Indian theme on foreign stamps

 

Canada Post issued a postage stamp on Sikh Canadians on 19 April 1999.

Canadian Sikhs

Canadian Sikhs are the largest religious group among Indo-Canadians. Accordingly to latest census, there are about 5 - 8 lakh Sikhs in Canada. Sikhs have been in Canada since at least 1887.

Ever since the year 1900, Sikh members started to contribute to the Canadian economy. However, it was not until the year 2000 that this contribution was noticeable. Sikhs have made significant contribution to the Canadian economy in terms their professional and business advances. The Sikh community is represented in all professional fields; medical, legal, technological, academic, etc. Sikhs are driven by their desire to enhance themselves and their communities.

In the 1960s and 1970s tens of thousands of skilled Sikhs, some highly educated, settled across Canada. As their numbers grew, Sikhs established gurdwaras in every major city of Canada.

In 2002, the Gur Sikh Temple was designated a national historic landmark by prime minister Jean Chrétien on July 26 of 2002. It is the only Gurdwara declared a national historic landmark outside of South Asia. In 2007 the temple was completely renovated and reopened. In 2011, the Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford celebrated its one hundredth birthday. To celebrate, the Government of Canada is funding the building of a museum dedicated to Canadian Sikhism. During the anniversary celebration, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a speech to the Punjabi Community as to how the Gur Sikh Temple is a shrine to all immigrants into Canada, not just Sikh ones.

- Kenneth Sequeira -  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Club News

Philatelic Societies of India

The Deccan Philatelic Society

The Deccan Philatelic Society in Pune was formed on 3 August1988 is dedicated to the cause of promotion of philately.

The Deccan Philatelic Society has successfully organised 2 philatelic exhibitions in the city of Pune. Cancellations on different subjects have been sponsored by the Society on various occasions. Philatelic Workshops are conducted by the society, in the schools to promote the philately amongst the school children. Members of the society have participated in the State, National and International level exhibitions and have won many awards. Members of Deccan Philatelic Society won 5 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals at Mahapex-2012.

Management Committee consists of Colonel J Dutta (President), P J Lewis (Secretary), Dr Anjali Dutta (IPP), Mr. Pratisad Neurgaonkar, Col Ashwin Baindur and Ms Jayoti Dutta. The Society publishes the much acclaimed Deccan Philatelist in full colour.

The Deccan Philatelic Society meets every first Sunday of the month at 10.30 a.m.

Contact address :

Deccan Philatelic Society, A-12 Sacred Heart Town, 75/2 Wanowrie, Pune 411 040

email : doctorjayanta2009@gmail.com

The Army Philatelic Society

The Army Philatelic Society (TAPS) was formed in 2003 to promote philately in the Indian Army among the serving, retired, released personnel and their families. Civilians interested in military philately are also made members.

The Society has brought out many Special Covers on the army as well as published the acclaimed book The Rare Stamps of the World. Two monographs on APS Covers and the Fiscals of Jamkhandi have been published by the Society.  The Society publishes the Journal of The Army Philatelic Society twice a year in full colour.

Management Committee consists of Brig P K Gulati (President), Colonel J Dutta (Vice President), Dr Anjali Dutta (Secretary), Ms Anisha Gulati (Treasurer),Brig F T Rangwala, Brig R K Singh, VSM, and Col Ashwin Baindur. 

Philatelic Workshops are conducted by the society, in the schools to promote the philately amongst the school children. Members of the society have participated in the State, National and International level exhibitions and have won many awards. Members of The Army Philatelic Society won 4 gold, 3 silver medals and 3 bronze medals at Mahapex-2012.

Official Address:
L-335, Tarapore Towers,New Link Rd, Oshiwara,Andheri (W), Mumbai 400 053.

email : doctorjayanta2009@gmail.com

 

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New Stamps on Christmas..

Iceland

As  Christmas is arriving many countries are issuing special stamps for this festive occasion. Here are new Christmas stamps from Hungary and Iceland.

The motifs of these Iceland Post's Christmas stamps are based on goldwork embroidery, a rich national heritage involving techniques used for Icelandic national costumes.

Goldwork is the art of embroidery using silver and gold threads. Reference is also made to skattering, an old Icelandic method of embroidering, often used for colourful flower patterns.

Hungary

Magyar Posta is issuing a set of postage stamps to celebrate Christmas. In 2011 the festive stamps show two Catholic churches with Nativity scenes that are unique both in Hungarian and world terms.

The Nagykaracsony church is on the left of the HUF 90 stamp, and next to it is a detail of the largest outdoor Nativity scene in Hungary, which is to be found in Nagykaracsony. The Roman Catholic church in Vors is on the left of the HUF 115 stamp, with a detail of the largest indoor Nativity scene in Europe, which is rebuilt every year, next to it.

Gold-colour foil has been used for the inscription Karacsony (Christmas) and other decorative motifs on the stamps. 

FDCs of Indian Miniature Sheets

The series FDCs of Indian Miniature Sheets by  Hemant Kumar Jain of Mandla (MP) was published earlier. It is resumed with further issues of MS.Earlier issues could be seen with label Miniature sheets of India .

Rampur raza Library – 19 June 2009

 

Jaidev and Geetgovind – 27 July 2009

Heritage Railway Stations of India – 16 August 2009

Rare Fauna of the North – East – 1 October 2009

Horeses of India – 9 November 2009

  – Hemant Kumar Jain, Mandla (M.P.)

News from Philatelic Societies

PHILATELIC CLUB THRISSUR

Philatelic Club Thrissur was started in April 1976 as Stamp Exchange Club of Trichur. The first President of the Club was Mr. K. K.Govindankutty and Secretary Mr. Olvex M Noronha. In 1978 Annual General Body was conducted with 16 members. In this meeting Club’s name changed as Trichur Philatelic Association with Mr. Pallan J Kunjuvareed as president, Mr. Olvex M Noronha as secretary and adopted new Bye-law. Philately and Numismatic classes were regularly conducted in the monthly meetings. Journal of the Club” The Philatelist” won Bronze Medal in 1987 International Exhibition.

In 1991, Trichur Philatelic Association was changed to Philatelic Club Thrissur registered (534/91) under Societies Act, along with new emblem. Philatelic Club Thrissur affiliated to Philatelic Congress of India. For the first time in the history of Kerala Postal Circle, Philatelic Advisory Board was constituted with the leadership of Chief Post Master General V. Radhakrishnan. Two members of the board were from Philatelic Club Thrissur viz.: Mrs. Sathi Veerachandra Menon and Mr. O K Prakash.

The first coin and stamp exhibition of Philatelic Club Thrissur “THRISSURPEX 91” was conducted on 20, 21, 22 September 1991: this was inaugurated by District Council President Mr. V. V Raman. Municipal Chairman Mr. Kesavan Kutty Menon and Post Master General Mr. Thomas Varghese were presided. The portrait of Sakthan Thampuran, the father of Thrissur depicted in the special cover. The special cancelation was elephant and Thidampu. Prizes were distributed on the closing day by Chief Post Master General Mr. V. Radhakrishnan in the presence of Mr.Therambil Ramakrishnan M L A. It was a great achievement of all the members of the club working together in one spirit. During the exhibition more than 105 members joined the Club including Mr. Deschl from USA who wrote “The Comprehensive India States Postal Stationary Listing”.

Philatelic Club conducted coin exhibition “THRISSURNEX 94 “on 6, 7, 8, 9 October 1994. Due to non availability of frames from the postal department, Club was forced to abandon philately at the last moment.

The silver jubilee celebration of Philatelic Club Thrissur “THRISSURPEX2003” was conducted on 19, 20, 21 September 2003. The 33^rd annual celebration “THRISSURPEX 2008” Philatelic and Numismatic exhibition was conducted on 18, 19, 20 November 2008 .

Philatelic Club Thrissur won laurels at World Philatelic Exhibition “INDIPEX2011” held in February 2011 at New Delhi. Its four members bagged five medals in the International exhibition. While Mr. E P James and Dr K S Mohan won ‘Vermeil’ Medals for their collection on Cochin State Anchal (Postal) History, Mrs. Sathy Veerachandra Menon (Travancore Post Mark) Mr. O K Prakash (Cochin State Postal History) and Mr. E P James (Cochin Stamps) won ‘Large Silver Medals’.

The office bearers of PHILATELIC CLUB THRISSUR are as follows: President: Mr. O K Prakash, Secretary: Mr. C J Vincent, Vice President Dr. Jayaprakash K., and Treasurer: Mr. Olvex M. Noronha.

- C J VINCENT (Mob. 098470 21886)

Secretary, Philatelic Club Thrissur

: Sreejesh Krishnan - Trivandrum

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New Stamps on Renewable Energy…

  

 

Keep Earth Alive !!

An Post (Ireland)  released a set of five stamps on 5 August 2011 to celebrate renewable energy technologies.The stamps feature the five main sources of renewable energy  wind, wave, hydropower, solar and bio fuel.

Date of Issue : 5 August 2011

Renewable Energy

The term 'renewable energy' describes a wide range of naturally occurring energy sources, all of which can be replenished. The stamps illustrate five specific types of renewable energy technologies; wind, hydro, solar, wave and biofuel.

Wind generated electricity has made huge strides in recent years; its capacity currently is close to 1,500 MW, mainly from about 90 on shore wind farms.

Hydro energy is energy that is taken from water and converted to electricity. The most common method of using energy from water is a hydroelectric dam, where water coming down through an area causes turbines to rotate and the energy is captured to run a generator.

Although Ireland has a reputation for rain, there's enough sunshine for substantial use of solar power, using solar panels to capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. A growing number of households are now using solar panels on the roofs of their houses to generate much of their electricity.

Waves and tides along the Irish coast offer enormous possibilities; the sea is a limitless and reliable source of power. It is predicted that Ireland could install 30,000 MW of wave energy conversion facilities by 2030.

Biomass is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. In the context of biomass for energy this is often used to mean plant based material, but biomass can equally apply to both animal and vegetable derived material. Biofuel is the term for biomass that has been converted into liquid fuel.

The use of these energy sources reduces  greenhouse gas emissions and diversifies  energy supply.

My Recent covers

Wolfgang Beyer, Germany

Charles Jensen, USA 

 

Special Cancellations

Cancellations issued by Lucknow GPO

Silver Jubilee : Colombo Plan 

Silver Jubilee : Missionaries of Charity

Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur 

Club News

Philatelic Clubs in USA

New Stamp Collectors Club forms at Fair Park 

By Tina Taylor

CROSSVILLE — Today, stamp collecting is still one of the world's most popular indoor hobbies. It is estimated that about 25 million people in the United States collect stamps; while worldwide it is closer to 200 million.

Thousands of stamp (philatelic) clubs and organizations enjoy sharing their rare stamps and their history. Everyone specializes in some country with a worldwide collection being enormous, running into thousands of volumes, and incredibly expensive to acquire. The use of the internet has made it much easier to collect, trade, swap, sale, share and auction their stamps.

Currently there does not seem to be a club in this area, until now! Ray Kusmierski has enjoyed being a member of six different stamp clubs in the past 60 years of collecting.  He thinks one of the most rewarding parts of stamp collecting, is making new contacts. He corresponds with people from around the world making many interesting new friends, who also share his love for stamps. Every senior interested in sharing stamp stories is welcome to join the stamp club. The first meeting of the Fair Park Senior Center Stamp Club will be Wednesday Sept. 7 at noon.

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Alpine leisure sports on new Australian stamps..

 

Date of Issue : 19 July 2011 

Here are three new beautiful stamps on winter sports.Two of Australia's most popular alpine pastimes, skiing and snowboarding, feature in a new stamp issue coinciding with the 150th anniversary of skiing in Australia. The stamp issue comprises one domestic rate stamp (60 cents) and two international rate stamps ($1.60 and $1.65), .Outdoor activities has been beautifully captured in this winter-themed commemorative stamp issue. Skiing and snowboarding are very popular in Australia.

 

Snow skiing had its genesis in Australia 150 years ago, at the Snowy Mountains settlement of Kiandra, New South Wales. A small group of Austrians and a Norwegian, goldminers at the settlement, were behind the activity. The club that developed was called the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club, later renamed the Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club. This is thought to be the first and longest-surviving ski club in the world, established the same year as the first club in Norway, although the claim is not universally supported.

Today, skiing and snowboarding are undertaken in three Australian states: New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Australia's 14 alpine resorts are of varying size and sophistication, the most popular being Perisher, Thredbo, Mt Buller, Hotham and Falls Creek.Victoria is home to a total of eight resorts, some of which offer only cross-county skiing; New South Wales is home to four; and Tasmania to two. Between them, New South Wales and Victoria attract the lion's share of skiers and snowboarders, Tasmania representing around just one per cent of the market.

The three stamps in this issue represent the two most popular alpine leisure sports in Australia, downhill skiing and snowboarding. They focus on recreation rather than competition and represent a range of proficiency, from a tentative learner to advanced slope slayers. The photographs also depict a sense of place, Australia's snowfields being unique for their open vistas and alpine gums.

Maxim Cards

: Australia Post

Club News

Seminar on ‘Modern Trends of Philately’

A  Seminar on ‘Modern Trends of Philately’  has been organized by Philatelic Society of Rajasthan on  31 July 2011 at  St Xavier’s School , Jaipur. It will be inaugurated by Shri Rajeev Singh,Chief Postmaster General , Rajasthan Circle.

Time : Sunday, 31 July 2011 Morning 11.00 o’clock

Venue : Seminar Hall , St Xavier’s School , Bhagwandas Road , Jaipur

Digital Presentations : Virtual Philately by Mr Yogesh Bhatnagar

                                      Philately E-Trade by Dr Rakesh Thapar

- Rajesh Paharia, Jaipur

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