Merry Christmas

Shimla December 2008 Issue No. 12
Monthly e-Stamp Bulletin Edited by Jeevan Jyoti for free circulation among philatelists

Readers are requested to send reports of philatelic activities in their area for publication. Short write ups by the readers about their journals, societies, publications and philatelic requirements can be sent for inclusion in this bulletin to j.jyoti9@gmail.com or rainbowstamp2008@gmail.com and by post to –
Mrs. Jeevan Jyoti, c / o Mr. Ajay Srivastav, Director, Great Himalayan National Park, Shamshi, Kullu (H.P.) PIN 175126.

Note- This bulletin is only for circulation among a limited group of philatelists without any commercial purpose. The bulletin will be sent to the readers only on request. Those who wish to receive it regularly please reply giving the name of your city/country with the subject SUBSCRIBE RAINBOW



Dear Friends,

I am pleased to release the 12th issue of Rainbow Stamp News. It is the first anniversary issue of this monthly e - Bulletin. The time flew away very fast that I could not imagine one year is already over. I am extremely sorry for the delay in releasing this issue. But I could not help it as I shifted from Chopal to new place Kullu on 28th November. During this transition period it was very difficult to release the issue on 1st December. I have not changed the name of the place of publication from Shimla to Kullu as Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. As far as I am in any part of this state it will remain Shimla, the most well known old hill station and once summer capital of India. However please note our new postal address.

It was my dream to edit a stamp magazine when I used to work with Mr. B.J. Kumar in Kanpur for U-Phil Times in 1983 - 87. But it was just a dream as at that time I was studying in college. I saw Mr. Kumar doing lot of work for the magazine. At that time I found quite difficult to edit a magazine independently with very limited resources and contacts. The dream just vanished with the time as I got married and engaged in family life. I also wrote in ‘The Pioneer’ for few years. But at that time I never imagined some day I would be able to edit a magazine independently. In January 2008 my long time dream fulfilled when an idea came to my mind to issue a stamp bulletin in electronic form. I started and it was successful.

But for this success there is a big contribution of some well wishers. I want to pay my gratitude to Shri Dipok Dey, Kolkata to whom I am associated since my school days and his blessings are always with me in my work, Mr. Madhukar Jhingan, New Delhi who has always appreciated my articles that gave me the confidence and strength to bring out this bulletin independently & Mr. B.K. Sinha , Bhubaneswar who gave me the idea to post magazine on Blog so that it may become global.

After I issued magazine I came in association with some new philatelists and some old philatelist friends whom I also want to thank for their valuable contribution. Notably among them are Mr. Yogesh Kumar – Bareilly, Mr. Shrikant Parikh- Ahmadabad, Mr. Ajit Dash & Anil Dhir - Bhubaneswar, Mr. Suraj Jaitly – Ludhiana, Mr. Vinod Sabharwal - New Delhi, Mr. Pradip Jain – Patna, Dr. Satyendra Kumar Agarwal – Varanasi, Dr. Avinash B. Jagtap – Switzerland, H.K. Jain – Mandla (M.P.) Mr. Krishnaswamy Ramarathnam – Chennai, Mr. Naresh Kumar - Bilaspur , Mr. Rakesh Walia – Chandigarh and my special thanks to all philatelists from Gujarat specially Mr. Varad Dhaky, Mr. Ilias Patel, Prashant Pandya & Timir R. Shah for their contribution. How can I forget my three college time old friends Atul Agarwal – Aligarh, Dinesh Chandra Sharma – Lucknow and Nikhilesh Melkote – Bangalore who have always supported and encouraged me to start this magazine. We are in touch with each other for more than twenty years since the time we used to participate in junior category. While issuing this annual number I want to pay my tributes to Late Shri. B.J. Kumar and Late Shri. Nishith Kar of Nadia (West Bengal) to whom I was associated since my childhood days and have been my ideals in philately.

Well last but not the least this gigantic work could have not been possible if my husband Ajay & kids Shikhar & Prakhar had not provided spare time to work for long hours. Ajay has equally worked with me behind the scene in posting on blog and also given technical assistance to me in making the final layout of Rainbow Stamp News. It is not only support but their love & respect for this hobby. With this issue I also introduce my self face to face to readers as I still receive mail addressing me as Mr. Jyoti. It seems that it is a gender biased hobby. But some of our senior lady philatelists have excelled in this hobby and have distinguished themselves in International philatelic arena. I also feel very nice to be a small part of this male dominated philatelic community. I thank you all for your support, co-operation and the love for Rainbow. It’s you all who have added seven colors to it and have made a real RAINBOW. Thank you so much…!

....Jeevan Jyoti

Contents
§ Recent Indian Issues
§ In The News
§ Guests of the Month
§ Picture Gallery
§ Beginners’ Section
§ Specialized Section
§ New Issues from Other Countries
§ The Lighter Side
§ Blogs & Websites on Philately
§ Promotional Section
§ Current Philatelic Magazines – Newsletters

Recent Indian Issues
· 14 November 2008 Children’s Day – 3 x 5 00 P
· 16 November 2008 St. Alphonsa ( India’s first woman Saint)– 500 P & M/s – Rs. 15
· 16 November 2008 B. N. Reddi (Doyen of Telgu Film Industry)– 500P
· 17 November 2008 Heritage Building -Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai – Rs.5
· 19 November 2008 Gail (India) Ltd.- Rs 5
· 20 November 2008 Joachim and Violet Alva – Rs 5
· Nov 27: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy – Rs 5
· Nov 28: St Joseph's Boys High School – Rs 5
· Nov 30: Budhadev Bose- Rs 5
· Dec 01 : 3 Definitive issues on Pt. Jawarhar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi & Rajiv Gandhi – Rs 0.25, Rs.5, Rs.5
· Dec 02: Evershed Effect, Rs 5
· Dec 08 : Merry Christmas –Rs 5 & Rs. 20

. Dec 08 : Dr. L.M. Singhvi - Rs 5

Joachim and Violet Alva -20 November 2008 – Rs 5
Violet and Joachim were elected to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha respectively in 1952, making them the first couple in history to be elected to Parliament of the country. Born in Udipi on January 21, 1907, Joachim played an important role in the freedom struggle. Violet was born in Ahmedabad on April 24, 1908.They were married on November 20, 1932.The Alvas fought for independence, played a key role as lawyers and edited journals. Joachim was the founder-editor of Forum magazine which he published along with Violet. The magazine became a platform for patriotic Indians to write without fear and put across the Indian point of view in times of the British rule.

St. Joseph’s Boys High School – 28 November 2008 – Rs 5

St Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore (formerly St Joseph's European High School) was founded in 1858, initially to offer to European and Anglo-Indian families the advantage of a liberal education. This was subsequently extended post Indian Independence in the 1950s and 1960s to include students from all walks of life irrespective of race, religion or caste.

Buddhadeva Bose – 30 November 2008 – Rs 5

Buddhadeva Bose was born in Comilla on 30 November 1908. He worked as a journalist in ‘The Statesman’ (1944-1951). From 1956 to 1963 he was attached to the department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University. He also taught at Pennsylvania College for Women (1953-1954), Indiana University, Brooklyn College, Colorado University, Wesleyan College, and the University of Hawaii. He edited and published Pragati (1927-29) from Dhaka Bose was a fairly prolific writer, with over a hundred books to his credit. He also wrote a number of children's books as well as some poems and articles in English. In 1967, Buddhadev Bose received the Sahitya Akademi Puraskar for his play Tapasvi O Tarangini. In 1970 the Government of India awarded him the Padmabhusan. He received the Rabindra Award posthumously for his book of verse Svagata Biday (1974). He died on 8 March 1974 in Calcutta.

Evershed Effect – 2 December 2008 – Rs 5

The Evershed effect, named after the astronomer John Evershed, is the radial flow of gas across the photospheric surface of the penumbra of sunspots from the inner border with the umbra towards the outer edge. The speed varies from around 1 km/s at the border between the umbra and the penumbra to a maximum of around double this in the middle of the penumbra and falls off to zero at the outer edge of the penumbra. Evershed first detected this phenomenon in January 1909, whilst working at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory in India, when he found that the spectral lines of sunspots showed Doppler shift.

New Postal Stationery

New Meghdoot Post cards

Health & Family Welfare Kannada
Girl Star - Loan Manager, Hindi

Girl Star - Archer, Hindi

Child Help Line, Hindi

Education for all

Inland LetterInland Letter Card, Disaster Management advertisement in Tamil
With Message "Philately: King of Hobbies Collect India Postage Stamps Contact nearest Philatelic Bureau, SPP

Post Card

with Message "Philately: King of Hobbies Collect India Postage Stamps Contact Nearest Philatelic Bureau, SPP

Special Cover – Postmark
Oct 2: Mysore, Kabini Railway Bridge
Oct 03: Port Blair, 54th Wild Life Week
Oct 13-14: Surat, Philatelic exhibitionOct 14: New Delhi, Philatelic exhibition
Oct 18: Hyderabad, National Institute of Amateur Radio
Oct 23 - 25 Schoolpex -2008 Jaipur – 2 special covers
Oct 25 - 26 EIPEX – 2008 Bhubaneswar – 2 special covers

Nov 03: Nanded, Guru Gobind Singh's Sachkhand Gaman Tercentenary

Nov 09: Udhagamandalam, Coonoor Udhagamandalam (Ooty) Railway Centenary
Nov 09: Shimla, Kalka Shimla Railway – World Heritage site

Nov 10: New Delhi, FICCI Ladies Organization Silver Jubilee

Nov 11: New Delhi, National Education Day

Oct 15: Bhubaneswar, Philatelic Exhibition
Nov 14: Thiruvananthapuram, CSI Christ Church Sesquicentennial

Nov 21: Thrissur, Philatelic Exhibition
Nov 26: New Delhi, Indian Mountaineering Foundation Golden Jubilee

Nov 23: Lucknow, Newal Kishore Press 150th Anniversary

In The News
Kalka – Shimla Railway – UNESCO World Heritage Site
The 105-year-old railway line that meanders through the hills between Kalka and Shimla, covering 102 tunnels and 800 bridges, was officially declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 10 July 2008. Minister of State for Railways R. Velu unveiled the inscription plaque of the Kalka-Shimla Railway as a World Heritage Site at the Kalka railway station (around 25 km from Chandigarh) on November 9, 2008,. The Kalka-Shimla railway line was built in 1898 during British rule to connect the then summer capital of India, Shimla, with other parts of the country.

The two-feet-six-inches narrow gauge railway line that covers a distance of 96 km was officially opened for traffic Nov 9, 1903. Although the world has entered the computer age, the ancient communication and track control system, called Neals Token Instrument System, is still in use on the Kalka-Shimla route. “There is a unique exchange of tokens at all stations on the route to get the line clearance. This old system exists nowhere else in our country. The rail line is the fourth in the country to get this status. Kalka is the last town in Haryana’s Panchkula district on the state’s border with Himachal Pradesh. On this a special cover was also issued.


Special CHRISTMAS Postmarks by Magyar Posta (Hungary)

Between 30 November and 26 December 2008
Magyar Posta traditionally offers the option of special Christmas postmarks in the weeks of Advent for people sending greetings at Christmas and the New Year. The service is available in all post offices of Hungary. A Christmas Post label must be bought and adhered onto picture postcards and letters. Items are then forwarded to Nagykarácsony, the village whose name means Christmas in Hungarian, where they are given a decorative postmark with an Advent holiday design. The design changes each week and unusually is in green instead of black ink. This extra attentiveness helps the addressees feel the love and respect expressed towards them even more. The design of the Christmas postmarks to be used between 30 November and 26 December 2008 were designed in a style matching the Christmas 2008 stamps

Longest letter by Romanian Children to Santa Claus
Romanian Children are hoping to surprise Father Christmas this year by sending the longest ever letter to reach him. Starting on December 8th, around 1,000 children from Brasov, Aged between 8 and 14 years will add their names to the letter which will be on a paper roll a few hundred meters long. The letter will be passed from school to school in Brasov in the hope of creating a new world record, before being sent by post in time for Santa to organize his annual delivery of presents.

World’s First Transparent StampFinnish Post has issued stamp on 6 November what is thought to be the world’s first semi-transparent stamp called "The Frosty Night stamp", it has been printed on special film. The innovative €0.80 stamp features a mystical atmosphere of a winter’s night using a large snowflake, twinkling stars in the distance, and a flickering aurora borealis. The card or envelope the stamp is affixed to will show through, thereby giving the stamp an infinitely different look depending on the background color to which it is affixed.

Finnish Post is also releasing two other stamps designed by Julia Vuori, who has charmed children and grown-ups alike in Finland and elsewhere with her wonderful illustrations for children’s picture books and art books as well as humorous animal cartoons. Perhaps her most famous cartoon character is Pig. For the Christmas stamps, Julia Vuori drew bears and other forest animals. In the fir tree forest and around the Christmas tree. There are two Christmas stamps. The €0.60 stamp especially for Christmas cards shows a big and a small bear strolling through a snowy forest: they are getting their Christmas tree. The red, 1st class Christmas stamp shows forest animals gathered together around a Christmas tree. Both stamps are self-adhesive.
- Hellmail

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER- ICELANDIceland released a Stamp on 9th October2008 depicting Imagine Peace Tower which is dedicated to the memory of Beatle John Lennon. The Stamp is printed in a traditional four color offset format and then overprinted with Phosphorous Silk Screen. This causes the picture to accumulate light and Glow in Dark.When exposed to ultraviolet light a picture of John Lennon appears on the Stamp. On the Paper strip space of a set of Ten Stamps the word "IMAGINE PEACE" is written in 24 languages.
-K.RAMARATHNAM, Chennai

First stamp on Obama

30 November 2008Liberia has released a stamp in honor of Barack Obama's historic election victory over John McCain. Liberia is the first country to issue an official postage stamp honoring Obama's triumph.

Most expensive stamp of Switzerland
A world record was achieved at the world's largest stamp auction, which ended on Thursday, 27th November: The Rapp Auction House based in Wil (SG), Switzerland, sold a "Rayon I" stamp with completely framed cross dating back to 1850 for 348,000 Swiss francs (220,000 Euros, 276,000 US dollars). It is thus the most expensive single Swiss stamp ever sold anywhere in the world. s the most expensive object, a collection of Guatemala was traded at the auction for 357,000 francs.

New Definitive Series by India Post
India Post launched the 10th definitive series of stamps 'Builders of Modern India' with release of 3 stamps on December 3, 2008. The stamps in the denomination of Rs 0.25, Rs 5, and Rs 5 feature Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi.

Forthcoming Indian Stamps

Dec 10: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Rs 5

Dec 14: Indian Institute of Science, Set of 2 stamps, Rs 5 & 20 + MS

Dec 15: Swami Ranganathananda, Rs 5

Dec 16: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

Dec 21: T V Ramasubba Iyer

Dec 22: Brahmos Missile, Set of 2 stamps, Rs 5 & 20 + miniature sheet

Jury of CHINA 2009 World Stamp ExhibitionMr. Yogesh Kumar of Bareilly has been appointed as a member of Jury in World Stamp Exhibition to be held in the Luoyang Museum, Luoyang City, Henan Province, China from April 10 to 16, 2009

JAKARTA 2008
22nd Asian International Stamp Exhibition was held at Jakarta, Indonesia from October 23 to 28, 2008. Rameshwardas Binani was the National Commissioner for India. Following awards were won by exhibits from India:

Large Vermeil Medal
Ajay Kumar Mittal - Revenues of Indore

Vermeil Medal
Rameshwardas Binani - Flag

Large Silver Medal

Suketu S Jhaveri's Indian Telegraph 1851-1914

Rajesh Kumar Bagri - Maps

Silver Medal
Anuj Kumar Bagri - My Own Atlas

Rajesh Kumar Sinha - Fascinating World of Maps

Silver Bronze MedalB M Mody - The History of Architecture with Culture and Heritage

Daniel Monterio - Waterfowl

Naresh Goyal - Our Feathered Friends

Recent stamp exhibitionsEIPEX-2008, Bhubaneswar
The 1st Eastern India Philatelic Exhibition (EIPEX-08) was organized by the Eastern India Philatelists’ Association with active support of the Department of Posts, Orissa Circle at Jayadev Bhawan on 25th and 26th October, 2008. Two special covers were released during the exhibition. The theme of the exhibition was Unity in Diversity. The exhibition was inaugurated by His Excellency Sri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, the Governor of Orissa as Chief Guest and released the special cover on peace depicting Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Swamy Vivekanand with cachet cancellation of Pigeon. Shri K.V. Sundar Rajan, The CPMG, Orissa Circle was the Guest of Honour. The meeting was presided over by Shri Bijayshree Routray, the Chairman, EIPEX-08 and President EIPA. Shri Anup Kumar Raut, Organizing Secretary, EIPEX-08 introduced the Guests. Shri Ajit Kumar Dash, Secretary, EIPA presented the Report of EIPA. Vote of thanks was given by Shri Shanti Swarup Rath, Convener, EIPEX- 08. 31 participants from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Keonjhar, Boudh, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Rengali, Berhampur etc. from Orissa and one exhibit from Ghaziabad (U.P.) have taken part in the exhibition in 100 frames. The exhibition was non-competitive one. All the participants were given a commemorative memento.

Philatelic Quiz and painting competitions between the School students were also organized by the organizer which was conducted by Shri Anil Kumar Dhir. 200 students from 20 Schools took part in the said competitions and received prizes from the chief Guest on the concluding day.

For the first time EIPA has introduced a ‘EIPA-Life Time Achievement Award for Promotion of Philately’ and the award for this year was given to Shri Jadunath Kanungo out of three nominations. Shri Kanungo received his award with citation from His Excellency Sri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, the Governor of Orissa. The EIPA-Life Time Achievement Award for Promotion of Philately will be given to the philatelists having outstanding contribution for the promotion of Philately in every four years.

The exhibition was concluded on 26th October, 2008. Shri Santosh Kumar Kamila, Postmaster General, Berhampur Region was the chief Guest and inaugurated a beautiful souvenir of EIPEX-08 featuring several useful articles of Senior Philatelists. He also released a special cover on Unity in diversity depicting the religious places of different religion with the background of National flag. The cachet design is also depicting the theme having the portrait of Gandhiji.

SURPEX 2008, Surat
The 4th District Level Philatelic Exhibition was organized by Department of Posts, from 13-15 October 2008 at Surat. The exhibition was inaugurated by R M S Brar, Commissioner of Police, Surat. On the occasion of Philately Day, a Stamp and Miniature sheet on "Post Office" was released by the Chief Postmaster General and the first album was presented to Dr Bhavanikumar Sharma, an eminent literary person of Surat. The Exhibition was organized at Jeevan Bharati School.

A special cover and postmark was released on Poet Veer Narmad by the Chief Postmaster General on the second day of the exhibition. A booklet bearing Dandi March pictures was also released on the occasion. An essay competition and workshop on philately was organized for school students during the exhibition. A souvenir was also released on the occasion.

SCHOOLPEX– 2008, Jaipur
13th Inter School State level Stamp Exhibition Schoolpex-2008 organized by Philatelic Society of Rajasthan and St. Xavier’s School was held in Jaipur from 23rd Oct to 25th Oct 2008. Director, Postal Services, Mr Ambesh Upmanyu inaugurated the Exhibition.

On the occasion two special covers and Cancellations were released on ‘Drink Milk’. The cover depicts famous personalities- Mahatama Gandhi , Cricketer M S Dhoni , Film Actor Deol , Olympian Susheel Kumar etc who have publicly advocated drinking Milk. A special cancellation shows Milk bottle & glass . There were 116 entries from all over Rajasthan which included Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner & Ajmer. Nearly 15000 colorful stamps were displayed in the Exhibition. A Workshop on Philately was also organized by Mr Yogesh Bhatnagar convener, St. Xavier’s Philatelic Club. The special covers of the exhibition are available with Mr. Rajesh Paharia. For details Pl. contact - E-Mail:

shreeshell@hotmail.com

Festival of stamps
Gujarat Philatelists’ Association is going to organize a festival of stamps from 30 January to 1 February 2008 at Srimati Sushilaben Ratilal Hall, opposite Choice Restaurant, C G Road, near Swastik Crossroads, Ahmadabad 380009

Guests of the Month

It’s an honor to have two distinguished philatelists as guests for this month’s special issue. Mr. Naresh Agarwal is known for his bold articles on recent trends in philately. He is a well known philatelist and has won number of awards in several philatelic exhibitions. Shri T. N. Prahlada Rao is a veteran philatelist from Bangalore. My sincere thanks to both senior philatelists for their contribution to Rainbow. - Editor

Naresh Agrawal – A noted philatelist and a mechanical engineer, an insurance surveyor, loss assessor and valuer by profession from Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh). He was attracted towards this beautiful world of stamps only at the tender age of 8 years. Became junior member of Jullundur Philatelic Club in early seventies and won various prizes in District. Level Exhibitions at Jalandhar. Participated in NW Circle Exhibitions in 1981 and 1983. Got interested in AUTOMOBILES being in such profession and won Vermeils in all the exhibitions namely Jharpex 2001 (State Level), Tiepex 2001 (National Level), Inpex Empirepex 2001 Inpex 2002(National Level exhibitions) Also participated in various exhibitions in invitee class. Take interest in philatelic writing too. Regularly writing articles in various philatelic magazines and journals. Edited CHHATTISGARH DAK for quite some time. Presently concentrating writing on “CHANGES TO BE BROUGHT IN THEMETIC EXHIBITING AND JUDGHEMENT”.

RAISE YOUR VOICE MAKING USE OF THE SET PLATFORMS
- Naresh Agarwal

What to do to overcome the constant problems being faced by Indian philatelists now a days in terms of getting Indian material at premium, exorbitant prices of the old philatelic items and poor organizing of philatelic exhibitions/shows etc. causing dissatisfaction amongst them. Of course, this is the prime time for philatelic professionals, dealers and traders but hard time for Indian stamp collectors. Writing to the local postal authorities, writing to the higher postal authorities, taking up the matter strongly and to go for agitations as the postal employees do, fighting with the dealing persons or the local authorized persons, fighting with the dealers (who indirectly are a big source of fulfillment of the philatelic desires of philatelists), OR adopting the so called AHIMSA policy i.e. wait and watch (till the train reaches next station) are not going to serve any purpose. This of course is not going to help now under present scenario. Today is the time when strong reactions are expected.

Local exhibitions are being organized successfully all around and certainly promoting philately at grass root level. But will it do? No, the result, the outcome of such exhibitions is good but only for the small local dealers who earn their bread and butter from such shows.

Philatelic fraternity is a full of literate, reasonably matured and smart people who are supposed to handle the hard situations very nicely but what I see is that we people are acting absolutely helplessly as we lack the spirit and courage of taking initiative or else we look forward for some actions to be taken by some other.

I am thankful to some of the philatelic news letters/bulletins being printed / published (print and electronic) and are accessible to most of the philatelists and the others concerned. These have set very good platforms to raise our voice and to knock and kick different doors to make the deaf ears to hear, to set the wrong things right and to convince people about the requirements of the day.

Some people do take up the issues to check the existing practices and suggest various means and modes to raise the issues and ask for suggestions and appeal for participation by one and all to communicate with each other and with the defaulters concerned from these platforms. But to my surprise, readers and concerned philatelists do not either react at all or, react very lightly or just not bother. But they do want some changes, some steps to be taken. No, this discourages others. We must discuss the issues raised whole heartedly and put forward our views and opinions for betterment. The more we interact, the better results we can expect because better solutions can only be derived and strong collective actions can only be taken by proper use of these platforms. And also our persons holding the torch to fight for our common issues do also understand the strength behind them.

The news letters and journals are very good media to communicate and act. We must explore it and make best use of it. Just reading and enjoying will not suffice. Mind you, every one is busy but every one has the intention to get benefits out of it. Please come up with your problems and discuss it at these platforms so that we all are benefited by the common solutions of various problems and raise our voice strongly from these platforms and shake the chairs of the persons concerned to see that our common goals are achieved.

Readers’ forum, views and opinions, readers say, your voice etc. are the columns which are not only for writers to write and readers to read, but for the readers to act and react. One may differ from ideas put forward by the other but healthy criticism and approach always gives satisfactory results. Please note that you discourage those who are willing to take up issues by keeping mum or not reacting to their appeals through these platforms.

So, come and join hands. I once again appeal to one and all to be free to give your opinion and ideas, put forward your problems openly, give your suggestions inviting comments and criticism BUT do come forward. Make best use of these platforms.

While congratulating the RAINBOW on its first anniversary and very successful and /entertaining journey ,I would request once again to all the philatelists to join hands and move ahead from this platform to check and redress the burning problems in philately and philatelic field to get and give best to our philatelic fraternity.

Before concluding this, I give my very best wishes to Mrs. Jeevan Jyoti for the success of this bulletin. This of course has reached the hearts of philatelists of the world with its colourful presentation, beautiful get up, wide and latest information, progressing membership and attractive features. It has become a very strong platform for we people to interact and share the views and to consolidate our concerns. Please keep the good work ON and….ON

Shri T.N. Prahlada Rao is a veteran philatelist from Bangalore who has recently won awards at the age of 82 in Olympex 2008, held at Beijing. His enthusiasm and love for the hobby is an example to others who have lost interest in this wonderful hobby. His attitude and passion towards philately deserves a philatelic salute from all stamp lovers. At this age he is participating in exhibitions and promoting the hobby in a very special way. He writes a few words for the new collectors about Philately and Sports theme. - Editor

Beginners’ section

PHILATELY - A Hobby for every age group
- T.N. Prahlada Rao

Hobby is a pleasure and pastime engagement other than daily routine, compulsory routine and obligatory duties. It does not also embrace recreation and enthusiasm work. There are number of hobbies like photography, Painting, Birds watching, Philately and so on…. Among them philately gets pride and pleasure. Philately is generally understood as collection of stamps and related materials. In reality the analysis and study of each stamp collected by various sources as do its country of issue its denomination, subject design, purpose and date of issue and so on. It is generally called “King of Hobbies” it is the hobby of kings (the Rich) and the common, young and old alike. For Philately sky is not the limit it can go beyond.

Generally Philately is classified as traditional and thematic, traditional commonly flashes to particularly country like India, Australia, Germany, Russia, or a group of Countries Like, Commonwealth countries, Asian Countries, European Countries.Thematic Philately is the collection of stamps subject wise, some themes very common like Animals, Birds, Fruits and flowers, Sports, Spaces etc., few depends upon originally and imagination of the collector like ‘war and peace” Royalty, Even these subjects can be sub divided into separate philatelic collections for instance take the common subject “SPORTS” which is my favorite Thematic Collection, they may be collected various themes sports here are the few VARIOUS THEMES UNDER SPORTS.

1. Summer Olympic-country and year wise and Sports events.

2. Winter Olympics- Country and year wise and Sports events.

3. World cup foot ball championships.

4. World cup Hockey championships.

5. Sports in general – Aquatic and Water Sports- Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming, Water –Polo, Canoeing, Yachting, Wind Surfing, etc.

6. Athletics. (Track and Field)_ Sprint and Distance Running, Relay, Hurdles, marathon, Steeplechase, Walking, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, Shot Put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Javelin Throw, Decathlon, pentathlon, Heptathlon.

7.Ball Games- Baseball, Basketball Handball, Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball, Tennis, Table tennis, Badminton, Softball, Beach Volleyball, Cricket, Squash, Bowls, Golf, Billiards, and Snooker,

8.Cycling

9.Combative Games-boxing, fencing, Judo, wrestling, karate, taekwondo.

10.Individual and team Games- Archery, Gymnastics, weight-lifting, Equestrian, Shooting etc,

11.Combined Sports-Modern Pentathlon,

12.Adventure Sports- Mountaineering, Parachute Diving, Surfing, Bungee Jumping.

13. Olympics- Ancient Olympics, Olympic Flame and Torch, Olympic Flags and rings, Olympic Organization, Congress, sessions, National Olympic Committees etc.

14. Race Sports-Chariot Race, horse race, cycle race, car Race, Motor Cycle Race, Motor boat race, race, Canoeing and Rowing.

15. Chess, Carom, Draught.

16. Special Olympics, Games for the disabled.

17.Olymphilex18.Spots of a particular country- Soviet Sports of the United States, Greece, Germany, India etc.,

Thus and so far be a philatelist, enjoy and educate yourself , your family and friends & promote this hobby among others.

Picture Gallery

Here are some exquisite pages from the treasure of noted philatelist of Ahmadabad, Mr. Shrikant Parikh. Mr. Parikh has magnificent collection of se-tenant stamps. He is known to be expert of se-tenants. He has obtained a variety of combinations of these joint stamps and mounted them on album pages in a highly skillful manner that gives an eye pleasing view of these beautiful stamp combinations. Here are some album pages from his se-tenant treasure. As the se-tenants are jointed stamps of different values and designs. To get various combinations depends on collector’s skill. Mr. Parikh has not only collected these but has also given a magnificent arrangement of these jointed stamps on his album pages.

From the Treasure of Shrikant Parikh

Specialized Section
December is the month of Christmas which brings happiness for people all over the world. It is the biggest festival to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. Here is the article by Dr. Satyendra Kumar Agrawal ‘Merry Christmas in Disney Style’ to greet you all on the occasion of Christmas. Wish you all a very Happy Christmas - Editor

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN DISNEY STYLE

©Dr. Satyendra Kumar Agrawalrosephila@hotmail.com

One popular topic featured on more Disney stamps than any other is CHRISTMAS. One can see an abundance of new Disney Christmas Stamps every year capturing the spirit and joy of this magical season but of course in Disney style.

Disney Christmas stamps are among some of the most colourful and exciting stamps in the world. They are pleasing to the eye filled with merriment and make an attention-commanding collection. Each stamp has its own story to tell whether specially drawn by professional Disney artists, having years of training behind them, for a specific issue or a redrawing of a classic piece of Disney Artwork.


As a tradition, a big part of Disney issues are released every year on the occasion of Christmas but only few sets reflect the true spirit of X-Mas. Here I will talk about only such sets representing various traditions, customs and other aspects of this holy season. Sierra Leone 1990 ( Scott 1294-1302) Christmas issue devoted to the immortal poem "The Night Before Christmas" is a set of 24 stamps (3 sheetlets of 8 stamps each) plus 6 souvenir sheets-that use our favorite Disney characters to relate each and every line from the classic poem. It also became the subject of a 9 stamps & 1 s/s set of Anguilla Scott 453-462.

Other Disney versions of Christmas carols featured on stamps are 'Santa Claus is coming to town' words by Haven Gillespie, 1933, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", words by Meredith Wilson, 1951, "Jingle Bells", an old Welsh Carol-"Deck the Halls" and the German Folksong "Oh, Christmas Tree" all in 1983 omnibus Christmas issues consisting of a stamps and 1 souvenir sheet set of five commonwealth Post Offices respectively Caicos Island ( Scott 22-31), Grenada (Scott 1175-1184) , Grenada Grenadine (Scott 560-569), Redonda and Turks & Caicos Islands ( Scott 593-602).

In the 1988 unified design image British Common wealth Christmas Omnibus- One of the time best Disney issues six countries each issued a sheetlet and two souvenir sheets to mark the Christmas as well as the 60th Anniversary of "Mickey Mouse"- the rodent on which Wall Disney constructed an empire.

Each sheetlet contains 8 stamps together merge into one continuous scene. Santa's Helpers (Uganda, Scott 648) show you what it must look like at the North Pole in the months and weeks before Christmas, then as the Big Day approaches, if one like a very modern scene there is Mickey's Christmas Mall (Dominica, Scott 1131) If you seek a more traditional approach, there is Mickey's Christmas Carole (Antigua & Barbuda , Scott 1168) -the Walt Disney version of the famous Charles Dickens story and Mickey's Christmas Parade (Grenada Grenadine, Scott 1021) filled with floats, balloons wooden soldiers and many other sights and sound of the holidays.



If you want to get familiar with the sight and scenes of Christmas celebrations from other parts of the world then go for 1984 omnibus issues of Anguilla (Scott 596-604), Antigua & Barbuda (Scott 808-818), Caicos Island (Scott 42-46), Dominica (Scott 864-868), Grenada and Grenada Grenadine (Scott 631-636). These issues also marked the 50th Anniversary of Donald Duck- the greatest foul in American history.

Hence each stamp of above sets are filled with funny activities of Donald Duck and his three hell raising nephews Huey Dewey & Louie, displaying the joy and fun of this occasion world over. Christmas is celebrated in every corner of this world in its own style. Ii is changed with time also.

A look at the past may be had on Lesotho, Scott 412-420 issue based on "The sketch book of Washington Irving (1819-20) depicting old Christmas scene.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy often appeared on stamps in Santa Claus outfit, but Disney version of Santa Clause also exists. In both 1932 and 1933 the Disney Company released just before Christmas an animated short featuring Santa Claus.
The first of these was "Santa's Workshop". It is featured on 9 stamps and 1 souvenir sheet set of 1981 Dominica (Scott706-715) issue in which Disney’s Santa is a big and jolly, with a nose that suggests he has a certain way of keeping out the cold during those long Arctic months.

If you wish you can meet Santa Claus and other Christmas Angels on Sierra Leone 1992 Christmas issue (Scott 1553-1567). Christmas joys and toys (Grenada , Scott 1406-1415), Christmas Birds and Animals (Grenada Grenadine, Scott 792-801), Twelve days of Christmas and mouth watering Christmas sweets, Christmas goodies (Lesotho, Scott 381-389& 554-558 ) and Christmas Tree ornaments (Sierra Leone,1553-1567) are all present on these issues in full colour representative of customs and traditions of Christmas in Disney style.


Your childhood memories of Christmas may live again with Disney babies’ issue of Antigua & Barbuda, Scott 978-987.



A unique omnibus was issued for Christmas 1991. Five nations participated in issuing a series of stamps and souvenir sheets featuring reproduction of original Christmas Cards of the Walt Disney Company. Many of the cards depicted are now quite rare and much sought after by collectors of Disneyana. These cards were originally sent to employees, individuals and firms who did business with Disney Company. Countries participated in this omnibus were Guyana (Scott 2470-2487), St. Vincent Grenadines(Scott 819-828), Sierra Leone (Scott 1448-1462) and Tanzania (Scott 782-791).



Total stamps issued were 63 along with 17 souvenir sheets. Guyana's 6 stamps and 5 stamps se-tenant strips are unique piece of Disney greeting to this occasion. These are based on the Original Walt Disney Co. cards of 1940 and 1974.



Another unique in its style is the St. Vincent’s 1988 Christmas Train set of 8 stamps (Scott 1121-1130) which can be lined up end to end to form a continuous picture of a Disney Train inviting you to join Mickey Donald and Santa Claus on a Holiday trip.


If you are in hurry then try Genie's Magic carpet and collect some Magical gifts from a Genie Santa Claus and good wishes from Aladdin & Jasmine. You may have company of Genie, while singing Christmas carol. All these are available on Sierra Leone 1997 Christmas issue (Scott 1833-1842).

And to round out the season, there is the memory of a 'Christmas Dance' (Sierra Leone, Scott 1010) and the thrill of another 'Christmas Eve' (Grenada, Scott 1661) as the tree gets decorated, the stockings get hung and Santa and his reindeers fly into view, all on two sheet lets issued during 1988. These sheetlets contain 8 colourful postage stamps each that can stand alone as independent issues or in unified sheetlet that brings the individual parts together in a beautiful Christmas lithograph.

If you are a serious Disney collector then this Yuletide Disney Philately is not limited to new stamps only. One of the rarest items of Disney philately is the 1940 cover which carried Walt Disney's Christmas card to George Kreisi, one of Disney's Studio Animators. The Corner Card is a reproduction of Walt Disney's signature from which the famous 'Walt Disney' logo type was derived.

In 1987, the dedication ceremony for the US Christmas contemporary stamp was held at Disneyland, in Anaheim, California. The ceremony programme folder shows a silhouette of Mickey Mouse metamorphosing into Santa Claus as he walks.

Some collectors who attended the ceremony had their first day cover cancelled with the Anaheim pictorial cancel showing Mickey Mouse aboard a flying candy cane. Even without a first day tie in the Meriden, Conn, Donald Duck cancel shown in figure here with Donald wearing a Santa Claus hat evokes the holiday spirit nicely.



Christmas as a theme is becoming more and more popular. Disneyphyllies can adopt this theme and add new dimension to Christmas philately. Today collecting Disney stamps and covers can be as easy or as challenging as any collector desires, depending on the amount of time effort, money and enthusiasm he or she chooses to devote to it. The whole Disney family wishes A Merry Christmas to all Disneyphyllies and to the readers of Rainbow Stamps News and asks Santa fill your Christmas stockings with more and more Disney Christmas stamps and other Philatelic items on this Christmas.

New Issues from other countries
Argentina
25 October 2008 Year of Science Teaching - $ 1


Joint issue Argentina-Vietnam - Flowers - 2 x &1
1 November 2008
150 Years of The First Postage Stamps of Buenos Aires, Argentine Confederation, and Cordoba -$ 3 Souvenir sheet

Czech Republic
5 November 2008 Christmas -10 Kc

Gibraltar11 November 2008
Royal Gibraltar Regiment - 3 x 10p, 2 x42p, 2 x 44p, 51p, 1 P
Christmas - 10p, 42p, 44p,51p & 59p

Hungary
3 November 2008 – Ede Teller (Physicist) – 250 ft


5 November 2008 Bicentenary of the Ludovika Academy -300 ft

Ireland7 November 2008 Dancing – Joint Issue by Spain & Ireland – 55c & 82c

Israel17 December 2008 Ancient Letters from Israel

Iceland
6 November 2008 Christmas

Korea
6 November 2008 Korea – Hong Kong -China Joint issue depicting masks – 2 x 5 + M/s

Malaysia
26 October 2008 National Astronomy Programme - 30 sen, 2 x 50 sen, M/s - RM 2

Malta
27 November 2008 – Christmas - € 0.19, 0.26, 0.37

New Zealand
November 5, 2008
Sir Edmund Hillary - 50c, $1.00, $1.50, $2.00, $2.50.

Poland
18 October 2008 Great Polish Composers of the 20th century
San Marino
18 November 2008 The International Polar Year - € 0.60, 1.20, 1.00

18 November 2008 – Christmas -ˆ0,36 - 0,60 and 1,00.

Switzerland21 November 2008
Christmas – 100, 150, 130
21 November 2008 Gastronomy - 85

The Lighter Side
Do you know?

Stamps of Unusual shapes
When you hear the word "Stamp" it is only natural to think of a rectangular shape, or may be a square. But stamps of many other shapes have come into circulation down the years. Triangular circular and heart shaped stamps have all made their mark. There have been stamps in the shape of bottles and maps! The first "unusual "stamps were produced by the Cape of Good Hope (Africa in1853, when two triangular stamps were issued. All the more remarkable when you consider that the first stamps of any shape had been issued only 13years earlier. The triangular stamps were produced so that illiterate workers could easily tell the difference between incoming and outgoing mail. The distinctive shape also made mail from Cape of Good Hope stand out clearly from the other mail. Other notable triangular issues include Poland’s "World of Toys from 2006 and the United States Postal Services Stamp to mark the 400th Anniversary of the Settlement of James Town in 2007.This Stamp was triangular to reflect the shape of the Fort built by the Jamestown settlers who landed in 1607. Togo in the South Pacific is one of the most interesting nations, in terms of irregular stamp issues. From 1960 onwards, its catalogue has included heart, map, coin, cross and even banana shapes. Trinidad and Tobago showed its creative side with the issue of three bottle shaped stamps for the175th Anniversary of Angostura Distillery.

Circular designs have been popular too. For the 30th Anniversary of the first moon landing in1999, Ascension Island issued a series of stamps including a souvenir sheet which showed the Moon from the Earth with a perforated circular stamp at its centre In the same year the Isle Of Man issued Two Souvenir Sheets to commemorate the Bee Gees, who were born on the island, featuring a circular stamp within a Circular Sheet which reflected a Compact Disc. In 1973, a series of Stamps from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan were small records that actually played Music. Irish Stamps issued first circular stamps in the International Year of Planet Earth Series this year! Although we will never say goodbye to our familiar square and rectangular stamps, these other unusually shaped stamps will always hold a place in our miniature art galleries, in history and in our hearts.

In India we have the First Diamond Shaped Stamp of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in the Year 1964.We have had a quite a few Diamond shaped Stamps the recent one being of Madhubala. In India the First Triangular Stamp was issued in 1985 on the occasion of 25th Anniversary of Border Road Organization. This was followed by another Triangular Stamp in the year 1990 on the occasion of Presentation of New Colors to Bombay Sappers. We had the First Hexagonal Stamp - Aldabra Giant Tortoise in 2008 and hope we will have the First Circular Stamp soon.
K.RAMARATHNAM, Chennai


Blogs & Websites on Philately

http://www.stampsofindia.com/ – This is the website of India with complete information on Indian stamps.

http://www.rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com/ – This is the e – Stamp Club Blog to bring philatelists together on blogosphere and share views with each other.

http://www.europa-stamps.blogspot.com/ - This is a beautiful blog on stamps issued on Europa theme only.

http://www.philatelicnews.blogspot.com/ – This blog is full of information from the field of philately.

http://www.indianstampghar.com/ – It’s a good Blog by Mr. Vinod Sabharwal with daily updates on Philately.

http://www.stampbooks.blogspot.com/ – it’s a beautiful Blog on stamps of Malaysia.

http://www.freewebs.com/alvier/ - A website created by noted philatelist Alyssah Xeniah C. Alcala of Philippines. A good website for all stamp collectors.


Promotional section

ITS Postal Auction No.43
Latest "ITS Postal Auction No.43" of INDIAN THEMATIC SOCIETY, with 150 lots of Stamps, Miniature Sheets, Covers, packets etc from India and other countries, offered for collectors, with new issue no.44 of “ITS Stamp News”. Last Date for sending bids is 17.1.2009.
TO SEE INTERESTING LOTS OF LATEST AUCTION, PLEASE VISIT AT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/its_offers

For more information and detailed list of Auction, please contact
Suraj Jaitly - General Secretary
INDIAN THEMATIC SOCIETY
MIG # 3464, Phase Two, Dugri Road, Ludhiana – 141 013. INDIA
Mobile: +91 98728 51244 Tele-fax: +91-161-2521244
E-mail: indianthematicsociety@gmail.com OR surajjaitly@hotmail.com

For Sale
- Indian Pre-Independence, East India, stamps of princely states, Post independence stamps contact: S.S. Patil, cell : 9844432646. E-mail sspatil6@rediffmail.com

- I want to sell a fabulous collection of commemoration stamps, first day covers with first day cancellation and folders issued by The Philatelic Bureau, Chennai from 1965 to 1986 and collectors' packs from 1971 to 1984. please contact. Vijay Kumar Baranwal Mobile No. 9830083951 E-Mail: vkbaranwal@hotmail.com


- We sell at low trade price. Visit our website for many Items by Country or topic Mint thematic sets, packets, kilo ware, special offers, http://mtariq.netfirms.com/ M.Tariq, Railway Road, Khanpur– 641 00, Pakistan. Email: targreenpk@yahoo.com or tariqpk@gmail.com Mobile,+923006705423 PH:. +92685572646


Current Philatelic Magazines – Newsletters

Stamp of India Collectors’ Companion - India’s first and most updated weekly e-newsletter edited by Madhukar and Savita Jhingan from Stamps of India, New Delhi. E-mail: mjhingan@yahoo.com Website: http://www.stampsofindia.com/


The Fila Capsule- Jul – Aug, Sep - Oct 2008, Bi Monthly Editor: Ajit Kumar Dash akdash2000@yahoo.com Published by: Eastern India Philatelists' Association, Bhubaneswar

ITS Stamp News - Oct - Dec 2008, Quarterly Editor: Suraj Jaitly surajjaitly@yahoomail.com Published by: Indian Thematic Society, Ludhiana

RAINBOW STAMP CLUB

This is a blog of e-stamp Club http://www.rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com/ . The idea of this blog is to extend philatelic fraternity in all corners of the world. Readers may write about themselves with their collecting interests and share new ideas with other philatelists. Those who are interested may send following details for publication on blog. If they wish they may also send their photo for publication.

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Readers may also express their views on any philatelic matter which will be published under Club News at Rainbow Stamp Cub Blog. Philatelic Clubs and Societies may also send brief write ups. News about new issues of India and abroad and other information related with Philately are regularly posted on this blog. Readers may send reports on new issues, special covers, cancellations & philatelic activities of their area for inclusion in this Blog. - Editor


Courtesy- News and Image Resource to this issue - Stamps of India, Hellmail, Shrikant Parikh - Ahmedabad, Timir R. Shah – Vadodara, Rajesh Paharia – Jaipur, Varad Dhaky- Ahmedabad, Ajit Dash – Bhubaneswar, Vinod Sabharwal - New Delhi

Address for communication: Mrs. Jeevan Jyoti, c/o Mr. Ajay srivastav , Director, Great Himalayan National Park , Shamshi, Distt- Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) PIN 175126 . E-mail – rainbowstamp2008@gmail.com & j.jyoti9@gmail.com

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The postage stamp is a flimsy thing No thicker than a beetle's wing And yet it will roam the world for you Exactly where you tell it to - EV Lucas

Till Next Month Happy Collecting……………………………………………………………………..

Rainbow Stamp News is edited and published monthly by Jeevan Jyoti, from Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) India.