June 26th - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Since the early 1900s, the world saw a big explosion in drug trades worldwide that has till now kindled problems and sufferings globally. To put a full stop to this issue, in 1909, an International conference on addictive drugs (narcotics) was held in Shanghai.

From then on, till now, many steps have been taken to control the overuse and misuse of  drugs. The UN has adopted 3 drug conventions that is globally adhered.

To achieve the goal of an international society completely drug abuse free, the UN General Assembly since 1989 has observed the 26th of June as The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. It is extremely necessary to prevent and treat those who consume narcotics and so annually observing a day for the cause is of at most importance.

In the year 1973, the United Nations (Geneva) issued the below stamp on "The Fight against Drug Abuse".

Belgium Airplane stamps and minisheet

Few days back I received a surprise from my friend Joel. It was a cover with airplane stamp on it and inside the cover were a miniature sheet and few stamps  on my topic aviation.

The miniature sheet was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Pierre Jacobs. The miniature sheet depicts Captain Francis Blake and partner, Professor Philip Mortimer - both are characters from Jacob's comic book. The miniature sheet was issued simultaneously by France (unperforated one) and Belgium (perforated one), on May 17, 2004. The below Miniature sheet is a Belgium issue. 

Below were few stamps on aviation sent by him...

The last stamp on the last row depicts the Belgian pioneer aircraft - the bi-plane dating from 1908.  This stamp was issued in the year 1973 by bpost (Belgium post).

The left most stamp on the last row was issued to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Sabena ( Sabena is an airlines in Belgium) The stamp was issued on 19th of May 1973.

The speciality of the last row is that he sent both perforated and non-perforated stamps :). Only 1000s of non-perforated were printed.

The top row shows the airmail set issued by Belgium in 1951 and commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Aeroclub of Belgium.

15th August: India Independence Day

India is celebrating its 68th Independence Day today, 15th August, 2014.  This year's  Independence Day is so special because 2014 shares the same calendar as 1947, in which India got its Independence from the British Rule. 

The above stamp was issued by the India Post for the 25th Anniversary of Independence.