100 Years Of Shell In Pakistan. 1999-16)

The energy sector is of vital significance to a developing country like Pakistan as both agriculture and industry are highly dependent on energy to fuel growth. Moreover, with a rapidly increasing population, greater urbanization and high rates of economic growth, energy demand seems set to rise by 6-8 percent a year.

As one of the largest investors in the energy sector Shell plays a vital role in the country’s economic uplift by enhancing the quality of products and services as well as improving the distribution infrastructure. Shell also plays a role in the exploration for oil and gas which helps reduce dependence on imports.

Shell has a strong brand name with a 100-year history in this region. In 1899, the Company began by importing kerosene from Azerbaijan probably as a fuel for lamps - in fact the Company is still in possession of a fuel storage tank from that period.

In 1928, from Asiatic Petroleum, the name of the Company changed to the Burmah Shell Oil Storage and Distribution Company of India when the marketing interests of the Royal Dutch Shell Group and the Burmah Oil Company in India merged.

After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the name was changed to the Burmah Shell Oil Distribution Company of Pakistan. In 1970 Burmah Shell divested 51 percent to the public and became a listed company renamed Pakistan Burmah Shell (PBS), with Burmah Oil and Shell retaining 24.5 percent stakes each.

Finally, in early 1993, Shell acquired Burmah Oil’s holdings along with an additional 2 percent purchased in the market to obtain majority share-holding of the company which was renamed Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) a partnership between Pakistani and foreign investors.

But the story does not end here. As an energy company committed to sustainable development, Shell has been active in both upstream (exploration) and downstream projects (refining, blending, distribution and marketing) to contribute to fulfilling Pakistan’s energy requirements.

To this end the Royal Dutch Shell Group has interests in three other companies in Pakistan; 100 percent share-holding of Shell Development and Offshore Pakistan B.V, 67 percent stake in Burshane (Pakistan) Limited and 30 percent stake in Pakistan Refinery Limited.

SHELL IN PAKISTAN TODAY

With annual sales approaching US $ 1 billion, Shell Pakistan is one of the leading private sector companies in Pakistan. The Company has achieved rapid growth in recent years through a vigorous capital investment programme and by ensuring international standards of service and product quality.

However investment is not limited to infrastructure alone - Shell Pakistan prides itself on its investment in people; not merely through job creation but also through training and the build up of experience and skills. This commitment covers the whole spectrum of our people, whether we are developing the business leaders of tomorrow or teaching our pump attendants basic literacy. Shell Pakistan provides employment directly or indirectly to over 12,000 persons in Pakistan.

SPL is one of the highest corporate tax payers having paid Rs. 1.5 billion to the exchequer and collected Rs 87 billion in government duties during 1993-1999 alone. Sales volumes and profitability continue to grow with the Company announcing a record divided of 125 percent for the year 1998/1999.

As a major oil marketer, Shell currently holds about 22 percent share of the hydro-carbon business in Pakistan. In addition to its products, the Company is supplying value added services in long term relationships to industries and businesses including cement, sugar, textiles, airlines, railways, ports, road transport, construction etc.

The retail network of over 1100 petrol pumps is the flag bearer of the business. Shell sells a range of products including Motor Gasoline, High Speed Diesel and lubricants from its Retail Sites built to the highest international standards. Shell has demonstrated market leadership by providing the best to its customers in terms of physical facilities and customer value propositions which others strive to emulate.

Shell takes pride in being a responsible corporate citizen having contributed over Rs. 30 million to the Pakistani community through its social investment programme during the past 6 years.

Through this programme Shelf has had and continues to maintain relationships with a number of non-governmental organisations working in the areas of community welfare, health, education, heritage and the environment.

After all Shelf sees its role as not just that of a commercial operator, but as part of the community and society of which it is an integral part. The aspirations of the people of Pakistan are Shell’s aspirations as well and it will continue helping those people build a better world.

Shell is working hard toward the economic development of the country by participating in and actively advocating Pakistan’s investment possibilities at home and overseas. In this regard it has invested heavily and consistently in the region for over a hundred. Shell has been active at all economic forums including the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry of which it was the Chairman and has worked closely with the government in formulating and advising on policy.

It has received several awards for high performance including the Top Companies Award presented by The Karachi Stock Exchange in 1997, 1994 and 1993. Shell’s commitment to the country’s economic and social development remains unequivocal and it hopes to see a prosperous Pakistan moving ever faster on the road of development.

AFTER ALL ‘YOU CAN BE SURE OF SHELL’

To commemorate the occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs 4 denomination on November 15,1999.

The National Bank Of Pakistan Golden Jubilee. (1999-15)

 

The National Bank of Pakistan was established under the National Bank of Pakistan Ordinance XIX of 1949.

Through its sizeable participation in the equity of the Bank, adequate representation on the Board of Directors, and responsibility for the appointment of the chief executive, the Government has always been closely associated with the formulation of policies and the direction of the affairs of the Bank.

Due to this close association, efforts have at all times been directed and resources mobilise to best serve the economic objective and social needs of the country. The Bank has over the years acquired specialised knowledge and experience of the working and financial requirement of both the public and private sectors.

National Bank of Pakistan plays a unique role in the financial sector of Pakistan. In terms of stature and public perception no other institution is comparable to it. This unique role confers on the institution a dual responsibility - to be a commercial bank in its own right; and at the same time, as a trustee of public finances, to act as a custodian of the public interest.

Through the years the Bank has moved forward with great vigour recording unparalleled progress and making an ever-increasing contribution to the economic development of the country.

The bank through a wide network of 1445 domestic and 23 overseas branches has been extending short, medium as well as long term credit facilities to private and public sectors of the economy, covering industrial commercial, agricultural activities besides financing imports and exports, implementing special credit schemes like small finance for agriculture, business, industries, Qarz-e-Hasana to students, housing finance, self employment scheme for unemployed persons, public transport scheme.

By rendering active help, it has assisted the government in its endeavours towards greater investment and flow of funds to priority sectors and provision of services whenever required, like Haj services, collection of utility bills, paying of pension to central and provincial government pensioners, as well as civilian military pensioners and retired army personnel.

The Bank also collects the railway earnings from railway stations and booking agencies all over Pakistan. It is also widely appreciated that National Bank of Pakistan has always tried to serve national aims.

It has made tremendous contribution to the development of small and medium sized entrepreneurs who could not get service from private banking. Many have flourished because NBP patronized them.

In the early 1960s, the Bank introduced Peoples Credit Scheme, under which it encouraged small borrowers to avail loans upto a maximum of 50,000 on easy terms to enable them to set up and operate small industries and commercial establishments.

During this period the Bank was regularly extending School and Factory Banking schemes in the very premises of schools and factories in order to inculcate savings habit among a larger segment. The Bank also had in the 1 960s Rural Mobile Banking Scheme, so that people living in rural areas could open their accounts with these mobile units.

It was in 1972 that National Bank of Pakistan evolved Supervised Agricultural credit Programme, which brought practical and comprehensive banking service to the doorstep of the Pakistani farmer. Later the other Pakistani commercial banks also adopted the scheme. In the late 1970s after the successful implementation of the supervised rural Credit. Programme, the Bank launched a similar scheme to provide assistance. to self-employed engineers, technicians and mistries.

The scheme was called Supervised Credit for Technology. Under this scheme, credit, in the form of medium term development loan as well as a regular revolving overdraft facility was available to individuals/institutions engaged in advancement adoption of technology in various sectors of the country\'s economy.

From 1985, the Bank has been disbursing Qarz-e-Hasana Loans on compassionate grounds, free of interest or service charge, in line with the non-interest modes of financing approved by the State Bank to deserving students who wish to pursue their studies, but lack the resources.

NBP has always in corporate the economic reforms introduced by the Government from time to time . It is playing a major role in the Self Employment Scheme, aimed at providing self employment through income generating business activities. As part of the Computer Literacy Programme, NBP has set up Computer Centers at selected cities, which are catering to the demand for high still education in areas where it is traditionally not available.

It has also contributed large resources to different hospitals, to play its due part in the development of the health sector. In the area of sports also, NBP has over the year sponsored sporting events, will be undertaking construction of a sports complex at Karachi, among its other activities.

In short, National Bank of Pakistan has since its inception played a pronounced role in the socio- economic development of the country.

To commemorate the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Post Office is issuing one commemorative postage stamp of Rs 5 denomination on November 8,1999.

First Anniversary Of Martyrdom Of Hakim Mohammed Said. (1999-14)

 

Hakim Mohammed Said a many faceted personality, Physician, Visionary, author, bibliophile, idealist, innovator, organizer, philanthropist and educationist -- embraced martyrdom on Saturday the 17th October 1998 at 6.02 am as he was about to enter his clinic.

By and large it was through Hakim Mohammed Said’s untiring efforts that the WHO accepted Tibb as an Alternate Medicine. It was his main aim that the Hakim, the Doctor and the Scientist should work jointly as a triumvirate, for “Health for all by the year 2000”. As a physician, he treated 3 million patients.

Shaheed Hakim Mohammed Said was held in high esteem by anyone who came in touch with him so long as he lived. His magnanimous qualities of head and heart were so endearing. He was a herbalist, a physician a scholar and researcher, an able administrator, an astute planner, a visionary and an educationist all at once. He loved children and children loved him. Like a statesman, his eyes were fixed on the next generation.

He was sought by the sick and he made himself freely available to them without ever charging a fee. He was a philanthropist and a lover of knowledge. He was a true Muslim and died in a state of fasting which was his wont. He was a pious and abstemious man whose heart bled for humanity.

Each of these peerless qualities in the modern world he demonstrated with deeds which are now a part of history and which exhort us to cherish his memory.

Shaheed Hakim Mohammad Said never shirked humanitarian and national duties whenever he was called upon to play his part-as a Federal Minister of Tibb, as a Governor of the Province of Sindh, as a consultant and as an advisor.

He represented Pakistan ably in more than one hundred fifty national and international conferences and congresses in which he presented scholarly papers. These words are shy of a fuller narrative of his achievements and contributions, but his Madinat al-Hikmah the city of education, science and culture is a living symbol of all he stood for. It is a solid witness to his single-minded determination to usher in, single-handedly, a renaissance of the Glory of Islamic learning.

At Madinat al-Hikmah he now lies in peace which was his dearest dream--the benison of peace through love and dignity of mankind, peace through mutual understanding. May his soul rest in Peace, Amen.

Born on 9th January, 1920, Hakim Mohammad Said migrated to Pakistan on 9th January, 1948 and founded his Hamdard Dawakhana at Karachi. Sole proprietorship of Hamdard Dawakhana (Waqf) was converted into Islamic Waqf on 1st April 1953. Business activities and welfare activities were. carried out by Hamdard (Waqf) itself.

Later, it was considered appropriate to administer and control the charitable unit separately and independently from the business unit hence HAMDARD FOUNDATION PAKISTAN was established.

Where as HAMDARD EDUCATION SOCIETY of Pakistan was established to perform educational activities of Hamdard (Waqf).

MADINAT AL-HIKMAH Inspired by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Hakim Mohammed Said established Madinat al-Hikmah the City of Education, Science and Culture in the vicinity of Karachi in 1983, where the following educational institutions have since been established and are functioning.

1. HAMDARD PUBLIC SCHOOL

2. HAMDARD COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

3. HAMDARD COLLEGE OF COMMERCE

4. HAMDARD VILLAGE SCHOOL

5. HAMDARD UNIVERSITY: Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry

Hamdard College of Eastern Medicine

Hamdard Institute of Management Sciences

Hamdard Institute of Education and Social Sciences

Hamdard Institute of Information Technology

Dr Hafiz Mohammad Ilyas Institute of Pharmacology and Herbal Sciences Centre for Horticulture and Hydrochemistry Lab.

BAIT AL-HIKMAH It is fully equipped with latest facilities and is one of the largest libraries in South Asia.

COMMITMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

Shaheed Hakim Mohammed Said was deeply interested in the development of children of Pakistan. Throughout his life he worked for their health, education and development by establishing the following.

BAZM-E-HAMDARD NAUNEHAL now NAUNEHAL ASSEMBLY

NAUNEHAL SHAHR (CHILDREN’S CITY) where children will receive education through recreation. A full-fledged children’s literature division, NAUNEHAL ADAB was established to produce good quality books.

NAUNEHAL BOOK CLUB which has a membership of over five thousand. The Club has played an important role in promoting book reading among children.

INTELLECTUAL FORUMS

SHAM-I-HAMDARD now MAJLIS-E-SHOORA --- HAMDARD THINKERS FORUM: Dialogue with a galaxy of prominent scientists, historians. culturists, educationists, writers, poets, physicians, intellectuals, scholars, lawyers, economists, jurists, journalists etc.

PUBLICATIONS

Wrote and edited over 200 books both in Urdu and English languages. Published more than 500 articles on Islam, medicine, history and philosophy of science etc. Regular publications included.

1. Monthly Unesco Payami (Urdu version of UNESCO Courier), 1977-90

2. Quarterly Hamdard lslamicus-1978 continued

3. Quarterly Hamdard Medicine-i 957 continued

4. SPEM, Bulletin of the Society for the Promotion of Eastern Medicine-1958-1967

5. Medical Times (Fortnightly) -1963-1987

POSITIONS HELD

Advisor/Federal Minister to the President of Pakistan on Tibb, 1979-82. Governor of Sindh 19th July 1993 to 21st January 1994.

HONOURS PRIZES AND AWARDS

1. D.Sc. “Medicina Alternative” The International Multidisciplinary Scientific Society on Alternative Medicine-i 984.

2. Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan 1966

3. Sadiq Dost Award, from the people of Bahawalpur through Commissioner of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

4. Certificate of merit from the Institute of History of Science and Technology, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey 1981

5. Islamic Medicine Prize, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Kuwait 1982

6. Winner of the Novosti Press Agency’s (USSR) Abu Ali lbn Sina (Avecenna) International Prize for 1989

7. World No-Tobacco Day Medal Award-1995 from World Health Organization

8. Award conferred by the Pakistan League of the United States of America, New York, 1996 for services in the field of health, education and social work

9 Outstanding Pakistani Award by the Rotary Club Islamabad Cosmopolitan--i 996

ASSOCIATION WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEARNED SOCIETIES

NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

1. President, Institute of Health and Tibbi (Medical) Research

2. Secretary General, Society for the Promotion of Eastern Medicine (SPEM)

3. Founder, Awaz-e-Akhlaq Movement

4. President, Society for the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries (SPIL) Pakistan

5. President, Pakistan Historical Society

6. President, Ibn-e-Khaldun Education Society

7. President, Institute of Central and West Asian Studies

8. Member, Board of Governors, Sindh Madressah-Tul-Islam

9. President, Cancer Association of Pakistan

10. President, Pakistan Tibbi Association

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

1. Member, Administrative Council of the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, UNESCO, Paris, France

2. Member, Executive Committee, International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris, France

3. Member, New York Academy of Sciences, New York, USA

4. Associate Member, Royal Society of Health, London, England

5. Member, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France

6. Member, International Council for Health, Physical Educational, Recreation, Sport and Dance, USA

7. Member, The Institute for Advanced Research in Asian, Science and Medicine, USA

8. Member, American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, USA

9. British Society for History of Science, England

10. Vice President, Board of Trustees of the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences Kuwait

11. Member, History of Science Society USA

12. Member of the Planetary Society USA

13. Chairman, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Pakistan Chapter

14. International Trustee Duke of Edinburgh’s Award London

Courtesy: HAMDARD FOUNDATION PAKISTAN, KARACHI.

To commemorate the occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs 51 denomination on October 17, 1999.

125th Anniversary Of The Universal Postal Union. (1999-13)

 

The first known postal document, found in Egypt, dates from 255 BC. But even before that time postal services existed on nearly every continent in the form of messengers serving kings and emperors.

Over time, religious orders and Universities added their own message delivery systems and eventually, private individuals were allowed to use these messengers in order to communicate with one another.

In these early Postal Systems the Postal charges were generally paid by the recipient. In the seventeenth century the first International Postal treaty was established, consisting of bilateral agreements governing the transit of mail within several European countries.

Two centuries later, the web of bilateral arrangements between countries had become so complex that it began to, impede the rapidly developing trade and commercial sectors.

National Postal reforms started the process of bringing order and simplification to the International Postal Services.

Probably the most important of these took place in England in 1840 under the, leadership of Sir Rowland Hill. Letters were to be prepaid, using a uniform rate of one -’a penny in the domestic service for all letters of a certain weight, regardless of the distance involved.

On the initiative of United States Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, a conference was held in 1863, in Paris, France, to continue the process of postal reform at the international level.

Further attempts to improve the international postal service on the basis of bilateral agreements during the rest of the 1 860s could not keep pace with rapid technological, economic, commercial and cultural developments.

Heinrich Von Stephan, a senior postal official from the North German Confederation, then drew up a plan for an International Postal Union.

At his suggestion, the Swiss Government convened in Berne, from 15 September 1874, a conference which was attended by representatives from twenty two nations. On 9 October, a day now celebrated throughout the world as World Post Day, the Treaty of Berne establishing the General Postal Union was signed.

Membership in the Union grew so quickly that the name was changed in 1878 to ‘Universal Postal Union. The Treaty of Berne succeeded in unifying a conflicting international maze of postal services and regulations into a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of letter post items.

It reduced the multitude of rates for mail between the twenty two countries which met in Berne to a single rate for all. Within the single territory, the principle of freedom of transit for letter post items was also guaranteed by all parties.

The barriers and frontiers which had impeded the free flow and growth of international mail had finally been pulled down. Today, by virtue of its mission to promote and develop Communication between the people of the world, the UPU is called upon to play an important leadership role in (promoting the continued revitalization of postal services.

UPU AS A SINGLE UN SPECIALISED AGENCY

The UPU became a specialized agency of the United Nations on 1 July 1948. Since then, its relations and active cooperation with other International bodies have grown and intensified.

UNION BODIES

The Universal Postal Congress, which brings together plenipotentiaries of all member countries, is the supreme authority of the Union and meets, in principle, every five years.

One of the major accomplishments of Congress held since the first Berne Congress in 1874 has been to allow UPU member countries to develop and integrate new products and services into the international postal network.

The Council of Administration (CA) consists of a Chairman and 40 member countries and meets in principle each year at UPU headquarters in Berne. It ensures the continuity of the Union’s work between Congresses, supervises Union activities and studies regulatory, administrative, legislative and legal issues of interest to the Union.

THE POSTAL OPERATIONS COUNCIL (POO) is the technical and operational body of UPU and consists of 40 elected member countries. It deals with the operational, economic and commercial aspects of international postal services. At its first meeting after each Congress, the POC revises the Detailed Regulations It promotes the introduction of new postal Products by collecting, analyzing and publicizing the results of experiments with new products undertaken by some postal services.

THE INTERNATIONAL BUREAU established by the Treaty of Berne in 1874, is located in Berne and provides Secretariat and support facilities for the UPU’ s bodies. It serves as an organ of liaison, in formation and consultation and promotes technical cooperation among Union members.

It also acts as a clearing house for the settlement of accounts between postal administrations for inter administration charges related to the exchange of postal items and international reply coupons.

The principle of technical cooperation was first introduced into the UPU Constitution at the 1964 Vienna Congress, resulting from the need to provide assistance to the many newly formed countries that had become members of the UPU during the early 1 960s.

Funding for these activities typically came from the UNDP or other international development agencies or was given on a bilateral basis.

Now, however, the major portion of funding for technical cooperation activities comes from the contributions that member countries make to the UPU budget or to a special voluntary fund. One of the principal goals of the Postal Development Action Group (PDAG), a special working group set up within the UPU, is to increase the level of outside financial resources devoted to the reform and modernization of postal services.

Through its efforts, international financial institutions are increasingly aware of the need for investment in the postal sector.

With the rapid growth of competition, alternative forms of Communication and higher customer expectations, they are under constant pressure to make further improvements in the quality of their postal products. With this in mind, each Congress since 1984 has adopted a policy aimed at reinforcing the quality of the International Postal Service.

As updated by the 1994 Seoul Congress, the UPU’s quality of service activities include updating and implementing quality of service standards based on customer needs and expectations monitoring on a permanent basis the quality of mail transportation on a worldwide scale and the effectiveness of the world postal network organizing and promoting field missions aimed at improving quality of service setting up an information and assistance help desk at the International Bureau.

As a way of spreading the use of advanced information technology systems to the postal services of developing countries, the UPU has undertaken a global Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) project.

Through the development of computer applications that facilitate international mail processing and allow the exchange of electronic data with one another, postal services now have the ability to track mail shipments from end to end and to provide customers with tracking information on time certain products like EMS.

PHILATELY

There are today a countless number of collectors of postage stamps. However, UPU Congress have set down from time to time guidelines and recommended postage stamp themes that are likely to contribute in a general way to strengthening the bonds of international friendship. Toward this end, the 1989 Washington Congress adopted recommendations regarding a “Philatelic code of ethics for use by UPU member countries”.

The UPU has also undertaken a number of activities designed to promote philately and has established a contact Committee with the major philatelic associations. The United Nations postal administration, created in 1951, regularly issues postage stamps from New York, Geneva and Vienna on behalf of the United Nations.

SECURITY

Both the 1989 Washington and the 1994 Seoul Congress recognized the vital importance of Security as a key factor of success for today’s postal business, Indeed, Postal Security ranks high among the Union’s priorities as part of a global effort to help postal services improve their image, enhance their quality of service and protect their revenue.

In this regard, a special group, the Postal Security Action Group (PSAG), has laid out an intensive work programme up to the end of the 20th century.

CUSTOMER FOCUS AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT

As part of the UPU’s objective of promoting closer ties to postal customers, greater emphasis is now being placed on cooperation with organizations representing some of the major users of international postal services.

Working toward this goal, contact Committees have been established with representatives of the publishing industry and with several Philatelic associations. At the first annual UPU “Customer’s Day” held during the 1996 P00, the doors of the International Bureau were opened to postal customers in order to listen first hand to their concerns regarding the improvement of international postal services.

The UPU has also undertaken a unique project aimed at stimulating the development and growth of direct mail-advertising mail and order fulfillment service throughout the world.

To commemorate 125th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union Pakistan Post Office is issuing one commemorative postage stamp of denomination of Rs 10 on October 9,1999.

10th Asian Optimist Sailing Championship. (1999-12)

 

The first Optimist was built in 1948 and was soon a popular youth boat in and around Clearwater and St. Petersburg. For some time, it was only known in that area.

The turning point for the Optimist class came in 1954 when Axel Damagaard, skipper of a Danish three masted tall ship, saw an Optimist while his ship was visiting the United States. When he returned to Denmark Axel promoted the design.

The Optimist soon became very popular throughout Scandinavia where it was renamed the International Optimist Dinghy-its official name today.

The IDA spread throughout Europe in the 1960’s. In 1962, the first World Championship were held, at Humble in the UK in 1965, seven nations got together and formed the IODA (International Optimist Dinghy Association).

In 1973, the class received International status from the sailing world’s governing body, the International Yacht Racing Union (now ISAF). During the 1 970s the popularity of the Optimist spread to Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Today, the Optimist is the World’s largest and fastest growing-sailing class, bigger than lasers, Hobbies, Sunfish, or any other One-design. While many boats Claim “International” in their title, there is none which is sailed in more countries. The Optimist may be the World’s only true “International” Dinghy.

The International Optimist is the only dinghy recognised by International Sailing Federation for young people under 16 years of age. It is sailed by over 200,000 people worldwide, including most future competitors at the Olympic Games.

The 10th Asian Championship in Karachi is an important contribution to the rapid development of the Optimist in Asia. In 1998 Asian sailors won their first ever medals at the World Championship, winning gold, silver and bronze.

Both the two previous Optimist philatelic issues, in 1995 (Aaland Islands, Finland) and 1997 (United Kingdom), were a great success.

In Pakistan, 10th Asian Optimist Sailing Championship is being held from 30th September to 7th October, 99 at marina Club Karachi.

Courtesy: Pakistan Optimist Sailing Association (POSA).

To commemorate the occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing one commemorative postage stamp of Rs 2 denomination on October 7,1999.