150 Years of the Red Cross

 

Hi !

Today is World Red Cross Day. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is an annual celebration of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. World Red Cross Red Crescent Day is celebrated on the 8th of May each year. This date is the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant (born 8 May 1828), the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.

I wish to share here two nice stamps from Serbia and Finland here. One shown above issued on 150 years of foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the other stamp shown below features beautiful bouquet  issued by Finnish Post recently !!

Both the stamps are beautiful for theme on  ‘Red ‘Cross’ and ‘Flowers’ .

150 Years of Red Cross

An ambitious idea of Henry Dunant (1828-1910) to alleviate human suffering and provide assistance to the victims of armed conflicts, natural and other disasters became reality 150 years ago with the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Relief Societies, known today as National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Although in the beginning its sole objective was to ensure protection and assistance to the wounded in the battlefields, the scope of the International Committee of the Red Cross activities, as well as of the entire International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, has been constantly expanding to address ongoing humanitarian challenges. Through its direct action around the world, as well as by promoting of the development and respect of international humanitarian law, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, as the largest humanitarian network of the world, still strives to improve the lives of victims and respond to all kinds of humanitarian crises on an impartial, independent and neutral basis.

Bouquet on new Finnish stamp

Clover, geranium, forget-me-not, buttercup, vetch and many other summer flowers in one bouquet are offered to everyone by the post of Finland with the issue of the new “Summer Bouquet” stamp.

Club News

New Blog on Thematic Philately

 

Noted Thematic Philatelist Mr Dinesh Chandra Sharma of Lucknow has created a new Blog, “ Indian Thematics ” . It can be viewed at following link :

http://indianthematics.blogspot.in/

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100 years of Al Ahmadiya School, Dubai

 

This was to celebrate 100 years of  Al Ahmadiya School. This school was the first semi-regular school in the Emirate of Dubai, which played a major role in the history of education in the coastal emirates and Dubai. Built in 1912, Al Ahmadiya School, located in Al Ras area of Deira, reflects the history of education in the UAE in general and Dubai in particular.

The stamps, issued in denominations of Dh1 and Dh1.25, and the souvenir sheet of Dh6, feature the facade of the school and a classroom. The school, which had about 300 students in its early years, first had teachers from Saudi Arabia to teach religion and Arabic language and later in 1920, recruited an elite group of teachers from Iraq.

Emirates Post Released released this as the last issue of 2012 on 12th Dec 2012. 

: Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai : email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

 

 

Club News 

 

Participate in debate : on Philatelic Journalists Forum

Anyone can participate in the on line debate conducted by Philatelic Journalists Forum. ‘The Philatelic Journalists’ is a new Blog created by Group of Indian Philatelic writers and journalists.

Visit : http://philatelicjournalistsforum.blogspot.in/

Topic of Debate

FIP Revenue Commission Guidelines states that "Philatelic importance can be a highly subjective question, but generally speaking points are awarded according to how mainstream your subject is within the world of philately. You will score more for major countries (such as GB, British Colonies, Western Europe, USA, China, Japan) than for minor (such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, French Colonies), and more for 19th century material than early 20th, with the modern period (say post-1960) scoring lowest. Also, judges are likely to ascribe greater importance to revenue stamps which are clearly official, well-financed productions (with crafted designs, good-quality printing and perforation etc) than to those which look like bus tickets."  Is this guideline justified ?

Note: Issue raised by Col. (Dr) Jayanta Dutta – Pune

Please send your views : email : editorpjforum2013@gmail.com

The views will be published on The Philatelic Journalists as soon as received.

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2013 - International Year of Water Cooperation.

 

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation. A self adhesive stamp was issued by Correos (Spain) on this subject within the Civic Values series.

Water is a source of life and a critical resource for the development, health and wellbeing of human beings. It is known that the risk posed by climate change is increasing every day and freshwater scarcity affects every continent. The lack of safe water and its distribution is a major challenge of the 21st century affecting countries all over the world.

An estimated one fifth of the world population suffers from water scarcity and one quarter of the total population lives in countries lacking the necessary infrastructure to transport water from rivers and aquifers. Water scarcity is caused not only by natural causes but also by human action, as an uneven distribution, abuse and pollution of water result in an increase in water-scarce regions.

The declaration of 2013 as International Year of Water Cooperation wishes to raise awareness among countries and institutions on the need to strengthen cooperation on safe water issues and tackle the challenges of meeting the demands of access to safe water, trans boundary water management, water equality and water supply.

The stamp depicts symbolically the idea of a glass of water, as an individual use of water, pouring onto an inverted tap, as a sign of scarcity and depletion.

Source : International Stamp News

From our Readers…..

Light houses of India

Ravindra Wamanacharya, Nashik

email : r_wamanacharya@yahoo.co.in

New Blog

Heritage of India by Dokka Srinivasu

Dokka Srinvasu has created  blogs on several themes. Along with stamps and coins he collects vintage and modern post cards related to Indian Heritage and culture. Dokka Srinvasu email : articles.for.focus.magazine@gmail.com

The blog could be viewed at following link :

http://indian-heritage-and-culture.blogspot.in/

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The Stamp is online….

 

 

The stamp is online

- GAUTAMI SRIVASTAVA

RAINBOW PHILATELY:A miniature sheet on the letter box.PHOTO: V.V.KRISHNAN

The burgeoning popularity of the Internet forced philately, the hobby of collecting stamps and studying postal history, take a back seat a few years ago. Even letter-writing became another victim of the Internet’s success story and has become near-obsolete an art now. However, owing to its multifarious inroads to different fields, the Internet is now serving as a significant platform for philatelists to promote their hobby as well as patrons of letter-writing to build up support for the art through online newsletters and blogs.

The Rainbow Stamp Club blog and newsletter was started by Jeevan Jyoti five years back with an aim to spread awareness about philately and also to create a common platform for philatelists where they can share their views, get information about new issues, exhibitions and the philatelic world. “The objective of Rainbow Stamp Club is to relate philately with every day life and to present it in such a way that a common person can understand the essence of stamp collecting,” says Ms. Jyoti, editor of the newsletter and a philatelist who started the blog from Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.

These days, people prefer e-mailing over writing letters because it is quick and free of cost — reducing the once popular youth activity to a lazy pastime for the elderly. “We are using the Internet as a medium because it has a great impact on the youth and we can interact with people across the world. The response to the blog activities is very encouraging and gives hope to all the philatelists who are struggling to keep the hobby alive,” shares Ms. Jyoti.

The members of this online club not only interact online but also send letters to each other and exchange postage stamps to enhance their collection.

There are many other websites like Stamps of India, Arpin Philately and American Philatelic Society which cater to amateur philately enthusiasts by providing basic information about philately, and also gives technical details about postal history and innovations to more serious philatelists.

What makes stamp collection a unique hobby is that stamps are ‘cultural ambassadors’ of a country and tell the history of that country in a form of story where we can clearly see the gradual development of the country and its people. Philately cultivates a meticulous and focused attention to detail along with increasing knowledge and aesthetic sense, according to Ms. Jyoti. It also helps one to make friends across territorial boundaries and age limits.

According to her, stamps represent various colours of life and that is why she calls it “Rainbow Philately”. Postage stamps are not only tokens of receipt of postage but are also mediums to commemorate, celebrate and promote national heritage and events.

“I am positive that the popularity of this internationally recognised hobby will grow with time. The Internet is already playing an imperative role in promoting the hobby and it has the potential to make philately a part of people’s life,” says Ms. Jyoti.

Though philately and letter writing have been fading in popularity due to the Internet, it is this very medium that is promoting both online

The Hindu : Today's Paper / MISCELLANEOUS : The stamp is online

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UEFA Euro 2012…

 

 

Date of Issue : 8 June 2012

Hi !!

Here is a set of souvenir sheets with rainbow strips issued by Polish Post to commemorate great Football event EURO 2012 Football Tournament. Poland and Ukraine are the joints hosts of this big Football Tournament. Stamps are just fantastic and going to be fit in my Rainbow collection…So just waiting for these wonderful FDCs from my friends in Poland and certainly I would send them beautiful covers from India or stamps and covers of their own choice  !!

This is all in this Post…More in Next Till then…Have a Nice Time !!

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, is the 14th European Championship for national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament is being hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012. It is the first time that either nation has hosted the tournament. This bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee in 2007.

The final tournament features 16 nations, the last European Championship to do so (from Euro 2016 onward, there will be 24 finalists). Qualification was contested by 51 nations between August 2010 and November 2011 to join the two host nations in the tournament. The winner of the tournament gains automatic entry to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.

Club News

New Pictorial cancellation from Germany

On June 28^th  a new special cancellation at Helgoland featuring the bird GUILLEMOT(Uria aalge) will be available. Interested philatelists in the cancellation may contact Wolfgang Beyer, Vice Chairman of the German Collector Group ArGe ZOOLOGIE. e Mail: Wolfgang.Beyer1@polizei.sachsen.de   Postage rates are 0,75 Euro AIRMAIL or 2,80 Euro REGISTERED AIRMAIL.

From our Readers…

New Blog

I have created  a blog on Postcards, covers , aerogramme I received  . It is called Sids Hobby Center and the URL is www.nagi7.blogspot.com 

I have recently started to collect UNESCO heritage site cards and stamps. I have a 3 frame exhibit on UNESCO Indian sites.

- Nagendra Nayak  email : nagi7@yahoo.com

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