Source: Internet It was dead of night of 29 September 1913. A steamship named SS Dresden was on her voyage from Antwerp, Belgium to Harwich, England. The ship sailed through the water of English Channel; little murmur of the engine was breaking the eerie silence of the surroundings.  At around 10 pm, one of the passengers of the vessel, who had boarded the vessel in the evening, after his dinner, went to his cabin to sleep. While leaving the dining hall, he told the porter to wake him up at 6:15 am next day morning. That was the last time, he was seen by the fellow passengers and ..read more

A 2000 year old Baobab tree at Saadani village, Tanzania, Africa If we think of something longest living on this mother earth, a single name surfaces in our minds that is Baobab tree. Its scientific name is Adansonia Digitata, named after Michel Adanson, the French botanist who first identified the specie in Senegal, Africa (1750 CE).  Subpecies of Adnansonia Digitata, Australia (Source: Internet) In its lifetime, a baobab tree witnesses several centuries, standing still at one place. It has an extra-ordinary lifespan of 1500-2000 years! One baobab tree in Namibia has ..read more

Source: Internet - 'Give me back that postage stamp or accept this termination letter for your job!' Something like this might have happened related to a particular postage stamp. The order was given by none other than C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) of USA, the civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, to a few of its own employees. Subsequently, the stamp became famous as 'CIA invert'. Otherwise, it had nothing to do with the activities of C.I.A. to commemorate. It was a definitive stamp and was purely related to philately. Norm ..read more

  Servo - My Stamp On 28 January 2023, a My Stamp and Special Cover on 50 years of Servo brand of lubricants of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. was issued by India Post. The lubricant brand called Servo was introduced to Indian  market in the year of 1972 by the Fortune 500 company. The formulation of the product and its variety is credited to the Research and Development (R&D) division of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. The R&D Centre of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., is located in Faridabad, near New Delhi. It is a great domestic achievement of R&D effort wherein nearly ..read more

Welcome Name of the event: National Philatelic Exhibition 2023 or Amritpex’2023 Duration: From 11th to 15th February 2023 (5 days) Venue: Hall number 05, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India Covered area: 100,000 Square feet (approx.) Number of frames for display of philatelic exhibits = 1400 Number of exhibits = 20,000+ Number of philatelic exhibitors = 500 Number of categories = 13 (competitive) + Invitee class Number of themes = 5  Number of visitors = 25,000+ Number of schools wherefrom students visited = 125 (National Capital Region Delhi) & others schools Organizer: Depar ..read more

Petroleum: Formed millions of years ago, from organic matters, under the crust of earth, through natural high pressure and extreme temperature.  Archaeological findings indicate the use of raw petroleum in the days of Pharaohs. In twentieth century and till date, it has become a mighty industrial force to be reckoned with. Its application ranges from illumination to cooking to many others. The modern civilisation is catapulted by and also till date is driven by petroleum oil and its derivatives. Complex hydrocarbons are broken down through refining processes to produce petrol (gaso ..read more

  Marble statue of Goddess Saraswati (featured in India Post stamp) Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of wisdom is known since Vedic era. In the scripts of Rigveda, Saraswati is also a river. Goddess Saraswati is Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, learning, art, music, literature etc. In Eastern India, she is considered as daughter of Goddess Durga and Lord Shiva. Not only Hindus, but she is worshipped by Jains and some sects of Buddhism. Ancient civilizations had different names for the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. For the Greeks she was Athena. Mighty Romans had Minerva. In the days ..read more

Panipat Refinery My Stamp of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Petroleum: Formed millions of years ago, from organic matters, under the crust of earth, through natural high pressure and extreme temperature.  Archaeological findings indicate the use of raw petroleum in the days of Pharaohs. In twentieth century and till date, it has become a mighty industrial force to be reckoned with. Its application ranges from illumination to cooking to many others. The modern civilisation is catapulted by and also till date is driven by petroleum oil and its derivatives. Complex hydrocarbons are b ..read more

  The Flame of Liberty Every year, either on 13th or on 14th April, Baisakhi is celebrated by Sikh community with great fanfare. It is the event of spring harvesting in Punjab, a state in northern India. It is also the establishment of Khalsa (meaning pure) order by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru (spiritual leader) of Sikhism, on 13 Apr 1699.  Issued on 17 January 1967 (Source: Internet) India Post has issued a commemorative postage stamp on 300th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh on 17 January 1967. Baisakhi is a colorful festival, when Sikh population comes ..read more

  100+ Years old operating refinery Petroleum is the main driving force of modern civilization. Crude petroleum oil is extracted from underground reservoirs, refined in oil refineries and distributed across the country for consumption. Here are a few questions pertaining to petroleum industry of India:- 1. Where the petroleum crude oil was first discovered? 2. Where the first oil well was dug? 3. In which place the first petroleum oil refinery was set up? 4. In which state the first crude oil pipeline was laid? 5. In which state the first petroleum produ ..read more