Rainbow Stamp Club

Club News..

2012-02-01T12:28:00.001+05:30

50th Golden Issue of Rainbow

Rainbow Stamp News February 2012 Issue No. 50

Hi ! I have just posted February 2012 issue of Rainbow Stamp News on blog. It is a very special 50th Golden issue of Rainbow with articles on a variety of subjects. Hope the readers would like this issue !! This issue could be viewed at : http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.in/

Read some more news from the philatelic world in this Post…Till Next Post …Have a Nice Time !!

Press Clippings

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

New stamps from Belgium..

2012-01-31T18:12:00.001+05:30

The Belgian Post has issued a series of stamps featuring the most famous fabulous creations invented by human.

Born by human's imagination, the fabulous creations combine the complicated human nature agitated by such contradictory feelings as love, cruelty, boldness, hate, fear and natural phenomenons.

The stamps feature: Mermaid, Werewolf, Unicorn, Dragon, Amphiptere, Pegasus, Griffon, Centaurs, Sphinx and Harpy.

Club News

Special postmark from Gorakhpur Postal Division

Glimpses of stamp Exhibition in Gorakhpur

A stamp exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi has been organized from 3ist Jan to 1st Feb 2012 by Gorakhpur Postal Division.

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

New Special Covers..

2012-01-31T11:58:00.001+05:30

Schoolpex 2012 - Dehradun

St. Joseph Acdemy Dehradun - 28 January 2012

75 Years of Corbette National Park

Special cancellation on Jim Corbette Park ( The cover is private )

: Sanjiv Jain - Dehradun

Stamp Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi in Gorakhpur today

:Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Tributes to the Father of Nation – Mahatma Gandhi

2012-01-30T13:30:00.001+05:30

“Remembering Mahatma’s 64th Death Anniversary”

Picture Post Cards : Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

“Gandhi World Foundation” Conducted drawing Competition, quiz competition and other sports activities to over 150 nearby school students at Gummidipoondi , Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu on 29 January 2012 for remembrance of Mahatma’s 64th death anniversary. The main aim of Gandhi world Foundation to organize this event was to spread Gandhiji’s thoughts to younger generation of our country.

Gandhi world Foundation founder ML. Rajesh, Managing Trustee R. Vijiaylakshmi, Trustee Dilip Kumar Jain, Pramod Jain started the events with their valuable speech about Gandhiji and organized other competition to entertain the excited kids, Trustee Lawyer Shyam Sundar, EX- Ranji Cricketer Murali, Dilip Kumar Jain eventually Lightened the ceremony with prize distribution. A very respectful Homage was paid to Mahatma Gandhi.

ML. Rajesh - Chennai

Stamp Exhibitions

Stamp exhibition on Gandhi in Gorakhpur today

Today on 30th January a stamp exhibition on various facets of Mahatma Gandhi has been organized in Gorakhpur Postal Division office. A variety of philatelic items on Mahatma Gandhi from different countries have been displayed in the exhibition . All are welcome to visit this exhibition.

: SSP, Gorakhpur Postal Division

11th Bihar Philatelic Exhibition 2012 STAMP EXPO - 2012

Bihar Postal Circle organizes STATE LEVEL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION - AT PATNA

STAMP EXPO-2012 : 10 –13February, 2012

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Stamp Expo-2012 is a 11^th STATE LEVEL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION of Bihar Postal Circle. It will be held at Patna from 10-13^th February, 2012.

1.2 The Exhibition is organized by the Bihar Postal Circle with the active support of philatelic associations/philatelists of Bihar/PCI. The organizing committee is headed by the Chief Postmaster General, Bihar Circle, Patna-800001.

2. VENUE

The venue of the Exhibition will be WHEELER SENATE HALL, PATNA UNIVERSITY, PATNA-800005.The venue is 3.5km away from Patna Railway Station.

3. SPECIAL COVER & CANCELLATION

Bihar Postal Circle will bring out single special cover every day as a feature of the Exhibition with a separate cancellation for each day. Special Cover with or without cancellation will be available on sell at the venue of the Exhibition. Order for special cover may be placed on the philately Bureau, Patna GPO/Muzaffarpur HO.

4. DEALER’S BOOTH:

Dealer’s Booth will be provided on rent for Rs 3500.00 for the duration of the Exhibition. Details can be had from the Secretary, Exhibition Committee Stamp Expo -2012, Office of the Chief Postmaster General, Bihar Circle, Patna.

5. CORRESPONDANCE:

All communications concerning the exhibition should be addressed to the Exhibition Committee Stamp Expo-2012, Office of the Chief Postmaster General, Bihar Circle, Patna-800001.The telephone number/e-mail ID is as under:

Telephone No.2226395

e-mail ID: adbdpatna@gmail.com

6. RULES & REGULATIONS:

6.1 The Exhibition will be governed by India Post Regulations for philatelic exhibition (IP-PER), philatelic jurors programme (IP-PJP), philatelic award system (IP-PAS) and by special rules made there under.

6.2 Exhibits will be classified into the following two classes:

Non-competitive Class.

Competitive Class.

6.2.1 NON COMPETITIVE CLASS

6.2.1.1 CLASS OF HONOUR

The Exhibits that are of exceptional significance or interest. The minimum requirement is that the Exhibit should have won gold or the highest award in the relevant class at a higher level Exhibition within the last 5 years.

6.2.1.2 OFFICIAL CLASS

The Exhibit from National Philatelic Museum, Army Postal Service, India Security Printers, Stamp designers. Business houses dealing in franking machine, other Postal Equipment and other similar agencies.

6.2.1.3 JURY COLLECTIONS

The Exhibits from Jury and Apprentice Jury appointed for the Exhibition.The participation of jurors is optional.

6.2.1.4 SPECIAL INTEREST

The well known Exhibits from other Postal Divisions, Regions and Circles especially in those classes where there is no participant from the area to demonstrate and promote those Exhibition classes for future.

6.2.1.5 ABOVE COMPETITION

The Exhibits that have previously won Grand prize or the First and Second Runner up position in the championship class, at the same level. Exhibits under non competitive class 6.2.1.1,6.2.1.3,6.2.1.4 & 6.2.1.5 will be invited at the sole discretion of organizing committee.

6.3 COMPETITIVE CLASS

6.6 The exhibitor in Philatelic Publication Class, must submit two copies, one

returnable, of each title to the organizers by the closing date of receipt for

entries in this class. Periodicals shall comprise a complete volume of year.

A selection of 10 articles is required for entries in Article Section.

6.7 One-Frame Exhibit

7.1 Intending participants in the Exhibition should apply in the prescribed entry form in duplicate. The entry forms are available with:

(a) Secretary, Exhibition Committee Stamp Expo-2012, Office of the Chief Postmaster General, Bihar Circle, Patna-800001.

(b) Philately Bureau, Patna GPO-800001

The entry form duly filled in along with entry fee of each entry must reach the Secretary, Exhibition Committee Stamp Expo – 2012, Office of the Chief Postmaster General, Bihar Circle, Patna-800001 on or before 31.01.2012.Incomplete entries or entries received after the due date will not be accepted.

World pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Martyrs Day !!

2012-01-30T12:18:00.001+05:30

Today is 64th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Nation pays homage to the father of the nation with prayer meetings and floral tributes on his 64th death anniversary observed as Martyrs’ Day.

It was on Jan 30, 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. A two-minutes silence in memory of the Father of the Nation and other martyrs is observed throughout the country at 11 a.m. Gandhi, who was assassinated on Jan 30, 1948, three months past his 78th birthday. His death anniversary happens to be observed as Martyrs’ Day in India.

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Cairo's Philatelic exhibition on Rabindranath Tagore…

2012-01-29T18:03:00.001+05:30

Here is an interesting article published in the Al-Ahram weekly, Cairo.

Contemplating the contemplator

Cairo's Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture staged a exhibition to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore. Gamal Nkrumah feasts his eyes on India's Philatelic treasures….

Cairo's Philatelic exhibition on Rabindranath Tagore may provoke a connoisseurial smirk or a knowing sneer to the uninitiated in the art of stamps issued by the postal departments of around 20 countries from across the globe. Satirists look at life's conventional scenes and see panoplies of penetration and discernment. The most resonant images portrayed in the philatelic objects on display are the sensational portraits of the first Asian Nobel Laureate himself. "The progress of our soul is like a perfect poem. It has an infinite idea which once realised makes al movement full of meaning and joy," so reflected Tagore on encountering Einstein. It was the proverbial meeting of the minds.

Tagore exerts a hypnotic grip on his Egyptian audience. His spectacular posturing offers a tableau of an extraordinary sensualist and a subtle hint of sensationalism.

In a rousing address before the visitors to this exceptionally moving exhibition, His Excellency Ambassador R Swaminathan of India paid special homage to the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Kolkata.

Sekhar Chakrabarti whose rare philatelic objects from his private collection were borrowed specifically for this unique Cairo exhibition best expressed the mood of the moment.

Magically, the exhibition was staged masterfully at a defining moment in Egypt's history. Tagore would have been delighted, one suspects, at the spirit that Egypt's 25 January Revolution exuded. "Tagore was a universal thinker even though he was also a symbol and beacon of contemporary Bengali culture," Sekhar Chakrabarti mused.

Gurudev, literally "Teacher" as Tagore was endearingly called, promoted rural reconstruction including traditional arts and crafts.

Equally disparaging was the attitudes of the rich towards the poor. The immense income differentials and social inequalities, disparities in social prestige and economic wellbeing between castes and classes were the hallmarks of Indian society under British rule. That crisis touched him deeply.

Tagore was born into a life of privilege and wealth. Yet abject poverty was all around him. Human suffering was an inescapable facet of everyday life in rural Bengal.

All art aspires to the condition of creation. And, Tagore understood that truism all too well. His lessons cannot get lost in the cornucopia of kantha. What humans the world over find innately inspiring and touching has changed little over time. Therefore we can today emphasize with images made more than a century ago even when their original contexts have faded.

The common themes are catharsis and the remaking of an individual's and a nation's vision.

The time for geopolitical caution is past. Tagore was received rapturously by Egyptians when he visited the country in 1926, and especially the cultural and political elite.

Bengal's celebrated bard spoke to a packed two houses of parliament and he had a memorable encounter with the foremost Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawki. It metamorphosed into a story of a friendship between two men of letters but who are from different worlds, but share common concerns.

Tagore encounter with Shawki was touching without going gooey, though. India and Egypt were unsuited for the role in which modern history had cast them -- colonies of Britain. Both countries were haunted by their great past and ancient glories and yet were bedeviled by the fear of a failed future. Yet, there was hope of redemption, of emancipation from colonial oppression and a yearning for a return to a golden age of freedom.

By many standards Tagore is one of the titans of modern India. His correspondence is of great importance both in the historical and literary sense. Few other poets can match his elegant, lapidary style and this shines through in his letters. "Receiving letters was an important impetus for collecting stamps in the past. Now everyone uses social networking and the Internet as the main means of communication."

In many ways this exhibition, of course, is perfectly timed. The lustre of the personal correspondence of Tagore has not been tarnished by the seismic events that engulfed South Asia like a tsunami. Bengal was divided in two, India was partitioned, and then Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan.

A constant menace in Tagore's long life was the peril of bereavement that was grotesquely inextricably intertwined with beauty. The beautiful ones passed away in the very apogee of youthful vivaciousness. When you read Tagore, you do have to contemplate the contemplator, sharing with him his loss and pain and the subsequent overcoming of anguish. His poems alone are captivating capturing the serene miraculousness of being.

Tagore was not merely a starry-eyed poet. His sister-in-law Kadambari Devi committed suicide in 1884, a year after Tagore himself was betrothed to his beloved Mrinalini Devi.
Mrinalini Devi breathed her last in 1902, only to be succeeded by the passing of Tagore's second daughter Renuka in 1903. The death of his father followed in 1905 and then his youngest son Samindranath died in 1907. But his finest works were yet to be produced. Few thinkers of the past three centuries have crafted literature more pertinent than Tagore.

In Egypt we bury our dead. In India things are different. This cultural discrepancy manifests itself in all sorts of ways. Yet Tagore's magic was universal. He was, after all, the first non-Westerner as well as the first Asian to be bestowed the Nobel Prize.

Tagore did not see the tormented turn on the tormentor. In 19010 his magnum opus Gitanjili was published to international acclaim. This was the chef d'oeuvre that earned him the Nobel Prize. Tagore wrote a poem on Africa entitled Africa, the Sleeping Giant. His visionary insight was matched by his epic sweep.

Patriotic postcards of Tagore, like his prose and poetry, struck a chord with people all over the world. The suffering appalled him, the humiliating indignities of a subject people. He was sickened by the inexplicable inequalities.

A mood of catharsis prevailed. Tagore espoused a universalistic spirit and he was by nature an internationalist. The Bengal's historical rich cultural heritage became, paradoxically, more entrenched in the poet as he became more conscious of the common concerns of humanity.

Heart-rendingly, Tagore wrote about life and death, suffering and enjoyment, beauty and ugliness -- life in all its kaleidoscopic facets.

His works were written for eternity, for his words speak directly to every age. They were told to perfection.

As in so many areas of Indian life, the art of kantha reflects a down-to-earth culture. It is of the daughters and sons of the soil.

What is so special about Tagore's secularist philosophy is the moral legitimacy lent mankind.

Whether it will benefit Egypt at this particular historical moment is more doubtful. Now and then one is struck by the antediluvian quality of inter-faith relations in India, or South Asia if you will. "Progressive intellectuals" and the powers that be often endorse the confrontational rhetoric of religious zealots, and those who advocate and espouse confessionalism and sectarianism. So can Egyptians learn something from Tagore? Ironically, the religious strife that is ripping the country apart has intensified since the Tagore exhibition was staged in Cairo. There were few things that made the great Bengali sage feel grimmer than religious-instigated violence.

The vitriol had a xenophobic edge. It is not just the interim post-25 January Revolution government that detects an organising hand behind the unrest in contemporary Egypt.

What makes this so jarring is that the legendary bard foresaw the division of his homeland, and tasted the bitter partition of his beloved Bengal. How could he deliver exuberance, vivacity and even euphoria in such a morbid setting?

Tagore stayed out of the political squabbles of his time. However, he was anything but apolitical.

Tagore was for emancipation, liberation of mankind and that certainly included womankind. "Rabindranath's role in the liberation of Bengali women was a seminal one," declares Kathleen O'Connell who conducts courses on South Asia at New College, University of Toronto, Canada. "Initially, he exposed the plight of women and argued for their autonomy through his letters, short stories and essays. Through his novels he was able to construct new and vital female role models to inspire a new generation of Bengali women. Later, by his act of admitting females into his Santiniketan school, he became an innovator pioneer in co-education," O'Connell concludes.

So why not keep going? Women are often fettered by the confines of tradition. Tagore championed the free mixing of the sexes and abhorred the Bengali practice of confining women to purdah. "It is only natural that men and women should seek amusement together. Women are a part of the human race and God has created them as part of society. To consider the enjoyment of free mixing between people to be a

cardinal sin, to be unsociable and to turn it into a sensational matter is not only abnormal, it is unsocial and therefore in a sense uncivilised," wrote Tagore so insightfully observed.

The muse of the moving image of Tagore's characters fill the kantha scenes. Do not expect old postcards and faded pictures of purists popping out of ashrams with sad and saucy lines from poets other than Tagore.

Tagore had no political axe to grind. It was in Bengal that the latent resentments and religious tensions that manifested themselves most bitterly.

Bangladesh fought a bitter war with Pakistan to attain its own independence and the quest for Bangladeshi emancipation and political liberation was inspired by the country's pride in its national language.

Kazi Najrul Islam, born in West Bangal, but widely considered the national poet of Bangladesh, considered Tagore his guru. He developed a highly stylized form of nationalistic, revolutionary poem -- songs to inspire the people. Ironically, his wife was Hindu.

People must be prepared for this possibility in Egypt as surely as in Bengal. Perhaps even more challenging is the refreshing of the traditional mindset in both Egypt and Bengal in a contemporary setting.

And, kantha just as surely as song inspires the Bengali people. Kantha work uses the "running stitch" to create beautiful motifs on fabric. Bengali women traditionally make quilts from old, worn out saris.

Tagore passed away in 1941, but his literary achievement is there for posterity, for generations to come. This is an issue that India knows well. And, this year Egypt was invited to share something of this understanding.

The orignial article may be found in the link http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1069/cu4.htm

: Sekhar Chakrabarti

Stamps on precious stones from Israel..

2012-01-29T11:15:00.001+05:30

Emerald Carnellian

To be issued on : 7 February 2012

Topaz Turquise

On 7th February 2012 Israel Post will issue a set of 4 stamps featuring 4 stones from the high priest breastplate. In the future, Israel Post will issue the rest 8 stones. Each stone represents one tribe out of 12 tribes of the people of Israel.

The high priest served in the holy Jewish temple of Jerusalem that was built 2500 years ago and was destroyed in year 70 by the Roman Empire.

The source and information about the stones taken from the Bible from book of Exodus 28:15-21 is as below :

And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilful workman; like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Four-square it shall be and double: a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of carnelian, topaz, and smaragd shall be the first row; and the second row a carbuncle, a sapphire, and an emerald; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be inclosed in gold in their settings. And the stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

: Eli Moallem - Israel

Press Clippings

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Titanic Centenary…

2012-01-28T12:39:00.001+05:30

Hi ! Here is the wonderful set of the Centenary of famous Ship Titanic, to be issued on 31st January 2012 by Gibraltar Post. The stamps are very nice. Famous Film Titanic was a great hit… I wish to share here my favourite song of film Titanic which I have seen many times….and love to see it again and again !!

Date of Issue : 31 January 2012

RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, and sank on 15 April 1912, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.

The largest passenger steamship in the world at the time, the Olympic-class Royal Mail Ship RMS Titanic was owned by the White Star Line and constructed at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, UK. After setting sail for New York City on 10 April 1912 with 2,223 people on board, she hit an iceberg four days into the crossing, at 11:40 pm on 14 April 1912, and sank at 2:20 am on the morning of 15 April. The high casualty rate resulting from the sinking was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship carried lifeboats for only 1,178 people. A disproportionate number of men died due to the "women and children first" protocol that was enforced by the ship's crew.

Titanic was designed by experienced engineers, using some of the most advanced technologies and extensive safety features of the time. The sinking of a passenger liner on her maiden voyage, the high loss of life and media frenzy over Titanic's famous victims, the legends about the sinking, the resulting changes in maritime law, and the discovery of the wreck have all contributed to the enduring interest in Titanic.

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, Gloria Stuart as Old Rose, and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal Hockley. Jack and Rose are members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Every Night in my dreams I see you…..

New Special Cover

2012-01-27T20:00:00.001+05:30

Lions Club - Dehradun : Golden Jubilee

On 25 January 2012, Mr Sanjay Singh Director, Postal Services released a special cover on 50th anniversary of Lions Club, Dehradun .

Schoolpex 2012 - stamp exhibition in Dehradun

A stamp exhibition of different schools of Dehradun Schoolpex 2012 will be held on on 28 and 29 January 2012 .A special cover will be also released on this occasion .

: Sanjiv Jain, Dehradun email : jainsanjiv@live.com

Club News..

2012-01-26T17:49:00.001+05:30

Special cancellation from Gorakhpur

Sachal Dakghar - Shahidon ko Shrddhanjali ( Homage To Martyrs ) 26 January 2012

: Raman Kumar Mandal – Gorakhpur

Awards : G - Phila 2011, Gorakhpur

Award Ceremony of G-Phila 2011 concluded today on the occasion of Republic Day. Sr.Supdt. of Post,Gorakhpur Sri Alok Ojha gave the awards to the participants. Mr Sandeep Chaurasia won Silver Medal for 'Pre Independent Indian Stationary' and Best exhibit award for 'Railway' . Our member Ashwani Dubey also won special award for his exhibit.

Ashwani Dubey & Sandeep Chaurasia receiving award from SSP

Winners of G - Phila 2011, Gorakhpur

Stamp Exhibition on Jainism in Kolhapur

A stamp exhibition on Jainism will be held on January 28, 2012 in Kolhapur Maharashtra

Time 09:00 am to 06:00 pm

Venue - Nandani Village, Taluka - Shirol, District - Kolhapur, Maharashtra

: Ajay Agarwal - Akola

Maxim Card : Srinivasa Ramanujan

Created by Boben J E of Trivandrum : www.philalover.blogspot.com

Greetings on Republic Day

2012-01-26T09:16:00.001+05:30

Today we are celebrating our 63rd Republic Day.

Greetings to all Indians

living in every corner of the world !!

Let us remember the golden heritage of
our country and feel proud to be a part of India.
HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY !!

Cover : Praful Thakkar - Ahmedabad

New Stamp from India

2012-01-25T15:41:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 24 January 2012

India Post issued a commemorative postage stamp on Shyam Narayan Singh on 24 January 2012.

: Mansoor B, Mangalore http://mbstamps.blogspot.com/

Club News

New Special Cover

one special cover was recently issued at Godhra on Sadbhavna Mission. For covers Post Master, Godhra H. O. may be contacted.

: Prashant Pandya- Vadodara http://modernindianphilately.blogspot.com/

Glimpses of MAHAPEX 2012, Pune

From Left : Mr. G. Sunder Rajan, VP (CP) Godrej, Marathi Film Actor Mr. Rahul Solapurkar, Former Test Cricket Player Mr. Chandu Borde, Mr. Faiz - Ur - Rehman, Chief PMG, Maharashtra & Goa Circle, Col. K.C. Mishra, PMG, Pune.

Results of Mahapex 2012

: Ravindra Wamanacharya - Nashik

Fraunhofer lines : The Rainbow lines

2012-01-25T11:27:00.001+05:30

225th Birthday Joseph von Fraunhofer

Dater of Issue : 2 January 2012

German Post issued a postage stamp on 2 January 2012 to commemorate 225th Birthday Joseph von Fraunhofer, The stamp features the spectral lines called Fraunhofer lines. It is a beautiful stamp showing Rainbow colors and one of the best stamps for my Rainbow Collection !!

The colors symbolize the solar spectrum with Fraunhofer lines.

Fraunhofer lines

Solar spectrum with Fraunhofer lines as it appears visually.

In physics (optics) , the Fraunhofer lines are a set of spectral lines named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826). The lines were originally observed as dark features (absorption lines) in the optical spectrum of the Sun.

The Fraunhofer lines are typical spectral absorption lines. These dark lines are produced whenever a cold gas is between a broad spectrum photon source and the detector. In this case a decrease in the intensity of light in the frequency of the incident photon is seen as the photons are absorbed, then re-emitted in random directions, which are mostly in directions different from the original one. This results in an absorption line, since the narrow frequency band of light initially traveling toward the detector, has been effectively scattered in other directions. Absorption lines are produced even during reflection from an illuminated cold gas, since after reflection there is still the opportunity for a selective absorption (and re-scatter) between the point of reflection and the detector. By contrast, if the detector sees photons emitted directly from a glowing gas, then the detector often sees photons emitted in a narrow frequency range by quantum emission processes in atoms in the hot gas, resulting in an emission line. In the Sun, Fraunhofer lines are seen from gas in the outer regions of the Sun, which are too cold to directly produce emission lines of the elements they represent.

Precious stones on stamps…

2012-01-25T09:38:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 2 January 2012

The German Post has issued a beautiful set of 3 stamps on 2 January 2012 featuring precious stones namely Ruby Sapphire and and Emerald. With this issue German Post celebrates the new 2012 year . These stamps are surcharged with extra amount and are being sold as welfare stamps in favor of voluntary welfare.

The term "precious stone" has been always associated to the idea of something precious, unique, mysterious, mystical and imperishable. Each natural stone is unique by its color, clarity, cut, brilliance, weight and rarity.

A gemstone or gem (also called a precious or semi-precious stone, a fine gem, or jewel) is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However certain rocks, (such as lapis lazuli) and organic materials (such as amber or jet) are not minerals, but are still used for jewelry, and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their lustre or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity until the 19th century engraved gems and hardstone carvings such as cups were major luxury art forms.

AMPEX 2012 – Special Cover and Booklet

2012-01-23T18:26:00.001+05:30

AMPEX 2012

A district level stamp exhibition was held in Ahmedabad from 19th to21st January 2012 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, Ahmedabad-380004..A special cover was released during AMPEX-2012 celebrating 50 years of Ahmedabad Philatelic Bureau.

A Booklet on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also released by Shri Dinsha Patel - Honourable Minister of State for Mines during the opening ceremony of AMPEX-2012 .

: Shrikant Parikh – Ahmedabad http://setenantsofindia.blogspot.com/

SENIOR CITIZEN DRAWING COMPETITION AT AMPEX2012, AHMEDABAD

: Vijay Modi – Himmatnagar (Gujarat)

Mahapex 2012 Special Covers..

2012-01-23T15:12:00.001+05:30

Mahapex - 2012

Recently, Mahapex 2012 State level philatelic exhibition was held at Shri Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Kreeda Sankul, Balewadi, Pune from 13.1.2012 to 16.01.2012. 102 participants took part in exhibition and 400 frames were displayed. Total Eight Special Covers were released during the exhibition.

R.K. Laxman - Comman Man - 13.01.2012
Kass Plateau - 13.01.2012
Lavani Nritya - 14.01.2012
Vasudeo - 14.01.2012
Saint Meera Bai Sculpture,Goa - 15.01.2012
Baba Amte - 15.01.2012
Ganjifa Playing Cards, - 16.01.2012
Bharat Ratna Maharshi Karve's Jhopadi - 16.01.2012

Special Covers

: Ravindra Wamanacharya - Panchavati, Nashik email : r_wamanacharya@yahoo.co.in

MAHAPEX 2012 - Awards

Gold Medal

1) Dr Anjali Dutta for Fiscals of Gwalior

2) Dr Anjali Dutta for Fiscals of Jamkhandi

3) Col Jayanta Dutta for Fiscals of Jodhpur

Silver Medal

1) Ms Jayoti Dutta for Fiscals of Bharatpur

2) Col Jayanta Dutta for Rare Stamps of the World (Literature class)

Bronze

Ravindra Wamanacharya participated in two categories, Thematic - Permanent Picture Cancellation (3 frames) and One frame exhibit - Environment Protection. Both the exhibits were awarded by Bronze Medal.

New stamps on Birds of Prey from USA

2012-01-23T09:06:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 20 January 2012

The U.S. Postal Service issued a set of five stamps on 20 January 2012 featuring the Birds of Prey stamps: the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and northern harrier (Circus cyaneus).

These powerful birds are depicted in colorful portraits and shown from the neck up. Birds of prey, also known as raptors, thrive in diverse habitats and live on every continent except Antarctica. The roughly 500 species of raptors include birds that hunt by day, such as falcons, eagles, and harriers, and birds that hunt by night — the owls. They share several common characteristics. Birds of prey are carnivorous and use their powerful talons to capture prey. Their exceptionally keen eyesight allows them to see small objects in detail, even from a great distance. As predators high on the food chain, raptors play an important role in maintaining the balance of nature.

New Special Covers…

2012-01-22T16:39:00.001+05:30

Rajpex 2012 Special Cover

Sanganeri Print

: Ashwani Dubey- Gorakhpur

11.11.11. Cover

: Jagannath Mani – Bangalore

Numismatics News

January 10, 2012
Issue of ICMR coins of ` 5 denomination-"Circulatory Coins" The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation the following coins of ` 5 denomination, which shall conform to the following dimension, design and compositions, namely- SHAPE AND OUTSIDE DIAMETRE -Circular 23 millimeters
NUMBER OF SERRATIONS-----------100
METAL COMPOSITION-----------------Nickel Brass,Copper 75%,Zinc 20%,Nickel 5%

Design

OBVERSE
The face of the coin shall bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with the legend “सयमेव जयते " inscribed below, flanked on the left periphery with the word “भारत " in Hindi and on the right periphery with the word “INDIA” in English. It shall also bear the denominational value "` 5" in International Numerals below the Lion Capitol.
REVERSE
The face of the coin shall bear the emblem of Indian Council Medical Research with the logo "परीय कािरणोिह कुशलाभवित" inscribed below it. There will be three growing lines on the left and right side of the emblem and the year "1911-2011" shall be shown below the logo. The words "भारतीय आयुिवर्ज्ञान अनुसंधान पिरष" and below that "शतादी वषर् CENTENARY YEAR" will be flanked on the upper periphery and the words "INDIAN COUNCIL OF MEDICAL RESERCH" on the lower periphery. These coins are legal tender as provided in the Indian Coinage Act,1906. The existing coins in this denomination shall also continue to
be legal tender.

January 18, 2012

Issue of `100 Banknotes with "R" inset letter incorporation of Rupee symbol (`) The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue `100 denomination Banknotes with "R" inset letter incorporating " `" symbol, in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 bearing the signature of Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor , Reserve Bank of India, and the year of printing on the reverse of the Banknote. The design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the Banknotes of `100 in Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 issued earlier. All the Banknotes in the denomination of `100 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.

- Vishal Sanganeria - Guwahati

Special Cover on Alan Turing’s Centenary

2012-01-22T12:06:00.001+05:30

June 23, 2012, is the Centenary of Alan Turing’s birth in London. During his relatively brief life, Turing made a unique impact on the history of computing, computer science, artificial intelligence, developmental biology, and the mathematical theory of computability.

Read More…

Bletchley Park puts its stamp on Turing Centenary.

On 23^rd February Bletchley Park will release four first day covers celebrating Alan Turing’s centenary year. Each will carry a single 1^st class Royal Mail “Turing Bombe” stamp cancelled with a unique first day of issue postmark.

The intention is to restrict the issue to just 500 of each. Produced in association with the Alan Turing Centenary Year Committee and Bletchley Park Post Office, proceeds will go towards supporting the preservation of Bletchley Park. The cover can be previewed and ordered at bletchleycovers.com

The first design is by Rebecca Peacock of Firecatcher Design and the theme is Turing’s work on the mathematics of patterns. It was Turing’s genius for mathematics that made his work so vital to Bletchley Park and the development of modern computing.

The other three are original paintings by artist Steve Williams who has donated his work to Bletchley Park. They depict three buildings at Bletchley Park associated with Alan Turing. These are the cottage and hut where he worked and the room that housed the Bombe machines.

The stamp features a rebuilt Turing Bombe. The first day of issue postmark is a facsimile of one of the Bombe’s 36 rotor wheels.

More information can be obtained on the issue through bletchleycovers.com or calling 0044 (0)1908 363489 or Terry Mitchell, 01604 781440. email: terry@ltmp.co.uk

Stamps and the man…

2012-01-21T20:21:00.004+05:30

Hi ! I am back to my blog with regular posts after two weeks vacation. Though I posted from different places I visited...But now the Posts will be more regular.... In tonight’s Post a clipping of article – interview published in 'The Telegraph' , on noted professional philatelist of India Mr Pradip Jain . Pradip Jain may be contacted at e-mail : philapradip@gmail.com

Stamps and the man

- Aarohi Keshav

: The Telegraph 16 January 2012

New stamp from India..

2012-01-17T17:50:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 15 January 2012

India Post Released a Commemorative postal stamp for "Bhai Jagta ji" on 15th January 2012.

Stamps on Indian theme….

2012-01-16T06:49:00.001+05:30

Sacred Animals of Hinduism

Guinea Bissau Post issued a beautiful Souvenir Sheet and a set of four stamps in the year 2010 featuring Sacred Animals of Hinduism. Issues from Guinea Bissau and some other African countries are always very controversial among serious stamp collectors whether to include them in collection or not. As these stamps are issued on themes which are not related with the subjects of their own country. So many of the issues are regarded as illegitimate issues and are not preferred by advance collectors to display them in their exhibits. But these are legitimate issues of Guinea Bissau and appear in the catalogue. It is a beautiful issue which any Indian would love to have in his/her collection !!

: Image : Eli Moallem, Israel

About Guinea Bissau…

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west.

It covers 36,125 km² (nearly 14,000 sq mi) with an estimated population of 1,600,000.

Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kingdom of Gabu, as well as part of the Mali Empire. Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were part of the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. It then became the Portuguese colony of Portuguese Guinea in the 19th century. Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognised in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country's name to prevent confusion with the bordering Republic of Guinea.

Only 14% of the population speaks the official language, Portuguese. A plurality of the population (44%) speaks Kriol, a Portuguese-based creole language, and the remainder speak native African languages. The main religions are African traditional religions and Islam, and there is a Christian (mostly Catholic) minority.

Festivals of India..

2012-01-15T21:40:00.001+05:30

Makar Sankranti - Pongal

India is a land of many festivals where pious people relish all religious days, and one of the auspicious occasions for all is Makar Sankranti, celebrated in all parts of India . Makat 'Sankaranti' was celebrated today on 15.01.2012 .

Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival . According to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn or from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana, in the month of Poush in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest season and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The movement of the earth from one zodiac sign into another is called Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the Indian context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year but this year it occured on 15th Jan.

In Tamil Nadu, New Year begins from the date of 'Sankrat'. Different cultural people enunciate various names of 'Sankranthi'.It is 'Thai Pongal' for South Indian, 'Uttarayan' for Gujartis , 'Makar Sankranti' or 'Til Sankrant' for Norther Indians and 'Tirmauri' for Sindhis.

Club News

2012-01-15T07:04:00.006+05:30

The annual philatelic exhibition, AMPHIL-2012, hosted by the local Postal Department and Amritsar Philatelic was held at SG Thakar Singh Art Gallery from 9 -10 January 2012. Noted philatelist of Chandigarh Mr Rakesh Walia was Jury team leader. Mr Rakesh Walia may be contacted at email : rakeshwaliastamps2gmail.com

Special Cover on Retreat Ceremony

Amritsar, January 10

A display of rare, limited edition and commemorative stamps put together by stamp collectors from the city at the annual philatelic exhibition, AMPHIL-2012, hosted by the local Postal Department and Amritsar Philatelic Club at SG Thakar Singh Art Gallery, that opened yesterday, saw an enthusiastic crowd today.

The exhibition, which is an annual feature in Postal Department’s promotional itinerary, had over 35 frames, accompanied by the history of these stamps, displayed.

“The exhibition is an effort to promote and spread awareness about the special stamps issued by the Postal Department over the years among public. There was an on-the-spot competition for school students visiting the exhibition as well,” informed Nitish Kashyap, Inspector, Post Office, Amritsar, who is also the co-coordinator of the exhibition.

The highlight of the event was the release of a special cover on the Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border. “Every year we release a special cover and this time it was the Retreat ceremony, which is a major political and tourist attraction in Amritsar,” said Nitish. Also present for the inauguration was Second-in-Command of 65 BSF Battalion Sushil Negi.

In the exhibition, there are stamps as old as of pre-independence era, some special editions stamps, stamps commemorating Jallianwala Bagh, Golden Temple and famous personalities from the country. But the exhibition was not just another collectors’ convention. “Philately is an interesting and educative activity, which fascinates both young and the old. It throws light on a country’s culture heritage and new developments in the field of art. The collection of stamps educates people about history, culture, art and also development in various important areas. Every stamp collector displays stamps based on a theme, like stamps on freedom fighters, commemorative stamps, stamps marking anniversaries of famous personalities and so. Along with the stamps, their history and literature is also provided to the visitors,” says Nitish.

There was also very attractive display of stamps on foreign cartoons and silver coins with special covers. On the concluding day of the exhibition, a jury would decide the best collection on display and prominent stamps displayed at the exhibition.

: Neha Saini : Tribune News Service

THRISSUR DISTRICT PHILATELIC EXHIBITION

THRISSURPEX-2012

FROM 16.01.2012 TO 17.01.2012 AT PANDI SAMOOHAM MATOM HALL, THRISSUR

ORGANISED BY: THRISSUR AND IRINJALAKUDA POSTAL
DIVISIONS

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur

Dragon Stamp from Hong Kong…

2012-01-13T17:19:00.001+05:30

A set of special stamps based on the theme of "Year of the Dragon" will be released on January 14, 2012. "Year of the Dragon" is the first special stamp issue of the fourth Lunar New Year Animal series by Hong Kong Post. Almighty and commanding respect, the dragon is not only a totem for superior status, but also for the Chinese race. The stamp featuring different representations of the dragon and a silk stamp sheetlet will be issued.

From Our Readers..

Prof.V.S.Yalvigi of Bangalore has created a special cover for 12.1.12. He may be contacted for these covers.

Special cover with cancellation of 12.1.12

: Prof.V.S.Yalvigi, Bangalore - e mail : vsyal2001@yahoo.com

Dragon stamp from China…

2012-01-11T10:43:00.002+05:30

Controversy over China's ‘angry dragon' stamp

A Chinese postage stamp to mark the upcoming Year of the Dragon has sparked uproar among the public because the dragon is thought to look "too fierce". One Chinese writer is quoted as saying she was "scared to death" on seeing the image of the creature with its claws, scales and bared teeth. China Post, which produced the stamp, insists it is a perfect combination of history and modernity.

The stamp's designer says a tough image was needed for a powerful creature. "Among everyday people, the dragon is thought to exorcise evil spirits, avert disasters and give blessings, so we need a tough image," Chen Shaohua is quoted by the China Daily as saying.

The dragon has been a symbol of Chinese imperial power for centuries. But media figures and people posting on Chinese micro blogging sites have said the image is inappropriate and too ferocious. The controversy has not stopped people from queuing for the stamp, with many post offices reporting that the stamp sold out on the first day.

Memories of Stamp Fair, Bhubaneswar

With Dr Saurya Thankapan, Supdt. of Police, Mayurbhanj District of Odisha

Now I am in temple city Bhubaneshwar . On 8th Jan I attended here stamp fair organized by EIPA. Here are some more names to mention which I missed in my last updates.. Well I always love to come Bhubaneshwar again and again..just b’coz of its rich culture and nice people of this state . I have visited many places in India but Bhubaneshwar is beyond compare..It is the city of love and harmony…You can get here everything you can expect…….

About the Stamp fair .....

The Chief Guest was Shri Ram Chander Hans, a noted philanthropist and President of the Arya Sanatan Biradari of Odisha. He is the President of the Ayra Samaj and a social worker.

I must mention the name of Dr Saurya Thankapan, IPS, at present she is the Supdt. of Police, Mayurbhanj District of Odisha who especially came to attend the Fair in spite of her busy schedule, that showed her keen interest in Philately. It was really nice to meet her as she showed lot of interest in stamps.

Philatelists’ group with Mr Sahadev Sahoo

Mr Sahadev Sahoo, Mr Prasanta Das, Dr Bibhudatta Mishra, Mr Anil Dhi, Mr Pradip Mohanty, Mr Gangadhar Tripathy & Mr B.K.Sinha

The other distinguished philatelists who visited the fair are Mr Sahdeva Sahoo, Mr. Akhaya Kumar Nayak, Retd. DFO, Mr. Biswanath Mishra from Boudh District, Mr. Santanu Panigrahi from Sambalpur District, Mr Kamal Chakroborty and Mr. Gangadhar Tripathy from Bolangir District, Dr. Prana Chanda Panda, Mr. Venkat Rao, Mr. Dillip Panda all from Ganjam District, Mr. Bijoyshree Routray, the president of EIPA sitting MLA of Basudevpur constituency. Mr. Anup Kumar Raut, Mr. Chitta Ranjan Das, Mr Debasis Mitra, Mr.Bijoy Kumar Biswal, Mr. Bijoy Kumar Sinha, Mr. Ajay Kumar Barik, Mr Kasinath Sahoo, Anil Kumar Dhir, Mr. Purnendu Kumar Jena, etc all from Bhubaneswar, Mr Padip Kumar Mohanty, Mr, Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Dr Pradip Kumar Padhy, Mr. Saroj Kumar Kar, Dr. Tanmoy Kumar Mohanty, Mr. Shakil Ahmed, etc all from Cuttack, Mr. Bibhuti Bhusan Patnaik and Mr. H.B.Ojha from Dhenkanal District and many philatelists from other states visited the show.

Glimpses of Stamp Fair, Bhubneshwar

2012-01-10T08:52:00.001+05:30

Stamp design contest : Paintings by children

Hi ! Here are some more pics of Stamp Fair , Bhubneshwar. The show which will be memorable to me for ever. I spent a great time with large number of philatelists and stamp dealers from Orissa,West Bengal, Bihar and other states. The team leaders of this show Mr SS Rath, Dr Bibhudatta Mishra, Mr Anil Dhir, Mr Ajit Dash, Mr Kashinth Sahoo and all the members of Eastern India Philatelists’ Association need a great applaud for organizing this show successfully . The significant part of the show was that this show was purely for promotion of philately . All the dealers sold items at very moderate price so a large number of crowd could be seen at all stalls. The fair was visited by Several distinguished personalities of Bhubaneswar and philatelists from all parts of the country. For me, the show was memorable as I got a chance to meet many friends and philatelists. The city of temple, Bhubaneshwar is always my favourite city as it is the city of art and culture with great people !!

Members of EIPA : Gangadhar Tripathy, Kamal Chakrabarty, Dr Bibhudatta Mishra, SS Rath Anil Dhir,Aji Dash, Debashish Mitra, Anup Raut and others with President of EIPA. Shri Bijoyshree Routray ( Sitting in the middle)

Club News

2012-01-10T06:39:00.001+05:30

Glimpses of Stamp Fair, Bhubaneshwar

A stamp fair was organized by Eastern India Philatelists’ Association at Bhubaneswar on 7 & 8 January 2012 . The fair was attended by large number of philatelists and stamp dealers.Fortunately I also got a chance to visit this stamp fair. The fair was wonderful and very well managed by the team members of EIPA. A variety of philatelic items were available in the fair at affordable price. The fair was concluded following an auction which was attended by many philatelists and stamp dealers. It was a memorable event to meet philatelists from different parts of India. The event was highly successful as the all the dealers sold items at very moderate price and many collectors could be seen purchasing items of their choice at different counters.

Prize distribution of Quiz and Stamp designing contest

Prize winning paintings of stamp design contest

Memorable Moments

Members of EIPA Kamal Chakrabarty, Dr Bibhudatta Mishra, SS Rath Anil Dhir,Aji Dash with President of EIPA. Shri Bijoyshree Routray ( Sitting in the middle)

Dr. Saurya Thankappan ( Superintendent of Police, Mayurbhanj ,Orissa), J.Jyoti , Ajit Dash & Visitors at Stamp Fair

Lottery

Auction

New Special Cover from Vadodara

2012-01-08T06:59:00.001+05:30

Kalyaniraiji Mandir, Vadodra.

On 2nd January 2012 a Special cover was released on the occasion of Shree Kalyan Krupa Varsh Shatabdi Mahotsav , Kalyaniraiji Mandir, Vadodra.

Shree Kalyan Krupa Varsh Shatabdi Mahotsav : 2 January 2012

Article on My stamp published in Chitralekha ( Gujarati Magazine)

: Timir R. Shah - Vadodara

New stamps on Railways..

2012-01-07T07:28:00.001+05:30

To mark the 100th Anniversary of the opening of the Alishan Forest Railway , Chunghwa Post (Taiwan Post) is issuing a souvenir sheet.

Hi ! Here is a beautiful souvenir sheet to be issued by Taiwan post and just wish to share with all of you. It is a wonderful item for the collectors of Railways and Tourism themes. Now I am on way to Bhubaneshwar to attend stamp fair and pleased to write about this souvenir sheet on Railways while travelling in train.. Well a Post on Railways from the train…Just for you !!

The souvenir sheet has a bright color scheme with mountains and a route map in the background. Four different trains are featured. One of the two stamps features one train pulled by a No.31 steam engine passing through flowering cherry trees (NT$25); and the other, headed by a diesel engine, is coming out of the No.1 tunnel (NT$5). Elsewhere on the sheet there is a train on the No.13 Bridge over the Niuchou River and a train being pulled by the No. 25 steam engine.

100th Anniversary of the Alishan Forest Railway Stamp

Alishan, with its beautiful natural scenery and rich ecological resources, is a world famous tourist destination. The Beimen to Erwanping section of Alishan Forest Railway officially opened to traffic on December 25, 1912. Along with the mountain's sacred trees, sunrise, sunset, and sea of clouds, the railway is one of the "Five Wonders of Alishan." The Alishan Forest Railway was once a very busy train track because of logging on the mountain. With changes to Taiwan's economic structure, the railway's role has shifted from a transporter of lumber to a cultural asset with its scenic spots and historical architecture dating from a century ago.

New stamps on “Year of the Dragon”

2012-01-06T00:13:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 5 December 2011

The Philippine Postal Corporation recently came up with the New Year 2012: “Year Of The Dragon” stamps, which was issued last December 5, 2011. It is classified as a “Special” kind of issue with denominations of P 7.00 and P 30.00 and a Miniature sheet The design for the Se-tenant Pair shows the Philpost Chinese characters series depicting the Year of the Dragon.

Thailand

Thailand Post issued a stamp Year of Dragon. The Dragon is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, and the only animal that is legendary. The Dragon is associated with potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, hurricane, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck. With this, the Emperor of China usually uses the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power.

Club News

2012-01-05T07:59:00.001+05:30

Book released on Stamps and Indian Cinema

Unique initiative:(From left) R.G. Sangoram, president of the Karnataka Philatelic Association, cinematographer V.K. Murthy and author of ‘Anche Antu Parde Nantu' Umesh Kulkarni at the release of the book in Bangalore on Saturday.

Stamps and Indian Cinema : a Kannada book on Indian film personalities

Kannada film editor, director and Philatelist Mr. Umesh Kulkarni’s book, "Anche Antu, Parade Nantu", The Relations between Stamps and Indian Cinema, a Kannada book on Indian film personalities featured on Indian postage stamps was released here on Saturday. tells the story of 64 special postal stamps on film personalities .Dr. R.G. Sangoram, president of the Karnataka Philatelic Society was the chief guest of the function Link http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2765164.ece

Stamp collection with a cinematic touch

A book on film personalities featured on Indian postage stamps

Postage stamps are ambassadors of the nation and record the rich culture and heritage of the country. While most of us may be aware of the personalities featured on these stamps, not many know their biographies.

Filling in this gap, Anche Antu Parde Nantu , a Kannada book on Indian film personalities featured on postage stamps was released here on Saturday.

The book, written by Kannada filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni and published by Aakruti Books, was released by Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner and cinematographer V.K. Murthy and R.G. Sangoram, president of the Karnataka Philatelic Association.

It features 64 stamps issued by the Indian Postal Department alongside biographical sketches of the personalities portrayed. It traces the journey of India's strong filmmaking culture through the people who made their mark on the industry — from the father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke, to Kannada cinema's thespian Rajkumar. While releasing the book, Mr. Murthy said: “Very often we just know the name of a star and know very little else about him or her.

This book gives detailed biographical sketches of many such people from the world of cinema and will be interesting for anyone who is fascinated by cinema.” Lauding Mr. Kulkarni's efforts in bringing out the book, Mr. Sangoram said it was a unique attempt. “The book clubs the popularity of cinema with the equally popular world of stamp collection,” he said.

Mr. Kulkarni, who is interested in both filmmaking and stamp collection, said he combined his love of both to bring out the book. He pointed out that though there had been many stamps brought out by the Indian Government on people from the film industry, others who made notable contributions to Indian cinema had not been featured. He appealed to the Postal Department to issue stamps on these achievers by 2013, when the country celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema.

The book's foreword is written by noted Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli. Priced at Rs. 295, the book is available at bookstores across Karnataka and is sold online at www.akrutibooks.com and www.flipkart.com

: Jagannath Mani – Bangalore www.olympicgamesphilately.blogspot.com

Press Clippings

Awards at G-Phila 2011, Gorakhpur

Dainik Jagran, 4 January 2012

Calendar of 2012 made with UNUSUAL STAMPS

: K.Ramarathnam - Chennai

New stamp from India..

2012-01-04T18:49:00.001+05:30

Purn Chandra Gupta – Founder of Dainik Jagran

Date of issue : 2 January 2012

: Mansoor B., Mangalore

Club News

MAHAPEX 2012 Updates

MAHAPEX 2012 will be held at Wrestling Stadium, Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune from 13 – 15 Jan 2012.

The programme committee has finalized the programme for MAHAPEX 2012 as under:

13 January 2012: Run for Stampino ( the mascot) by 800 school children along with a harkara carrying 500 letters to be sold later. Motto - Passing the philately Mashal (Torch) to the next generation. One head boy /girl will carry the Mashal (Torch), others will carry the placards. Change over of school children at every 500 Meter during Rally where banners will be displayed.

Seminar on Philately- Postal Stationary by Col J Dutta and Pratisad Neurgaonkar.

13 January 2012 Seminar on Philately- Fiscal Philately by Col J Dutta, Dr Anjali Datta and Ms Jayoti Datta.

Stamp Design competition

14 January 2012 Inter school philately quiz competition

Workshop on Philately by Col J Dutta, Dr Anjali Datta and Ms Jayoti Datta.

15 January 2012 Seminar on Thematic Philately by Col J Dutta, Dr Anjali Datta and Ms Jayoti Datta.

8 Special covers will be issued 2 on each day.

16 January 2011 is awards day with Diploma and bronze medals in the morning and Gold and silver and special prizes in the evening

- Col J Dutta

Philatelic Advisor MAHAPEX 2012

The new venue of MAHAPEX 2012

The new venue of MAHAPEX 2012 is now Wrestling Stadium, Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune. This complex is situated in Balewadi, Pune, about 14–15 km far from Pune downtown and 4–5 km from Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, Hinjewadi, Pune. This complex was the venue for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Special Cover from Assam

Issue of SPECIAL COVER Under Assam postal circle,Guwahati Division on 01-01-2012(SUNDAY) on the occasion of the Completion of

Glorious 50 years of Guwahati Refinery 1962-2012 issued by India Oil Corporation (IOC)

For covers, Contact Mr VISHAL SANGANERIA, GUWAHATI email : vishalsanganeria@gmail.com

GUJPEX 2011 Philatelic Items

Below given is list of My Stamps with 18 different designs, issued by Gujarat Postal Circle.

1. White Rann
2. Somnath Temple
3. Sarkhej Roza
4. Peacock
5. Asiatic Lion - 1
6. Asiatic Lion - 2
7. Kochrab Ashram
8. The Great Indian Bustard
9. Gira Falls
10. Champaner
11. Flamingoes
12. Sabarmati Ashram
13. Wild Ass
14. Black Buck
15. Rani Ki Vav
16. Baroda Museum & Art Gallery
17. Floral Clock, Sayaji Garden, Vadodara
18. Nyay Mandir, Vadodara

Orders may be placed to :
In-charge,
Philatelic Bureau,
Vadodara Head Post Office,
VADODARA - 390 001

: Prashant Pandya, Vadodara

New Special Cover from Guwahati..

2012-01-02T19:26:00.001+05:30

50 Years of Guwahati Refinery

Date of Issue : 1 January 2012

: Mahendra Sharma, Guwhati

World's first musical stamp from Netherland

It looks like an ordinary postage stamp, but if you scan it with your smart phone it plays 'Radar Love' by the Dutch band Golden Earring.

This world first from Dutch postal company PostNL can be used as a normal stamp to send letters and parcels. The company plans to issue more musical stamps in the next few months, with well known songs by Dutch bands Cuby + Blizzards and De Dijk.

To listen to the stamp you need to install the Chameleon Explorer app on your smart phone. Scan the code on the stamp and this is what you hear.

Club News

2012-01-02T09:59:00.001+05:30

Philatelic Items issued during GUJPEX 2011

10 Post Cards of Gujarat Set Cost : Rs. 60/-

Other philatelic items issued during Gujpex 2011

1. Bookmarks on Astrological Signs. Rs. 40/-

2. Pack of Astrological Signs Miniature Sheet Rs. 80/-

3. Introduction to Stamp Collecting Book : Rs. 50/-

4. Pack of Miniature Sheet of Indian Railway Stations (2009) stamps Rs. 50/-

5. Pack of Miniature Sheet of Africa-India Forum Summit Rs. 50/-

Orders may be placed to :
In-charge,
Philatelic Bureau,
Vadodara Head Post Office,
VADODARA - 390 001

: Prashant Pandya, Vadodara

Importance of Letters : A campaign by India Post to be started soon in Schools and Colleges

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur

2012 – The Year of Dragon

2012-01-01T15:33:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 1 December 2011

The Vietnam Post has issued two stamps celebrating the new year of Dragon. In Vietnamese Dragon is called by different names "Thin" or "Long". In Vietnam Dragon has been traditionally respected and worshipped as a supernatural animal quite close to people.

Maximum Cards

New Year Greetings…

2012-01-01T07:50:00.001+05:30

Happy New Year !!

A very Happy New Year to all my Readers !!

Club News

Se-tenants of Year 2011

View all Se-tenants of 2011 at :

http://www.setenantsofindia.blogspot.com/2011/12/se-tenants-of-year-2011.html

The new venue of MAHAPEX 2012

: Col Jayant Dutta, Deepak Modi

New Special Cover

Lions Club of Kolkata – 50 Years

Calcutta, 21 December 2011

Lions Club of Calcutta (Tollygunge) organized the Opening Ceremony of its Golden Jubilee Celebrations on Wednesday, 21^st December, 2011 at Lions Children Park, Deshpriya Park, Kolkata at 9.00am on its 50^th Foundation Day to commemorate 50 glorious years of Service to Humanity. The Club is celebrating year 2011-12 (starting from 21^st December, 2011 to 20^th December, 2012) as its Golden Jubilee Year. A special cover was released during the opening ceremony.

For special cover contact : B D Surana 20J, Ballygunge Terrace Ground Floor Golpark

Kolkata 700 029 West Bengal Cell No. 98310 93997 E-mail : bdsurana@gmail.com

Lions Club of Calcutta (Tollygunge) was established on 21^st December, 1961 and is one of the oldest & biggest clubs in Multiple District 322.The Club has Four Permanent Projects wherein it provides medical facilities like Homeopathy, Eye & Dental Clinics to underprivileged persons. The Club’s Medical services include Blood Donation Camps, Health Check-up camps, Eye Screening Camps, Distribution of Spectacles,. Club’s other services include providing educational assistance like distribution of textbooks & stationary, installation of tubewells, distribution of tricycles/artificial limbs and blankets, Tree plantations and relief donations.

Club News..

2011-12-30T16:39:00.001+05:30

Hi ! I have just published January 2012 issue on Blog. This is the first issue of year 2012. Wish you all a very Happy and prosperous New Year !!

The issue can be viewed at :

http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.com/

New Special Cover

100 years of Girl Guide Movement in India

Salem: 29 November 2011

: Mahesh Parekh ( SIPA), Chennai - email : maheshparekhb@gmail.com

Children’s Day

Kota : 14 November 2011

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Auction

ITS Postal Auction No.55 – Last Date: 14.01.2012

emails: indianthematicsociety@gmail.com surajjaitly@hotmail.com

Check detailed list of new 145 Lots offered from India and overseas in ITS Postal
Auction No.55 at http://indianthematicstamps.webs.com/apps/documents/ OR

http://itsstampnews.blogspot.com/2011/12/s-postal-auction-no55-last-date-1412012.html

2012 stamp programme of USA

2011-12-29T23:40:00.001+05:30

US Postal Service will issue postage stamps on a variety of subjects in the year 2012.Here is the 2nd part of the proposed list of stamps to be issued in 2012. The date of issue is not yet finalized by US Postal Service. There are about 45 beautiful issues in the list. I am publishing them in parts !!

With the issuance of these stamps, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates bicycling, one of the most popular outdoor activities in the country. Each of the four colorful se-tenant stamps features a different kind of bike and rider: a young child just learning to ride with training wheels, a commuter pedaling to work, a road racer intent on the finish line, and an airborne BMX rider.

In 2012 the U.S. Postal Service continues its Celebrating Lunar New Year series with a Year of the Dragon stamp, the fifth in the series. The stamp art shows the head of a colorful dragon against a brilliant blue sky. The Year of the Dragon begins on January 23, 2012, and ends on February 9, 2013.

These cheerful stamps portray Santa Claus flying through the air in his sleigh. With a cargo of toys and gifts produced in his workshop by elves, he lands on the rooftop of house after house and slides down the chimney to leave presents for girls and boys of all ages. Santa’s annual journey is joyfully captured in this block of four holiday stamps, with two rows of two stamps each presenting a “classic” image of Santa and his reindeer circling around snow-covered rooftops.

Celebrate Scouting, the “sister” stamp to the 2010 Scouting stamp, pays tribute to scouting organizations for the opportunities and pleasures they have provided millions of youths worldwide.

The stamp features a large silhouette of a girl with binoculars looking into the distance — perhaps sighting a soaring bald eagle or a faraway destination. The scene within the silhouette features a girl in mid-stride with a walking stick, shorts, and backpack on a serious summer trek. The environment is composed of large redwoods, a lake, a distant forested mountainside, and small ferns in the foreground. The sky has a dramatic blue gradation as it appears in early morning or late evening.

With the Heart Health stamp, the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise public awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy heart.

The stamp art focuses on the feelings of wellness and vitality that come from physical exercise, a key element in controlling and preventing coronary heart disease, or CHD. The design shows a bright yellow sun disc, a leafy green tree icon, and a blue swirl of a sky. The striding figure at the center of the stamp has in his chest a full red heart. At the figure’s feet, a large red apple represents a well-balanced diet, another essential factor in maintaining a healthy heart.

In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service pays tribute to four influential choreographers who changed the art of dance: Isadora Duncan, José Limón, Katherine Dunham, and Bob Fosse. Designed to look like posters advertising a performance, the stamp art captures the luminosity and mystery of a live dance performance.

The stamp design for Isadora Duncan reflects her interest in classical Greek dance forms and shows the seemingly effortless style that she developed. Radical for its time, her linking of movement and expressiveness garnered her worldwide critical acclaim.

To be contd..

Source : Beyond The Perf

New stamps on London 2012 Olympics

2011-12-29T10:53:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 1 January 2012

Isle of Man Post will issue on 1st January, a set of seven stamps and a beautiful Miniature Sheet on different sports events of London OLYMPIC 2012. The striking feature of this issue is sheetlet of each stamp which depicts the background picture of the respective event. This makes the sheets awesome !! It is a wonderful set for collectors of Sports and Olympic theme.

LONDN 2012 Olympic Games

Sheetlets

Club News

Newsletter on Maximaphily

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF MACSU

The Maximum Card Study Unit of America
Founded in 1978, the Maximum Card Study Unit (MACSU) is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to the creation, collection, exchange, enjoyment, display, and study of Maximum Cards, by spreading the knowledge of Maximaphily among its members
Membership includes a subscription to Maximaphily USA, a quarterly journal featuring news of
the maximum card world and articles by members and experts in the field.

Articles featuring topical collecting typically are richly illustrated with maximum cards and share the author's insightful knowledge of the subject and his own personal and helpful experience.
The pages providing information regarding activities of individual members allows members to place free advertising for trading, buying, selling and exchanging information. Here the
opportunity to make contacts with members in other countries is provided.
There are articles evaluating maximum cards according to accepted standards, pointing out good qualities and making suggestions for improvement.

Mail bid auctions are held on occasion, featuring inexpensive cards donated by members.
Every issue provides a page or two of illustrations of the most recent maximum card creations by our members. Every member gets a chance to show his cards and write an article about them.

- Terry Watson, President, Maximum Card Study Unit

For membership contact email : TERRYW7633@comcast.net or

MAXICARDS@gmail.com

Indian theme on foreign stamps…

2011-12-28T22:23:00.001+05:30

Mozambique

Indian Art and Paintings

These sheetlets on Indian art and paintings were issued by Mozambique Post in 2011.

: Pradeep Jain, Patna

My recent Cover / Card

Christmas Greetings from Latvia

Special Christmas card, issued by Latvia Post

Thanks to EN Limanski, Riga – Latvia

The Human Life Cycle and the Rise and Fall of Philately

- Jin Hur

This article by Jin Hur was published recently in Korean Stamp review magazine.

: Pradeep Jain, Patna

New Stamp from India : Madan Mohan Malviya

2011-12-27T22:54:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 27 December 2011

India Post issued a postage stamp today to commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary ( 25 December 2011) of Pt . Madan Mohan Malaviya.

Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861–1946) was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement Later in life, he was also addressed as 'Mahamana'.

He was the President of the Indian National Congress on four occasions .He was founder editor of two nationalist weeklies called Hindustan (in Hindi) and The Indian Union (in English). He was the president of the Indian National Congress in 1909 and in 1918. He later founded Banaras Hindu University, commonly known as BHU, a prominent institution of learning in India today.

On his 150th birth anniversary (i.e. 25th Dec, 2011), Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh announced that a Centre for Malaviya Studies will be set up at the Banaras Hindu University apart from establishment of scholarships and education related awards in his memory.

Malviya Nagar in Allahabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Bhopal and Jaipur are named after him. A Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) at Jaipur is named after him. Madan Mohan Malviya Engineering College in Gorakhpur, UP is also named after him.

Club News

Special Covers and Picture Postcards

7 Special covers were issued during GUJPEX 2011, held in Vadodara from 23 – 25 December 2011.

Capt Vijay Hazare

GSFC, Vadodara : 375 years old Banyan Tree

National Institute of Design : Golden Jubilee

Pride of the Nation : The Asiatic Lion

Convent of Jesus and Mary Gils’ High School, Vadodara

Archaeological Survey of India’s 150th anniversary

Birth Centenary of Thought Transformation

Picture Postcards

A unique set of 22 picture postcards with cancellations of 21 places where Mahatma Gandhi had Night Halts during Dandi March. Each postcard is numbered and have same number on all of them and also on the Khadi cover in which they are placed. Only 500 sets are issued during GUJPEX 2011, held at Vadodara from 23rd to 25th December,2011.

View cards : http://setenantsofindia.blogspot.com/2011/12/dandi-march-picture-postcards-gujpex.html

: Shrikant Parikh, Ahmedabad

Glimpses of Indian Autographs..

2011-12-27T13:27:00.001+05:30

Glimpses of Indian Autographs by Praful Thakkar

On the inaugural day of GUJPEX 2011, on 23rd December , a book written by our member and noted philatelist of Ahmedabad Mr Praful Thakkar, "Glimpses of Indian Autographs" was released by H E the Governor of Gujarat Dr Kamla Beniwal. It is a wonderful book for the lovers of Autograph collectors. The book also gives a special section on ‘Association of Philately with the Autographs’. A special chapter is added in the book which depicts the Autographs in the design of Indian Postal Stamps. Another chapter depicts original autographs, on the First Day Covers, of personalities, related or associated with celebrities whose stamps are issued.

Praful Thakkar is Limca Book Record Holder in 2009 for Autographs & Canteen Tokens and is a collector of autographs, stamps, First Day Covers (FDCs), coins, medals, tokens, badges , badge plates etc. and many more collectibles of India since last more than 45 years. He has written several books on these subjects of Hobbies.

For numismatic collectors, he has authored Collector's Guide to Indian Canteen Tokens, Collector's Guide to Membership Badges of Turf & Race Clubs of India, Collector's Guide to Chronologies of Sultans, Rulers & Colonial Heads of India and Chapras: Collector's Guide to Belt Buckles, Badges and Badge Plates of India.

For philatelic collectors, he has written Collector's Guide to Covers & Folders of India 1947-1964 - Official & Private. Through this book, he has tried to give a dimension to Philatelic facet of early classic period by cataloging Official FDCs, Private FDCs and Folders of this time.

His three websites a) Indian Autograph Gallery b) World Autograph Gallery and c)Indian Numismatics have made landmarks in their respective hobby fields of Numismatics and Autograph collection as they present rich Indian heritage.

He developed the hobby of collecting Art, Autographs and Numismatic objects in his own way. He believes that hobbies are ‘Pleasure for you & Treasure for Family’ and a way to 'Share the Knowledge & Spread the Knowledge'. In true spirit of practicing his life's motto, he has created the websites and written books that will be helpful for aspiring hobbyists.

Mr Praful Thakkar may be contacted at email : pkthakkar@yahoo.com

"Glimpses of Indian Autographs" released by H E the Governor of Gujarat Dr Kamla Beniwal on the inaugrual day of GUJPEX 2011

Glimpses of Indian Autographs

1. This is a book that gives glimpses of the autographs of eminent Indian personalities of various fields. The book contains around 600 autographs in 8 major groups which are further divided in 42 different categories. In each category about 13 autographs, along with the photographs of the celebrities, are presented. The effort in the book is made to project glimpses of different themes under which autograph collection can be made..

2. Here one can find the autographs and photographs of Indian personalities classified thematically. This means that the autographs of Presidents & Prime Ministers of India, Indian National Leaders & Freedom Fighters, Recipients of Bharat Ratna, Magsaysay & Dada Saheb Phalke awards, Governors & Chief Ministers of different Indian States, Saints & Spiritual Masters, Indian Film Stars & Personalities, Indian Cricket Captains & Cricketers, Indian Music Maestros, Indian Painter-Artists, Indian Nobel Laureates, Indian Miss Universe / World, Indian Businessmen / Industrialists, Rulers of Indian Princely States etc. are presented here subject wise.

4. A special feature in this book is an effort to associate Philately with the autographs. A special chapter is added which depicts the Autographs in the design of Indian Postal Stamps. Another chapter depicts original autographs, on the First Day Covers, of personalities, related or associated with celebrities whose stamps are issued.

5. A very interesting feature of the book is to present some autographs of Indian Princely Rulers. In India more than 580 Princely States were there. They were ruled by the Kings. The States had their own Coat-of-Arms as their Royal Symbols. Here in this book an effort is made to put some Rulers’ autographs along with their Royal Coat-of-Arms. This will reflect one facet of our Indian history.

6. Another interesting feature is of ‘Art in Autographs’. In this category one can find autographs of personalities who give their autographs with some artistic touch. Similarly, in the category of autographs of ‘Painters & Artists’ one can see the small painting done by famous Painters while giving their autographs.

7. In a special and separate category of ‘Autograph variety of same celebrity’, different autographs of the celebrity, in different styles and in the same language or different languages, are given.

9. This book is meant to project the autographs of Indian celebrities. However, as an exception, one chapter is added for the foreign personalities who are very much known to the people of India.

10 In this era of Internet, chapter of Useful Links and books will be useful to all collectors and readers. Here URLs of some interesting websites created by individuals/organizations and names and addresses of some useful books are given. The collectors may make appropriate use of this information.

11. At the end, an alphabetically arranged Index with basic details and information about the celebrity is given. This will help the reader not only to find the location of a particular autograph but also provide some useful information about the celebrity. Thus this chapter of Index is highly educative and informative. The information shown here mainly presents the achievements, awards and honors received by respective celebrities.

More information about "Glimpses of Indian Autographs" can be viewed on the Home Page of www.indianautographs.com

Video clipping of the book release can be viewed on You tube on following URL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcF4tx7MCug&feature=youtu.be

Club News

From our Readers…

INDIA POST 2012 CALENDAR – SCULPTURAL HERITAGE OF INDIA

In an innovative gesture the Department of Posts had brought out India Post year 2010 calendar on the set of its highly popular 'Dasavatar' stamps based on Jayadev's 12th century epic 'Geetagovinda'. The Calendar was widely appreciated and carried favorable media coverage. Enthused with the response, Department of Posts next year followed with the Calendar on the theme of ‘Buddha’.Taking this initiative forward Department of Posts has now released India Post 2012 Calendar based on the theme of sculptural heritage of India.

: Deepak Modi

UPHILEX – 2011

Mr Ashwani Dubey of Gorakhpur shares here a copy of letter to CPMG, UP regarding unsatisfactory results of UPHILEX 2011. A certificate received by him on which whitener is used to correct the name. The participant should have been given a new certificate with correct name .

The certificate received by Ashwani Dubey at UPHILEX 2011. The name has been corrected with whitener.

New Stamp from India..

2011-12-27T10:49:00.001+05:30

Srinivasa Ramanujan – Greatest Mathematician

Date of Issue : 26 December 2011

India Post issues second time, a postage stamp on Srinivasa Ramanujan .

Stamp Image: Courtesy – Mansoor B., Mangalore

India Post issued a commemorative postage stamp on 75th Birth Anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan on 22 December 1962.

Born: 22 Dec 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu
Died: 26 April 1920 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu

Special Cover on Srinivasa Ramanujan : 37th International Olympiad Mumbai, India 1996

Ramanujan's birthday will be National Mathematics Day

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday emphasised the need to carry forward the legacy of great mathematicians such as Srinivasa Ramanujan, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta so as to encourage and nurture the glorious tradition of the country in mathematics.

Inaugurating the Ramanujan Centre for Higher Mathematics at the Alagappa University here, he said mathematics had been widely used in the study of Science and other disciplines.

The country was short of competent mathematicians and it was the responsibility of mathematical community to encourage and facilitate the study of mathematics as an academic discipline in the country, the Prime Minister said.

Paying tribute to Srinivasa Ramanujan, Dr. Singh said he was a legendary mathematician after whom the centre had been named. He was a great son of India and Tamil Nadu. He ranked among giants in the world of mathematics. In recognition of his contribution to mathematics, the Central government had decided to celebrate Ramajuan's birthday as the National Mathematics Day every year and declared 2012 as the National Mathematical Year.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of India's greatest mathematical geniuses. He made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.

Ramanujan was born in Erode, a small village about 400 km southwest of Madras.

When he was nearly five years old, Ramanujan entered the primary school in Kumbakonam although he would attend several different primary schools before entering the Town High School in Kumbakonam in January 1898. At the Town High School, Ramanujan was to do well in all his school subjects and showed himself an able all round scholar. In 1900 he began to work on his own on mathematics summing geometric and arithmetic series.

Ramanujan was shown how to solve cubic equations in 1902 and he went on to find his own method to solve the quartic. The following year, not knowing that the quintic could not be solved by radicals, he tried (and of course failed) to solve the quintic.

It was in the Town High School that Ramanujan came across a mathematics book by G S Carr called Synopsis of elementary results in pure mathematics. This book, with its very concise style, allowed Ramanujan to teach himself mathematics, but the style of the book was to have a rather unfortunate effect on the way Ramanujan was later to write down mathematics since it provided the only model that he had of written mathematical arguments. The book contained theorems, formulae and short proofs. It also contained an index to papers on pure mathematics which had been published in the European Journals of Learned Societies during the first half of the 19^th century. The book, published in 1856, was of course well out of date by the time Ramanujan used it.

By 1904 Ramanujan had begun to undertake deep research. He investigated the series ∑(1/n) and calculated Euler's constant to 15 decimal places. He began to study the Bernoulli numbers, although this was entirely his own independent discovery.

He continued his mathematical work, however, and at this time he worked on hypergeometric series and investigated relations between integrals and series. He was to discover later that he had been studying elliptic functions.

In 1906 Ramanujan went to Madras where he entered Pachaiyappa's College. His aim was to pass the First Arts examination which would allow him to be admitted to the University of Madras. He attended lectures at Pachaiyappa's College but became ill after three months study. He took the First Arts examination after having left the course. He passed in mathematics but failed all his other subjects and therefore failed the examination. This meant that he could not enter the University of Madras. In the following years he worked on mathematics developing his own ideas without any help and without any real idea of the then current research topics other than that provided by Carr's book.

Continuing his mathematical work Ramanujan studied continued fractions and divergent series in 1908. At this stage he became seriously ill again and underwent an operation in April 1909 after which he took him some considerable time to recover. He married on 14 July 1909 when his mother arranged for him to marry a ten year old girl S Janaki Ammal. Ramanujan did not live with his wife, however, until she was twelve years old.

Ramanujan continued to develop his mathematical ideas and began to pose problems and solve problems in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. He devoloped relations between elliptic modular equations in 1910. After publication of a brilliant research paper on Bernoulli numbers in 1911 in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society he gained recognition for his work. Despite his lack of a university education, he was becoming well known in the Madras area as a mathematical genius.

In 1911 Ramanujan approached the founder of the Indian Mathematical Society for advice on a job. After this he was appointed to his first job, a temporary post in the Accountant General's Office in Madras. It was then suggested that he approach Ramachandra Rao who was a Collector at Nellore. Ramachandra Rao was a founder member of the Indian Mathematical Society who had helped start the mathematics library. He writes in :-

A short uncouth figure, stout, unshaven, not over clean, with one conspicuous feature - shining eyes - walked in with a frayed notebook under his arm. He was miserably poor. ... He opened his book and began to explain some of his discoveries. I saw quite at once that there was something out of the way; but my knowledge did not permit me to judge whether he talked sense or nonsense. ... I asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted a pittance to live on so that he might pursue his researches.

Ramachandra Rao told him to return to Madras and he tried, unsuccessfully, to arrange a scholarship for Ramanujan. In 1912 Ramanujan applied for the post of clerk in the accounts section of the Madras Port Trust. In his letter of application he wrote :-

I have passed the Matriculation Examination and studied up to the First Arts but was prevented from pursuing my studies further owing to several untoward circumstances. I have, however, been devoting all my time to Mathematics and developing the subject.

Despite the fact that he had no university education, Ramanujan was clearly well known to the university mathematicians in Madras for, with his letter of application, Ramanujan included a reference from E W Middlemast who was the Professor of Mathematics at The Presidency College in Madras. Middlemast, a graduate of St John's College, Cambridge, wrote :-

I can strongly recommend the applicant. He is a young man of quite exceptional capacity in mathematics and especially in work relating to numbers. He has a natural aptitude for computation and is very quick at figure work.

On the strength of the recommendation Ramanujan was appointed to the post of clerk and began his duties on 1 March 1912. Ramanujan was quite lucky to have a number of people working round him with a training in mathematics. In fact the Chief Accountant for the Madras Port Trust, S N Aiyar, was trained as a mathematician and published a paper On the distribution of primes in 1913 on Ramanujan's work. The professor of civil engineering at the Madras Engineering College C L T Griffith was also interested in Ramanujan's abilities and, having been educated at University College London, knew the professor of mathematics there, namely M J M Hill. He wrote to Hill on 12 November 1912 sending some of Ramanujan's work and a copy of his 1911 paper on Bernoulli numbers.

Hill replied in a fairly encouraging way but showed that he had failed to understand Ramanujan's results on divergent series. The recommendation to Ramanujan that he read Bromwich's Theory of infinite series did not please Ramanujan much. Ramanujan wrote to E W Hobson and H F Baker trying to interest them in his results but neither replied. In January 1913 Ramanujan wrote to G H Hardy having seen a copy of his 1910 book Orders of infinity. In Ramanujan's letter to Hardy he introduced himself and his work :-

I have had no university education but I have undergone the ordinary school course. After leaving school I have been employing the spare time at my disposal to work at mathematics. I have not trodden through the conventional regular course which is followed in a university course, but I am striking out a new path for myself. I have made a special investigation of divergent series in general and the results I get are termed by the local mathematicians as 'startling'.

Ramanujan left a number of unpublished notebooks filled with theorems that mathematicians have continued to study. G N Watson, Mason Professor of Pure Mathematics at Birmingham from 1918 to 1951 published 14 papers under the general title Theorems stated by Ramanujan and in all he published nearly 30 papers which were inspired by Ramanujan's work. Hardy passed on to Watson the large number of manuscripts of Ramanujan that he had, both written before 1914 and some written in Ramanujan's last year in India before his death.

Read the whole article..

New Special Covers – Gujpex 2011

2011-12-26T16:29:00.001+05:30

On the occasion of Gujarat Philatelic Exhibition, Gujpex 2011, held at Vadodara, from 23rd to 25th December 2011, a set of 22 special used picture postcards to commemorate the historic Dandi March and 3 special covers were released.

GUJPEX 2011 Updates

23 December 2011 : Captain Vijay Hazare

24 December 2011 : WWF

25 December 2011 : Birth Centenary of Thought Transformation, Shantikunj, Haridwar

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

New 2012 Stamps from USA…

2011-12-26T12:01:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 3 January 2012

The new “Spectrum Eagle” Presorted First-Class Mail non-denominated stamp (25¢ assigned value) comes in six color varieties. The eagle’s profile is depicted in white, set against a sequence of six varying shades of reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Each color blends with the one following, resulting in a gradual spectrum from left to right across the six stamps.

Other stamps to be issued in the month of January 2012

A scenic landscape by contemporary New Mexico artist Douglas West. Statehood date is Jan. 6.

Fifth in the series of designs by artist Kim Mak, celebrating Lunar New Year, which in 2012 is Jan. 23, a bit earlier than usual.

Stamp Preview of US 2012 stamps

Here i the list of stamps to be issued by USPS in the year 2012 covering a large variety of subjects. The dates of issue are yet to be decided by USPS. It is a preview of the forthcoming issues .

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the friendship between America and Japan with the Cherry Blossom Centennial issuance. That friendship found lasting expression a hundred years ago when the city of Tokyo gave 3,020 cherry trees to the city of Washington, D.C.

In this unusual design, two stamps form the left and right halves of a single, panoramic view of cherry trees blooming around the Tidal Basin in the nation's capital. In the stamp on the left, blossoming trees arch over two girls dressed in bright kimonos and a family on a stroll. The Washington Monument rises in the background. In the stamp on the right, the Jefferson Memorial is the backdrop for other tourists taking in the sights under canopies of pink blooms.

In 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs published his first story, “Under the Moons of Mars,” and his first Tarzan story, “Tarzan of the Apes.” The U.S. Postal Service joins with fans around the world in celebrating the centennial of a cultural phenomenon.

This stamp shows Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ most famous literary creation, clinging to a tree by a vine in his left hand and wielding a weapon in his right. Burroughs appears in profile in the background. Hulbert Burroughs, the author’s son, took the 1934 photograph that served as the basis for the stamp portrait of Burroughs. The depiction of Tarzan is artist Sterling Hundley’s own interpretation of the character.

The U.S. Postal Service issues Love Ribbons, a stamp featuring a graphic design of pink-tinged, satin ribbons that spell out the word “Love” in a graceful, cursive script on a bright red background. Pieces of ribbon that appear to extend beyond the borders of the stamp broaden the reach of the design and its sentiment.

Like stamps, ribbons often adorn our special packages to friends and family. Attached to floral arrangements, boxes of candy and gifts of all kinds, ribbons beautify and embellish our gestures of romance, friendship, and caring. Silk, satin, taffeta, and organdy ribbons are often used to enhance the beauty of bridal bouquets and invitations for weddings and other special celebrations for our friends and loved ones.

In 2012, the Postal Service will honor John H. Johnson, the trailblazing publisher of Ebony, Jet, and other magazines. Johnson overcame poverty and racism to build a business empire embracing magazines, radio stations, cosmetics, and more. His magazines portrayed black people positively at a time when such representation was rare, and played an important role in the civil rights movement.

The U.S. Postal Service has recognized the achievements of prominent African Americans through the Black Heritage series since 1978. This stamp honoring Johnson is the 35th stamp in that series, which highlights outstanding individuals who helped shape American culture.

To be contd….

Christmas stamp from Ukraine…

2011-12-25T22:00:00.001+05:30

Merry Christmas !!

Date of Issue : 23 December 2011

On the Christmas day I am giving here the last issue of this year’s Christmas Stamp from Ukraine. Ukraine Post issued it very late…as it might have been late for those who wished to send Christmas Card using this stamp ….But this sheetlet is wonderful with Santa and Christmas Tree !! It features Santa Claus carrying a bag of presents and people standing in front of a Cathedral.

New Stamp from Israel

The Valley Railway

“The Valley Railway” (Rakevet HaEmek) is the Hebrew nickname for the Haifa branch line of the famed Hijaz Railway, which was built in the latter days of the Ottoman Empire to connect Damascus to Medina and Mecca in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula. This railway served both religious and military purposes.

Stamp features Hijaz Railway “Hartmann 2-8-2” steam engine and a train against the background of the Jezreel Valley landscape.
The nice Tab attached to the stamp which is the specific feature of all Israeli stamps shows Turkish period buildings at the Kfar Yehoshua station, which were renovated and restored and currently serve as a visitor’s center Stamp Sheet Margins.

World’s First Christmas Card…

2011-12-25T08:19:00.001+05:30

Merry Christmas !!

Greetings to all my Readers on Christmas !! This is a special post on World’s First Christmas card. I am giving the links of different articles published on World’s First Christmas Card…The card was recently on display in London on 8 December and its replica could be seen throughout December at British Postal Museum and Archive in London.

First ever Christmas card on display at British Postal Museum and Archive in London

The World’s First Christmas Card is Delivered to Ironbridge

Today greetings cards are an essential part of our Christmas celebrations but the custom of exchanging cards did not start until 1843, another wonderful Christmas tradition we have to thank the Victorians for.

The first Christmas card was sent by Henry Cole, a Civil Servant with a keen interest in art and design. Cole commissioned 1,000 Christmas cards and used those he required before selling the rest for 6d each. This price made the cards a luxury item and something that was unavailable to the working classes.

The card was designed by John C Horsley and was printed lithographically and then hand-coloured. Of the 1,000 printed very few are known to remain in existence.

One of Cole’s original 1843-produced cards, held in the collection of the British Postal Museum and Archive, was on display on 08 December in The Post Office at Blists Hill Victorian Town Anna Flood, BPMA Archivist, was also on hand to answer questions on the heritage of Christmas cards. Following that, a replica of the card is on display at the Blists Hill Post Office throughout December for everyone to enjoy.

Anna Flood commented :

“Since opening the Museum of the Post Office in the Community above the historic Post Office at Blists Hill, we have worked closely with the Ironbridge Gorge Museums. There is nowhere better to let people see the world’s first Christmas card than in a Victorian Post Office. We are sure that people will enjoy seeing such a precious object on Thursday and have a greater understanding of the history of Christmas cards by seeing the replica over the rest of December.”

The replica Christmas card will be one of the many highlights during Blists Hill Victorian Town’s Christmas weekends when families can come together and enjoy the preparations for a Victorian Christmas during the weekends of 10-11 and 17-18 December.

The town’s Ironworks will be the setting for Mr Morton’s Christmas Party, an extravaganza of music, singing and stories. Carol singers and brass bands will fill the air with their fabulous festive tunes whilst our culinary expert will rustle up some fantastic seasonal fare in wonderful cooking demonstrations.

Father Christmas will of course be in residence throughout the weekends and children can visit him in his wonderfully decorated Grotto. Don’t forget to say hello to his reindeer before they head off on their mammoth journey around the world on Christmas Eve!

These special Christmas events will take place during the weekends of 10 - 11 and 17 - 18 December when Blists Hill is open from 10am to 4pm. Passport Tickets are not valid for Blists Hill Victorian Town Christmas events. Entry is £14.95 adults, £11.95 for 60 plus, £9.95 children 5- 18 years in full time education and under 5s free. New for 2011 is a family ticket (two adults and two children) at £45. A visit to see Father Christmas is £3.50.

For further information, contact the Ironbridge Tourist Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).

Source : The British Museum and Archives

This card, one of 18 cards produced 167 years ago and still known to exist, was auctioned by Sotheby's in 2010 and sold for $7000. This particular card was was sent to a "Miss Rusby" from an "H. Vernon", produced by Sir Henry Cole and published by Summerley’s Home Treasury Office, 12, Old Bond Street, London. [Image from Daily Mail]

John Callcott Horsley (born 1817-- died 1903), a British narrative painter and a Royal Academician, designed the very first Christmas and New Year's card at the request of his friend Sir Henry Cole (the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum). Cole suggested the idea of a specially designed form of greeting to send to friends at Christmas. In 1843 an edition of 1,000 of these Christmas cards were printed and placed on sale in London. They were printed in lithography by Jobbins of Warwick Court, Holborn, London, and hand-colored by a professional "colourer" named Mason. The cards were published under Sir Henry Cole's nom de guerre, "Felix Summerly"—by his friend Joseph Cundall, of New Bond Street.

The Christmas card was lithographed on stiff cardboard, 5 1/8 by 3 1/4 inches, in dark sepia, with a design of a trellis of rustic-work, in the Germanesque style, divided into a center and two side panels. In the panels were figures representing two of the acts of charity, "feeding the hungry" and "clothing the naked."

In the center is a picture of a merry family party, including three generations, grandparents to grandchildren, quaffing draughts of wine. One child is being shown how to consume the wine - while three other children tuck into a plum pudding. Below is the greeting, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You." The card is marked: "Published at Summerly's Home Treasury Office, 12 Old Bond Street, London." The price was 1s. each.

That was the beginning. But in spite of its ingenuity, the first Christmas card was not an instant success, even bringing about disapproval from the temperance league who feared the card would encourage drunkenness. The following year there were other picture-makers, and the Christmas card was launched on the tide of popular favor; but it was not until the idea had grown out of favor among artistic and literary circles that it was taken up by a business man, Goodall. Charles Goodall & Son, a British publisher of visiting cards was one of the first to mass produce Christmas cards and visiting cards. In 1866 Mr. Josiah Goodall commissioned Messrs. Marcus Ward & Co., of Belfast, to lithograph, for his firm, a set of four designs by C. H. Bennett, and in the following year another set by the same artist. These, together with Luke Limner's border design of holly, mistletoe, and robins, may be taken as the forerunners of today’s Christmas card.

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Merry Christmas from Jane Austen’s World With the First Commercial Christmas Card

Jane Austen would not have recognized this Christmas card, for it was commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843, 26 years after her death and the same year that Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. (The British Postal Museum and Archive). Artist John Calcott Horsely designed the card, which shows the poor being fed and clothed on either side of a classic triptych arrangement. The center of the card depicts a group of people celebrating Christmas and holding up a toast in celebration, including children, which set up a hue and cry with the Temperance Society. The card is about the size of a regular postcard. Prior to 1843 the upper classes would send each other signed calling cards at Christmas, but Coles’s decorative paper Christmas greeting became rapidly popular, and by 1860 Christmas cards had become widespread.

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Merry Christmas..

2011-12-24T15:04:00.001+05:30

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas !!

Slovakia : Christmas Cake

This year's Christmas issue from Slovakia is dedicated to traditional Slovak honey cake bakery, on the postage stamp a fish is depicted.

Jrersy : Christmas Tree decorations

Date of Issue : 8 November 2011

New issue from Isarel

Israeli Football legends

Date of Issue : 6 December 2011

Vanuatu Beaches

Date of Issue : 28 September 2011

Here are some beautiful stamps issued by Vanuatu Post featuring famous beaches. Spread right through the archipelago, the beaches of this un spoilt paradise are a sight to behold. Some of the beaches from this unspoilt land are only accessible by boat or float plane and leave the visitor with an unreal feeling of having spent time in such a pristine environment.

The stamp issue has a textured feel and highlights four of thousands of wonderful examples. Champagne Beach, Havana Harbour, Eratap Island and Pele Island give the viewer a taste of what to expect.

New Christmas stamp

2011-12-23T21:14:00.001+05:30

It’s Christmas Time !!

Have Fun in these Holidays !!

Bulgaria

Date of Issue : 17 November 2011

The Bulgarian Post has issued a stamp dedicated to Christmas and New Year holidays. The stamp features a Snowman formed from the stamp's denomination.

Croatia

Christmas

Date of Issue : 3 November 2011

Motif: “The Birth of Jesus”

New Year 2012

Date of Issue : 24 November 2011

Motif: dance of falling snowflakes

My Recent Covers

11.11.11 Cover from USA

The sender has not written his name ….Thanks plz contact me !!

Davisd Jastrzebski, Dijon – France http://lettresautourdumonde.blogspot.com/

New Stamp from India..

2011-12-23T17:20:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 23 December 2011

Today India Post issued a commemorative postage stamp on 100 years of King George Medical College Lucknow. The King George Medical College, Lucknow, established in 1911, has been a frontrunner among medical education institutions in the country, By an act passed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh on the 16th September 2002, the college was transferred under a new university Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University.

KGMC ( Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University) , Lucknow

Release of Postage stamp marking 100 years of the university by His Excellence Shri B.L Joshi, Honourable Governor of UP

King George Medical College, Lucknow – Centenary Year

: Mansoor Bolar, Mangalore

New Special Cover from Gujarat

Rajpex – 2011, Rajkot

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Greek actors on stamps…

2011-12-23T12:47:00.001+05:30

Date of Issue : 22 November 2011

Hellenic Post issued a set of six stamps , a beautiful miniature sheet and set of Maximum Cards, featuring great actors from Greek Cinema on 22 November 2011. Its a wonderful set for collectors of cinema theme. The striking feature of this issue is its awesome First day cancellation depicting camera and the background design of Miniature sheet showing film reel !! Its a great idea of the designer !!

FDC & Miniature Sheet

Club News

Glimpses of UPHILEX 2011, Lucknow

UP State Philatelic Exhibition was held in Lucknow from 16-18 December 2011. Rajpreet Singh Saluja, philatelist from Kanpur captured some memorable moments of the show and sharing here some pics with the readers. Mr Saluja won a Gold Medal for his exhibit on Sikhism.

Dinesh Sharma (Lucknow), Philatelists from Kanpur : DD Shukla, Arjun Ghosh,Rajpreet Singh Saluja

New stamps from India..

2011-12-22T17:16:00.001+05:30

Archaeological Survey of India

On 20th December 2011 India Post issued a set of two stamps and a miniature sheet on 150 years of Archaeological Survey of India.

Date of Issue : 20 December 2011

Source : Stamps of India

From Our Readers..

Vipan Kumar Thakur of Chandigarh shares here some picture Post cards prepared by him on Kavi Pradeep.

: Vipan Kumar Thakur, Chandigarh email : philavpnthakur@rediffmail.com

New Special Cover

2011-12-22T11:33:00.001+05:30

22 Killers Squadron – 40 Years of Valour

Mumbai - 2.12.2011

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur

Cover from Latvia

Thanks to EN Limanski for this beautiful Christmas FDC !!

Stamp Exchange

I am interested in stamp exchange from collectors of India and abroad . Please contact me : Thirumal V . email : vthirumal0034@gmail.com Ph:9443469838

Rainbow Stamp Club

Club News..

New stamps from Belgium..

New Special Covers..

Tributes to the Father of Nation – Mahatma Gandhi

World pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Martyrs Day !!

Cairo's Philatelic exhibition on Rabindranath Tagore…

Stamps on precious stones from Israel..

Titanic Centenary…

Every Night in my dreams I see you…..

New Special Cover

Club News..

Greetings on Republic Day

New Stamp from India

Fraunhofer lines : The Rainbow lines

Fraunhofer lines

Precious stones on stamps…

AMPEX 2012 – Special Cover and Booklet

Mahapex 2012 Special Covers..

New stamps on Birds of Prey from USA

New Special Covers…

Special Cover on Alan Turing’s Centenary

Stamps and the man…

New stamp from India..

Stamps on Indian theme….

Festivals of India..

Makar Sankranti - Pongal

Club News

Dragon Stamp from Hong Kong…

Dragon stamp from China…

Glimpses of Stamp Fair, Bhubneshwar

Club News

New Special Cover from Vadodara

New stamps on Railways..

New stamps on “Year of the Dragon”

Club News

Stamp collection with a cinematic touch

New stamp from India..

New Special Cover from Guwahati..

Club News

2012 – The Year of Dragon

New Year Greetings…

Club News..

ITS Postal Auction No.55 – Last Date: 14.01.2012

2012 stamp programme of USA

New stamps on London 2012 Olympics

Indian theme on foreign stamps…

New Stamp from India : Madan Mohan Malviya

Glimpses of Indian Autographs..

New Stamp from India..

India Post issues second time, a postage stamp on Srinivasa Ramanujan .

Born: 22 Dec 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu Died: 26 April 1920 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu

Ramanujan's birthday will be National Mathematics Day

New Special Covers – Gujpex 2011

New 2012 Stamps from USA…

Stamp Preview of US 2012 stamps

Christmas stamp from Ukraine…

World’s First Christmas Card…

First ever Christmas card on display at British Postal Museum and Archive in London

Merry Christmas from Jane Austen’s World With the First Commercial Christmas Card

Merry Christmas..

New Christmas stamp

New Stamp from India..

Greek actors on stamps…

New stamps from India..

New Special Cover

Born: 22 Dec 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu
Died: 26 April 1920 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu