31 May - World No Tobacco Day

Say No To Tobacco !

World No Tobacco Day is observed on May 31 worldwide. This day tries to educate people about the harmful effect of tobacco consumption and the urgent need to quit it. Tobacco use is responsible for several deaths each year. It is extremely important to save the present and future generations from the devastated health consequences of tobacco use. For World No Tobacco Day 2020, the World Health Organisation focuses on protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use.

The theme for the World No Tobacco Day 2020 is #TobaccoExposed. Through this campaign, the World Health Organisation tries to debunk myths and expose devious tactics employed by these industries. 

This theme tries to empower youth to understand the tactics used by the tobacco industry to sell these products. Adequate information can help understand the negative effect of tobacco use and the need to stand against them. Parents should educate children about the harm smoking can do to their bodies.

New Special Cover from Orissa

Covid -19 Global Pandemic

Hon'ble Governor of Orissa, Prof. Ganeshi Lal released special cover on COVID19 and a pack of 10 picture Postcards on great personalities of Odisha on 26.05.2020 at Bhubaneshwar. Chief Postmaster General , Odisha Circle Subash Chandra Barmma and Secretary to Governor Dr. P.K Meherda were present on the occasion..

Source : EIPA , CPMG Odisha fb page

Eid Mubarak !

Eid Greetings

Virtual Stamp Exhibition by GPNS

Virtual stamp exhibition by Goa Philatelic and  Numismatic Society

The current restrictions on movement and enterprise were first met with resignation, then some restlessness as people wished to get back to work. Now there is more acceptance, and everyone actually seems to be finding ways to live a life rather than be dictated by a virus whose provenance and behaviour are still unknown. After spending the initial days jostling for provisions and supplies, there are more than a few who are now doing not just that, but also engaging in work and have resumed pursuing their hobbies.

There is however an acknowledgement that things are not going to be quite the same. That curbs on the way people will behave and interact with each other are here to stay. And that life will have to move forward with these curbs in place. Even when you are pursuing a hobby.

And so, the Goa Philatelic and Numismatic Society decided that the much-anticipated exhibition of coins, stamps, and other related and independent collections would be a virtual one. Such an idea had not been attempted earlier but that hardly deterred the Society members from giving it a go. A plan was drawn up, members of the Society were informed and the plan tweaked after taking their opinion, and the stage was set for the exhibition to go live on the 18th of May.

And go live it did. The virtual exhibition, possibly the first of its kind anywhere in India, and a glowing testament to the tenacity of its members, went live on the 18th of May on the Society's Facebook page. The date coincided with the World Museum Day, and so the virtual exhibition was, rightly, titled My Room My Museum, acknowledging that stamp and coin collectors have set up mini museums in their rooms with the delightful collections they possess. This was the world's chance to get a glimpse of what they had.

The exhibition was arranged in three categories: Philatelic (of postage stamps and other aligned material), Numismatic (of coins and other aligned material) and Others, which saw some delightful collections of watches, matchboxes, model cars, erasers, and other such items. The coins and stamp collections on display were of high intrinsic value, many of them  having been already awarded at Philatelic and Numismatic exhibitions in India. These were rare and rich collections, assembled patiently over many years, with the doggedness that only a committed collector can bring to bear.

Our attempt in going live through Virtual Exhibition via  Facebbook was received well by philatelists all over India and public in general and there have been several likes for our Facebook page and there have several interesting comments  too. Earlier, people have been using social media such as Whatsapp and Facebook for sharing of knowledge, selling and buying philatelic material, we have used this media as an outreach tool to exhibit our valued exhibits.

As a part of the Virtual Exhibition of the Goa Philatelic and Numismatic Society, a special cover was launched and was also posted by the various members of the Society amongst themselves on 18^th May, 2020. These covers posted from different post offices within Goa had post office cancellations including on Experimental Cancellation of the newly formed post office at the Tapal Bhawan, Patto, Panaji. Images of three different cancellations one from Panjim Head Post office with date cancellation and another with the Experimental cancellation from the Tapal Bhawan, Patto, Panaji and the third one from Curchorem, South Goa are  attached with this article.

A cover posted from the heritage building of the Panjim Head Post office with date cancellation.

A cover posted from the newly formed Post office from the Tapal Bhawan, Patto, Panjim with the experimental cancellation.

A cover posted from Curchorem,  South Goa is depicted above

More importantly, what came to bear was the enthusiasm and tenacity that the members of the Society displayed in ensuring that the exhibition was successfully executed. It might easily lay the path for other such exhibitions to happen, whether or not lockdowns and curbs are here to stay. We may venture into new outreach areas such as online Philatelic Quiz, dissemination of new knowledge, general and thematic philatelic Workshops to the public and students.

view :  https://tinyurl.com/ydgxo9q8

- Dr Ramesh Kumar email : rameshkumar.mr@gmail.com

Thank you Heroes !

Here are new stamps featuring Covid-19 theme. The stamps show the    fight against biggest  pandemic  of the century  COVID-19 . These stamps salute the frontline warriors of this pandemic.

Moroccan Post issued a special stamp on COVID-19 theme, The revenue from the sale of these stamps will be donated to the Special fund for the COVID – 19.

The stamp issued by China Post shows the front line warriors who worked during the lock down which include Doctors, Police, community workers, scientists and Volunteers.

Salute to Corona Warriors

Special Cancellation - Salute to Covid -19 Warriors

from Gujarat Postal Circle

Today on  18th May 2020 Gujarat Postal Circle  has released special cancellation as tribute to all COVID -19 warriors of nation at Navrangpura Head Post Office. Shri Ashok Kumar Poddar, Chief Postmaster General, Gujarat Postal Circle has released special pictorial cancellation of Ahmedabadd GPO, Smt. Jayati Samaddar , General Manager Finance, Gujarat Postal Circle has released special pictorial cancellation of Revdi Bazar Head Post office and  Smt V T Sheth, Retd. Chief Postmaster General, Gujarat Postal Circle has released special pictorial cancellation of Navrangpura Head Post Office.  

News Courtesy : Mainak Kathiara - Ahmedabad ( Philately Promoters Whatsapp Group)

Salute to Covid -19 Warriors - Special Cancellation

Special Cancellation to Salute the Covid -19 Warriors

At Vadodara HPO Sp. cancellation was released by PMG Vadodara Region Mr. Shailndra Kumar, SSP East Division, & Timir Shah.

- Timir Shah, Vadodara : email :  trs_shah@rediffmail.com 

Club News

Relief Camp For COVID 19

 organized by Eastern India Philatelists' Association

Eastern India Philatelists's Association  is the first philatelic organisation in India which has raised funds and  distributed relief packets during COVID-19 lockdown in Orissa at two different parts.

The Eastern India Philatelists' Association, one of the premier Philatelic organization of India has done a commendable noble work during the lockdown period of COVID-19. It has conducted an online special charity auction for relief work amongst the members of the organization on 1st May.2020. The members had spared their rare and important philatelic materials for the auction. A sum of more than Rs.50,000/- was collected from the auction along with personal contribution of some individual members. 

The first COVID-19 Relief Camp was organised by EIPSA at Bolangir on 10 May.2020 where Philatelists of Bolangir and Bhubaneswar Mr. Kamal Chakraborty, Gangadhar Tripathy, Pranay Agrawal, Hardik Bhammar, Anup Kumar Raut, etc. distributed about 40 relief packets to the poor and needy people of the Jhopad Patti near Central School, Bolangir.

A second COVID-19 relief camp was organised by EIPA on 17 May2020 at Bhusandpur, Khurda. The philatelists of EIPA Mr. Anil Dhir, Shanti Swarup Rath, Anup Kumar Raut, Dr, Bibhu Mishra, Kasinath Sahoo, Chitta Ranjan Das, Shashak Sukla, Prashant Das, Manas Das, K. Chandrasekhar, etc. attended the camp and distributed about 60 relief packets to the poor , disabled, tribal snake charmers and needy people.

It has proposed to organize another COVID-19 relief Camp at Bhubaneswar.  In the Past EIPA has also contributed to the Army relief fund during Kargil war.

New special Covers and Postcards

Special cover on Corona Warriors from Kerala circle - 21 April 2020

The Hands that built Mumbai : An ode to the Migrant Workers - 13 May 2020

New Postcards from Czech Republic

New postcard on 105. years of the discovery and description of the species by a Czech native R. Markgraf. The postcard features a Spinosaurus.

The second postcard features Robert L. Carroll US-paleontologist who  died on April 8, 2020 in Westmount, Quebec, due to complications from COVID-19.

Both postcards  are stationery on private order by the Czech philatelic collector Group  FAUNA & FLORA with permission of the Czech Postal administration.

- Wolfgang Beyer (BDPh-German Philatelic Federation) and Vaclav Fiala (OSFAFL- Czech Philatelic  Collector Group FAUNA & FLORA)

Virtual Philatelic Exhibition by Goa Philatelic & Numismatic Society

My Room My Muesum

 Virtual Philatelic Exhibition by Goa Philatelic & Numismatic Society : 18th May 2020

https://bit.ly/3cr6TEM

Through the course of our lives, we bide our time doing particular tasks that may either help us to earn our living or build the staircases to our futures and careers. However, amidst these compulsory tasks, most of us also do things which we enjoy doing. Such activities are called ‘hobbies.’

Hobbies are activities which help us escape the daily grind of life and work and give us pleasure and peace of mind. Because we are not being ordered to perform certain jobs which we may not be fond of, hobbies help to inculcate an appreciation for work rather than driving us away from it.

The interesting thing about hobbies is that they dramatically improve our own personalities and character traits, therefore improving our performances better on the whole. They help us discover talents and abilities which we may never have known ourselves to possess, also giving us an insight of all the elements around us, making us learn new things each day. For instance, hobbies like stamp collecting, bird watching, photography, sports and music make our time worthwhile and give us information about different things.

Pandemic & innovative ways to exhibit

Several participants including children & adults alike, turnout with their exhibits at Goa Science Center at Miramar, Panaji to showcase their hobbies & interests on 18th May every year to commemorate International Museum Day.

This year, due to ongoing Covid-19 pandemic & all across the world observing lockdown & social distancing, Goa Philatelic & Numismatic Society, while keeping everyone's safety in mind have come up with an innovative way to utilize the Facebook's Social Media Platform to showcase our hobbies digitally by way of Virtual Exhibition called MY ROOM MY MUSEUM, the exhibits will include personal collections of stamps, coins, banknotes & some other interesting items. The digital platform will help us reach a wider audience not only in Goa but all across the world.

Exhibition Highlights

The exhibits are divided into three Categories:

a)     Philately (Stamps & stamps related),

b)     Numismatic (Coins & Banknotes) and

c)     Other categories.

Museum Day Commemoration

Every year on 18 May International Museum Day is observed to raise awareness among people about the museums as an important means of cultural exchange and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among people.

The 2020 theme - Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion

International Museum Day: History

In 1977, the International Museum Day was created by the International Council of Museums (http://imd.icom.museum). Every year this organisation chooses a separate theme and co-ordinated every year. Some of the themes focus on the globalization, indigenous peoples, bridging cultural gaps, caring for the environment etc. On this day, since 1977, every year all the museums of the world are invited to participate and promote the role of museums in the world by organising several activities which are focused on the theme. Do you know that in 2009, International Museum Day attracted the participation of 20,000 museums hosting events in more than 90 countries? In 2010, 98 countries participated, 100 countries in 2011 participated and in 2012 around 30,000 museums from 129 countries participated.

Facebook Page Link

The link for our Facebook Page https://bit.ly/3cr6TEM, the Virtual Exhibition will go Live on  18th May, 2020.

GPNS HISTORY

In Goa we had philatelists & numismatics but the organisation required to help them to develop this hobby was absent. In 1974 a few like minded enthusiasts came together at the residence of Shri. V. R. Navelkar at Margao to fulfill the long felt need to unite the philatelists and the numismatists of Goa under one banner and form a society and finally, on 27/04/1975 in Margao the society to be called as "The Goa Philatelic and Numismatic Society" was formed. The society has got its own constitution and it is affiliated to Philatelic Congress of India, New Delhi since 1979.

Shri Pratapsingh Rane, the then Law Minister, formally inaugurated the society on 20.12.1975 and it was during this time that the society had arranged the first official exhibition in Margao at the Municipal Hall. This exhibition had a section on Numismatology and it was well attended.

The main objectives of the society were

1.         To arrange exhibitions and competitions

2.         To arrange film shows, talks and demonstrations on the subject

3.         To publish a periodical

4.         To approach the concerned authorities to provide special cancellations (FDC) in

  Goa

5.         To request Government authorities to provide facilities for developing these hobbies in Goa

Since, inception, Goa Philatelic & Numismatic Society (GPNS) have organised many exhibitions named GOAPEX-77 (15-17 May 1977), GOAPEX 81 (18-20 Dec. 1981), GOAPEX 1983 (25-27 Nov. 1983), GOAPEX-1995, GOAPEX, 2014 and GOAPEX 2019.

An Ayush Festival of Stamps was held on 17^th and 18^th October, 2017at ESG, Panjim in collaboration with Ayush Ministry, Department of Posts and GPNS. About 50 frames on various Ayush themes, such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homepathy along with the Health themes were exhibited by senior philatelists such as Shri V R Navelcar, Dr.M.R.Ramesh Kumar, Mrs R R Radha Bai, Shri Sheik Samiruddin, Roland De Melo, Ashelsh Kamat and Avinash Anaokaretc

 The GPNS along with the Department of Posts, Panaji, Goa paid a humble homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150^th Birth Anniversary, from 2^nd to 4^th October, 2019 by displaying 65 frames on Gandhi and Goan Culture and Heritage by well philatelists such as Shri V.R.Navelcar, Dr.M.R.Ramesh Kumar, Shri SheilkSamiruddin, Mrs R R Radha Bai, V.R.Navelcar and Shri Roland De Melo.

-Dr. M.R. Ramesh Kumar

President,
Goa Philately and Numismatics Society,

Email : rameshkumar.mr@gmail.com

40th Anniversary of Eradication of Smallpox

Date of issue : 8 May 2020

The UNPA issued a commemorative stamp on  8th May 2020 to commemorate 40th Anniversary of Eradication of Smallpox.

The World Health Organization commemorated the 40th anniversary of smallpox eradication in December 2019, recognizing the historic moment on 9 December 1979 when the end of smallpox was confirmed to have been eradicated. Five months later, in May 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly issued its official declaration that ‘the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox’.

A plaque marking the end of a scourge that had afflicted millions for thousands of years was unveiled at WHO headquarters in Geneva in the very same meeting room where, four decades earlier, the 19 members of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication certified that smallpox had been eradicated from the world.

Until it was wiped out, smallpox had plagued humanity for at least 3000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone. The last known endemic case of smallpox was reported and the outbreak promptly contained in Somalia in 1977.

The successful smallpox eradication programme yielded vital knowledge and tools for the field of disease surveillance, the benefits of ring vaccination and the importance of health promotion in fighting diseases such as poliomyelitis and the Ebola virus. It also laid the foundation for stronger national immunization programmes worldwide, underpinning the establishment of primary health care in many countries and creating momentum toward Universal Health Coverage.

Philatelic Tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

159th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore and The Post Office - a Philatelic Tribute by noted philatelist and artist Shri Dipok Dey is a beautiful book on stamps and other philatelic items issued on Nobel Laureate Gurudev  Rabindranath Tagore all over the world. Sharing here some pages from this book.

Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to win Nobel Prize, was born on 7 May 1861 in Kolkata. This year marks the 159th birth anniversary of Tagore. Every year, his birth anniversary is observed as Rabindra Jayanti across the country.

Rabindranath Tagore, one of the most celebrated and revered polymaths India ever had left behind a rich legacy of work inspiring generations across the globe. Tagore, also known as Gurudev played a pivotal role in shaping the Bengali literature, art and music. On his 159th birth anniversary,sharing here some facts about him,

-Rabindranath Tagore was the youngest of thirteen surviving children. He was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. Unfortunately, his mother died at an early age and father travelled widely for work. He was nicknamed as Rabi.

--Interestingly, the Tagore family was at the forefront of the Bengal renaissance. Their family published literary magazines; theatre and recitals of Bengali and Western classical music featured regularly.

--Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. It was for the beautifully written Gitanjali.

Rabindranath Tagore is the only known person to have written the national anthems for two different countries - Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem for India; and Amar Sonar Bangla, the national anthem for Bangladesh. According to some historians, however, the Sri Lankan national anthem too was based on a Bengali song originally written by Tagore in 1938. It was translated into Sinhalese and adopted as the national anthem in 1951.

--Tagore had a unique vision for school training which he conceptualised and named the school Visva-Bharati. Tagore employed a brahmacharya system: gurus gave pupils personal guidance—emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Teaching was often done under trees. He staffed the school, contributed his Nobel Prize money, and his duties as steward-mentor at Santiniketan kept him busy: mornings he taught classes; afternoons and evenings he wrote the students' textbooks. He fundraised widely for the school in Europe and the United States between 1919 and 1921.

--Tagore's Nobel Prize was stolen from the safety vault of the Visva-Bharati University, along with several other of his belongings on March 25, 2004. However, on December 7, 2004, the Swedish Academy decided to present two replicas of Tagore's Nobel Prize, one made of gold and the other made of bronze, to the Visva-Bharati University.