50th Anniversary of First Australia-England Flight (December 2, 1969)

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 background. The colour of the aeroplane is brown and black and the airport building has been shown in light brown against a pale blue back-ground. The caption on the top of the stamp reads “50th Anniversary of First Aeroplane Flight England-Australia (19 19-1969)” which is in red colour. The value “50” on the right side of the stamp as well as the dots pin-pointing London and Darwin are also in red. The flight from 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.
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 50th 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 enroute to Australia.
The Air Race was open upto the 31st December, 1919 and the flight was to be completed within 30 days of leaving England. In all six aircraft 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 shock-ing 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 Bandar 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 Akyab in Burma that the Vickers Vimy caught up with Poulet on November 29. The two aircraft left Akyab 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 them along the route. The mailbag was 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 2, 1969. The aircraft will leave 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 commemo-rative stamp.

1000th Anniversary of Ibn-Al-Haitham (Alhazen) (November 4, 1969)

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.
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 denomina-tion on 4th November, 1969 on the occasion of the celebration of the l000th Anniversary under the auspices of Hamdard National Foundation.
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 flowering 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 8th-l3th 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 re-member 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 l000th 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 physi-cian. He had a 20th century mind in a 10th century setting and his contributions to knowledge, especially optics, were quite extraordinary.
Ibn-al-Haitham was born in Basra in 965. After his educa-tion, 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-al4laitham was held in high esteem by al-Hakim for sometime. The River Nile in its annual inunda-tion 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 treatises 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 Avecenna 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 reflec-tion. 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. Theoreti-cally 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 Isaac 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 atmos-phere. 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 gravita-tion, 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 AD 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, Bagh- dad, 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 Millinery 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 tot1iing 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 celebra-tion of the Millinery 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 interests in Ibn-al- Haitham. it may not contribute a single artistic motif or mecha-nical device, or scientific concept, but it must inevitably break down much narrowness, enlarge the sympathies, and fire ambi-tious by bringing into contact with greatness that is not less great for not being modern.

Inauguration of PIA Pearl Route Dacca-Tokyo (November 01, 1969)

The format of the stamps 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 words “PAISA” and “PAKISTAN” in English, Bengali and Urdu and the date “1ST NOVEMBER 1969” appear in reverse against a green and blue back-ground in the 20 Paisa and 50 Paisa stamps 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 t1~e right side of the stamp.
With the inauguration of its service to Tokyo from Novem-ber 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 fulfillment 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 deno-minations on November 1,1969 to commemorate the occasion.
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 em-phasis 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 won 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 in-herited a formidable challenge of bridging the 1,000-mile distance between East and West Pakistan, as also of providing modern, convenient air links between distant 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 PTA and the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation came into being as a body corporate under a statute.
Since then the story of PTA 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, PTA 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 PTA 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.
PJA has since continued to forge ahead with its fleet moderni-zation programme. Today it has a fleet of seven Boeings, four Tridents and eleven Fokker Friendships, all jet powered air-craft. It holds reservations on two American Supersonic (SST) aircraft. 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 USSR, Iran, Turkey, Afghanis-tan, 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 airhostesses and the exceptional quality of its cuisine and in-flight 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. PTA’s engineering facilities have the approval of the United States Federal Aviation Agency and the British Air Registration Board.

Universal Children Day (October 6, 1969)

The shape of the stamp is oblique square. The word “PAKISTAN” in Bengali, Urdu and English are placed on the top left side and the caption “UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY” 6.10-1969” is placed on top right side of the stamp in red colour. Denomination “20 PAISA” and the word “Postage” appear at the bottom corner in black colour. Children in action are shown on the dark blue panel diagonally placed. A symbolic representation of a school building appears in the background.
Every year the Universal Children’s Day is celebrated throughout the world on the first Monday of October. This year the day will fall on 6th October. Pakistan Post Office is issuing a stamp of 20 Paisa denomination on the same day to commemorate the occasion.
Universal Children’s Day offers an unique opportunity to call public attention to the needs of the Children. The theme selected by the UNICEF and the International Union for Child Welfare for this year’s Universal Children’s Day is Train-ing personnel—To protect and prepare Children. Without sufficient number of trained adults to help them, Children’s right to protection and preparation can not be fully achieved. To meet this need the UNICEF (United Nations International Children Emergency Fund) has launched training programme all over the world covering all major services benefiting Children and young people—education, health, nutrition, social welfare etc.
Approximately three fourths of the world’s Children live in areas where the average income is less than $ 500 a year. In recent years UNICEF has been giving increasing attention to the human aspects of national development, primarily by helping developing countries create and improve their own training facilities. UNICEF has helped to equip over 14,500 educational and vocational training institutions ; 6,000 welfare institutions, 42,000 health centres and over 8,000 nutrition centres. Training of local staff is an important aspect of UNICEF aided projects. It has provided equipment, stipends and other aids for the train-ing of more than 3,25,000 pediatricians, nurses, midwives, childcare workers, community leaders, nutritionists, sanitation workers, school teachers and other personnel serving children.
Pakistan today is taking equal interest in the training pro-gramme for the benefit of children. Demand for trained persons are increasing daily in every sphere of social welfare. Our Five Year Plans have given great importance to the training pro-grammes. Training of such persons like teachers, health visi-tors, health educators, social workers, nurses, doctors, mid-wives and even medical administrators for family planning methods have greatly benefited the community as a whole. At present the Universities of Lahore, Dacca, Karachi and Rajshahi possess Departments of Social Work. They provide training facilities at the B.A. and M.A. levels. During the Second Five-Year Plan social work was introduced as an Elective Sub-ject in many colleges. This activity is to be extended to an-other 20 colleges (10 in each wing) during the Third Five-Year Plan. Government Training Institutes have been set up in Dacca and Lahore for the purpose of training social workers in child welfare work. This has been done in order to give greater impetus to improvement of child welfare services and programmes in the country.
In the field of education, development is taking place at alt levels. Qualified teachers are in great demand, especially for the primary and the secondary schools. Facilities of train-ing of teachers have, therefore, been developed in two main aspects. Firstly, size of the training programmes has been expanded so as to increase the annual output of qualified teachers, and secondly, efforts have been made to improve the quality of training given to the teachers. The output of trained primary school teachers increased from 7,700 in 1958 to 16,400 in 1968 and that of secondary school teachers increased from 1,452 to 4,050. The real progress in teachers training is, however, reflected by the increase in the number of trained teachers which increased from 83,000 to about 1,25,000 for primary teachers and from 35,000 to about 58,000 for secondary teachers.
In the field of Health, there is great dearth of child specia-lists, nurses, midwives, health visitors etc. In the developing country like ours where population is growing very fast, disease. poverty, malnutrition are very common. Medical Colleges and nurses training colleges etc. are doing their best to turn out qualified personnel capable of fighting these ills in a planned manner.
Pakistan Council for Child Welfare has been emphasizing since the last 10 years the need for trained personnel for the protection of children. It has taken every opportunity to bring home the urgent need for these and has drawn attention of the authorities and of the people of the country to the great scarcity of trained qualified workers in medical, educational and social fields. The Council’s aim and object is to promote the physical, moral and mental well-being of the children of Pakistan. Through all its agencies, it encourages the promotion of health., happiness and pleasure of the children of the country.
Universal Children’s Day is celebrated throughout the country with great enthusiasm and fervor. The Pakistan Council for Child Welfare has been celebrating this Day since 1957. The President of Pakistan has instituted six Awards for the children since 1961, which are called the “President’s Awards for Children” and are announced by him on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day every year. The underlying idea of these Awards is to develop leadership amongst the children and to encourage the potential writers, artists and 1~aders of tomorrow. From 1961 to 1968 thirty-six children were decorated by the President of Pakistan with the President’s Awards for Children.

First Refinery in East Pakistan (September 14,1969)

The format of the stamp is horizontal. The Refinery has been shown in bluish black colour against a yellow background. The words “FIRST REFINERY IN EAST PAKISTAN CHITTAGONG” appear on the top in dark blue. The denomination “20-Paisa” appears at the right top corner. The word “Postage” appears vertically on the left and the date “14-9-1969” on the right edge of the stamp. The word “Pakistan” in Ben-gali, English and Urdu appears at the bottom in blue colour.
In line with the Government’s policy to make the country self-sufficient in basic industrial products, a petroleum refinery named Eastern Refinery Ltd., has been built in East Pakistan in collaboration with the East Pakistan industrial Development Corporation and the Burmah Oil Company Ltd., London. Flanked by the Petroleum Distributing Companies namely ESSO (Standard Oils), PNOL (Pakistan National Oils Ltd.) and B. E. (Burmah Eastern) on one side, and the Chittagong Steel Mill and other EPIDC enterprises on the other, Eastern Refinery stands on an expanse of 82 acres of land in the pictures-que locale of the industrial belt of North Patenga, Chittagong.
Built at a cost of Rs. 13.5 crores, the Eastern Refinery which is the first petroleum refinery in East Pakistan, is designed to process 1.5 million tons of crude oil annually.
Although Pakistan is basically an agricultural country, but for an integrated growth of the country industrial progress must go side by side with agricultural development. The two are complementary. While any setback in the agricultural sector would affect industrial growth, modern cultivation is inconceivable without industrial progress as agriculture has to depend for all its inputs, except seeds, on industries. In the initial stages lack of know-how, uncertainty about the industrial future, absence of quotable amounts of raw mate-rials acted as retarding factors in industrial development. But even the lack of raw materials could not make the Government swerve from its aim of attaining self-sufficiency in basic industrial products, savings foreign exchange and increasing employment opportunities. Thanks to this far-sighted policy, the public and private sectors have, of late, taken encouragingly rapid strides in industrial development.
Eastern Refinery is not only a milestone in the industrial development of East Pakistan but is also a fine example of how the private and public sectors can combine to work with foreign participants for the progress of the country. At present this Refinery is owned 35% by the public, 35% by E.P.I.D.C. and 30% by Burmah Oil Co. Ltd., who took over the share formerly held by ERAP of France. To meet the foreign exchange require-ments for imported materials, the Government of Pakistan made available French Suppliers Credit under conditions of Washington Consortium.
Eastern Refinery which is designed to process 1.5 million tons of crude oil every year will meet most of East Pakistan’s demand for petroleum products. Although it will be importing crude oil, chemicals and stores worth over Rs. 10 crores a year, it will save upto Rs. 4 crores in foreign exchange by processing the crude oil. This is one of the many benefits that will flow from the refinery.
In its production schedule, Eastern Refinery has already made tremen4ous strides, it is the only refinery in the country which has made the best use of imported Crude Oil by recover-ing maximum amount of middle distillates, within, limits of its equipment design, has produced High Octane Blending Com-ponent (H.O.B.C.) which is replacing imported Automotive 100 Octane in the market, has kept the Jute Mills of the province running by quickly producing Jute Batching Oil when there was an acute shortage of this imported product and has produced aviation fuels namely JP-1 and JP-4.

Fifth Anniversary of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) (July 21, 1969)

20 Paisa Stamp: The format of the stamp is rectan-gular and vertical. It comprises the reproduction of a Mughal Miniature painting belonging to the mid 18th Century. The painting depicts the half length portrait of a lady seated in a balcony. She holds a cup in her hand and wears a tall bejeweled hat on her head, from which her hair cascades, on her shoulders. On top of the stamp appears the caption “RCD 5th Anniversary” and “21-7-1969” in black and the words Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in red. Below the miniature appear the words “Mughal Miniature (Pakistan)” in red, and the word “Pakistan” in English, Urdu and Bengali in black. The denomination “20 Paisa” and the word “Postage” appear in the reverse in the background of the portrait. 50 Paisa Stamp: The format of the stamp is rectangular and vertical. The major portion of the stamp is devoted to the reproduction of a miniature painting done by Raza Abbasi who lived in the first half of the 17th Century and was one of the well-known Safavi (Isfahan) miniaturists. In a panel to the left of the miniature appear the words “RCD 5th Anniversary” and “21-7-1969” in black and the words Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in red. The word “Pakistan” in Bengali, English and Urdu is written in black. The denomination “50 Paisa” and the word “Postage” are in red in the lower left corner of the stamp. Below the miniature appear the words “Safavi Minia-ture (Iran)” in red.
Re. 1.00 Stamp: The format of the design is rectangular and vertical. It comprises the reproduction of a miniature painting showing the Ottoman Soultan Suleiman, The Magnificent, receiving Sheikh Abdul Latif. The miniature has been taken from “The Book of Exploits”—Hunername—com-piled in the year 1588. The panel to the left of the stamp bears the caption “RCD 5th Anniversary” and “2 1-7-1969” in black and the words Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in red. The words “Ottoman Miniature (Turkey)” in red and the word “Pakistan” in English Urdu and Bengali in black appear below the miniature. The word “Postage” and the denomination “Re. 1” are given in red in the lower left corner of the stamp.
To mark the Fifth Anniversary of the establishment of the Regional Co-operation for Development, the Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of three commemorative postage stamps of 20 Paisa, 50 Paisa and Re. 100 denominations on the 21st July, 1969. Sets of three commemorative stamps in similar designs are also being issued simultaneously by the Governments of Iran and Turkey on the same date. The Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD) is a tripartite movement by Iran Pakistan and Turkey aimed at closer economic, technical and cultural co-operation and promo-ting economic advancement and welfare of over 180 million people of this Region. The decision to form this economic grouping was taken on July 21st, 1964 by the Heads of States Government of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey who had gathered in Istanbul in a Summit meeting.
The establishment of RCD was a natural evolution of his-toric forces that had been at work over the past centuries. The three brotherly nations of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey already had much in common and their association towards a solid regional economic group was found to be most natural. The three are neighbours and they enjoy ancient historical ties. They are more or less at the same stage of economic development. They have common cultural background and common outlook for the future. These major factors, of course facilitated the three Governments of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey to consider the development of specific plans and projects aimed at streng-thening the national development efforts through active and closer collaboration on a regional basis.
The concept of RCD and its purposes have aroused enthu-siasm and expectations among the peoples of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. It is not only helping to build up the economic and industrial structure and cultural outlook of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey but is also contributing towards peace and goodwill in the Region. By and large, the actual working of this tripartite movement has created an appreciation of its usefulness and its contribution to the noble cause of ensuring peace, security and prosperity of mankind. 21st July, 1964—21st July, 1969.
During the period of five years of its existence, the RCD has made significant strides and has concrete results to show. It has not only defined the scope of its working, taken organisa-tional shape and established certain basic infra-structure facili-ties and institutional arrangements but has also emerged success-fully from the stage of basic planning and preparatory work and has entered the phase of implementation covering a large area of co-operation in the socio-economic fields. Industry, Petroleum and Petro-chemicals.
The progress in the field of joint industrial enterprises has been very satisfactory. Fifty-four industrial projects have been approved or approved in principle for development on a joint basis out of which 17 projects are in various stages of implemen-tation. The progress in the construction of filling stations at the border areas has been satisfactory and the Construction of Izmir Oil Refinery—a joint venture between Iran and Turkey— is progressing satisfactorily. An oil pipeline from Iran to a Mediterranean port in Turkey; joint exploration and exploitation of oil on RCD basis in Iran are other. important projects which are under active consideration of the Member Governments.
Trade
A number of measures such as the establishment of RCD Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Agreement on the RCD Union for Multilateral Payments arrangements; preparation of the RCD Banking Manual; the creation of RCD Re-insurance Pools, and RCD Agreement on Trade have been taken by the Member Governments for the promotion of intra-regional trade. The RCD Commerce and Economy Ministers in their meeting at Tehran in September, 1968 took a number of decisions which included the Commodity Exchange Agreement to increase intra--regional trade. In pursuance of their decision, a study with the assistance of UNCTAD has also been undertaken with a view to identifying all barriers impeding intra-regional trade and making recommendations for the liberalisation and expansion of such trade.
Transport and Communications
The co-operative efforts made in the fields of Transport and Communications have been very satisfactory. Semi-automatic trunk dialing system has been introduced between Tehran, Ankara and Karachi; postage, telephone and telegraphic rate have been reduced in the Region; the RCD Shipping Services started operation on the intra-regional routes from May, 1966 and from the US ports to Turkey and Pakistan in August, 1966. The construction of the RCD Highway linking Ankara-Tehran and Karachi is making reasonably good progress. As for the rail link, Pakistan railway system extends up to the Iranian city of Zahidan. The railway link between Tehran and Kashan is already in operation and the section between Kashan to Yazd and to Kerman is expected to be completed shortly. The sec-tion between Kerman and Zahidan has been included in the Fourth National Plan of Iran. The Tehran-Ankara rail link is expected to become fully operative by the end of 1969. RCD c4-operation in the field of air transportation has resulted in the overall improvement of air services within the Region.
Technical co-operation and Public Administration
Member Governments signed an RCD Agreement for Technical Assistance which is under implementation since 1965. Under the Annual RCD Programme of Technical Assistance, a large number of experts, trainees and students are mutually exchanged between the three countries. For instance, the 1968 programme of Technical Co-operation provided for mutual exchange of 41 experts and 445 trainees and the 1969 programme of Technical Co-operation which provides for mutual exchange of 22 experts and 310 trainees is under implementation.
Social Affairs
Great emphasis is being laid on promoting cultural co-operation among the RCD countries at people to people level. Artists, sportsmen, writers and journalists are being exchanged under the annual Cultural Exchange programme. Furthermore, the RCD Cultural Institute is engaged in a systematic research in the common historical and cultural heritage of the three RCD countries with a view to making better known their history, civilisation and culture which binds the peoples of the Region together. The co-operation between the three Presses, TV and other Information Media of the three countries is progressing very satisfactorily in order to bring the people of the Region closer together.

50th Anniversary of International Labour Organization (ILO) (May 15, 1969)

The format of the stamps is rectangular. A band of arabesque pattern runs horizontally across the design. The upper portion bears the word ‘Pakistan’ in Bengali, Urdu and English on the top left cor-ner in Yellowish Orange Colour. The words ‘Postage’ and ‘Paisa’ in English along with the denomination figure appear on the right top corner in reverse. The lower portion bears the symbol of International Labour Organization on the left corner in reverse, The year ‘1919-1969’ appears in reverse on the right side above the words International Labour Organization’ in Yellowish Orange Colour. The design of 50 Paisa is similar to that of 15 Paisa, except that the background is Garnet Red, whereas the background colour of 15 Paisa is Bluish Green.
The I. L. 0. is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of two stamps of 15 Paisa and 50 Paisa denominations on 15th May, 1969 to commemo-rate the occasion. The I. L. 0. was founded in 1919 as part of the peace settlement that followed the First World War. In 1946 it became the first specialised agency of the United Nations. With its tri-partite composition, it brings governments, employers and workers together for united action in the cause of social justice and higher standards of living everywhere. Working on the principle that labour is not a commodity, the I. L. 0. affirms that all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity. The I. L. 0. aims at the economic security for all. Stressing that “poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere”, the I. L. 0. maintains that war against want, poverty and insecurity requires to be carried on with unrelenting vigour within each nation as well as by continuous and concerted international efforts. The I. L. 0. is working ceaselessly for the furtherance of industrial peace and amity, the betterment of living and working conditions of workers, for the development of well-knit workers’ organisations, and for the creation of higher skills for workers.
Over these years the I. L.0. has built up a comprehensive code of law and practice for the improvement of the living and working conditions of workers all over the world, particularly in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each year, the International Labour Conference—some times referred to as a “World Parliament of Labour”—adopts Conven-tions and Recommendations regulating some aspects of labour administration, labour welfare, trade union rights, safety at work, conditions of employment, etc. Some of the conventions contain basic human rights like abolition of forced labour, free-dom of association for workers and their right to organise, equal pay for equal work, elimination of discrimination in the matter of employment and so on. A Convention becomes binding on a country when it ratifies it. A total of 126 Conventions and 127 Recommendations have been adopted since 1919. These Con-ventions have greatly helped to improve working conditions, to protect the human rights of labour and to promote industrial peace and social security. Pakistan attaches a great deal of im-portance to standards laid down by the I. L. 0. This is borne out by the fact that she has uptil now ratified 29 I. L. 0. Con-ventions—one of the highest in Asia.
Considering that the developing countries need technical assistance, the I. L. 0. has, since the Second World War, con-centrated the greater part of its resources and energies on direct operational activities in the field. The overall I. L. 0. technical co-operations programme now accounts for more than half of the Organisation’s work. The I. L. 0. is also the executive agency of the Special Fund and Technical Assistance sectors of the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) in the labour field. The I. L. 0. helps governments conduct man-power surveys and formulate manpower planning, develop vocational training facilities, improve national employment and social security services, provide for the vocational rehabi-litation of the handicapped, expand workers’ education programme, increase productivity, improve management development etc. Well over half of the I.L.0’s. technical co-operation projects are aimed at the development of human resources, especially through vocational training. Training institutes set up with the I. L. 0. assistance in Iran, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, Colombia and a number of other countries are contributing to the economic growth of these countries. The I. L. 0. is carry-ing out or is about to embark upon, management development and small industry projects under the Special Fund and Technical Assistance Sectors of the U. N. Development Programmes in 50 countries including Pakistan.
As late as in 1962, a National Manpower Council was set up at Karachi with the assistance of the UN/ILO to find out ways and means to develop and utilize our human resources in a plan-ned way. I. L. 0. has also established an International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training in Turin. This Centre is meant to provide advanced technical and vocational training at various levels, primarily for the benefit of developing countries, for persons who are considered suitable for more advanced training than they could obtain in their own coun-tries or region. Students from Pakistan attend this Centre. The ILO’s International Institute for labour studies at Geneva, established in March 1960, serves as an advanced staff college in social and labour policy.
In 1969, this great organisation moves gloriously into the second half century ~f its life with the definite and bold objec-tives to launch a World Employment Programme designed to put an end to unemployment and idleness with all their demora-lising impact on an individual and society. The programme has thrilled and rekindled the hope of millions of people in developing countries.
Right after Independence Pakistan became a member of the I. L. 0. and ever since has been taking remarkably keen interest in the affairs of the I. L. 0. Pakistan has always made sincere and ceaseless efforts in this international forum to up-hold and further social justice to all irrespective of race, colour, religion or sex and to abhor and condemn in unequivocal terms every violation or attempted violation of man’s dignity. Pakistan has lent its unfettered support to the I. L. 0. in its struggle against injustice and discrimination in all its manifestations including heinous racial segregation and apartheid.
Pakistan’s unique position in the I. L. 0. is best illustrated by the fact that she was elected to the Presidency of the annual International Labour Conference twice (1958 and 1965) and has been continuously represented in the Government Group on the I.L.0. Governing Body since 1951, except for the term 1954-57. The I. L. 0. Governing Body, elected by the Conference, func-tions as the Organisation’s executive council. It is composed of 24 Government members, 12 employers, members and 12 Workers’ members. Pakistan was elected in the Government Group thrice (1951. 1957 and 1963) as a full member and twice (1960 and 1966) as a deputy member. Similarly, in the Workers’ Group Pakistan was a full member for five consecutive terms (1951, 1954, 1957, 1960 and 1963) and in the Employers’ Group Pakistan has been continuously represented either as a full mem-ber or a deputy member since 1951, except for the term 1957-60.

New Dacca Railway Station (April 27, 1969)

A panoramic view of the New Dacca Railway Station is shown through a wide arch similar to the arches of the platforms. The arch, which is yellow in colour is rested on a thick black horizontal line under which ‘Pakistan’ in Bengali, Urdu and English appears in blue colour. The station appears in tones of grey and black, with two trains standing. One train is in the foreground almost in the centre with its engine and two bogies visible. The other train appears in the back-ground with its last bogie visible. The bogies are in green colour and the engine is in black with yellow strips. The denomination figure ‘15’ with ‘Paisa’ underneath appears at the left end of the horizontal line. The caption ‘New Dacca Railway Station’ appears in green at the top on the arch. The word ‘Postage in green colour appears at the right hand side of the stamp.
The opening of the New Dacca Railway Station at Kamala-pur on April 27, 1968 heralded a new era in the history of the Pakistan Eastern Railway. This station was constructed to meet the long-felt need of the growing provincial capital.
In 1885 Dacca was only a small district town when it was linked by rail-road with the rest of the province. The Railway Station constructed at Phulbaria, a place then on the outskirts of the town, served with ease the people living in and around the urban area. It had only one platform, a small yard and a loco shed. The railroad semi-circled the town, without caus-ing much hindrance to the people and vehicular traffic to and from the area, as the approaches to it were seldom busy and the trains running on the railroad were few. But, as time passed, volume of traffic increased, leading to increase in the number of trains, and, to complicate the situation, the city roads also became busier along with this.
With the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Dacca became the capital of East Pakistan. Soon the city turned into a vast urban area divided by old and new zones. The roads serving the zones crossed the railway lines at many points. Trains coming to and departing from Phulbaria station and the engines shunting wagons at the yard now kept the gates at the crossings closed so frequently that the flow of vehicular traffic on the roads was seriously interrupted. This situation could not be allowed to continue for long in a busy provincial metropolis. The only remedy was shifting the Phulbaria station and diverting the rail-way lines to an area which was sparsely populated and less busy.
Accordingly it was suggested in 1948 to shift the station to its present site at Kamalapur. The implementation of the suggestion was, however, kept in abeyance for about a decade. In 1958, the suggestion was finally accepted and eventually the financial responsibilities were shifted to the Provincial Government when the railways became a provincial subject. Since then the work on the shifting of the station, diversion of the railway lines from Tejgaon to Gandaria via Kamalapur and construction of office and residential buildings continued vigorously.
The first phase of the station was completed in 1968 at a cost of Rs. 53 million. It is now the biggest railway station of the country and will become one of the largest modem sta-tions of Asia when its second phase is completed in 1970, bringing the total sanctioned cost of the project to Rs. 131.3 million. The main buildings of the station and the yard occupy about 156 acres of land and the complex includes new railway lines, roads, staff quarters, a Rest House, a R. M. S. Building, a park, a hospital and various other amenities for passengers.
The new station is divided into two sections, one meant for local trains and the other for trains coming from distant cor-ners of the province. The construction of the first section in-volved a cast of Rs. 3.1 million while the second section was constructed at a cost of Rs. 4.8 million.
There are 10 platforms, eleven booking counters and four double-bedded and twelve single-bed retiring rooms for passengers. The 59 feet high roof with multiple domes provides a happy blending between the modern and traditional architectural trends.

Death Anniversary of Mirza Ghalib (February 15, 1969)

15 Paisa The stamp is rectangular in format. It is divided into two portions. The right portion consists of Mirza Ghalib’s portrait in a blue frame enriched with Moghul Floral border in reverse. The left portion is a tinted background of rich geometrical pattern of Moghul origin in yellow and green colours containing all the lettering. The words “Death Centenary of Ghalib 1797—1 869” appear at the top in black and in the middle the following Urdu verse in black:

Where, O God, does the next step of
Passion lead
The Wilderness of corporeal universe appears
But a foot-print to me.

The denomination figure ‘15’ with ‘Paisa’ and ‘Postage’ underneath appears in black in bottom left corner. The word ‘Pakistan’ in English, Bengali and Urdu appears one above the other at the bottom in blue. The portrait is printed in three colours, orange, black and yellow, the latter colour showing through the embroidery of the dress only. The background of the portrait is grey vignette off at the top. 50 Paisa: The design of 50 Paisa stamp is the same as of 15 Paisa except that the colour of the frame and the word ‘Pakistan’ in English, Bengali and Urdu appear in purple. The background colour of the left portion is yellow and pink with the following Urdu verse in the middle:

A loftier abode we fain had created
O that for us a residence beyond the stars
Had been destined.

So wrote Ghalib, the last and the greatest of classical poets of the Urdu lan-guage. The image is characteristic. The flickering candle battling to the last breath, hopelessly and alone, against an inexorable end, may well be the poet himself. He is the last articulate spectator of the glory that has departed — the colour and the gaiety, the warmth and good cheer, the “Saqi of incandescent beauty,” the “songster of the ravishing voice “— and all else that peopled the emptiness of now deserted pleasure halls.

Thus in two symbolical lines the poet envisions the passing away of an age, a civilisation and a way of life, his own nostalgia for happier times gone by, and an experience, timeless and universal, in the life of all human individuals and human groups—the experience of the evanescence of time.

The disintegration of the ‘Moghul Empire, began towards the begin-ning of the 18th century after the death of the Emperor Aurangzeb and cul-minated in the formal British annexation of the whole sub-continent after the abor-tive national uprising of 1857. Of the many turbulent epochs in the history of the sub-continent these years were perhaps the most troubled. Following the sack of Delhi in 1739. strife and disorder ravaged the Empire and hordes of marauders scoured the land at will, leaving behind them a disastrous trail of toppled kingdoms, ruined cities and a populace sick with loss and despair. And into this confusion, the foreign invader insinuated himself, first as a trader, then as an ally of one warring faction against another, biding his time until all of them were equally prostrate and after one final convulsion in 1857, the sub-continent resigned itself to the domination of an alien people, to their strange ways, their incomprehensible language and novel values.

And yet this worst of times was also, in some ways, the best of times. During this period, particularly towards its close, Urdu poetry flowered and attained matu-rity; there was a significant revival of Muslim learning, and eminent religious reformers sought to rejuvenate the faith by reasserting its moral and social content.

Contact with western civilization and western thought an introduction to scientific and empirical modes of reasoning, engendered new curiosities and new bewilderment. The rapid erosion of a social edifice, long regarded as fixed and unaltera-ble, demanded new social, cultural and intellectual adjustments. And beyond the ruins of their shattered world, the poet, the scholar, the mystic and the reformer saw the vague glimmer of a world as yet unborn. It was an age of intense pre-occupation with the fundamental problems of life and reality, of heated literary, theological and philosophical controversies, of doubts and questionings, hopes and fears, sensual abandon and intellectual diligence, of the catharsis of physical suffer-ing though emotional and spiritual expression.

And of the many notable poets of this period, Muhammad Taqi Mir (1723— 1810), Muhammad Rafl Sauda (1713—1780), Vali Muhammad Nazir (1735—1830) and Momin Khan Momin (1799—1851), it was Ghalib, above all, who captured, in its entirety, this ‘moment of humanity’, the collective emo-tional, intellectual and spiritual experience of over a century, and made it timeless. He distilled into his Urdu and Persian verse the pain, the nostalgia and the despair of successive generations who watched in bewildered helplessness their great society drift to its destined doom. At the same time he sought to discover for them through subjective, meditative efforts the why and where for, not only of this particular pre-dicament but of the human situation per se and to fortify them with his faith in the eternity of life’s renewal and human regeneration.

Ghalib wrote both in Urdu and in Persian, both prose and verse, although he is best remembered for the briefest of these writings—his thin volume of Urdu poetry in the traditional ‘ghazal’ form—a rather severely restricted composition of a number of two epigrammatic lines in a uniform metre and rhyme. Even the themes and diction of this form were largely conditioned by popular usage and as the poet bad to ‘prove’ himself not in print but in oral recitation before the audien-ces of ‘Mushairas’ or poetic assemblies, he generally suited his tune to the demands of popular or courtly taste. Ghalib for the first time liberated the (3hazal from the tyranny of custom and usage, cut away ornamented frills and conventional tri-vialities, and in a diction all his own, with a montage of telescoped images and multi-associational meanings, made it into an all-purpose instrument of expression for both personal experience and abstract thought. The bewilderment this aroused at first, soon gave place to comprehension and acceptance and his experiments gave to Urdu poetry completely new dimensions in expression—earnestly thoughtful, deeply truthful, wonderfully plastic and evocative. In diction, methodology of expression, and analytical perception of experience, Ghalib was the first of the moderns in Urdu poetry. For his models Ghalib turned to the great treasure-house of Persian poetry, particularly to the poets of our own subcontinent, Bedil, Urfi, Naziri, thus restoring to Urdu poetry its broken link with this great heritage. He carried this process a step further by making the Persian language his vehicle for the expression of more expansive themes, descriptive, philosophical, discursive or narrative, an example, so eminently followed, later, by Allama Iqbal.

Ghalib’s contribution to Urdu prose, although perhaps not so deliberate, was equally significant. In his letters, with their wealth of anecdotes, critical observa-tions, pen-portraits, he departed once again from the highly ornate and laboured style of prose-writing common at the time and introduced the language to the rhythm of colloquial speech, to the beauty of the simple word, and a type of sophisticated wit which came spontaneously to his pen.

“A talisman for the Treasury of Thought
Is the word which finds its way to my verse.”

So Ghalib claimed. And the claim is true of both his prose and his verse.

Ghalib began his poetic career at the age of about ten and by his middle teens had already become known as something of a literary figure. At the age of twenty four he compiled his first ‘Diwan’ or collection of Urdu poetry. During the next five or six years in the company of the most discriminating scholars and critics of the day gathered in Delhi, he chiseled and perfected his charac-teristic style and then ventured forth on a new exercise in poetic expression. For nearly twenty years after 1847, in some ways the richest and most arduous years of his life, he wrote mainly in Persian. In 184243 he published the first revised version of his Urdu verse and a little later his first collection of Persian poetry. When Ghalib joined the Royal Court in 1850, his indefatigable muse turned to Urdu once again and simultaneously he began pioneering in a completely different field— Urdu prose. It was during this period that he began to correspond with his friends and pupils in Urdu and these inimitable letters were later collected and published in two separate volumes named OOD-I-HINDI (1868) and URDU-I-MUALLA (1869) towards the end of’ his life. His collection of Persian prose entitled ‘PANJ AHANG’ and a portion of his history of Moghul Kings, a commissioned work called MEHRE NEEMROZE also came out during the same time i.e. 1850—57. The period of violent disorder during and after the uprising of 1857, Ghalib spent mostly confined to his house and utilized this enforced leisure to write a diary of his experiences in a Persian pamphlet called DASTAMBO, a picturesque and moving account of those calamitous days. In 1862 he published a polemical pamphlet entitled QATA-I-BURHAN seeking to correct what he considered to be inaccuracies in a Persian Dictionary called BURHAN-I-QATE very popular with Persian scholars of the day, thus re-opening old wounds of his earlier literary skirmishes in Calcutta and in the ensuing uproar, he was called upon to return repeatedly to the fray to answer his many critics.

During the closing years of his life he saw the publication of his collected works both in Urdu and Persian, never received a penny in royalty, and had to beg and borrow from his friends to buy his own books for distribution to the persons he valued.

Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan as he was named at birth was born at AKBARABAD (Agra) on 27th December 1797. The non-de-plume which made him famous, he assumed in his twenties when he first turned his pen to Persian verse. In his early Urdu writings the pen-name he used was Asad. Ghalib was descended from a family of Aibak Turks of present day Uzbekistan. His grandfather Mirza Qauqan Beg Khan left his native Samarkand in search of adventure somewhere early in the 18th century and found service with the Moghul Governor of Lahore. Ghalib’s father Mirza Abdullah Beg Khan married into a family of rich noblemen of Agra but this appears to have been the only stroke of good luck he ever had. He was killed in battle in the service of the Prince of Alwar, when Ghalib was only five years old. The orphaned child was given into the care of his uncle Mirza Nasrullah Beg Khan—a man better favoured by fortune. Nasrullah Beg was appointed to the Governorship of Agra by the Marahattas and after the city fell to the British, he was absorbed into the Imperial forces in fairly senior rank. He too died in service four years later. As Nasrullah Beg had no children of his own, the considerable annuity and properties the British had bestowed on him devolved to his collateral heirs, of which Ghalib and his brother Yusuf Beg Khan were the nearest. For Ghalib this proved both a blessing and a bane. While his share of this endowment did ensure for him a subsistence, he was not given what was right-fully his due and until the end of his days he fought an interminable and heart-breaking battle to obtain redress. This hopeless battle with its unending series of defeats, reverses and humiliations, petitions, appeals, an arduous and fruitless journey from Delhi to Calcutta, and knocking at the doors of various British bureau-crats, big and small, is perhaps, the longest shadow which overcast Ghalib’s life, a life beset by many other cares and other sorrows.

But to return to his childhood. After the death of his uncle Ghalib spent the rest of his early years with his mother’s affluent family at Agra and, from all ac-counts, these were the happiest and most care-free years of his life. He never com-pleted his formal education, a lack he often regretted, but he did receive instruction in the then popular branches of learning, theology, astronomy, logic, jurispru-dence, literature and medicine from a noted local scholar Khalifa Mohammad Muazzam. According to Ghalib’s own avowal, however, his real mentor was ,a wandering Persian scholar, who spent two whole years with him during his early teens, a Zoroastrian, Hormuzad, by name, who took on the name of Abdus Samad after his conversion to Islam.

At the age of thirteen, Ghalib was married to Umrao Begum, daughter of Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh Maruf of Delhi. Nawab Ilahi Bakhsh was brother of Nawab Ahmed Bakhsh Khan of Loharu, one of the most influential noblemen of Delhi and a brother-in-law of Ghalib’s uncle Nasrullah Beg. Two or three years after his marriage, Ghalib set up house in Delhi although until he was nineteen or twenty he still spent a good deal of his time in Agra.

Ghalib’s fame as a poet had preceded him before he settled down in Delhi. He was related by marriage to one of the foremost families of the capital and had a claim to rank among the nobility. Inspite of his haphazard schooling he could hold his own in learned discourse. He was soon accepted as a member of the metropolitan elite, the elite of poets, scholars, and accomplished nobleman, and for the first few years, his life followed the happy and leisurely pat-tern of the privileged aristocracy, reading, writing, entertaining friends, poetic assemblies, learned discussions, formal calls.

But the holiday was short-lived. By 1824-25 debts and other financial difficul-ties he had so blithely ignored began to press heavily upon him and for the next twenty years he was deeply involved in the struggle already referred to, the struggle to retrieve his family pension and other assets. In 1827 he set out for Calcutta to present his case personally to the Governor-General, stopping at Lucknow and Benares on the way. Nothing came of the representation but the journey enriched the poet in many ways. The stay at Benares produced a beautiful long poem in Persian and the sojourn in Calcutta gave him his first intimate glimpse of European society and the new cultural mores they had brought with them. The experience gave him a new awareness of the progressive march of human social history, con-firming his faith in the future of new human societies and in his own zest for the joys of living. On the negative side were the heavy and unrecompensed expenses of the journey and of the two years stay in Calcutta.

At the age of 53, he accepted a job, the incumbent of which technically enjoyed the distinction of being the king’s “poetic tutor “, - at the court of the last Moghul King Bahadur Shah. In 1857 came the fearful holocaust after the failure of the nationalist uprising. The victorious British subjected the Muslim populace of Delhi to unspeakable atrocities. Many of Ghalib’s dearest friends were hanged, banished or rendered destitute. His only brother, mentally deranged for some years, died. Ghalib’s meager pension was discontinued. The fair city he loved was reduced to a waste-land.

Ghalib survived the calamity for eleven years, To add to all this, Ghalib had his share of personal bereavements. His seven children all died in their infancy. Then he adopted a nephew of his wife whom he dearly loved, Zainul Abedin Arif and he too died in the prime of youth.

Such then was the life of this poet. Of his personality and temperament, his friends, pupils and above all his own letters have left us a wealth of material. He was a man of great warmth of heart, a devoted friend, a gracious teacher, as punc-tilious in his formal duties towards his friends and relatives as he was neglectful of his own interests, as proud of his genius and his station before the world as he was humble towards men he loved and respected. He suffered no fools and was fiercely intolerant of pompous obscurantists and pseudo-scholars. And yet in his personal dealings he was gentle to a fault, even gullible to a degree and a man of great application and industry in his art. But perhaps the dominant and most endearing quality about him was his wit and unfailing good humour, his cheerfulness which kept breaking in on the gloomiest of situations, and a stout resoluteness to see every problem and every situation through. This cheerfulness abided by him all through his long and painful sickness until on 15th February, 1869,

“his flawed heart burst smilingly “.
“What a free, untrammeled man he was. May God rest his soul “,

(Write-up contributed by Mr. Faiz Ahmed Faiz)

Mexico Olympics 1968 Hockey Champion (January 30, 1969)

The format of the stamps is rectangular and vertical. There is a green panel at the top, in the left portion of which appears the lettering “MEXICO OLYMPICS 1968” and the Olympics rings in the right half portion, all in reverse. The Background below the panel is in pink colour in Re. 1/-stamp and light blue in 15 Paisa stamp. A hockey player is shown in action near the left side of the stamp in green, black and white, partially superimposed on a fairly large size facsimile of Gold Medal which is printed in gold and green. The inscription and other details of gold medal being in green. The word “Pakistan” in Bengali, Urdu and English reads in one line at the bottom in black. Just above this line appears the word “Postage” at the left end and the denominations Re.1 or Paisa 15 at the right end in black. The caption “HOCKEY CHAMPIONS” appears just below the green panel in black.
The Commemorative Postage Stamps will be available for sale on and from the 30th January, 1969 for a period of three months at all important Post Offices, Philatelic Bureaux and Philatelic Counters and also at some of the Pakistan Diplomatic Missions abroad. Thereafter, if the supplies are still available, they will be sold only at the Philatelic Bureaux and Philatelic Counters
As a happy coincidence, the culmination of the Decade of Reforms on 26th October 1968 brought in a new glory for Pakis-tan in the field of sports when it won back the coveted world hockey crown at the Mexico Olympics. After a series of dazzling victories, Pakistan re-established its position as the unbeaten world champions in hockey.
Since long the areas now in Pakistan have produced many great hockey players who won international acclaim. Imme-diately after Independence this branch of sports, however, did not receive enough encouragement in the country, as such the per-formance during the first few years were not very encouraging. The young nation did not fare as well as they should have in London Olympics in 1948 where they finished fourth. Four years later in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics Pakistan again failed to achieve great results. This led to the formation of a committee whose recommendations were later put into effect and hockey activities were accelerated.
Pakistan made its mark in the international hockey when they reached the final in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. Only two years later in the Asian Games at Tokyo, Pakistan won the gold medal from India on better goal average. It was a magni-ficent achievement on the part of Pakistan but a bigger occa-sion still awaited the new Asian Champions. Two years later, at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Pakistan led by Hamidi became world Hockey Champions.
In 1962 at Jakarta Pakistan defended the Asian crown, beating India by two goals to nil. Pakistan, however, suffered setback in 1964 Tokyo Olympics when she surrendered the world title to India. In 1966 Pakistan lost the Asian title also. In 1967 Pakistan played test series against Holland and Aus-tralia and later participated in the London Hockey Festival. In early 1968 an International Hockey Festival was held at Lahore where Pakistan finished on top. Later Japan visited Pakistan but the Japanese team was beaten in all the three tests.
During the two years preceding 1968 Olympics, various com-bination were tried for the Pakistan team and finally a satisfac-tory combination was found out. A panel of coaches was entrusted with the job of training the players at Lower Topa keeping in view the high altitude of the Mexico City. All these efforts were amply rewarded when the team came out victorious at the Mexico City Olympics beating Holland, Kenya, France, England, Argentina, Australia, Malaysia & West Germany. The President of Pakistan Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan congratulated the members of the Pakistan Hockey Team on their superb performance. In a cable sent to the skip per, Tariq Aziz, the President said, “I heartily congratulate you and all members of your team on their grand victory in the Olympic Championship. This is a tribute to your team spirit, dedication and skill. Pakistan is proud of your superb performance\".

Family Planning (January 14, 1969)

The stamp is horizontal in format. Four figures in abstract representing happy family comprising of parents and two children appear at the left hand side of the stamp in bold outline of mauve colour against a blue back-ground. The insignia of ‘Family Planning Division’ appears in mauve colour in a white circle at the top right corner. The entire lettering is in mauve colour on a blue background. The caption “Family Planning for Prosperity” appears at the top, the word ‘Pakistan’ in English at the right side vertically. ‘Pakistan’ in Bengali and Urdu appears together in the bottom right corner horizontally. The denomination numeral ‘15’ appears in the bottom left corner with ‘Paisa’ and ‘Postage’ underneath. The Pakistan Post Office is issuing a stamp of 15 Paisa denomination to focus public attention to the concept of Family Planning. The Commemorative Postage Stamp will be available for sale on and from 14th January, 1969 for a period of three months at all important Post Offices, Philatelic Bureaux and Philatelic Counters and also at some of the Pakistan Diploma-tic Missions abroad. Thereafter, if the supplies are still avail-able, they will be sold only at the Philatelic Bureaux and Philate-lic Counters.
Since the turn of the present century, the areas constituting Pakistan have been experiencing an increasing rate of population growth. The population enumerated in the area was 45.5 mil-lion in 1901, 75.8 million in 1951 and 93.8 million in 1961. Thus, during the first half of the century (1901-51), the population in-creased by 30 million or 6 million per decade, for an annual rate rising to just over 1% per annum. During the last Decade (1951-61), the increase in number was three times as large as the average per decade for the previous 5 periods. Pakistan’s Planning Com-mission, however, observed that the 1961 census was subject to a considerable under-enumeration, particularly in the age group of 0—3 and in the case of females. When corrections were made for this under-count the population of the country in 1961 was estimated to be about 101.5 million. As such on this estimation, the total population of the country at the beginning of the current Five-Year Plan in July 1965 was 115.6 million, with an estimated birth rate of 50 per thousand and a death rate of 20 per thousand, yielding a natural increase of 30 per thousand and a growth rate approaching 3 % per year which is among the highest in the world. This fast multiplication of our numbers is largely res-ponsible for keeping the per capita daily income at a low level inspite of the fact that the pace of economic development in Pakistan is one of the highest among the developing countries.
The current rapid rate of population growth coupled with a high dependency load, the proportion of children under 15 being 44.5% of the population as against 25 in western countries,further aggravates the problem on the economic front. Such a high dependency load adversely effects capital formation as a greater portion of economic gain is absorbed in meeting current consumption needs and the cost of augmenting the health, educa-tion and other welfare services, thereby reducing savings avail-able or the investment so essential for future development.
During the 2nd Five-Year Plan (1960-65) about 40% of the economic growth was absorbed by population increase thus detracting from a significant impact on the per capita income. Economic growth during the current Plan period (1965-70) is estimated to be 7 to 8 per cent, but the increase in per capita income will not be so meaningful unless substantial reduction in the birth rate is achieved.
It is against this background that Pakistan has embarked upon a national movement of Family Planning during Third Five-Year Plan (1965-70). It is a part of the long term 20 year pers-pective plan (1965-8 5) which is a blue print for achieving econo-mic self-sufficiency for the country and amelioration of the condi-tions of the people by curtailment of the exceedingly high rate of population growth. Accordingly, on the basis of the experience gained during the Second Plan, a revised and more comprehensive Family Planning Scheme costing Rs. 284 million has been in-corporated in the Third Plan. The current Scheme in Pakistan is postulated on six basic assumptions:
(i) Family Planning efforts need to be public relations oriented and not merely clinical;
(ii) Operations should be conducted through autonomous bodies with decentralized authority at all tiers right down to the grass root level, for expeditious decision making;
(iii) Monetary incentives play an important role;
(iv) Inter-personal motivation in terms of life experience of the clientele through familiar contact coupled with mass media of publicity should be used;
(v) Supplies and services in all related disciplines should be available at the door steps of the people; and
(vi) Training, evaluation and research should be multi-dimensional and continual as an integral part of the Programme. The minimum goal set for the Programme is to reduce birth rate from an estimated 50 to 40 per thousand by reaching all the estimated 20 million fertile couples by 1970. Assuming fur-ther moderate decline in the death rate from 20 to 15 per thou-sand, this would yield a net decline in the growth rate from 3 % to 2.5 0/0. This goal is to be achieved by making family planning services and knowledge available to the entire population by 1970. The ultimate goal of the programme is to bring the popula-tion growth rate down to 1.5% by 1985.
After three years of operations, the number of persons work-ing for the Family Planning Programme today exceeds 100,000 (including 50,000 agents registered for distribution of conventional contraceptives at the rate of one agent per 1000 population). This provides the basic infrastructure for effective implementation of the Programme. The Family Planning movement is gathering new strides and fresh momentum every day. The number of coil cases done during the last three years is 2 million and that of sterilization more than half a million. The sales of conventional contraceptive are in the region of 15 million a month and aggre-gate to over 450 million units. But for an effective and dynamic Family Planning Programme in the country, it would not be possible to achieve the targets of socio-economic development and national prosperity. Current Family Planning movement has arrested the growing birth rate, and reduce the annual rate of population growth from 3 to 2.5%. Thus, during the current Plan period, at least 70% of the economic growth will be avail- able to augment the per capita income of each citizen of this country. If Government had not launched the Family Planning movement, 4000 of the increase in the Gross National Produce would have been absorbed by population increase and only 60% of it would have gone towards augmentation of per capita income. This difference of 10% in the available surplus for dis-tribution among the people of Pakistan represents over Rs. 500 crore and has been obtained by an investment of only Rs. 30 crore on the Family Planning Scheme. In economic terms, in-vestment on Family Planning has a higher capital output ratio than that in any other Sector in national development.

First Steel Mill of Pakistan at Chittagong (January 7, 1969)

The format of the stamp is horizontal. The special feature of the stamp is a moss green colour decorative arch and a side panel at the right in medallion pattern. The arch is bridged at the bottom with the lettering of “Pakistan” in Bengali, Urdu and English in the same colour as the arch. The steel mill is shown through the arch in dark grey colour against a light blue sky, with three of its chimneys appearing in the middle of the arch. The caption “Pakistan’s First Steel Mill at Chittagong” appears in black at the top. The denomination figure ‘15’ with ‘Paisa’ underneath appears in black at the bottom and the word ‘POSTAGE’ also in black, appears at the top of the panel.
The East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation achieved one of its most coveted goals when it established the first steel mill of Pakistan at Chittagong. This achievement is an important milestone in the story of. Pakistan’s onward march to the goal of self-sustained economic growth. The Mill was formally inaugurated by the President of Pakistan on August 24, 1967 and since then it has been producing various types of iron and steel materials. To commemorate this important achievement the Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of 15 paisa denomination on the 7th January, 1969.
The importance of setting up a Steel Mill, a basic industry to meet the requirements of many other industries, engaged the attention of planners in the Government soon after the establish-ment of Pakistan. The project was conceived of in the First Five-Year Plan. It was, however, taken up for implementation in the public sector during the Second Five-Year Plan period.
The scheme on Chittagong Steel Mill, originally named Iron & Steel Works, was approved by the Government in April, 1963. With concerted efforts, the construction of factory buildings and erection of machinery were completed in 1966 and first batch of ingot was tapped on 1st February, 1967 after trial runs. The total investment in the Mill is 335.7 million of which 171.1 million was in foreign currency. The recurring foreign exchange requirement of the Mill is estimated to be Rs. 79.1 million annually.
When in full production the Mill will be able to produce1,50,000 tons of ingot steel. And the ingot steel will, be finished into such items as are presently most in demand as indicated below:
Bar and Shape: 43,000 to 45,000 tons
Sheet.
Black Plain: 4,000 tons
Galvanised Plain: 6,000 tons
Galvanised Corrugated: 40,000 tons.
Plates: 15,000 tons
Total: 1,08,000 to 1,10,000 tons
It will save Rs. 2.8 crores annually in foreign exchange at its existing capacity. By 1970 when the expansion which has been taken in hand will be completed, it will turn out another 100,000 tons of ingot steel raising the capacity of the Steel Mill to 250,000 tons of ingot steel per year. The foreign exchange saving by 1970 will be about Rs. 4.75 crores per annum.
Expansion
In order to make the Mill more economic with diversification of finished products, expansion of Mill has been envisaged to increase the capacity to 250,000 tons of ingot steel. The ex-pansion scheme has been approved by EC of NEC on 14-9-66 and contracts for supply of plant and machinery has since been signed. The expansion work of the Mill is going on in full swing and when completed it is expected to yield the following additional finished products and thus the ‘Steel Mill will meet about 35% of the demand of the province
Bar and Shape:15,000 tons/year
Sheet:18,000 tons/year
Plate: 47,000 tons/year
Feasibility study to set up another Steel Mill plant for pro-duction of 500,000 tons of ingot steel on imported iron ore has been made. Work on the project is expected to commence during the Third Plan period.