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MIRPUR (AJK), Oct 09 (APP):Like rest of the Globe, ‘World Post Day’ was also observed in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday to raise awareness among the masses about the significance of swift postal services in the current era of fastest means of communications including internet and SMS.
Special ceremonies were held under the auspices of Pakistan Post at various major stations in the liberated state including the district of Mirpur whole the day to highlight importance of the postal services department to ensure maintaining liaison among the people from one place to another the world over.
The speakers highlighted various newly-introduced postal services of the Pakistan Post including the fast fax, saving bank deposits, internet western union money transfer, money order and electronic money order and other services being provided to the people across the country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The observance of the world post day on October 9 every year is primarily aimed at to create and maintain the structure for the swift free flow of international mail around the world.
In Mirpur, the students and teachers of various local schools attended a ceremony held in General Post Office.
Postal Service Officials, Raja Muhammad Arif Chief Postmaster Mirpur GPO, Ch.Shabbir Hussain, Deputy Chief Postmaster, Raja Maqsood Hussain, Deputy CPM Mirpur GPO and other officials apprised the visitors of the postal service in the back drop of its ancient history.
The CPM unveiled the special message of Director General of World Post Union on the World Post Day depicting the importance of the postal services at present and the times to come.
The GPO officials on this occasion cut the world post day anniversary cake to mark the day.
The Postal Service officials responded to the series of queries about the advent and importance of the postal services in the world, raised by the students and other participants of the ceremony about the services being provided by Pakistan Post to the masses both at home and abroad.
The students visited various sections of the GPO where they were apprised of the performance of the postal services harmonious to the need of the modern age.
It is worth to mention here that from the earliest times in history, “postal services” existed in the form of messengers who travelled large distances on foot or horseback. In the 1600s and 1700s, many countries set up national postage systems and entered into bilateral agreements for the exchange of mail between countries.
By the late 1800s there was a large web of bilateral agreements that made the distribution of international mail complicated, nontransparent and inefficient.
In 1863, Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General in the United States of America, organized a conference of representatives from 15 European and American countries.
During this conference, the delegates laid down a number of general principles for mutual agreements on international postal services but did not create an international postal agreement.
On September 15, 1874, Heinrich von Stephan, a senior postal official in the North German Confederation (an area that now forms parts of Germany, Poland and Russia), opened a conference in Berne, Switzerland, with delegates from 22 countries.
On October 9, 1874, the delegates signed the Treaty of Berne and established the General Postal Union. The number of countries that were members of the General Postal Union grew rapidly and the union’s name was changed to the Universal Postal Union in 1878.
In 1948, the Universal Postal Union became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The 16th Universal Postal Union Congress was held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 1 to November 16, 1969. During this conference the delegates voted to declare October 9 each year as World Post Day.