150th Anniversary of Universal Postal Union

India Post released a Souvenir sheet to celebrate 150th Anniversary of Universal Postal Union on 9th October 2024.

Board Meeting of Universal Postal Union.

A Special cover was released on the occasion of the 86th QSF Boadr Meeting of Universal Postal Union at Caisua on 29th January 2024.

Inauguration of Universal Postal Union, Regional Office India.

A Special cover was released on the occasion of the Inauguration of Regional Office, India of Universal Postal Union on 15th July 2023 at New Delhi.

Universal Postal Union - Russian stamp

Russia Post released a stamp on Universal Postal Union on 9th October 2019 depicting it's logo.

The Universal Postal Union is an interstate organization for the provision and improvement of postal communications in the single postal territory formed by the Universal Postal Union, founded on October 9, 1874. It unites almost all countries of the world, including Russia. Russia is one of the founders of the UPU. Among his main tasks is to promote the development of a worldwide postal service, increase the volume of postal items through the introduction of modern types of postal products and services, and improve the quality of postal customer service.

2015 Letter-Writing Competition winners.

Sara Jadid from Lebanon has won the UPU’s International Letter-Writing Competition 2015 with her letter on the world she wishes to grow up in. She impressed an international jury with a heartfelt plea for a world without war.

For further reading: UPU

 

World Post Day.

World Post Day is celebrated on 9 October and marks the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1874.It was declared World Post Day by UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969.

(Official Poster - 2013-2015: Featuring two well-known symbols of the Post and communication, the new poster shows the traditional letter transforming itself into a carrier pigeon taking flight. The bird's digitized lines and shape convey the message that the Post and postal communication are evolving and modernizing, increasingly using electronic features. Through this combination of traditional symbols and modern lines, the poster evokes the fundamental values of the postal service.)

Many Posts use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services. Open days are held as are flag-raising ceremonies. Some Posts also use World Post Day to reward their employees for good service.This year the Universal Postal Union celebrates its 140th anniversary on 9 October.For countries participating in the UPU International Letter-writing Competition for children, national winners are often honoured on 9 October.

India Post celebrates Postal Week following World Post Day from 9th of October.Many activities are taken up and Philatelic exhibitions are held to educate the children and the Public.New scheme and products are introduced, Seminars and Workshops are held, souvenirs are issued and special cancellations and covers will be released.

Letter from violin wins first prize.

Nataša Miloševic, a 13-year-old girl from Bosnia and Herzegovina, has won the gold medal in the Universal Postal Union’s 43rd International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People.

For further news and the letter visit UPU Letter writing Contest 2014

Karpov puts his stamp on Olympics and chess.

Chess Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov was at UPU headquarters on Monday 7 April 2014 to inaugurate a philatelic exhibition on sport and the Olympic movement featuring items from his personal and world-class collection.

Russia's ambassador to Switzerland, Alexander Golovin (left) inaugurated the exhibition with the UPU's Bishar A. Hussein and Anatoly Karpov (right).

Chess Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov was at UPU headquarters on Monday 7 April 2014 to inaugurate a philatelic exhibition on sport and the Olympic movement featuring items from his personal and world-class collection.

Karpov is well known for his mastery of chess, having won several world championships, but he is also an avid collector of stamps and philatelic items on the Olympics, chess and Belgium, among other themes.

Karpov, now a member in the Russian Parliament and the founder of 36 chess schools around the world, owns one of the most important philatelic collections on the modern Olympic Games, especially ranging from the first Games in Athens in 1896 to those held in Amsterdam in 1928. Taken as a whole, his Olympic collection is believed to be one of the top three in the world. “I have almost everything, but it is impossible to have everything,” he said with a smile.

At the UPU, Karpov is exhibiting stamps, miniature sheets, marked envelopes, postcards and special postmarks from every Winter Games from the first in 1924 in Chamonix to those held in Calgary in 1988.

The Russian Post is also showcasing stamps from the latest Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, while Swiss Post and the Post of Liechtenstein brought stamps they issued on the Olympic theme over the years.

The stamps are on display this week during the annual session of the UPU's Postal Operations Council.

The philatelic items from Karpov’s Olympic collection fit in more than 100 albums at home, he said, and he estimates its worth at some 1.5 million euros.

Among the rare and precious items he owns is a block of four mint stamps from the first modern Olympic Games, issued by Greece. Only three such blocks exist in the world, he said. Former International Olympic Committee head Antonio Samaranch owned one, too. He also has proofs of the first Olympic stamps issued by Greece, which are extremely rare.

Karpov is also an avid collector of stamps on chess, and he is displaying several in the exhibition. It features the very first chess stamp in the world, issued by Bulgaria in 1947 for the Balkan Games, as well as stamps marking World Chess Championships, including those in which he participated in 1978 and 1981.

Source: UPU Website.

2013 International Letter-Writing Competition - Winners.

Fifteen-year-old Daniel Korcak, from Ostrava, Czech Republic, has won the Universal Postal Union’s 42nd International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People with his letter to the central European river, the Oder.

Recalling the current International Year of Water Cooperation, the 2013 contest asked budding writers to explain why water is a precious resource.

"I thought many students would write to a person, so I decided to write my letter directly to water,” says the gold-medal winner, whose simple, creative and innovative prose captivated the international jury.

"Daniel reminds us just how much we depend on water, too often taken for granted. His letter, tender and universal in its appeal, portrays the Oder as a symbol of water everywhere," declared the jury.

UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein congratulated this year’s winners, saying: “Communication is at the heart of the postal activity and, in a sea of digital messages, it remains critical for young people to understand the importance of the written word and the structured composition and recognize the emotions and call to action good writing can elicit. Postal services support literacy and communication, and we are delighted that our competition touches so many young people.”

An estimated 1.5 million young people from 60 countries participated in this year’s contest.

Nazifa Farhat Hye, 14, from Sylhet, Bangladesh, wins the silver medal, while Gabija Petrauskaité, 13, from Sventoji, Lithuania, wins bronze.

The jury also awarded special mentions to: Cy. M. Rodriguez from the Philippines, Priya-Vani Heera from Trinidad and Tobago, and Dao Thuy Thuy Duong from Viet Nam.

Winners will receive their prizes on 9 October 2013, World Post Day.

Source: UPU Website.

UPU Letter Writing Contest.

India Post proposes to conduct UPU Letter Writing Competetion on 6th Jan 2013.

For details visit India Post

UPU’s 41st International Letter-Writing Competition

Greek boy's letter to Roger Federer wins gold : Talking about the Olympic spirit came easy for Greece’s Marios Chatzidimou, 14. His letter to tennis champion Roger Federer captured the hearts of the international jury to win the gold medal in the UPU’s 41st International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People.

The 2012 edition asked young people to write a letter to an athlete or sports personality they admire to tell them what the Olympic Games mean to them. 

In a brilliantly written letter, Chatzidimou places the world’s top-seeded tennis player in in ancient Olympia alongside athletes such as Diagoras of Rhodes and Polidamas and creates a dialogue with him. “Participation, entering the contest, is already a great victory, regardless of the trophy. A victory against fears, insecurity and difficulties, of yourself, against your own vanity and selfishness.” That’s how Chatzidimou has Federer describe the Olympic values to him. Chatzidimou criticizes the sometimes absence of fair play and the use of drugs in modern-day competitions, adding: “But for me the first Olympic Games mean neither anabolic [steroids] nor championship, nor financial benefits, economic crisis nor hate. They do mean joy for participating, fair play, friendship, peace and, I hope, this meaning will apply to this year’s Olympic Games.”

The jury complimented his simple and creative writing style. “The composition is original, very personal and stylistically creative. The modern and historic Olympic values come out very strongly,” it said. 

Kenya takes home the silver medal, while Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago tie for the bronze. 

Source: Universal Postal Union