Stamp on World Food Day

 

Date of Issue : 16 October 2015

The Croatian Post Ltd. Mostar  issued a commemorative postage stamp on 16th October 2015.This postage stamp celebrates a day which was established by member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1979. The theme of World Food Day for the year 2015 is “Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty” in order to emphasize the importance of measures that are being taken with the goal of reducing rural poverty and creating an approach to food and resources for buying food.

Researches show that a small number of countries through history has experienced a rapid economical development and poverty reduction, and that there has not preceded an agriculture development.

Agriculture is not only an economic activity. It is a way of life, coexistence with nature, heritage of our ancestors and a cultural distinction. Its non-material contribution is immeasurable in preserving ecological bio-diversity, managing water resources and protecting habitation, landscapes and the earth.

The most essential role of agriculture is solving the world famine problem, most commonly in rural areas. And the only way of solving this problem is that inhabitants of rural areas produce enough of their own food or that they have enough money to buy that food.

That is why support is necessary at all levels, in order to encourage economic and technical cooperation in between non-developed countries and developing countries. It is especially necessary to stimulate participation of rural women in activities that affect their everyday life activities. (Željka Šaravanja)

Best Europa 2015 stamp

Turkey is the Gold Winner

Turkey is the winner of the 2015 Best Europa stamp contest organised by PostEurop. Hungary finished second and Finland is third.This 2.50 TRY stamp is part of a two stamp set.It's the third time Turkey wins the on line voting and since 2011 they always finished in the top 2 ! They won in 2011 and 2013 and finished 2nd in 2012 and 2014 !

PostEurop announced Turkish PTT (Turkey – gold), Magyar Posta (Hungary – silver) and Posti (Finland – bronze), as the top three winners of the 2015 PostEurop EUROPA Online competition at the PostEurop Plenary Assembly in Limassol, Cyprus.

Hungary – Silver

Finland – Bronze

Earlier this year PostEurop launched the public online voting competition on Europe Day. This year’s EUROPA theme “Old Toys” took everyone on a trip down memory lane. The Post Offices from around the world participated in this great philatelic contest. All stamps designed specially for this competition can be viewed at : Europa Stamps 2015: Old toys.

Best Europa stamp - Jury prize to Russia

 

Additional prizes were also handed over to the winners of the 2015 PostEurop EUROPA Jury competition “Marka” (Russia – gold), PostNord (Sweden – silver) and Latvijas Pasts (Latvia – bronze) during a special ceremony at the distinguished Brussels Town Hall, during the Belgian Philatelic Grand Prix ceremony on Saturday, 19 September 2015.

“Like Confucius once said ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand’, these Old Toys have reminded us of the little joys that once helped us during our childhood, to experience and better understand the world. Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Turkish PTT-Turkey and ‘Marka’-Russia, for their achievements in this year very close competition” stated Anita Häggblom, Chair of the Stamps & Philately Working Group.

In this year’s theme “Old Toys – a trip down memory lane” inspired 56 entries. Each work of art was placed online for almost 4 months during which a campaign took place and encouraged EUROPA Stamps enthusiasts to vote for their favourite stamp. More than 10,000 votes were registered during that time with the winners emerging based on total votes received. Below are the runner ups.

The full list of winning stamps since the first contest in 2002 when Malta won.

Source : Europa Stamps ; International Stamp News

New special covers and Stamp Booklets

 

Daker Saaj - Stamp Exhibition 2015, West Bengal State Level Philatelic Exhibition - 8th – 13th October 2015

Sombhu Mitra – 8th October 2015

Adi Shakti Mahamaya Sri Jeen Mataji's Siddhpith - 9th October 2015

Special Cover on Lions Club of North Calcutta - 10th October 2015

 

Centenary of First Meeting of Tagore with Gandhiji – 11th October 2015

81 Years of Establishment of All India Village Industries Association – 12th October 2015

Stamp Booklets

Six stamp booklets were released on 1. Mahatma Gandhi, 2. Nabakalebara 2015, 3. International Day of Yoga, 4. Samrat Ashoka, 5. Women Empowerment and 6. FIFA World Cup 2014 during the exhibition.

Courtesy – Indian Philately Digest

New Special Covers

 

ALWARPEX 2015 – Alwar

Moosi Maharani Ki Chhatri – 30 Sep 2015

Sukanya Samridhi Yojana : Alwar :  2 Oct 2015

Asian Mycological Congress 2015 – Goa : 7 Oct 2015

Mission Devai : Conserve Sacred Grove : Pune : 3 Oct 2015

Post Forum : Chennai : 9 Oct 2015

Post Forum 2015 : Tiruchirapalli : 9 October 2015

Injury Prevention : New Delhi : 3 Oct 2015

Diamond Jubilee Integral Coach Factory : Chennai : 2 Oct 2015

Sindhi Aahyo – Sindhi Galhayo : Lucknow : 26 September 2015

St Michel’s High School Patna : 28 September 2015

- Sreejesh Krishnan : Trivandrum : email : sreejesh.nt@gmail.com

Club News

 

Special Cover on 75 years of State Training Centre, Umtyngar - 13th October 2015

To commemorate 75 years of State Training Centre, Umtyngar of Meghalaya Bharat Scouts & Guides a Special Cover was released at Shillong GPO during the National Postal Week on the Philately Day, 13th October 2015.

The Bharat Scouts and Guides in Meghalaya started at the first meeting held on 19-8-1972 under the Chairmanship of the then Education Minister Shri D.D. Pugh, when the state became full-fledged, along with some enthusiastic who stress the importance of starting the Movement in our state. The office started in November, 1972 in the office chamber of the then Inspector of Schools at Mawkhar, Shillong. Since then, the Association has been functioning very well under the Education Department. It has made tremendous progress in quality as well as in quantity.

The State Training Centre at Umtyngar about 22 kms from Shillong on Cherrapunjee Road is spread in about 3 acres of land. The Centre has a very old hall, a store-room, a kitchen and Choukidar's quarters. The Centre can accommodate about 800 boys and girls at a time in tents. The Meghalaya Bharat Scouts and Guides (MBSG) recently celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of the State Training Centre, Umtyngar.

Courtesy – Indian Philately Digest

Recent Stamp Exhibitions

Philatelic exhibition at Imphal – 13th October 2015

A philately exhibition was organised in the auditorium of CRPF Group Centre, Langjing, Imphal on 13th October 2015 on the occasion of Philately Day under National Postal Week celebrations in Manipur. Exhibition was inaugurated by DIG Shri Vikram Sahgal. Shri Vinod Kumar, Director (Posts) Manipur was present at the inauguration function. Letter writing competition was also held among the children of Kendriya Vidyalaya-2, Langjing. "My Stamp" facility was also made available during the exhibition.

Source – Indian Philately Digest

UTTARPEX 2015

 

1st Zonal Philatelic Exhibition of Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand is going to be held at Lucknow from 30 October to 2nd November 2015.

Venue – Lalit Kala Academy, Aliganj, Lucknow.

VALPEX-2015

India Post, Valsad Division is going to organize “ Philatelic Exhibition” VALPEX-2015 from 2nd November to 4th November 2015.

Venue :  Rajput Samaj Hall, Near Kasturba Hospital, Valsad – 396001

- M. Gulrez – Bombay

New Christmas stamps

 

Date of Issue : 3 November 2015

Royal Mail has issued Christmas stamps since 1966. From 2005 it introduced a policy of alternating secular with religious designs each year, and 2015 is a religious year. The stamps tell the traditional Nativity story in an impressionistic style, from the Annunciation, through to the Nativity and journey of the Magi.

The Christmas 2015 stamps feature scenes from the Biblical story of the Nativity, painted by artist David Holmes, with art direction and design by Studio David Hillman.

 

The images are as follows:

2nd Class and 2nd Class Large: The journey to Bethlehem

1st Class and 1st Class Large: The Nativity

£1.00: The animals of the Nativity

£1.33: The shepherds

£1.52: The three wise men

£2.25: The Annunciation

Club News

A new book “The 1929 Indian Air Mail Stamps of India”  has recently been released. The Book lists more than 200 errors in 6 stamps of 1929 Airmail issue. Interested philatelists may contact Markand Dave : Email : markand7@yahoo.com

 

New Stamp from India - Border Security Force

Border Security Force

Date of Issue : 21 October 2015

Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh  released a commemorative stamp in denomination of Rs. 5 to mark 50 years of raising of country's largest border guarding force BSF at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 21st October 2015.

The Border Security Force (BSF) is the primary Border Guarding police force of India. It is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India. Till 1965 India’s borders with Pakistan were manned by the State Armed Police Battalion. Pakistan attacked Sardar Post, Chhar Bet and Beria Bet on 9 April, 1965 in Kutch. This exposed the inadequacy of the State Armed Police to cope with armed aggression due to which the Government of India felt the need for a specialized centrally controlled Border Security Force, which would be armed and trained to man the International Border with Pakistan. As a result of the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the Border Security Force came into existence on 1st December 1965, and Shri K. F. Rustamji was the first chief and founding father. 

The BSF is a Central Armed Police Force charged with guarding India's land border during peace time and preventing transnational crime. It is a Union Government Agency under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs. The BSF has its own cadre of officers but its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service. It is an Armed Force of the Union of India tasked with various assignments from time to time. The BSF has grown exponentially from a few battalions in 1965, to 186 battalions with strength of 2.5 lakh personnel including an expanding air wing, marine wing, artillery regiments, and commando units. It currently stands as the world's largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Wall of Defence of Indian Territories.

Courtesy - Indian Philately Digest

Harpy Dussehra

Greetings to all Readers on Dussehra

Festivals of India–Durga Puja

 

Greetings on Durga Puja

This is festive time in India. Today, Durga Puja is being celebrated in different parts of the country. Greetings to all the Readers on the festive occasion !!

Shaped and Transparent S/S on Christmas from New Zealand

 

New Zealand is home to some truly beautiful stained-glass windows, which add character and charm to churches and buildings throughout the country. The Christmas 2015 stamp issue features five vibrant stained-glass windows, ranging in design from the traditional to the contemporary.

Stained-glass windows date back to ancient times, with some existing in Britain possibly as early as the 7th century. The movement gained popularity in the Middle Ages as a way to convey narratives from the Bible to the masses, and has evolved over time to incorporate more colour and detail.

Date of Issue : 4 November 2015

An innovative miniature sheet

As part of this special Christmas issue, NZ Post  created a unique miniature sheet that encapsulates the theme of stained-glass windows. The miniature sheet is printed on translucent gummed paper and is die-cut in the shape of traditional stained-glass church windows.

The colourful stamps in this issue feature Christmas-related imagery from stained-glass windows around New Zealand, ranging from central characters from the nativity story to the ‘New Zealand Christmas tree’, the pōhutukawa.

80c - Angel

This stained-glass depiction of an angel is part of the Kelvin and Janice Loveday commemorative window in St Mark’s Church, Carterton. Angels play an important role in the nativity story, with the Angel Gabriel telling Mary that she would give birth to Jesus and an angel bringing the news of Jesus’s birth to the shepherds.

$1.40 - Dove

The dove is recognised as a symbol of peace as well as one of the forms of the Holy Spirit. Doves are often seen as a decoration on New Zealand Christmas trees. The dove depicted on this stamp is part of a larger stained-glass window at St Aidan’s Anglican Church, Remuera, Auckland.

$2.00 - Mary and Jesus

This vibrant stained-glass window sits inside St Mary’s-in-Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland and depicts Mary with the baby Jesus. According to the nativity story Mary and Joseph were unable to find a room at the inn, and took shelter in a stable in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

$2.50 - Pōhutukawa

Often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree, the native pōhutukawa is symbolic of summer and the festive season. The pöhutukawa shown on this stamp is part of a larger window in the Christchurch Hospital Nurses Memorial Chapel.

$3.00 - Wise Men

According to the nativity story, the three wise men were kings of the East who were led to where Jesus lay by an angel. There they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. This stained-glass window is one of three windows portraying the nativity story in St Benedict’s Church, Auckland.

Stunning self-adhesive stamps

To help people with their local and international Christmas sending, three self-adhesive stamps will be issued in denominations of 80c, $2.00 and $2.50.

 

Special First Day Covers

The design of the miniature sheet first day cover cleverly incorporates the translucent miniature sheet to depict an actual stained-glass window. Through the top of the window pane, views of New Zealand's christmas tree, the pōhutukawa can be seen.