the Bengal Presidency, no POSBs were established in Calcutta or Howrah. Postal life insurance began on 1 February 1884 as a welfare measure for the employees of the Posts & Telegraphs Department as Government of India dispatch No. 299 dated 18 October 1882 to the Secretary of State. The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 The Indian Post Office Act, 1898, passed by the legislature on 22 March 1898, became effective on 1 July 1898 regulating postal service. It was preceded by Act III of 1882 and Act XVI of 1896. The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 The world's first official airmail flight took place in India on 18 February 1911, a journey of lasting 27 minutes. Henri Pequet, a French pilot, carried about of mail (approximately 6,000 letters and cards) across the Ganges from Allahabad to Naini; included in the airmail was a letter to King George V of the United Kingdom. India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Telegraphy and telephony made their appearance as part of the postal service before becoming separate departments. One unique telegraph office was established and operated in the capital of Lhasa until the People's Republic of China's annexation of Tibet. It is one of the Floating Wonders of India. The Posts and Telegraphs departments merged in 1914, dividing again on 1 January 1985. After independence in 1947 Since India became independent in 1947, the postal service continues to function on a nationwide basis, providing a variety of services. The structure of the organization has the directorate at its apex; below it are circle offices, regional offices, the superintendent's offices, head post offices, sub-post offices and branch offices. In April 1959, the Indian Postal Department adopted the motto "Service before help"; it revised its logo in September 2008. The number of post offices was 23,344 when India became independent in 1947 and these were primarily in urban areas. The number increased to 155,015 2016 and 90% of these were in rural areas. Postage-stamp history First adhesive stamps in Asia The first adhesive postage stamps in Asia were issued in the Indian district of Scinde in July 1852 by Bartle Frere, chief commissioner of the region. Frere was an admirer of Rowland Hill, the English postal reformer who had introduced the Penny Post. The Scinde stamps became known as "Scinde Dawks"; "Dawk" is the Anglicised spelling of