Context

A customized My Stamp on India’s First Anti Satellite Missile (A-SAT) was launched on the occasion of Engineers Day on September 15.

About

• ‘My Stamp’ was first introduced in India during the World Philatelic Exhibition, ‘INDIPEX-2011’.
• My Stamp is the brand name for personalized sheets of Postage Stamps of India Post.
• The release of Stamp reminds the nation about the technological achievement, which has made the nation proud.
• The stamp was released by Department of Posts.

Department of Posts The Department of Posts, trading as India Post, is a government-operated postal system in India, which is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Communications. Generally called "the Post Office" in India, it also acts as an agent for Government of India in discharging other services for citizens such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage disbursement and old age pension payments. With 1, 55,531 Post Offices, the DoP has the most widely distributed postal network in the world.

Engineer's Day in India

• The birth anniversary of Sir M Visvesvaraya (September 15) is celebrated every year as Engineer's Day in India.
  • Popularly called 'Sir MV', he was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his immense contribution to India's early infrastructure development, education and social welfare.
  • M Visvesvaraya was born in 1861 at Chikkaballapur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
  • After completing his undergraduate degree in Arts, M Visvesvaraya changed track and went for a degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering in Pune.
  • As the Diwan of Mysore, M Visvesvaraya founded the Mysore Soap Factory, Bangalore Agricultural University, State Bank of Mysore and Mysore Iron and Steel Works.
  • He also founded the Government Engineering College, now known as University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering.

Mission Shakti

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test ‘Mission Shakti’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha in 2019.
• DRDO developed A-SAT Missile successfully engaged an Indian orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in a ‘Hit to Kill’ mode.
• The interceptor missile was a three-stage missile with two solid rocket boosters.
• Tracking data from range sensors had confirmed that the mission met all its objectives. The entire effort was indigenous which demonstrated the Nation’s capability to develop such complex and critical missions.
• A number of industries also participated in the mission.
• With this success, India became fourth nation in the world to possess such capability. Till now, only the US, Russia and China had the capability to hit a live target in space.