Commemorative postage stamps issued on Aga Khan awards night

VISHAL SHARMA
INDIA (Agra), 28 Nov. The Indin Department of Post issued two postage stamps and first day covers on Sunday at the Agra Fort, to commemorate the 9th Aga Khan Awards for Architecture. The stamps were released by the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Shaqeel Ahmed, in the presence of The Aga Khan, hereditary spiritual leader (Imam) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The stamps, in the denomination of 15 rupees each, depict the Agra Fort. They offer views of various architectural features, including the Khas Mahal (Private palace), which was built entirely by Shah Jahan in 1637.


The Award, which has a triennial prize fund of US$ 500,000, is the world's largest architectural award. The Awards ceremony was held on the 27th of November 2004 in the gardens of Humayun's Tomb in Delhi.
Addressing the extended function of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture held in Agra Fort for the release of two stamps commemorating the Award ceremony on Sunday, the Union Culture and Information & Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said that the night opening of the Tajmahal was a prelude to the India visit of Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia sect of Muslims.
Later, the Union minister of state for Communications & IT Dr. Shakeel Ahmed released two postal stamps and first day covers marking the ninth Aga Khan Awards held for the first time in a non-Islamic Country, India. Addressing the assembled guests, the minister said that the depiction of Agra Fort on these commemorative stamps signifies the influence of Islamic arts on the Indian Architecture, of which, the Agra Fort is a prominent example.
This extended function of the Aga Khan awards shall continue for two more days with seminars of international architecture being held in Hotel Mughal Sheraton, Agra.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman torched to death by inlaws on International Women's Day in India

AGRA.               It could serve as a well-placed slap in the face of the the groups of so-called women's rights activists who all too recently celebrated International Women’s Day, fervently praising the contribution made by women to the society and vowing to prevent violence against the feminine gender comfortably ensconced in luxurious clubs and hotels.    While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.    Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a strok
Read more

My views on Libya, India and the permanent SC seat

Image
On Wednesday, the British government 'de-recognized' the Gaddafi government and decided that it was in the interest of democracy to recognize the Libyan rebels as the only legal representative of the Libyan people. Immediately after that, the British Police entered the Libyan embassy in London and forced the remaining Libyan diplomats out of UK. France has already been parachuting modern weaponry, arms and ammunition to the Libyan rebel strongholds and both France and the United States have recognized the rebels as the legal Libyan representative power. While I am not a fan of Gaddafi or his regime in any way or form but I am equally disappointed in NATO's tactics and the double standards being played by the western powers in the Arab world. Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein had been two sore patches in the otherwise near-sweeping 'western conquest' of the Arab world and its oil. Only now, when a group of disenchanted Libyans, trained and provided for by wes
Read more

Agra unit to turn waste to wood

Image
Vishal Sharma / Agra December 29, 2008, 0:00 IST Govardhan Udyog plans to use cowdung to produce particle board. Faced with the task of developing environment-friendly technology for industry due to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, entrepreneurs in Agra are realising the cost-effective potential of such technologies and innovations. Govardhan Udyog is one such unit which plans to use a non-conventional raw material, cowdung, to produce particle board and pharmaceutical products. The unit was inaugurated this week on the Agra-Delhi national highway near the Mathura refinery, about 55 km from Agra. Company sources said the basic raw material used in the manufacture of particle board will be cow dung. This will perhaps make it the first particle board manufacturing facility using cowdung as the raw material. Govardhan Udyog Managing Director SK Mittal said particle boards were emerging as a viable alternative in designing office furniture and automation products in the country as c
Read more