Sunday, April 22, 2012
Government High School No.1, Malakand Division Commemorative Postage
Stamp April 15, 2012:- Allah, the Most Gracious. It is He Who has taught
the Quran. He has created man. He has taught him utterance. Thana
(Surrah Al-Rehman):- Allah, increase me in knowledge, so prayed Moses to Allah as revealed in the Holy Quran and the first word of the first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) “Read in the name of Allah who created you”.
The Holy Prophet was directed by Allah Almighty to pray for enhancement in knowledge. So knowledge can not but be our Chief and prior concern. Education is important for self development, self fulfillment and for attaining physical, mental, social and emotional stability. Acquiring education does not mean only to gain some prescribed amount of knowledge or develop and enhance skills; it is preparation for better and a happier life.
Upgraded to middle level in 1912, Government High School No.1 was then known as Government Anglo Vernacular Middle School Thana. At that time this historical school was having a total enrolment of one hundred and seven students. Only three teachers were responsible for imparting education to the students. In fact they were fighting against the ignorance as some local Mullahs were actively involved in running campaign against the modern education. The presence of the names of Mr. Wishwant and Mr. Deewan Chand on the honor board of 1940’s clearly indicates that equal rights of studies are being given to both, the Muslims and minorities.
However over the period of time, the people of
village and other parts of Malakand Agency after realizing the need and
importance of modern education started sending their children to the school.
Consequently a large number of students were attracted from Swat, Dir, Bajour,
Chitral, Batkhela, Dargai and many other villages. To accommodate all incoming
students from the outskirts, a beautiful hostel was constructed in 1916. The
people of Thana
village voluntarily donated a big piece of land for extension in the school and
construction of the hostel. On 7th June, 1934 the school was
upgraded and renamed as Government High School Thana Malakand Agency.
Some area including play grounds, agricultural plot and the area pertaining to the then hostel was later on donated for construction of the Girls Degree College Thana which is also considered as the best contribution of the school.
Keeping in view the recent requirements of students, the school building has been renovated, enabling the management to impart education to the students both in Urdu and English languages. In addition to the compulsory subjects, Agriculture, Commerce, Industrial Arts and Technical Education subjects are also being taught in the school.
Till date, nine principals, eighteen Head masters, Four hundred eighty five teachers and one hundred ten non teaching staff of this historical school have rendered valuable services to the people of Malakand Division. A record number of twenty four thousand eight hundred and seven students have been enrolled and benefited from this school since its inception. A great number of VIPs including Lord Irvin, the then Viceroy of India visited this school on various occasions which clearly speaks of its importance.
Due to its high standard of education, hundreds of ex-students of this school have reached to high ranking positions in the armed forces and civil services of Pakistan which is not only a great honour for the school but also for the whole of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Being one of the oldest schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Government High School No.1 is celebrating its centenary as the school is completing 100 years of triumphant years of service to the people of the KPK province.
While celebrating the centenary of Government High School No.1, the management has announced a number of awards for talented students in the name of the ex-students who have been greatly successful in their respective fields/professions. This will definitely set a good tradition for others to follow.
To commemorate 100th Anniversary of Government High School No.1 Thana, Malakand Division, Pakistan Post is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs.8/- denomination on April 15, 2012.
Commemorative Postage Stamp on 50Th Anniversary of Asian – Pacific Postal
Union April 1, 2012:- The
Asian Pacific Postal Union (Appu0 is an inter-governmental organization of 33
postal administrations of the Asia-Pacific region. APPU is affiliated to the
Universal Postal Union (UPU) which is a specialized agency of the United
Nations. The purpose of the APPU is to extend, facilitate and improve postal
relations between member countries and to promote cooperation in the field of
Brief History:- The idea of a restricted union in this part of the world came up first in the late 1950s. In order to give a concrete shape to the idea, after informal discussions, the
government sent through diplomatic channel the invitations to 18 countries for
a roundtable in Manila
on 10-23 January 1961. Among the countries invited were Afghanistan, Australia,
Brunei, Cambodia, China,
India, Pakistan, Sri
The roundtable drew up the Asian Oceanic Postal Convention.
The Convention was to come into force on 1 April 1962. On that date, we formed a union among ourselves called “Asian Oceanic Postal Union” which later on was renamed as the actual “Asian-Pacific Postal Union” by the 4th AOPU Congress held in
Yogyakarta in 1981. We then established our headquarters
in Manila with Mr. Enrico Palomar, Postmaster
General of the Philippines
as our first Director. The headquarters was relocated to Bangkok in 2002.
In due course others countries of the Asia-Pacific region joined this regional postal union making it today an inter-governmental body of 33 countries namely ; Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Lao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mangolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
Organization:- The Congress, the Executive Council and the Bureau are the three organs of the
Union. The main
functions of these three organs are:
Congress:- The Congress is the supreme organ of the
Union and composed of representatives of member
countries. The representatives of the member countries of the Union meet in
Congress not later than two years after holding of each Universal Postal
Congress in order to revise the Acts of the Union,
if necessary, and to consider, as necessary, other postal problems of common
interest to the member countries.
The APPU Congress were held as follows:
1st AOPU Congress in
in 1965 Manila, Philippines
2nd AOPU Congress in
in 1970 Kyoto, Japan
3rd AOPU Congress in
in 1975 Melborne, Australia
4th AOPU Congress in
in 1981 Yogyakarta, Indonesia
5th AOPU Congress in
in 1985 Bangkok, Thailand
6th AOPU Congress in
1990 Rotorua, New
7th AOPU Congress in
8th AOPU Congress in
in 2000 Tehran, Iran
9th AOPU Congress in
in 2005 Seoul, Korea
10th AOPU Congress in
2009 Auckland, New
Executive Council:- The Executive Council (EC) comprises all the member=countries of the
Union with a quorum of
the majority. To ensure the continuity of the work of the Union
in the intervals between Congresses, the Executive Council meets in principle
once each year. The functions of the Executive Council are:
(a) To perform any duty assigned to it by a Resolution of the Congress;
(b) To lay down the international postal service rules which shall provide for details necessary for the operation of the international postal service between the member-countries;
(c) To maintain contacts with postal administration of the member-countries of the
Union with a view to
improving the postal service;
(d) To prescribe rules for the administration of the Bureau and to supervise the activities of the Bureau;
(e) To review and approve the annual budget and accounts of the administrative section prepared by the Bureau in the intervals between Congresses;
(f) To make useful contacts with the various organs of the Universal Postal Union, with the Restricted Unions or with other specialized agencies of the United Nations with special interests in the area and, if necessary, to appoint representatives to conference of such organization;
(g) To conclude agreements on behalf of the Union with the Universal Postal Union and other restricted Unions and international organizations with regard to such matters as technical co-operation with the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members of the
The Council may authorize the Director of the Bureau to execute such
(h) To assemble, prior to each Universal Postal Congress, in order to exchange and harmonize their views; and
(i) To make necessary steps, with the agreement of the majority of the members of Union, provisionally to carry out such other administrative acts which are not covered by he Acts of the
and cannot await the next Congress for the settlement.
Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Executive Council;- are elected by the first Executive Council meeting convened immediately after the holding of the Congress at the same venue. In the normal course the chairmanship shall devolve by right on the host country of Congress.
Bureau:- The Bureau, formerly the Central office, serves as a medium of liaison, information, inquiry and training for the member-countries of the
The Bureau is composed of the administrative section and the training section.
The Bureau is composed of a Director and such other staff as the union may
require. The Bureau provides the secretarial for meetings of the union, jointly
with the postal administration of the country where each meeting is held. The
Bureau is under the general supervision of the Executive Council.
The Bureau provides training facilities and advisory services in the training section to improve postal services within
Asia and the Pacific. This
training section is administered by a Governing Board, chaired by the head of
the host administration of the Bureau ( Thailand). The governing Board
meets at least once each year in the country where the Executive council will
hold its meeting. The training section of the Bureau is known as the . Asian Pacific
Director of APPU Bureau is chosen, from among qualified postal officials, by the Executive Council or in Congress year by Congress. The tenure of office is fixed by the body which selects the Director.
The Director of APPU Bureau is its legal representative in all functions performed by the Bureau pursuant to the Acts of the Union and the decision of Congress of the
The Director represents the Union in the international conferences regarding
postal service where representation of the Union
Asian Pacific Postal College:- The Asian Pacific Postal College (APPC), formerly the Asian and Oceanic Postal Training School (AOPTS) and the Asian Pacific Postal Training Centre (APPTC), was established on 10 September 1970 in Bangkok following the recommendation of the first Congress of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (then the Asian and Oceanic Postal Union) held in Manila in 1965.
APPC was established with assistance from UPU and contribution from UNDP in the form of expert/consultant services, fellowships and equipment. The Government of Thailand generously provided the necessary premises for APPC.
APPC represents an outstanding example of international cooperation in the field of postal training. APPC has trained more than 5,000 postal managers from various postal administrations in the Asia-Pacific region and from the African continent.
APPC provides professional training in relevant areas covering international post, quality of service, sales and marketing, postal operations, postal planning and modernization, human resource management, information technology, business management, financial management etc. APPC provides external training programs in various countries. They are tailor-made programs designed to suit the specific needs of requesting administrations.
APPC organizes seminars and workshops by UPU, related organizations and postal administrations.On 50th anniversary of Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU), Pakistan Post is issuing a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs.8/- denomination on April 1, 2012.