New stamps on Mushroom

 

 

Date of Issue – 20 August 2015

Swedish Post introduced its new stamp issue on theme “Mushrooms”. The colourful philatelic release consists of two items and one stamp booklet that were unveiled and put on sale on the 20^th of August.

Stamp booklet

The efforts by Elias Fries (1794-1878) to catalogue mushrooms are considered an important part of the development of modern mycology, the study of mushrooms. He is therefore sometimes referred to as “the Linné of mushrooms”.

Elias Fries studied botany at Lund University and became a professor in 1824. Ten years later he left Lund for Uppsala and became the director of the botanical garden and museum there. He was elected into the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1821 and became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1847.

Despite a brilliant career and academic titles, “the Linné of mushrooms” was often questioned as an expert. He writes himself in the introduction to his illustrated works, Sweden’s Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms,

“While staying a few fall seasons in Stockholm, I often inspected the species that were sold at Munkbron. Many of them were the harmless varieties, but I also found entire baskets of poisonous ones, for example Russula foetens; but when I informed them about this I was told, ‘Oh, the Gentleman does not know what he is talking about’.”

His pictures of mushrooms are an art history treasure and several of them are found in the illustrated work, Sweden’s Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, which was published in 1860-1866. His illustrations laid the foundation for what people know today about mushrooms.

“The proofs for five of the seven current stamps, weeping milk cap, porcini, changle, scarlet waxy cap and funnel chanterelle, were taken from his illustrated works. All of them are edible”, says Mats Granlöf, the stamp project manager at PostNord Stamps.

During the mid-1800s, people living in Sweden were skeptical about eating mushrooms, but after several years of poor harvests and famine, as well as the enthusiasm of Fries, people’s perception changed.

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Dinosaur Provincial Park stamp reissued by Canada Post

 

Canada Post has reissued a stamp showcasing Dinosaur Provincial Park in southeast Alberta after the original error version that depicted the image from a different part of the province.

And Brad Tucker, executive director of Canadian Badlands Tourism, couldn’t be happier with the photo used in the reprint. “One of my pictures is on a stamp”, Tucker said excitedly. “I’m not saying this because it’s my image, but I think it’s a good choice”.

He said the photograph, taken about four years ago in an area known as Valley of the Moon, features the unmistakable badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, distinct from the badlands in Drumheller or Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park. It was one of the many photos he snapped for the province when he worked for the park.

“I’m impressed with how they (Canada Post) handled this. Boy, they turned it around quickly”, he added. The original stamp was released in early July as part of Canada Post’s latest collection meant to celebrate the country’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and also featured Watert on-Glacier International Peace Park and Wood Buffalo National Park.

It didn’t take long for Alberta government and local tourism officials to notice that the photo of the hoodoos ‒ distinct columns of sandstone rock ‒ adorning the stamp was actually taken in East Coulee near Drumheller, about an hour-and-a-half drive northwest of the famous park.

Tucker said many people get confused because Drum heller, home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, houses many of the fossils discovered in the park.

The postal service quickly apologized for the flub, removed the stamp from its online store and its 6,300 post offices, and reached out to parks officials for assistance in selecting a new image for the reissue. The new stamp was released Friday.

“We learned from this experience and overall we take great pride in our stamp program”, Anick Losier, Canada Post spokeswoman. “It’s world renowned so we don’t take these mistakes lightly. This is why we put a lot of effort into correcting mistakes and making sure our processes are going to be robust”.

Tim Chamberlin, Alberta Parks spokesman, said department staff supplied Canada Post with about five different photos to choose from.

“It’s a wonderful image. It’s a great depiction of one of the unique attributes that define Dinosaur Provincial Park”, Chamberlin said of the new stamp.

“We’re very pleased that Canada Post has included Alberta parks in their series. Obviously the image has the potential to reach a global audience and that could spark an interest and visits to our province and the park, which is obviously a good thing”.

Tucker said the image mix-up is a good opportunity to draw attention to Dinosaur Provincial Park and to Drumheller, adding “both are amazing places to visit”.

Sourced by www.calgaryherald.com

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Greetings on Teacher’s Day

 

Happy Teacher’s Day !

5th September is celebrated as Teacher’s Day in India. Since 1962, India has been celebrating Teachers' Day on 5th September as a symbol of tribute and honor to the contribution made by teachers to the society.

The day marks as a day of gratitude and respect to the selfless efforts of teachers. This day is also celebrated to honor Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the great teacher, academic philosopher and India's Second President as he was born on the same day in 1888. Dr. Radhakrishnan was a strong supporter of education. Instead of celebrating his birthday separately he requested to observe the day as Teachers' Day to give honor to all the teachers in India. This appeal demonstrated his love for the teaching profession and since then 5th September is celebrated as Teachers' Day in India.

 

From our Readers…

School - Teachers are indeed the Builders of the Nation.

Heartiest Philatelic compliments to the School Teachers of India on the Teachers’ Day.

- Deepak Dube, Korba ( Chhattisgarh)

Festivals of India – Janmastami - Birthday of Lord Krishna

Happy Shri Krishna Janmaashtami

Today is also the birthday of Lord Krishna. It is celebrated all over the world by Hindu community. Greetings to all on this festive occasion !!

FDC image courtesy – Abhai Mishra, Dehradun

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New Stamp from India - Women Empowerment

 Women Empowerment

Date of release : 2 September 2015

Minister of Communication & IT Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad released commemorative stamps  on “Women Empowerment” in New Delhi on Wednesday 2nd September 2015. 

Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment not only in term of human rights, but also because they are a pathway to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development. 

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empower the State to adopt measure of positive discrimination in favour of women. 

Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, plans and programmes, have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels. 

Even though the women’s movement and a wide-spread network of non- Government Organizations, which have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight into women’s concerns, have contributed towards inspiring initiatives for the empowerment of women, there still exist a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the other. 

A holistic approach to women’s health which includes both nutrition and health services requires to be pursued where attention needs to be given to the needs of women and the girl at all stages of the life. The reduction of infant mortality and maternal mortality, which are sensitive indicators of human development, continues to be a priority concern. 

The Department of posts organized a nation-wide competition inviting entries for the designs of commemorative postage stamps on the theme “Women Empowerment”. Based on selected entries, a set of four stamps and a miniature sheet on the theme was released by Hon’ble Minister of Communication & Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad on 2nd September 2015

Courtesy - PIB

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Club News

 

 

Hi !

I have just published September 2015 issue of Rainbow Stamp News on Blog. It is available at following links :

http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.in/  (Indian Readers)

http://rainbowstampnews.blogspot.com/  (Overseas Readers )

http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.in/2015/09/club-news.html

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Postcrossing

Date of Issue : 2 September 2015

Here is a beautiful stamp to be issued tomorrow for those who love to send Postcards in different parts of the world.  Czech Post is going to issue a special stamp on theme “Postcrossing” ‒ a project of global exchange of postcards. This is the seventh stamp in the series dedicated by stamp designers to this rediscovered phenomenon. The issue will be released and put into circulation on the 2nd of September.

The project aims to help people receive postcards from all over the world for free. Or almost free. The main principle is that if you send a postcard, you’ll get at least one in return from a random postcrosser anywhere in the world.

Why? Because like the authors of this project, people love getting real mail. The fact that you can get postcards from different parts of the world (which you may not even have heard of) can turn your letter box into a box full of surprises ‒ and who would not like that?

The first step is to request the address of another postcrosser to whom you must send a postcard. You will receive an email with the postcrosser’s address and a postcard ID (e.g.: CZ-010101). The postcard ID uniquely identifies that postcard in the system. The addressee receives the postcard and registers it using the postcard ID.

At this point, you are eligible to receive a postcard from a different postcrosser. Initially you can have up to 5 postcards travelling at any single time. Every time one of the sent postcards is registered, you can request another address so that the number of postcards allowed to travel at any single time goes up.

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Greetings on Raksha Bandhan

 

Festivals of India – Raksha Bandhan

Today is Raksha Bandhan Greetings to all brothers and sister on this festive occasion !!

The chaste bond of love between a brother and a sister is one of the deepest and noblest of human emotions. 'Raksha Bandhan'  is a special occasion to celebrate this emotional bonding by tying a holy thread around the wrist. This thread, of love between a brother and sister is called the ‘Rakhi’. It means 'a bond of protection', and Raksha Bandhan signifies that the strong must protect the weak from all that’s evil.

 

The ritual is observed on the full moon day of the Hindu month  of Shravan, on which sisters tie the sacred Rakhi string on their brothers' right wrists, and pray for their long life. Rakhis are ideally made of silk with gold and silver threads, beautifully crafted embroidered sequins, and studded with semi precious stones.

 

Rakhi: The Thread of Love

Club News

New Special Cover from Chandigarh

Special Covers commemorating Legacy of Le Corbusier – 27th August 2015

To mark the 50th death anniversary of legendary architect Le Corbusier and to commemorate legacy of Le Corbusier, who planned Chandigarh, Punjab Postal Circle in association with Chandigarh Administration released two special covers on 27th August 2015 at Chandigarh (Special Cover approval nos. PB/02/2015 and PB/03/2015). Special covers were released by Ms. Achla Bhatnagar, Chief Postmaster General, Punjab Postal Circle and the Adviser to the Administrator, UT, Chandigarh, Mr. Vijay Dev in presence of UT Home Secretary, Mr. Anurag Agarwal and other officers at the function held at Govt. Museum and Art Gallery Sector-10, Chandigarh.

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who was better known as Le Corbusier (b. October 6, 1887 – d. August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and the Americas. Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities, Le Corbusier was influential in urban planning, and was a founding member of the Congrès international d'architecture moderne (CIAM).

In the 1950s, a unique opportunity to translate the Radiant City on a grand scale presented itself in the construction of the Union Territory Chandigarh, the new capital for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and India's first planned city. Le Corbusier designed many administration buildings, including a courthouse, parliament building, and a university. He also designed the general layout of the city, dividing it into sectors.

These two special covers are available at Chandigarh GPO at Rs. 10 each. Postage Extra.

 Courtesy – Rakesh Walia – Chandigarh, Indian Philately Digest

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