UN Radio - World Radio Day

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To commemorate World Radio Day on 13 February 2013, UNPA issued six stamps with a special interactive feature. This special feature allows anyone using a smart phone or tablet to download and launch the UN Radio app, view the stamps and learn more about UN Radio through a link. This special link unlocks the wonder of UN Radio, offering programming from around the globe, from classic broadcasts to current meetings, briefings and special events.

Date of issue: 13 February 2013

Designer: Rorie Katz (United Nations)

Photo credit: UN Photo & Jos Verhoogen

Denominations: 46¢, $1.10, F.s. 1,40, F.s. 1,90, € 0,70 and € 1,70.

Stamp size: 30mm x 40mm

Stamps per sheet: 20

Printer: Lowe-Martin Group (Canada)

Process: Offset lithography

Perforation: 13 - 13.5 mm

Special First Day Cancellations

On 13 February 2013, first day cancellations for the "UN Radio - World Radio Day" stamps were made available at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Palais des Nations, Geneva, and the Vienna International Centre. The hand-cancellations can be seen in the scanned FDCs' above.

About the issue

United Nations Radio has come a long way from the 1946 makeshift studios and offices at the United Nations Headquarters in Lake Success, New York, where it transmitted its first call sign: "This is the United Nations calling the peoples of the world." Amid the rise of new technologies, radio remains the most accessible platform, recognized as a powerful communication tool and a low cost medium in reaching the widest audience in the world. Radio is particularly suited to reaching remote communities and people who may be underprivileged, disabled or without other technological resources. Furthermore, radio continues to play a strong and specific role in emergency communication and disaster relief.

World Radio Day is now observed on 13 February, a date proclaimed by UNESCO, celebrating the day when UN Radio was launched in 1946. Since its establishment, UN Radio has used its multilingual programmes, carried by media outlets around the globe to tell the story of the international community's efforts to meet the challenges of building a better world. Raising awareness of its unique value is one of the goals of World Radio Day, which also seeks to improve international cooperation among broadcasters and encourage decision makers to provide access to information through radio.

1,000 Years of Brihadeeswarar Temple Commemorative Coin

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The Rs. 1,000-coin issued in commemoration of 1,000 years of the Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur is the first ever Rs. 1,000 coin issued by the Indian government. So far, the highest denomination issued by the Indian government was Rs. 150.

Though Parliament passed a bill in 1975 to mint coins up to denominations of Rs. 1,000, the government has never issued coins worth more than Rs. 150. A Rs. 5 coin was released when the Thanjavur temple celebrated 1,000 years of its existence in 2010. Never before has the government released Rs. 1,000 coins though 75 commemorative coins have been issued by the government since 1964.

Commemorative coins are released in limited number on various themes. The first of its kind was issued on the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. So far coins of denominations Re. 1, Rs. 2, Rs. 5, Rs. 10, Rs. 20, Rs. 50, Rs. 75, Rs. 100 and Rs. 150 have been issued.

The Indian Coinage Act, 1906, had restricted minting coins of denominations above Rs. 100. However, a 1975 bill raised the limit to Rs 1,000, but the government didn't issue coins of higher denominations. Coins of Rs. 150 were issued to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore and the 150th year of public institutions including the Income Tax department and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Interestingly, the government had released Rs. 1,000 currency notes in 1954 with the image of the Brihadeeswarar temple. The government withdrew Rs. 1,000 denomination notes in 1977 as part of a measure to crack down on black money. The Rs. 1,000 denomination currency notes are now back in circulation.

What makes this specific issue of Rs. 1,000 commemorative coin stand apart from the rest is not just the amount but that these coins have 80 per cent silver content. The rest is copper. The other commemorative coins are 50 per cent silver, 40 per cent copper, five per cent zinc and five per cent nickel.