World Environment Day

 

World Environment Day 2015 - 'Seven Billion Dreams; One Planet; Consume with Care'

 

 

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5th June to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth. The theme for 2015 is how the well-being of humanity, the environment and economies ultimately depends on the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. Evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.

Cover prepared by Sanjeev Jain - Dehradun

Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our way of life. Living well within planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a healthy future.

 

You can save the world !

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- IPCC of U.N. has monitored and predicted the temperature of the earth's surface and the sea water and has come to the conclusion that in the Twenty First Century (2000-2100) the average temperature of the earth's surface will increase by 1.1 to 6.4 Degree Celsius, causing global warming that will result in a risk in the sea level. It is also expected that there will be drastic changes in the weather, a change in the number and frequency of aerial water droplets and agricultural products and an expansion in disease carriers. Everyone can help to alleviate the problems related to global warming by using simple methods -- energy conservation, avoiding using plastic bags, decreasing the amount of waste and the use of fuel, avoiding using instruments that contain the CFCs which cause greenhouse effect, and planting more trees.

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New Special Cover

81 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s  visit to Kedagu – 29 May 2015

A special cover was released at Sundrikoppa on 29 May to commemorate 81 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s  visit to Kedagu .

Results of the Stamp Design Competition on the theme “Women Empowerment”.

India Post has announced winners of the stamp design competition on the theme of “Women Empowerment” which are as follows:

First Prize Winner:
Gurmeet Singh, 153(F)Near Bagga School，Village: Kasal，P.O. Naya Gaon, Dist. : S.A.S. Nagar.

Second Prize Winner:
Athul S Raj , Maradom，Thundiparambil，Thirunakkara (PO)， Kottayam， Kerala.

Third Prize Winner:
Pratheek Roopjith, Souparnika, Thazhe Vayalil， Dharmadam (P.O.)， Thalassery, Kannaur (Dist.)， Kerala.

Source: India Post

Courtesy : Indian Philately Digest

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Charity Stamps 2015 for World Wildlife Fund

Hi !

After a long gap I am posting on my blog.  I just returned after visiting beautiful Sikkim . Due to limited Internet access at the places where I stayed , I could not update my blog. From now onwards regular posts with philatelic news updates will be published .

Charity Stamps 2015 for World Wildlife Fund

This is the first time PostNord has issued the charity stamps jointly in both Sweden and Denmark. The proceeds for the year go to the World Wildlife Fund and its environmental work to create sustainable cities. The issue was released on the 7^th of May.

The charity stamps have the same design in Sweden and Denmark. This year’s charity stamps also have some other firsts. It is the first time PostNord’s logotype is displayed on a stamp. WWF’s logotype is also displayed with the message, “För miljöns skull” (For the environment).The aim is to show that everyone, from private individuals to companies, can work together for the environment.

Club News

New Special Covers

450 years of Holy Spirit Church, Margao – 24th May 2015

A special cover was released on the occasion of the Church’s 450 years celebration coinciding with its feast day on 24th May 2015 at Margao. The special cover was released by Shri Charles Lobo, Postmaster General, Goa Region and was handed over to the Chief Guest, Mr. Justice (Retd.) Eurico Santana Silva. Holy Spirit Church's Parish Priest Mr. Avinash Rebello and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The cancellation on the cover shows the picture of a dove which is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. (Special Cover approval no. MH/20/2015)

Special Cover on Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna - 18th May 2015

Royal Challengers Bangalore, also called RCB is the franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Royal Challengers, who pride themselves in creating environmental awareness among their fans, initiated Go Green initiative step towards addressing the issue of global warming, reducing its impact on the environment and to reduce our carbon foot-print. RCB have been promoting 'Go Green' efforts for the last few years.

In appreciation of Royal Challengers Bangalore's efforts as a sports team in India, spreading the message of eco-friendly initiatives and the world's first carbon positive cricket team Karnataka Postal Circle released My Stamp and Special Cover on 17th May 2015 at Bengaluru. (Special Cover approval no. KTK/43/2015)

My Stamp bears the Royal Challengers Bangalore logo alongside a Cineraria flower stamp and the special cover depicts the profile shots of three of RCB's key players, Chris Gayle, Ab De Villiers and Captain Virat Kohli set in the foreground of the world's only solar powered cricket stadium – M. Chinaswamy Stadium. The special cover is made of eco friendly material and priced at Rs. 25. (Special Cover with my Stamp Rs. 45 each)

My Stamp and Special Cover were released by Daniel Vettori Coach of RCB with members of the Karnataka Postal Circle Shri B S Chandrashekar, Assistant Director of Postal Services, Shri Shivram, Assistant Postmaster General, and Shri K A Devraj, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices.

Courtesy – Indian Philately Digest

Tributes to great philatelist

B.B. Shahi -- An expert of 1854 Lithographs stamps of India

Batuk Bhairo Shahi, popularly known as B. B. Shahi was an ardent expert of 1854 Lithographs of India. His knowledge on Post Marks, Stamps & Postal History of early British India was unparalleled. The living encyclopedia of 1854 Lithographs and hand struck postage stamps, left us, on 22nd April 2015 for his heavenly abode.

Shri Shahi was born on 29th January 1926 in Varanasi. He did his B.Sc from Banaras Hindu University, then M. A. in Psychology and finally L.L.B. His knowledge on printing techniques including engraving, printing plates, stamp paper and different inks used in printing was enormous. This printing knowledge made him Master of Forgeries. Shri Shahi used to preach how to detect forgeries, because modern electronic techniques have made forgeries easier. And marketing through internet has also become easy to dispose such forgeries.

But, he was remembered for his research and intense study of Lithographs, postmarks and postal route of pre stamp era. Stalwarts of 1854 Lithograph, used to invite him for his knowledge & experience for discussion on finer points of Indian Lithographs.

Shri Shahi remained simple and humble throughout his life and left an unforgettable mark on Indian Philately through his works.

- Pradip Jain - Patna

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Protection of the Baltic Sea Natural Environment

 

 

Save the Baltic Seal

Date of Issue : 12 March 2015

The beautiful Souvenir sheet shown above was issued by Estonia Post on 12th March 2015 featuring ‘Protection of the Baltic Sea Natural Environment’. The FDC of this issue is so wonderful. With this issue a Maximum card was also issued. This is the perfect item for collection on environment, nature, sea and mammals.This issue highlights how the intense ship traffic in Baltic Sea has affected the sea life.

The Baltic Sea is an inland sea of the Baltic Ocean, which surrounds Estonia from the north and the west. The other countries of the Baltic Sea are Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Baltic States are developed industrial countries and the settlements’ and industrial enterprises’ effluent flow into the sea from large areas. A lot of nutrients used in agriculture and forestry flow into the sea and as a result of this the coastal and maritime flora has started to thrive out of proportion. For many organisms it is difficult to adapt water that contains a lot of nutrients and as result they fall ill and finally die. Recently “flowering of the water” or mass gadding of the blue green algae has increased.

 

The biggest amount of toxic substances build up at the end of the feeding chain. Seals, who mainly eat fish, are at the end of feeding chain and due to the environmental toxic substances numerous female animals have lost their power of breeding. The intense maritime traffic on the Baltic Sea is a great source of danger, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the maritime traffic of all the seas of the world. One of the channels of pollution is nitrogen that gets into the maritime environment due to the exhaust gases of ship traffic. More environmental-friendly fuels and technologies would reduce ship effluents by up to 80 percent.

General growth of ship traffic and explosively increased transport of crude oil additionally bring considerable danger of a collision of tanker ships. Many oil tankers moving on the Baltic Sea are still single-bottomed as before. During the past twenty years there have been dozens of accidents involving ships and oil pollution. Oil pollution on the seaboard can preserve for decades and its most visible consequences are oil on the surface of the sea: birds and seals suffocate and the opportunity that they do not die is reduced by the deterioration of their movement. But purposeful protection makes it possible to keep the Baltic Sea relatively clean and viable, to preserve the versatility of to its natural environments and to restore the quality of the environment and of the waters.

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New Stamps from Poland

 

 

Meteorological phenomena

Date of Issue : 30 September 2014

Polish Post recently published a set of four stamps on "Meteorological phenomena" and another set of four stamps on “Alternative energy sources".

 

Alternative energy sources

 

Date of Issue : 26th September 2014

Club News

First ever mobile stamp exhibition cum workshop

Mr Rakesh Walia and Philately Exhibition Van

Mr.Bishon Singh Sr.Supdt. of Post Office  flagged off  the van during the postal week the first ever mobile stamp exhibition in chandigarh for visiting various schools for one week informing the children about the educative benifits of stamp collection through workshops done by noted philatelist  Mr. Rakesh Walia. In total there are 12 frames consisting of 200 sheets. Around 2000 stamps are on display on various themes. MY STAMP Service has also been provided at this exhibition.

 

 

Philatelic Tributes to literary and music legends of India

 

10th October – 108th Birth Anniversary of RK Narayan

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami well known as R. K. Narayan (b. 10 October 1906 - d. 13 May 2001), was an Indian writer, best known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi.

Tribute to Great Ghazal Singer Jagjit Singh on his third death anniversary.

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World Flower Show

 

Date of Issue : 12 June 2014

Here is a beautiful se-tenant pair of stamps issued by An Poat ( Ireland ) featuring orchid to  commemorate World Flower Show .

On June 12, 2014, An Post issued two new stamps to celebrate the first year Ireland will host the World Flower Show.

For five days in June, the Royal Dublin Society will host the World Association of Flower Arrangers (WAFA) World Flower Show 2014. This is a major event in the international floriculture calendar and an important festival with participants from all 31 member countries including North and South America, South Africa, The Far East, Australia, New Zealand and from all over Europe.

Events include a Flower Arranger’s Conference with over 1,200 participants and The World Flower Show, an exhibition of flower arrangements that will be open to the public. This exhibition will showcase the beautiful and extravagant creations of flower arrangers from all over the world and the RDS is expected to attract over 10,000 visitors per day from all over the world.

The World Flower Show is a triennial event and 2014 is the first year Ireland has been invited to host the event. The theme for the show is ‘A Floral Odyssey’. During the show, the Royal Dublin Society’s Convention Complex will be transformed into a haven of beauty filled with spectacular competitive floral exhibits. Creativity and innovation from floral artists will be to the fore while Irish and International floral demonstrators and lecturers will take visitors on magical tours.

There will be organized tours of the gardens and scenery of Dublin and the surrounding counties and everything culminates in a gala banquet on the final night.

The two stamps were designed by Atelier David Smith to mark World Flower Show 2014 in Dublin. They are very intriguing stamps and show details from a photograph of an orchid. The actual orchid featured here is of the genus Phalaenopsis and is native to South East Asia,but has become a very common house plant in Ireland. It was photographed using X-ray techniques to reveal the varying hues and details in the petals.

New Special Cover 

 

HARITHSREE 2014

A special Cover  HARRTHASREE 2014 was released on World Environment Day in Kottayam, Krerala.The Government of Kerala has envisaged a new programme - "Participatory Environment Action Programme ( PEAP) " on World Environment Day, 5th June 2014, a component of PEAP - HARITHASREE -  a participatory programme for increasing greenery enriching biodiversity and improving ecosystem will be launched by Kerala Forests and  wildlife  Department.  HARITHASREE is founded on the philosophy  - " Oru Manushaynu Oru Maram".  Each citizen is encouraged to plant, nurture and protect one seedling. 

- Sreejesh Krishnan – Trivandrum

Club News

Recent  Philatelic Newsletters

ITS Stamp News

Indian Thematic  Society has issued a new issue no.66 June 2014 of its quarterly magazine "ITS Stamp News". To subscribe tha magazine please contact Suraj Jaitly email : indianthematicsociety@gmail.com

Indian Thematic Society : http://indianthematicstamps.webs.com/

ITS Stamp News :  http://itsstampnews.blogspot.com/

GPA News

June 2014 Edition (Issue 24) of GPA News from Gujarat Philatelists' Association has been released.. Please Click Here to Read GPA NEWS Online  To subscribe the Newsletter please contact : Gujarat Philatelists' Association  email :  gpanews@gujaratphilately.com

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World Environment Day…

 

 

 

World Environment Day ('WED') is celebrated every year on June 5 to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The 2014 theme for World Environment Day will focus on 'Small Islands and Climate Change', the official slogan for the year 2014 is 'Raise Your Voice Not The Sea Level.

World Environment Day 2014

The UN General Assembly declared 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). World Environment Day (WED) 2014 will be celebrated under the theme of SIDS, with the goal of raising awareness of their unique development challenges and successes regarding a range of environmental problems, including climate change, waste management, unsustainable consumption, degradation of natural resources, and extreme natural disasters. UNEP is also soliciting votes for the 2014 WED slogan through 5 March 2014. The winning slogan will be used to call on the global WED community to take action for islands.

 

New special Cover

Silver Jubilee of Rang Kalyan Sanstha

A special cover on "Rang Kalyan Sanstha" was released in Dehradun on 1st June 2014 at O.N.G.C. Auditorium, Dehradun.

Rung Kalyan Santha is a non-profit organisation which works for the welfare of the "Rung" tribal community inhabitating the Darma, Chaundas and Vyas vallies along the India-China and Indo Nepal borders in Dharchula Tehsil of district Pithoragarh. Rung Kalyan Sanstha has dedicated itself to service of community and the nation through its multifarious charter ranging from education, social welfare and cultural preservation to relief works. Sanstha completed historic milestone of 25 years  on 18th May 2014.

 

: Abhai Mishra - Dehradun

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3D Motion Stamp from Hong Kong…

 

 

Date of Issue: 27 March 2014

Hong Kong Post issued a set of six stamps and two sheetlets with the theme "Weather Phenomena", one HKD20 sheetlet is printed with lithography plus a lenticular effect to show the trajectory of Typhoon Vicente. The stamp sheetlet showcases the satellite image of Typhoon Vicente when it approached Hong Kong in July 2012 and the Hurricane Signal No. 10 was issued by the Hong Kong Observatory.

"Weather Phenomena" Special Stamps

Situated in the subtropical zone, Hong Kong has a humid climate with fog and drizzle in spring. Summer, also a typhoon season, is hot with occasional showers and thunderstorms. Autumn normally brings pleasant breezes, plenty of sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Winter becomes cloudier, with occasional cold fronts crossing the territory, bringing frost at times. In collaboration with the Hong Kong Observatory, Hongkong Post introduces seven common weather phenomena in Hong Kong under the theme of “Weather Phenomena” to help the public understand the changes in our weather.

 

$1.70

A rainbow is an optical phenomenon. Sunlight is composed of light of different wavelengths. When there are water droplets in the atmosphere, sunlight gets refracted and reflected in them and a rainbow is formed. The stamp illustrates a double rainbow in the sky over the urban area of Hong Kong. When sunlight passes through water droplets and gets reflected twice, two rainbows are developed. The primary rainbow, formed by one reflection, is brighter while the secondary rainbow, produced by two reflections, is fainter.

$2.20

Frost forms when water vapour freezes into ice crystals. When the surface temperature of an object falls below freezing point, frost appears. The stamp portrays frost formed on the surface of a plant in cold weather in Hong Kong. Frost is white and is usually found on the ground or exposed objects.

$2.90

A cloud is formed when water vapour rises through the atmosphere and cools. A cloud is a mass of water droplets or ice crystals formed by the cooling and condensation of the lifted water vapour aloft. The stamp shows lenticular clouds in the sky over an urban area of Hong Kong. As air rises on the lee side of a mountain, water vapour condenses into water droplets, which accumulate and develop into lenticular clouds, taking the shape of a pile of saucers or lenses.

$3.10

Lightning is an atmospheric electric discharge phenomenon. In an unstable and moist atmosphere, water droplets and ice pellets in clouds will become electrically charged in a convective motion. When the building up of charges reaches a certain threshold, discharges take place between clouds or between clouds and the earth’s surface. The stamp depicts cloud-to-ground lightning in the night sky of Hong Kong. Cloud-to-ground lightning, a lightning discharge between a cumulonimbus cloud and the ground, poses a greater threat to people and facilities on the ground.

$3.70  

Fog refers to tiny suspended water droplets near the ground. Under light wind, and stable and humid conditions, when the air near the ground cools down sufficiently, the water vapour in the air condenses into tiny water droplets and fog is formed. The stamp pictures Lantau Island embedded in mist at dawn. In springtime, it is often foggy in Hong Kong and neighbouring areas as they are affected by alternate cold and warm air.

$5

Rain is a a natural phenomenon of precipitation. Water droplets in the clouds will come down as rain when they accumulate to a certain weight. The stamp features Chek Lap Kok Airport in the rain. When a moist and warm air parcel rises and condenses as cloud, a significant amount of latent heat will be released into the surrounding air, facilitating the uplift of the air. Further sucking up of humid air will promote the full development of a cumulonimbus and eventually bring torrential rain.

: Cdr. G Sri Ramarao -  Visakhapatnam

email : sriramarao@gmail.com

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22 April - Earth Day..

 

 

Date of Issue : 22 April 2014

The USPS unveils Earth Day Stamp today !!

It's Earth Day !

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

The U.S. Postal Service will unveil the Global: Sea Surface Temperatures stamps during the U.S. Department of Energy's Earth Day "Community Day" celebration on Tuesday, April 22.

The event will take place at The U.S. Department of Energy Forrestal Pavilion on Independence Avenue SW.

More than 20 green exhibitors will showcase their programs and services, say officials. Additionally, three local elementary schools will exhibit Earth Day artwork and displays and Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary School fourth graders will participate in a "Scavenger Hunt" seeking environmental information from the exhibits.

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