Sunflower on new stamp from Latvia

 

Date of Issue : 6 March 2015

Here is a beautiful stamp from Latvia . The FDC of this stamp is very attractive. Latvia Post has introduced this new stamp on  Sunflower as part of the popular and eye-catching series Flowers. Helianthus or sunflower is a genus of plants in the family Compositae. Its name is largely derived from heliotropism, the term used to describe the movement of the blooming part in response to the direction of the bright light of the sun. Sunflowers can reach a height of 3 meters and they bloom from July to September. Sunflowers are known not only as ornamental plants, but are also widely used in the production of oil, food, livestock forage and medicine.

 

 

Sunflower is the sixth stamp in the series Flowers, which was launched in 2010 by Latvijas Pasts. The first release in the series was Peony, which was followed by Rose, Lily, Iris and Tulip.

Club News

The Indian Thematic  Society has issued a new issue no.69 March 2015 of its quarterly magazine "ITS Stamp News" .

  For the magazine please contact  Mr Suraj Jaitly: email -  indianthematicsociety@gmail.com

 

New Special Covers

NEW COVER ISSUED ON JAIN SAINT AT AHMEDABAD

- Sudhir Jain

To commemorate the 10th Centenary of Jain Acharya Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Henchandracharya JI Maharaj, a special cover has been issued on 23rd March 2015 at Ahmedabad. The cover was released at Shasansamrat Bhavan, Sheth Hathisingh Wadi, Ahmedabad in a function by Shri Ambesh Upmanyu, Post Master General Gujarat Circle in the holy presence of Acharya Shri Vijayshilchandrasuriji Maharaj.

 

Special Cover on Adarsh Vidyalaya, Mumbai – 1st March 2015

To mark the Golden Jubilee a Special Cover on Adarsh Vidyalaya was released at Mumbai on 1st March 2015.

Rajasthani Mahila Mandal, Mumbai is a nonprofit NGO working for the upliftment of underprivileged women and children. Mandal is rendering varied facilities in the field of Education, Vocational, Support Group, Income Generation and Medical Aid, in order to uplift the weaker section of the society. The Mandal runs two BMC recongnised Hindi medium primary schools viz. Adarsh Vidyalaya I (Thakurdwar) and Adarsh Vidyalaya II with strength of 500 students. One English medium school viz. RMM English School is also set up by the Mandal. A free bus service to the children is provided by Mandal to encourage them to join the School, and motivate the parents not to let them on the streets, or engage them as child labours.

 

Kohimapex-2015, Kohima district level philatelic exhibition at Kohima – 13th – 14th March 2015

Kohimapex-2015, a two-day Kohima district philatelic exhibition was organized by Nagaland Postal Division from 14th to 15th March 2015 at Little Flower Higher Secondary School, Kohima (LFHSSK). The exhibition was inaugurated by Athikho Chalai, Accountant General, Nagaland as the chief guest and Shri Som Kamei, Director of Postal Services, Kohima. On the occasion ICC World Cup-2015 Souvenir sheet was also launched.

The philatelic exhibition witnessed the participation of several students from different educational institutions in and around Kohima. Letter Writing and Stamp Design Competition were also conducted for different age categories.

The closing function took place on 14th March with Sr. Anna Molly, Principal Little Flower Higher Secondary School, Kohima as the guest of honour. Prizes to the winners in the different competitions were given away by the guest of honour Sr. Anna Molly, Sr. Superior Lydia and Som Kamei, Director of Postal Services.

Courtesy – Indian Philately Digest

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New Special Cover from Dehradun

 

 

Spring Festival – 2015

Stamp Exhibition, Raj Bhawan, Dehradun

Spring Festival (Basantotsav) – 2015 was inaugurated at Raj Bhawan, Dehradun on 28 Feb 2015 by H.E. Dr. KK Paul, Governor of Uttarakhand with great grandeur. A special cover (UK/01/2015) on Shankhpushpi (Evolvulus alsinoides) was released by the Governor on this occasion.

The first album was presented to the Governor by Sh. Uday Krishna, CPMG, Uttarakhand. In his address CPMG highlighted the medicinal value of the Shankhpushpi and elaborated on the close relationship of Department of Posts, Uttarakhand with Raj Bhawan by virtue of release of special covers during the Spring Festival. Shankhpushpi is a perennial medicinal herb of family convolvulaceae commonly found on rocky or sandy ground under dry climatic conditions. Its Sanskrit name is ‘Mangalya Kusum’. The flowers are blue in colour. In ayurveda, Shankhpushpi is used as Medhya (brain) tonic. It has also cardio-protective properties. The main ayurvedic formulations of Shankhpushpi are Panaka and Medhya Kashay.

On this occasion a stamp exhibition was also inaugurated by the Governor in the Raj Bhawan premises. The Governor himself is a keen philatelist and his stamp collection was also put on display for the general public. The exhibition was housed in the old circuit house, which has been witness to dignitaries like Pt. Nehru, etc. There were around 30 frames put on display and consisted of collection of prominent philatelist and children of Dehradun. 5 frames also housed numismatic collection. The exhibition will be open to general public till 01-March-2015.

- Abhai Mishra - Dehradun

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Centennial of the Armenian Genocide

 

On 29th of January, within the framework of the solemn cancellation ceremony, the postage stamps and souvenir sheets dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide were put into circulation.

The postage stamps depict the symbol of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide ‒ the flower “Forget-me-not”. The postage stamps and souvenir sheets have been issued in seven face values, which include the tariffs servicing the internal and international letter correspondence of Armenia.

The Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th Century, occurred when two million Armenians living in Turkey were eliminated from their historic homeland through forced deportations and massacres between 1915-1918.

These postage stamps serving as little ambassadors of the Republic of Armenia throughout the world will support the cause of spreading the symbol of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

New Stamps from Czech Republic

Večerníček handing out newspapers

Date of Issue :18 February 2015

In 2015, the legendary cartoon character of Večerníček will celebrate the unbelievable 50th anniversary of continuous presence on television. This little boy wearing a paper hat has been tirelessly opening and closing a bedtime story animation and spreading most powerful positive emotions among the audience every day for half a century. He and the theme song became the symbol of the animated programme named after him.

Historical Vehicles: Metoděj Vlach’s Airplane

 

Date of Issue : 18 February 2015

 

A completely wooden monoplane of Metoděj Vlach used by him to make his first successful public flight.
The first day cover contains a drawing of the front of the airplane standing on a meadow and the handstamp shows a detail of the engine and propeller of Metoděj Vlach’s airplane.

Metoděj Vlach has a significant place in the history of Czech aviation. He was the first Czech builder of a functioning airplane of his own design, built from local materials and driven by a Czech engine. This neglected pioneer of Czech aviation was born on 6 July 1887 in Říkovice u Přerova and died on 8 February 1952 in Sezimovo Ústí.Metoděj Vlach was not only an aiplane designer and pilot but he also contributed to the improvement of racing cars as a mechanic working for several successful racing drivers.

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New stamps on Flowers

 

On August 22, 2014 the Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic of Belarus will issue 4 stamps of the series “The Central Botanical Garden of NAS of Belarus. Flowers”.

Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences was founded in 1932 in Minsk. Today CLS – a unique natural object of landscape art, which combines the functions of the capital and the most important sights of cultural and educational, eco-educational and educational center. It is one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe (around 100 hectares in the city). Its rich collection features over 10,000 plants from all over the world.

The project was prepared in collaboration with the Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.Letter “M” is equal to the air-mail tariff of a postcard abroad.

4 maximum cards “Flowers” will also be issued .

Club News

New Special Cover

Special Cover on Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Rotary Club of Madurai West - 4th July 2014

Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Rotary Club of Madurai West

To mark the Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Tamil Nadu Postal Circle issued a Special Cover on 4th July 2014.. (Special Cover approval no. TN/07/2014).

Rotary club of Madurai West, at the threshold of it golden jubilee, is an affiliate of Rotary International, a worldwide federation of professionals and entrepreneurs engaged in catalytic and direct action for the betterment of humanity in the areas of health, education, ethics, economy, resource sustainability and peace. 

Rotary Club of Madurai West upholds the core values of Rotary International : Service, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity and Leadership.  Its membership and its programmes exemplify Rotary's motto Service Above Self.

: Sreejesh Krishnan - Trivandrum 

‘ Republic Day 2015 ’  Stamp Design Competition by India Post

Department of Posts is holding a “Republic Day 2015 – Stamp Design Competition”. The theme of the competition is Clean India.
The Terms and Conditions to participate in the competition are as follows:

• Entries are invited for ‘Republic Day 2015 – Stamp Design Competition’. The participants are to make an original design on this subject (should not be copy of picture painted by someone else).
• Any citizen of India can participate in this contest. The design could be in ink, water colour, oil colour or any other medium (computer printed/printout will not be allowed). The design submitted should be such that can be depicted on the stamps in a visually appealing manner so as to be of interest to philatelic collectors.
• Participants are free to use drawing paper, art paper or any other type of white paper of A4 Size.
• The following particulars should be written legibly on the reverse of the design:
• Name of the participant*
  1. Age*
  2. Nationality*
  3. Full and complete residential address with Pin code
  4. Phone/Mobile Number*
  5. E-Mail ID (if available)
  *It is compulsory to provide the information.
• An undertaking stating that ‘The artwork submitted is original and no copyright issues are involved’ should be sent along with the entry. In case of any legal dispute related to copyright issue, Department of Posts will not be liable for the same.
• The design should be sent without being folded, through “Speed Post” only, in A4 size envelope. The participants should mention “Republic Day 2015 –Stamp Design Contest” on the envelope in which the drawing is sent.
• The prize winning designs will be considered for use on stamps and other philatelic material. The prize money will be as follows:-

1. First prize 10,000/-
2. Second prize 6,000/-
3. Third prize 4.000/-

• The entries should reach on the following address by 15.10.2014.The entries received after the last date of receipt will not be entertained.

To,
ADG (Philately)
Room No. 108(B),
Dak Bhawan,
Parliament Street,
New Delhi - 110001

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New Special Cover

 

200th Flower Show, Lal Bagh, Bengaluru

 

The Grand Lalbagh Independence Day Flower Show 2014 started  at  Lalbagh Botanical Gardens  on  8th August 2014 . It will continue till 17th August  . A stamp exhibition on Flower theme has also been organized .   A special cover was released to commemorate this special event.

- Jagannath Mani - Bangalore

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Invasive plants of Belarus..

 

Date of Issue : 25 July 2014

On July 25, 2014 Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic of Belarus will issue stamps “Canadian Goldenrod” and “Sosnowski Hogweed” from the series “Invasive plants of Belarus.”

Face grade “A” corresponds to the rate for sending a simple letter weighing up to 20 gram within Belarus.Face brand «N» corresponds to the tariff of a simple non-priority mail cards.

Invasive plants are introduced species that can thrive in areas beyond their natural range of dispersal. These plants are characteristically adaptable, aggressive, and have a high reproductive capacity. The most prominent representatives of the invasive plant species widely distributed on the territory of Belarus, are Canadian goldenrod and parsnip Sosnowski.

Canadian goldenrod is an allergenic plant. Canada goldenrod is a perennial distinguished by numerous small yellow flowers located in pyramid-shaped clusters at the top of individual, unbranched, leafy stems.  This species spreading in the meadow and riparian ecosystems violates the structure of crops, which leads to oppression and even complete displacement of native plants.

Parsnip Sosnowski – very large (up to 3 meters) plant, in contact with skin causes burns. In Belarus grows on field edges and roadsides, almost completely displacing the usual places because of its vegetation

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Aquatic Flowers on stamps…

 

Date of Issue : 27 June 2014

Here are new stamps from Philippine Post featuring aquatic flowers found in Philippines . The details of these flowers are given below -

Amazon lily Victoria amazonica – Native to the Amazon River basic, Giant Water Lily is the largest size member of the Water lily family. The plant has very large leaves, up to 2-3 m in diameter, that float on the water’s surface on a submerged stalk, 7–8 m in length. The edges turn up to form a rim. Underside of leaf is coppery red. The flowers are white the first night they are open and become pink the second night, and purple subsequently. They are up to 9-12 inches in diameter, and are pollinated by beetles. The flowers are also strongly fragrant.

Water lily Nymphaea – Water lily (family Nymphaeaceae), any of 58 species in 6 genera of freshwater plants native to the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Most species of water lilies have rounded variously notched, waxy-coated leaves on long stalks that contain many air spaces and float in quiet freshwater habitats. The stalks arise from thick, fleshy, creeping underwater stems that are buried in the mud. The showy, fragrant, solitary flowers are borne at or above the water surface on long stalks that are attached to the underground stems.

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes – Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in height. The leaves are 10–20 cm across, and float above the water surface.

They have long, spongy and bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black. An erect stalk supports a single spike of 8-15 conspicuously attractive flowers, mostly lavender to pink in color with six petals. When not in bloom, water hyacinth may be mistaken for frog’s-bit (Limnobium spongia).

Marsh marigold Caltha palustris – Also known as Kingcup, Marsh Marigold is most often found in soggy, ground such as wet woodland, ditches, stream margins, ponds, bogs and marshes.  The flowers are held in loose, clusters on stout, hollow stems which also bear deep green, kidney shaped, fleshy leaves which increase in size after the plant has flowered.  This is a native plant, it is poisonous and it belongs to the family Ranunculaceae.

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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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450th Birth Anniversary of William Shakespeare

 

Date of Issue : 23 April 2014

Croatian Post  has issued a commemorative postage stamp on 23 April 2014 in a sheet of 10 stamps, maximum card (MC), postmark and First Day Cover (FDC) featuring ‘Romeo Juliet’ to commemorate William Shakespeare’s 450th Birth Anniversary.

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), the great English writer and the most performed worldwide dramatist whose work has been translated to all languages of the world. His work hasn’t just deeply reverberated in worldwide theatres, but also in other artistic fields such as music, paintings and film. It is assumed that he had written 34 dramas, 154 sonnets and a couple of songs.

His early work was written with exuberant language and lots of humor, focused on political problems or love stories in which he celebrates youth and freedom. Amongst them, the most famous drama is “Romeo and Juliet”, a love story about unhappy lovers from Verona. The beginning of Shakespeare’s mature time of artistic creation was the beginning of the 17th century through which he regenerated European and world literature. Particularly stands out the tragedy “Hamlet” which came along at the end of the Renaissance era, in which he points out the inability of man to exterminate evil.

Thence, “Othello”, “Antony and Cleopatra”, “Macbeth” and “King Lear”, work that reveals the beginning and end of human nature and fate. In his later artistic creation, so called dark comedies or problematic drama arise amongst which the most popular are “Troilus and Cressida” and “Measure for measure”. In these dramas prevails irony and loathing over human levity and villainy and compromise in social lives.

The latest Shakespeare drama brings readers a world filled with ghosts and unusual events, dramatic plots and conflicts are solved in a miraculous and fairy-tale manner, the characters are not realistic, but are more like characters from fairy-tales and folk stories. The end of Shakespeare’s artistic creation is variously graded. One says that the author has exhausted his creative energy, and others say that Shakespeare has greeted the end of his life in calm and forgiving manner and in a visional depiction of life as a dream.

New stamps on Orchids

Date of Issue : 11 April 2014

The colourfulness of spring has once again found its place on postage stamps of the Republic of Croatia. As it has recently issued a souvenir sheet with the motifs of nature on the occasion of the 125^th anniversary of the Botanical Garden in Zagreb, Croatian Post issued on   April, 11^th  new commemorative postage stamps from the long-time series Croatian Flora.  This year three postage stamps are adorned with the motifs of three endemic Croatian orchids. For their beauty, the orchids are often named the queens of spring and the spleen of spring is brought us on stamps by:

Mt. Dinara-orchid (stamp of nominal value of 2.80 HRK) belongs to the most numerous genus Ophrys in Croatian flora. It grows from the middle of May to the end of June on dry lawns, in shrubberies and bright groves. It is spread also in great number of populations

Istrian serapias (stamp of nominal value of 2.80 HRK) Istrian serapias blossoms in May and June on the meadows and in bushes in the south of Istria. By the number of species (about 80) and the density of populations the Istrian peninsula counts among the richest orchid habitats in Europe and the veritable paradise of this lovely flower is in the farthest south of Istria – the Cape Kamenjak.

Liburnian orchid (stamp of nominal value of 3.10 HRK) is an Illyric-Adriatic endemic plant spread on a very small area. It blossoms already in March in small number of habitats along the Croatian coastline, from Istria to Korčula.

Club News

Stamp exhibition on Indian Cinema

All the philatelists and friends are requested   to attend the function on occasion of Actor Sri Shivaram contribution to Kannada Cinema.   There will be a photo exhibition on actor Sri Shivaram and  small philately exhibition on Indian Cinema  on 26th & 27th April  2014 organished by Suchitra Film Society. Banashankari 2nd stage Bangalore .
For more details contact Suchitra film society Phone Number  080 26711785.

- Jagannath Mani, Bangalore

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