| Hello Children,
This week we are starting an interesting new column for all those stamp lovers out there and everyone who's keen on learning something new. This week Uncle DCR looks at the stamps that came out to mark Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. He's going to help you find the information you need and how you should go about collecting stamps. Did you know that most stamps always have a story behind them? If you like to find out things then stamp collecting can be lots of fun for you. So be sure to write in and let us know what you think about our new column and whether it has helped you in any way. Until next week, Aunty Sunshine |
My favourite cricketer is Rahul Dravid who is in the Indian Team. He is 24 years old but is an excellent player. He often plays as the number three batsman in the Indian Team.
Rahul is one of the best batsmen in the world. He is one of the best allrounders in the cricket field. His highest score is 117 vs West Indies.
I hope Rahul becomes the Indian Captain one day and the most popular player in the world. My aim is to be like Rahul Dravid one day.
I am a butterfly. My name is Painted Lady-butterfly. I come from a butterfly yard. I have many friends. The children like me because I'm colourful and they try to catch me. My front is black, orange, and a little bit of white and my back is grey, green, blue with a bit of black.
One fine day during the school vacation my family and I visited the Dehiwala Zoo. As it was my first visit I was delighted when I was told that we were to visit the zoo.
At the gate my father bought the tickets. We followed the arrows and went around looking at all the animals. The dangerous animals like lion, tiger, leopard and bear were in iron cages. By 12 O'clock I was tired and hungry. So we sat down under a tree and had our lunch, which had been prepared by my mother. After lunch we rested a while and started going around. We left the zoo in the evening feeling quite happy. I will never forget my first visit to the zoo.
Stamp News 1 - STAMP CORNER |
Philately
or stamp collecting is the most popular hobby in the world. It is also
educative and entertaining. An inexpensive and fascinating hobby which
suits all ages, it is particularly interesting for juniors who can learn
a lot about their own country as well as other countries.
Our stamps are among the best in the world. What do you know about them? What have you observed when you see them on letters? We shall help you to appreciate our stamps more. From time to time we shall introduce you to stamps from other countries as well.
If you are not a stamp collector, why not give it a try? You are bound to enjoy it. Register yourself at the Philatelic Bureau. You will then get the new issues, first day covers and souvenir sheets without a break.
If you have queries write to us. We shall try to reply through this column. By Uncle DCR
In just two weeks, on February 4 we will be celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Sri Lanka's Independence. It was 50 years ago that Ceylon (as our country was then known), gained independence after 400 years of foreign rule starting with the Portuguese in 1505, then the Dutch (1656-1796) and lastly by the British.
The first stamps of Independent Ceylon were issued on February 4, 1949. Four stamps were released to commemorate the first anniversary of Independence.
Two (4 cts and15cts) had the lion flag and other two (5cts and 25cts) had a portrait of the first Prime Minister, Don Stephen Senanayake.
This was the first time that the British monarch's (King George VI) picture was not used on our stamps. Also, for the first time they had the country name mentioned in English, Sinhala and Tamil. The present name Sri Lanka was used in Sinhala.
A colourful souvenir sheet was issued with the stamps. The front cover was an artist's impression of the Assembly Hall at Independence Square where the official independence ceremony was held.
The hall was specially constructed from the framework of a large hangar and its iron shell was gaily decorated with traditional motifs depicting the ancient and medieval Sinhalese art.
The beautiful Kandyan ralipalam was used to decorate the ceiling and the sides while the dais at the far end took the shape and ornament on the lines of what was used by the Kings of Anuradhapura. A traditional Makara Thorana greeted the visitors at the entrance.
The outer cover of the souvenir sheet depicted the Mace of the House of Representatives which was gifted by the British House of Commons to mark Ceylon's attainment of freedom. It is a symbol of the Speaker's authority and even today is borne before him by the Sergeant-at-Arms when entering and leaving the Chamber. The design of the Mace is inspired by the ancient design forms of our country. It consists of a staff of ebony with ornamentation in silver, gold and sapphires.
The traditional lion in gold appears on the main feature of the Mace which is a silver sphere surmounted by an octagonal crystal terminal resting on a lotus.
The sphere itself is mounted on a cube on the sides of which are chased the sun and the moon symbolic of perpetuity; the Chakra, symbolic of progress and the Purna Ghata, symbolizing prosperity.
On its second attempt, the Ariane V rocket got off to a successful launch. The flight on 30th October 1997 wiped out the failure of the earlier attempt in June 1996. It took more than a year for the engineers of the programme to review the situation and develop the new launcher.
It was an arduous task. Indeed, Ariane V, which is able to launch 7 tonnes of satellites into geostationary orbit and 20 tonnes into low orbit, is the most powerful launcher available on the market. Its design is completely new for the European consortium. Whereas Ariane IV was an assemblage of several stages fired in succession, fuelled by liquid propellants, Ariane V consists of a single stage and is driven by a mixture of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. Moreover, for the initial thrust, this engine is combined with two enormous powder boosters having a thrust of 540 tonnes each.
Ariane's second mission, which was its qualifying flight, proved a success. The fears of its engineers about certain critical points were alleviated. The powder boosters, for instance, worked very well and the sequence of their separation from the main stage and their release went well. It will now take specialists several months to go through the mass of information gathered by the 1,000 detectors embarked on Ariane V. Revealing all the imperfections was, moreover, the aim of this qualifying flight, whose purpose was to attain the most accurate positioning of satellites released.
In its first l00 flights, the Ariane programme scored a rate of reliability of more than 98 %. For this reason, the insurance premiums were not excessively high. These qualities enable the company to offer very competitive prices and to rank first in the world for launching civil satellites.
Firms are well aware of the advantages and the European launcher's order book is quite full. The year 1997 will be marked by the record launching of eleven rockets and, from the year 2000 the Ariane programme is expected to keep up a rhythm of eight launchings a year. Indeed, forty-three satellites are waiting to be launched in the coming years.
The second qualifying flight was attempted last winter. It carried a capsule to be used on the future European manned transport vehicle and a paying commercial satellite.
The seventeen months of efforts will not have been in vain. While a series of fourteen launchers has been on order since June 1995, negotiations are under way with industrialists for the delivery of forty to sixty further launchers. It is all to the greatest satisfaction of the 6,000 employees in the hundred or so firms of the twelve countries involved in this space adventure.
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