New Stamps from Sri Lanka.....

World Wetlands Day
Date of Issue - 2 February 2009

Hi Here are some new issues from Sri Lanka on different themes covering Environment and Education. Well, Environment is the major issue of present time. Many Postal Administrations have issued stamps to show concern about environment by bringing out postage stamps on various related topics of the environment. The first set shown above was issued to commemorate World Wetland Day.Other two stamps shown below are related with Education. In second part of the Post, a review of recent Indian stamp from our member Mr. Niket Bubna. Our thanks to Mr. Niket and Mr. Pradip Jain for today's Post. This is all for today.....Till Next Post ......Have a Nice Time !

World Wetlands Day
World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 2 February. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971.World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. These activities include seminars, nature walks, festivals, launches of new policies, announcement of new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, radio interviews and wetland rehabilitation.

World Wetlands Day 2009
The international theme for World Wetlands Day 2009 is "Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands connect us all". This is in recognition of how interconnected we all are within river basins and the impact that activities upstream have on the lower parts of a river catchment.

Wetlands have numerous functions:
- Wetlands provide habitat for plants and animals such as amphibians, fish, reptiles, mammals and birds .

- Wetlands help control flood waters by acting like a giant sponge, absorbing water during heavy rainfall then slowly releasing it back into the ecosystem.

-Wetlands can assist in erosion control as they are often located between water bodies and high ground. The roots of the vegetation help to protect soil from high impact events such as wave action or heavy rainfall events .

- Wetlands are important culturally and for recreational activities .

- Wetlands enhance water quality as they act like giant kidneys, purifying and processing nutrients, suspended materials and other pollutants .

Year of English and Information Technology
Date of Issue - 13 February 2009

University of Jaywerdenpura
Date of Issue - 18 February 2009

University of Sri Jayewardenepura is one of Sri Lanka's progressive and innovative universities. Located near Colombo, the university strives to be a center for excellence and knowledge by offering a comprehensive range of disciplines ranging from Arts, Management, Science and Medicine. A postage stamp was issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University.

Courtesy - Pradip Jain, Patna E-Mail philapradip@gmail.com

Point to Ponder...

Niket Bubna writes from US.......

This is in reference with the recent stamp release on well-known industrialist KK Birla (Mar 13, 09). The vernacular spelling of Shri Birla's name is different when compared to the one appearing on the postage stamp released to honour his father, leading industrialist and educationist, Shri G D Birla (June 11, 1984).

It makes one curious about the two different spellings on postage stamps issued by the same-old India Post. It may be just another case of ignorance or it may also be at the behest of the Birla family who may use both the versions of the spellings.

But it definitely creates a variety for us, philatelists!