Mr.Tamilvanan , Daily Philately News

*TODAY*03.07.2021

 *International Day of Cooperatives*

 International Day of Cooperatives is observed on the first Saturday of July each year. Some of the day's goals are to increase awareness on cooperatives, as well as strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other supporting organizations including governments.

What Do People Do?

Cooperatives around the world celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives in many ways. Activities include: messages from the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the UN translated into local languages for worldwide distribution; news articles and radio programs publicizing the awareness of the day; fairs, exhibits, contests and campaigns focused on the topics related to the day; meetings with government officials, UN agencies and other partner organizations; economic, environmental, social and health challenges (such as tree planting); and sponsored cultural events such as theatres and concerts.

Public Life

The UN's International Day of Cooperatives is a global observance and not a public holiday.

Background

Cooperatives are important in the world's economic and social development. Based as on the principle of cooperation, cooperatives help create new ethics and values in business and economics. In 1895 ICA was formed and since 1927 it observes the first Saturday of July as International Cooperative Day. In 1994 the United Nations recognized and reaffirmed that cooperatives were vital in the world's economic, social and cultural development. However two years earlier – on December 16, 1992 – the UN General Assembly proclaimed the first Saturday of July 1995 as the International Day of Cooperatives, marking the centenary of ICA's establishment.

Symbols

The United Nations’ logo is often associated with marketing and promotional material for this event. It features a projection of a world map (less Antarctica) centered on the North Pole, enclosed by olive branches. The olive branches symbolize peace and the world map represents all the people of the world. It has been featured in colors such as white against a blue background or blue against a white background.

Promotional material used to publicize the day included images featuring an array of colors similar to those of a rainbow. These colors are linked with those that are used by ICA, which, together with the UN and other organizations, plays a big role in promoting and coordinating events for the day.

*Tamilvanan Philatelist*

*TODAY*

*Death Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda*

 Born to an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family on 12th January 1863, Narendranath Datta was a scholar, philosopher, and an advocate of Hinduism. He later took the name Swami Vivekananda around 1886 which means ‘the bliss of discerning wisdom’. He spent his life in search of spirituality, divinity, and the development of his country. He was a strong supporter of Indian nationalism during the British supremacy, and his birthday is celebrated as the ‘National Youth Day’.

Narendranath was born at Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in Calcutta to Vishwanath Datta and Bhubaneswari Devi. He grew up with eight siblings and had an active interest in the spiritual facets of the world. Vivekananda was a gifted student, and he proved his excellence by scoring first-division marks in the Presidency College Examination. Apart from his interest in Indian classical music, Narendranath also took delight in literature, scriptures and art.

He studied Western Logic, Philosophy, and European History at the General Assembly’s Institute. He got his degree in Fine Arts in 1884. His thirst for wisdom led him to join the ‘Nava Vidhan’ and ‘Sadharan Brahmo Samaj’ led by Keshab Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore. Here, he started having a change of perspective on the existence of God and got introduced to new doctrines.

He started questioning if God existed and asked for answers from his peers and companions but in vain. It was only when he met Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar in 1881 that he got an answer. Still, it did not satisfy him. He refused to accept Ramakrishna’s sayings and revolted against him. The turning point of his life was when his father passed away in 1884, and he found himself seeking comfort in Ramakrishna’s teachings. He started considering him as his guru and became his disciple.

Narendranath lost Ramakrishna to throat cancer in 1886. Along with his other disciples, he went on to build the ‘Ramakrishna Math’ with the money accumulated from ‘holy begging’. He left the maths on foot to continue his journey of spreading the teachings of Ramakrishna. He later left India to go to Chicago. There he represented India at the ‘Parliament of Religions’ and introduced the world to Hindu religion.

His speech moved the mass of seven-thousand people, and he is still considered as one of the most dynamic orators in Indian history. After his speech, Swami Vivekananda went on to deliver lectures around the US and UK. He founded the ‘Vedanta Society’ at New York in 1894. He had a massive number of followers in the US and UK. After his return to India in 1897, he established the ‘Ramakrishna Mission’ basing its ideals on Karma Yoga. He also wrote several poems and essays.

He dedicated his book ‘Khandana Bhava- Bandhana’ to Ramakrishna. Other noteworthy works of Vivekananda are ‘Karma Yoga’, ‘Sangeet Kalpataru’, and ‘Bartaman Bharat’. Swami Vivekananda was considered as the ‘marker of modern India’ by Subhas Chandra Bose. Through his work and ideologies, he had influenced prominent figures like Mahatma Gandhi and inspired freedom fighters like Aurobindo Ghose, Bagha Jatin, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

He left a significant impact on the educational, cultural, political, and spiritual realm of the world when he passed away in Belur Math on 4th July 1902. His followers believed that he had attained ‘Maha Samadhi’ hence proving his prophecy of not living till 39 years of age.

*Tamilvanan Numismatist & Philatelist*