing the Insignia of the Scinde Lion for distinguished services in Sindh. Earning the nickname the “Sindh Lions” all ranks of the Regiment were authorized to wear on its accoutrements a badge representing a unique Lion “Passant Ragardant“. Second Lancers (Gardener’s Horse) is the only unit in the Indian Army which is authorised to bear its unique insignia of the Lion on all its vehicles during peace time.
  
• The Regiment earned further distinction during the Sikh Wars in Punjab in 1846 & 1848. Later in the mid-fifties it quelled the Santhal rebellion in Bengal. The Regiment then sailed to Egypt in 1882 and fought the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir.
  
• During First World War, in the battle of Cambrai in France the regiment suffered hundred casualties including its Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel HHF Turner. In the same battle Lance Dafadar Govind Singh won the Victoria Cross for his exceptional bravery. For its gallant actions the Regiment was mentioned in the Cambrai Despatch by Field Marshall Lord Douglas Haig. Since, then Cambrai day i.e. 30 November is celebrated as a Battle Honour day. Subsequently the Regiment sailed to Middle east and led one of the greatest cavalry charges at El Afuleh on 20^th September 1918 during the “Drive to Damascus“, which was also the last Cavalry charge in the world.
  
• In April 1922, 4^th Cavalry was amalgamated with 2^nd Lancers (GH). In June 1935 the Regiment was bestowed with the title of Royal and was renamed 2^nd Royal Lancers.
  
• During the Second World War, the Regiment fought the most notable actions at El Mechili and Bir Hacheim in North Africa for which Major Rajendra Singhji and LD Mehboob Ali Khan won Distinguished Service Order and Indian Distinguished Service Order respectively. In Oct. 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Maharaj Rajendra Sinhji, DSO, ADC became the first Indian to take over the command of the Regiment in the then British Indian Army.
  
• In Aug 1947 the Regiment was in action against communist guerrillas in Malaya, The Regiment returned to India in Dec 1947.
  
• In Jan 1953 General Maharaja Rajendra Sinhji, DSO, ADC became the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, the first from 2^nd Lancers (Gardener’s Horse) and the Armoured Corps. In Nov 1961, the regiment along with Scinde Horse became the first Regiment in Armoured Corps to be awarded the Guidon by the President for their services in war and peace.
  
• In Sep 1965 the Regiment went to war, equipped with Sherman MK V/VI tanks it gave an excellent account of itself in the famous tank battles and was awarded the Theatre Honour of ‘PUNJAB‘. The Regiment was first to receive the indigenous battle Tank ‘Vijayanta‘. In July 1993, General BC Joshi, PVSM, AVSM was appointed as COAS, the second officer of the Regiment to be appointed as Chief of Army Staff. The Regiment also holds the distinction of having produced two Army Cdrs, Lt. General H Kaul PVSM, AVSM and Lt. General R Sharma PVSM, AVSM. Today with over a hundred and fifty gallantry awards to its credit, which includes a Victoria Cross, an Albert Cross, 32 DSOs, 19 Military Crosses, three SMs, three PVSMs, eight AVSMs and seven COAS Commendation Cards, 2^nd Lancers (GH) is one of the most decorated Regiments in the Indian Army.
  
• Text : Based on the material provided by the proponents.

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