Birth Celebrations of Air Marshal Nur Khan. Issue date:- 22-02-2012.

Birthday Celebrations of Air Marshal Nur Khan Commemorative Postage Stamp February 22, 2012:- An ace fighter pilot, a visionary commander and an epitome of a leader, Air Marshal Nur Khan emerged on the global landscape as a true icon, a legend and a national hero.

Hailing from Taman (then Attock District), Malik Nur Khan was born on February 22, 1923. After successfully completing his primary education from government school Taman and Aitchison College, he joined Royal Indian Military College (RIMC) Dehra Dun in 1934. During training at this premier institution, he showed remarkable performance and was well known and respected for his razor-sharp intelligence and Sportsmanship. He was commissioned on January 6, 1941 as a fighter pilot in the Royal Indian Air Force, at the age of seventeen years ten months only. After serving in No.3 Squadron of the Royal Indian Air Force, he participated in the World War II at the Burma front. At the time of partition in 1947, Nur Khan opted for Pakistan Air Force and later served the PAF on various appointments which included command of Chaklala, Peshawar, Mauripur stations, No.1 Group at Peshawar and PAF Academy besides various tenures at Air HQs in different capacities. He remained involved in the induction of aircraft under U.S military aid. He made relentless efforts in the induction of F-86s instead of F-84s, dispite opposition.

Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan showed his true colours, when he was given the prestigious command of Pakistan Air Force, on July 23, 1965. As Commander-in-Chief of PAF, he established the foundations of aggressive tactics, construed the time according to situation, and adopted ways and means that were in the best interest of service. As a true leader he knew the art of winning hearts and minds of the under command. He remained involved in the affairs of the PAF Airmen, cared for them and took actions that raised their morale. He was a statuesque man, who commanded the Pakistan Air Force during the country’s first real test since independence, during Indo-Pak war in 1965. It was his thorough insight into the complexities of war that saw the Pakistan Air Force soundly quashed the aggressor’s aircraft both on ground and in the air. It was due to his visionary leadership that in 1965 war, a small but courageous and well trained air force knocked out there time bigger air force.

After the cease fire in 1965 war, Pakistan suffered from US sanctions and Arms Embargo, which adversely affected the PAF and all of its US origin weapon systems were grounded. At this very crucial juncture, Air Marshal Nur Khan once again rose to the occasion. He called upon his visionary skills by looking to China and France for military replenishments to overcome the considerable problems the PAF had suffered due to lack of spares. Within months, his relentless efforts bore fruit and first batch of Chinese F-6s and French Mirages as a strike aircraft were delivered, so that the PAF could continue to defend the country, which the adoring population was expecting at that time.

Apart from rising to the coveted position of C-in-C of PAF at the age of 42, he went on to make a name for himself in many diverse fields. It was during his secondment to Pakistan International Airlines from 1959 – 1965, that his willingness to lead from the front thrust him into the global spotlight. Within months of taking over the responsibilities of PIA, he was able to convert the national airline from a non-descript and struggling career into a dynamic and successful international airline to become the first in the region to operate the new revolutionary Boeing 707. In February, 1964, he was also appointed Chief Administrator of Civil Aviation and Tourism. His vision on tourism and initiatives resulted in promotion of hotel business in Pakistan. His tenure on this appointment saw acquisition of foreign hotels and extending help to over 46 foreign airlines to train their pilots, engineers, employees and revive their fortunes.

Nur Khan also rendered colossal services for the uplift of national sports of Hockey, Cricket and Squash and enabled Pakistan to reach the pinnacle. In Hockey, he was able to get Pakistan claim two Olympic, World Cup and Champions Trophy titles, the later two being his own brainchild apart from many new innovations to uplift these sports from decline and decadence. When he became chairman PCB (then BCCP) in February 1980, he made the Asia Cup an enduring reality and introduced neutral umpiring in cricket World Cup to the subcontinent for the first time. When Nur Khan took over the responsibility of reviving Squash in the country, the game saw its zenith. His revolutionary steps for the uplift of the game included introduction of talent hunt scheme which paid dividends and produced a surfeit of world class Pakistani players in the 70s: Qamar Zaman, Gogi Allauddin, Hidayat Jahan, Mohibullah Khan, Junior and others. In 1975, his efforts bore fruit as Qamar Zaman brought back the British Open title to Pakistan after 12 years. He during his short stints as Minister of Education and Governor of West Pakistan made all endeavours to promote education and improve the social fibre of the nation.

The services rendered by Air Marshal Nur Khan were acknowledged both at national and international levels and he became a highly decorated officer of PAF. His decorations include Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-e-Shujat, Sitara-i-Pakistan and Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam. The King of Jordan awarded him the Order of Istiqlal (2^nd Class) and was decorated as Commander of the National Order of the Cedars by the President of Lebanon, besides the award of Grand Officer in the order of Range Nassau with Swords by the Dutch Government.

Air Marshal Nur Khan was a very proud, patriotic, devoted and a decorated “SON” of Pakistan. His charismatic personality, dynamic leadership, visionary wisdom, razor-sharp intelligence, outstanding management abilities, and inexhaustible diligence made him the most accomplished person of modern history. His long, distinguished and illustrious services in diverse fields earned him a name that would be surely remembered till the end of times. He was the man with Mida’s touch; whatever he touched became gold, whatever he envisaged became reality, whatever he pursued became exemplary- truly “Giant among men”:

The saga of epic quests and achievements ended when the legend expired on December 15, 2011, leaving behind a trail of courage, professionalism and dedication for the nation to cherish and follow.

To commemorate Birthday Celebrations of Air Marshal Nur Khan, Pakistan Post is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs. 8/- denomination on February 22, 2012.

Gibraltar Chess festival

In his book ‘A Century Of British Chess’, Philip Sergeant writes that Britain’s first chess club, Parsloe’s, which opened in 1774, numbered among its early supporters George Eliot, later General Eliot, Governor of Gibraltar and commander of the forces during the Great Siege of 1779-1783. Many famous military men have played chess. Down the ages Gibraltarians, together with other local residents and Gibraltar garrison personnel, have included chess amongst their leisure activities.

The Gibraltar International Chess Festival, now one of the most prestigious open tournaments in the world, began as a much smaller event in 2003. Its popularity has grown year on year, and today well over 300 participants, players of all levels, return to the Rock every January, many calling Gibraltar their favourite event on the chess calendar. For eleven days the festival venue, the Caleta Hotel, is transformed into a hive of chess activity. Arriving here from all corners of the world, players can be sure that old friendships will be renewed, and – win or lose – new ones made.

In a separate development, the first Gibraltar International Junior Chess Festival took place in August, 2011. Children from the UK, Spain, and Gibraltar took part. Over the past decade, thanks to a dedicated teaching programme, many hundreds of children in Gibraltar have received chess tuition at school. One young Gibraltarian, Stephen Whatley, has scored notable tournament successes in the UK, while several other young local players show similar promise, with more juniors keen to follow.

The games featured on the stamps have been specially chosen as representing the best of the many thousands contested in Gibraltar over the past decade. All the players shown are grandmasters. Two are women. Pia Cramling (Sweden) has played in all ten Gibraltar festivals, while Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine) won the top female award in 2010. Michael Adams, Nigel Short (both England) and Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) are all former Gibraltar champions. Viktor Bologan (Moldova) and Fabiano Caruana (Italy) are elite players with aggressive styles popular with the public. Chess legend Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) fought two World Championship matches with arch-rival Anatoly Karpov.

The festival is followed by fans online thanks to the technical back-up of Gibtelecom, Gibraltar’s main telecommunications provider, whose loyal support over ten years has been crucial to the festival’s development and success. Tradewise Insurance (Twi) took over the role of lead sponsor in 2011, and demonstrating the fullest commitment they are raising the profile of chess still further. Thanks to these, and other, local sponsors, and with an important contribution from the Gibraltar Government’s Sports & Leisure Authority, the small territory of Gibraltar has, in ten years, firmly established itself as a capital city of world chess.

Old wooden decoys on Franking labels

2012 sees the start of a new theme for Åland franking labels. Reputable stamp artist Juha Pykäläinen was commissioned to illustrate old wooden duck decoys; first out is the eider duck.

Wildfowl decoys are lifelike dummies used by hunters to encourage birds to land nearby. The oldest decoys were made from plants such as bulrush, and the first decoys carved from wood were unpainted. Decoys are now mostly made from plastic. The new series of postal labels shows painted wooden decoys.

One of the largest sea ducks is the eider with a body length of 60 to 70 cm. It has a large bulky shape with a short neck, a large head and a long wedge-shaped bill without knob. The bill is feathered on the sides from the base of the bill to the nostrils. The eider can be readily distinguished by its characteristic triangular head shape with the bill and forehead forming a straight line. The wings are broad, short and relatively small with a wingspan of 95 to 105 cm. The male eider is also called eider drake.

The Bahamas – WWF

This stamp issue, produced in association with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), illustrates the National Bird of the Bahamas.

Long ago, these beautiful birds were found all over the Bahamas, but they were killed for food and sport and taken away on passing ships on which they died. Now they are a protected species and watched over by the Society for the Protection of the Flamingo in The Bahamas through the Bahamas National Trust, a statutory body set up in 1959.

The flamingo has a large breeding colony on Great Inagua. It is one of three major nesting groups found in the West Indian region. The other two being in the Yucatan, Mexico, and Bonaire of the Netherlands Antilles.

Caribbean flamingos, also called the greater flamingo and American flamingo, with their long spindly legs and feet, long and gracefully curved necks and fantastically bright pink feathers, legs and webbed feet are quite unmistakeable. Another unique feature is of course their large hooked bill which is again pink but with a black tip. They grow to a height of around 47 to 55 inches and have a wingspan of around 5 feet. The sexes are similar in appearance although males tend to be larger than the females.

The Caribbean flamingo generally breeds between March and mid-July. The birds court each other with a variety of display behaviours that include head movements, marching, wing displays and vocalisations. These communal displays serve to synchronize hormonal cycling for breeding. They construct large nests out of mud that may reach a foot in height and the female will usually lay one or two eggs which she and the male will take turns to incubate, folding their legs and straddling the nests. The eggs are elongated, chalky white with a blood-red yolk and take about a month to incubate. The young are born agile, able to run and swim; but look nothing like their parents. Both parents feed the young by regurgitation and the pink colouring comes from eating shrimp and other aquatic creatures containing carotenoid pigments which are deposited into the feathers and skin. Without these the flamingo’s feathers would be white. They are fledged in around 75 days.

Chicks reach their adult size in 1½ to 2 years and don’t have their adult plumage for 2 – 4 years. In the wild, the flamingo can typically live for up to 30 years. In captivity this can be longer.

Flamingos are very skittish and will fly away if disturbed. They are very vocal and have numerous calls. Breeding pairs have location calls to help locate each other and alarm calls are used to warn the group of danger.  The usual call is a loud goose-like honking sound. The chicks even make calls while they are in the egg, which their parents learn to recognize.

The flamingo prefers areas with plenty of mud and water such as mudflats, brackish lakes and shallow coastal lagoons where it uses its backwards bending legs to stir up the mud in search of food which comprises seeds, blue-green algae, crustaceans and molluscs. This is then filtered through two rows oflamellae or comb-like bristles that line the inside of its bill and trap the food. It also has bristles on its tongue that help it filter food out of the water. They will feed at any time of the day or night. When an area no longer provides sufficient food the flamingos will migrate to another area at night.

World Cat Show 2012 stamp

Monaco Post has issued a stamp to commemorate the 5th World Cat Show 2012 which will be held in the Auditorium Rainier III, Monaco, on February, 11-12, 2012. Organized by the Feline Federation of Monte Carlo according to the criteria of the World Cat Federation, the event will feature the "Russian Blue", whose specimen is shown on the stamp.