Red Cross centenary 1963 India Stamp

The man whose vision led to the creation of the worldwide Red Cross and Red Crescent movement; he went from riches to rags but became joint recipient of the first Nobel peace prize.

The idea of the Red Cross was convinced by Henri Dunant in 1859 when he saw forty thousand dying and wounded soldiers lying uncared for on the battlefield of Solferino Italy). The organisation itself came into existence in 1863 as a result of his efforts to establish an International body for taking care of the sick and wounded in all wars.

Tended with care and devotion, it has now become the great international institution whose primary function is the relief of human suffering on the impartial basis. Besides its traditional services in times of war and conflicts, the world has an extensive peace-time programme for the promotion of health, prevention of disease and mitigation of suffering.

Every year Henry Dunant, birthday on 08 th May as observed  The Red Cross day all over and it Have  been celebrated across the world by the Red Cross society

Henry Dunant, who was born in Geneva on 8 May 1828, came from a devout and charitable Calvinist family. After incomplete secondary schooling, he was apprenticed to a Geneva bank. In 1853, he travelled to Algeria to take charge of the Swiss colony of Sétif. He started construction of a wheat mill, but could not obtain the land concession that was essential for its operation. After travelling to Tunisia he returned to Geneva, where he decided to approach Napoleon III to obtain the business document he needed.
 
At the time, the Emperor was commanding the Franco-Sardinian troops fighting the Austrians in northern Italy, and it was there that Henry Dunant decided to seek him out. This was how he came to be present at the end of the battle of Solferino, in Lombardy.
 
Returning to Geneva, he wrote A Memory of Solferino , which eventually led to the creation of the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, the future International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dunant was a member and acted as secretary. He was now famous and was received by heads of State, kings and princes of the European courts. But his financial affairs were floundering and he was declared bankrupt in 1867. Completely ruined, he was in debt for almost a million Swiss francs (1860s value).

As a result of the scandal which this bankruptcy caused in Geneva, he resigned from his post as secretary of the International Committee. On 8 September 1867 the Committee decided to accept his resignation not only as secretary but also as a member. Dunant left for Paris, where he was reduced to sleeping on public benches. At the same time, however, the Empress Eugénie summoned him to the Tuileries Palace in order to consult him on extending the Geneva Convention to naval warfare. Dunant was made an honorary member of the national Red Cross societies of Austria, Holland, Sweden, Prussia and Spain.
 
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he visited and comforted the wounded brought to Paris and introduced the wearing of a badge so that the dead could be identified.
 
When peace returned, Dunant travelled to London, where he endeavoured to organize a diplomatic conf erence on the problem of prisoners of war; the Tsar encouraged him but England was hostile to the plan.

An international congress for the " complete and final abolition of the traffic in Negroes and the slave trade " opened in London on 1 February 1875, on Dunant's initiative. There followed years of wandering and utter poverty for Dunant: he travelled on foot in Alsace, Germany and Italy, living on charity and the hospitality of a few friends.
 
Finally, in 1887, he ended up in the Swiss village of Heiden, overlooking Lake Constance, where he fell ill. He found refuge in the local hospice, and it was there that he was discovered in 1895 by a journalist, Georg Baumberger, who wrote an article about him which, within a few days, was reprinted in the press throughout Europe. Messages of sympathy reached Dunant from all over the world; overnight he was once more famous and honoured. In 1901, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
Henry Dunant Breathed his last on 30 October 1910.

Today his birthday , 8 May, is celebrated as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.

Then  Department of Posts &  Telegraph released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Red Cross centenary,

Issued Date : 8 May 1963
Denomination : 15 Naya Paise

Apart from India Fifty two other countries are also  brought out the postage stamps on the occasion.

Swami Vivekananda 1963 India

In 1984, the Government of India declared and decided to observe the birthday of Swami Vivekanand (12 January, as a National Youth Day every year from 1985 onwards. To quote from the Government of India's communication, 'it was felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth

*Born as Narendranath Dutta on 12 January 1863, Swami Vivekananda is considered one of the chief saints of India.*

The prime disciple of 19th century Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he reintroduced the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.

Naren (as he was popularly known as) was born at his ancestral home at 3 Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in British Capital Calcutta.

Son of Vishwanath Dutta, who was an attorney at the Calcutta High Court and a devout housewife Bhubaneswari Devi, Naren's upbringing was influenced by his father's liberal thinking and his mother's spiritual and religious temperament.

Swami Vivekananda was intelligent since childhood. He was the only student to have received first division marks in Presidency College entrance examination. An avid reader of various subjects, including religion, history, social science, art and literature, he also had profound interest in Puranas, Vedas and Upanishads.

He travelled to the West bearing HIndu philosophy and introducing Indian heritage, culture and philosophy to the West. Of his many lectures, the one in Chicago at the Parliament of the World's Religion is the most revered. Here, he gave a brief speech representing India and Hinduism.

With his introductory speech, satrting "Sisters and brothers of America", Swami Vivekananda earned a 2-minute standing ovation from the crowd of seven thousand.

Swami Vivekananda attained Mahasamadhi on July 4, 1902. On this day, he woke up early, went to Belur Math and meditated there for three hours. After taking classes and discussing a planned Vedic college in Ramakrishna Math, he went to his room at 7 pm and asked not be disturbed.

He lost  is breath at 9:10 pm while meditating. Medically, a rupture of a blood vessel in his brain led to the death. His disciples believe that the rupture was due to brahmarandhra (an opening in the crown of his head) being pierced when he attained mahasamādhi.

He was cremated on a sandalwood pyre on the banks of Ganga in Belur

*Few  Quotations by Swami Vivekanada*

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

“Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin ? to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

“The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.”

“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”

*Department  of  Posts  issued commemorative stamps  on his Birth centenary*

Date of Issue: 17. 01.1963
Denomination:15 Naya Paisa