Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri 2004 India Stamp

Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri was a philosopher, an exceptional author, and an authority on poetics, philosophy, religion, culture, Indology, linguistics, grammar, epistemology etc. His pioneering contributions are evident in the field of Pali, Prakrit, Philosophy (eastern and western), History of  India, European  Language etc. He was an indefatigable and prolific thinker who combined abstract thought with a rare imagination. A  pursuer  of individual spiritualism and inspired by Jain Anekanta, he was a man of courage and dedication and  remained  a  fervent champion  of rationalism.

Born on 27 May, 1912, at Dabwali Mandi, now in Sirsa district of Haryana, Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri came to Bikaner for education where he studied Sanskrit and Prakrit. Later he received a Masters' degree in Sanskrit from Agra University and was bestowed the 'Shastracharya' in Vedanta from the Banaras Hindu  University.

He did his 'Shastri' from Punjab University and 'Nyayatirtha' from Calcutta. He obtained a Ph.D. under the tutelage of Pandit Bat Krishna Mishra. The doctoral dessertation in 'Epistemology of Jain Agamas' was highly commended.

Influenced     by     Mahatma     Gandhi,     Shastriji    actively participated  in  the  freedom  movement.  In  1942 campaigned against  Bat  Diksha,  a  practice  of  forcible  adoption  of  poor children  by  Jain  ascetics  in  Rajasthan,  prevalent  those  days. This resulted in the tabling of a bill in the assembly of Bikaner.

He also organised relief camps during partition. He was involved in organisational  activities,   he was Secretary Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrit Sahitya Sammelan in 1954-58. In 1957 he organised the Delhi session of All India Oriental  Conference.

He was Chief Speaker at World  Religious  Conference  in  Ujjain,  Rajgir  and Delhi. In 1959 he was appointed the first Head of the Department of  Sanskrit  in  the  Institute  of  Post  Graduate  Studies  in  the University of Delhi. In 1961, due to loss of eyesight caused by glaucoma,  he resigned  from the  post.  Subsequently  appointed Professor   emeritus   under   a  University   Grants  Commission scheme, he pursued  research  on 'Religion  and Modem  Man' in 1967-69. He remained  associated  with  various  departments  as a  guest  speaker.

His writings are marked with high scholasticism. He wrote about 70 books and more than  600 research papers  where he distilled the wisdom of ancient classical texts and applied it to modern times. His 'Pali Bhasa Aur Sahitya' has a series of three forewords followed by the Hindi translation of Wilhelm Geiger's introduction to his German classic entitled 'Pali literatur und sprache'.

Dr. Shastri made dispassionate analysis of thought currents which had prevailed over the centuries. He considered reason and logic as essential tools to dismantle the dead yet inherited thought structure of the past. He had the restless zeal of an explorer and reformer, evident in his works 'Religious Shops' and 'Ghosts of Culture'. His other important works are Sanskrit Kavya Shastra Ka Itihas, Mahabharat Ke Sukti Ratna, Alok Aur Unmad, Hamari Prampara, Jainism and Democracy, Dharma Aur Rashtra Nirman, Bharatiya Arya Bhasaen etc.

As a recognition of his pioneering efforts and  creative talent, he was awarded the 'Sahitya Seva Samman', by the Hindi Academy. He was also conferred the 'Sahitya Ratna Alankaran' by the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. The President of India awarded him a 'Certificate of Honour' on 15 August 1986.

In his 'Epistemology of Jain Agamas', a comparative study, according to Dr. Satkari Mookerjee, "the maturity of judgement and sober appraisal of the lived and  orthodox  positions  and their points of  agreements and diversion by the author will ensure him the reputation of being one of the pioneer exponents of Jainology in English. It shows a healthy outlook and freedom from domestic bias".

He went on with his voluminous outpourings even after losing his eyesight and dictated his thoughts and ideas to create masterpieces.

Such a profile of courage and dedication Breathed his last on 3 November 1986. Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri advocated a spiritual journey for the individual from the personal to the  universal and the humane. His  life journey was a pilgrimage for truth which we all remember and cherish.

The Department of Posts  honoured him  by releasing a commemorative postage stamp in his memory.

Issued Date : 27. 05.2004
Denomination : 500 Paise

INS Tarangini 2004 India Stamp

INS Tarangini is a three-masted barque, commissioned in 1997 as a sail training ship for the Indian Navy. She is square rigged on the fore and main masts and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzen mast. She was constructed in Goa to a design by the British naval architect Colin Mudie, and launched on 1 December 1995. In 2003-04, she became the first Indian naval ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Apart from races, the ship sails extensively across the Indian Ocean region for the purpose of providing sail training experience to the officer cadets of the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy believes that training onboard these ships is the best method of instilling among the trainees the "indefinable 'sea-sense' and respect for elements of nature, which are inseparable from safe and successful seafaring". The Navy believes that sail training also serves to impart the values of courage, camaraderie, endurance and esprit-de-corps among budding naval officers.

Tarangini started its first circumnavigation of the globe in 2003-04 with the theme of "building bridges of friendship across the oceans". During the fifteen-month voyage, the ship covered 33,000 nautical miles (61,000 km) and visited 36 ports in 18 countries. The ship was received by the president, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on 25-04-2004

In 2003-04, she became the first Indian naval ship to circumnavigate the globe. Since then, Tarangini has sailed to The Great Lakes in Canada for races and  also participated in European tall ship races. Tarangini won The Royal Thames Yacht Club Challenge Trophy in 2005 at Europe

Department of Posts commemorated  the first circumnavigation voyage  by  releasing  miniatures sheet with Stamp

Issued Date :24.04.2004
Denomination :500 Paise

Nani A. Palhivala 2004 India

Nani Palkhivala, Indian jurist and civil rightsactivist who was revered in India as a top authority on constitutional  law and government finance.

Born On 16-1-1920 in Bombay he was known as Nani Palkhivala—a household name, not only amongst lawyers, but throughout the length and breadth of our country.  who became an authority and a guardian of our Constitution in later years

Physically he was not impressive. A young, slim boy measuring about 5 feet 7 inches in height and not having many kilos to carry. Nani Palkhivala was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He hailed from a humble Parsi middle-class working family. His ancestors were in the profession of making and fixing “palkhis,” namely, palanquins, to be fitted to horse carriages of those times. Hence the surname Palkhivala, which like many Parsi surnames, is associated with a particular calling or profession.

Nani Palkhivala’s schooling was in Master’s Tutorial High School in Bombay. He was a brilliant student and did extremely well despite his initial handicap of stammering which he overcame by sheer willpower. After matriculation he joined St. Xavier’s College, Bombay and completed his MA in English Literature. In younger days, he did take to music and played the violin reasonably well. But the spell of Apollo was short-lived. Music was not one of his passions in later life.

Palkhivala applied for a Lecturer’s post at Bombay University. To his surprise and regret, a Parsee girl was appointed to the post. With admission to most other courses closed, he enrolled at Government Law College, Bombay. This is one instance how destiny plays a role in one’s life.

If Palkhivala got the Lecturer’s post, we would have had a brilliant Professor but the world of law and public life would have been a loser. Nani was eternally grateful to the young lady Professor

It was not long before Palkhivala started arguing cases himself. The validity of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act and the Bombay Land Requisition Act were challenged. Nani was in the forefront of the legal challenges to these Acts which, however, were repelled by the Bombay High Court. Those familiar with the legal profession know that a lawyer often makes his mark not only by the cases he wins but by the quality of his performance in cases where the ultimate result is not favourable. 

He felt that the action of the Government of India apart from being unconstitutional was in breach of  constitutional  morality. He firmly believed that:

“The survival of our democracy and the unity and integrity of the nation depend upon the realisation that constitutional morality is no less essential than constitutional legality. Dharma(righteousness; sense of public duty or virtue) lives in the hearts of public men; when it dies there, no Constitution, no law, no amendment, can save it.”

Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are the cornerstones of democracy, the Ark of the Covenant of our Constitution. A disingenuous attempt was made to stifle press freedom through the machinery of the import control regulations by imposing severe restrictions on the import of newsprint. This judgments is another instance of the generous protection accorded to press freedom by our judiciary.

Palkhivala had deep respect, indeed reverence for the Constitution. He realised the importance of preserving the cardinal values of the Constitution, its basic and essential features. His favourite quotation was the statement of Joseph Story, the great American jurist, who said:

“The Constitution has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE.”

Nani, however, was at his forensic best in his arguments before the Bench which was specially constituted to reconsider Kesavananda Bharati. In the words of one of the Judges on the Bench “the heights of eloquence to which Palkhivala had risen have seldom been equalled and never been surpassed in the history of the Supreme Court”.

Decision of the Supreme Court in Minerva Mills was another of Nani’s triumphant efforts to prevent the defacement and defilement of our Constitution. His unsurpassable advocacy in the case led the Supreme Court to declare that clause (4) of Article 368 of the Constitution which excludes judicial review of constitutional amendments was unconstitutional.

Nani’s intimate knowledge of taxation law and mastery of constitutional principles were at play in the challenge to the validity of th The citation he received from Princeton University is worth reproducing as it epitomizes Nani’s basic qualities:

“Defender of constitutional liberties, champion of human rights, he has courageously advanced his conviction that expediency in the name of progress, at the cost of freedom, is no progress at all, but retrogression. Lawyer, teacher, author, and economic developer, he brings to us as Ambassador of India intelligence, good humour, experience, and vision for international understanding….”

Palkhivala has received recognition from renowned academics. In the book Working a Democratic Constitution by the eminent Granville Austin, reference to Palkhivala occurs at sixteen pages.

Palkhivala has received citations and honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws from various universities such as Princeton University, New Jersey, and Lawrence University, Wisconsin, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu University and the University of Mumbai.

Palkhivala was ailing for a long time. It was painful to see that a person so eloquent and articulate was unable to speak or recognize persons except occasionally in a momentary flash. He answered the Inevitable Summons from his Maker on 11-12-2002. Earth received an honoured guest as Palkhivala was laid to rest.

Rajagopalachari rightly said of Palkhivala, “He is God’s gift to us”. Nani Palkhivala’s passing away has indeed left a dent in Indian humanity. Born of the sun he travelled a while towards the sun, and left the vivid air signed with his honour.

Department  of  Posts  commemorative postage stamp on 'Nani A. Palhivala' 

Issued  Date  16. 01.2004
Denomination: 500 Paise