Kadalundi Bird Sanctury

The Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary 19 km from Kozhikode, Malappuram district, North Kerala is home to more than a hundred varieties of native birds and over 60 species of migratory birds.Birds like Terns, Gulls, Herons, Sandpipers, Whimbrels, and other migratory birds flock the place from the month of November and return only by the end of April.

The Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary is spread over a cluster of islands in a scenic area surrounded by hillocks where the Kadalundi River flows into the Arabian Sea. The place is locally known as Kadalundi Nagaram.

Kadalur Point Lighthouse

It is a circular stone masonry tower painted with black and white bands stands 34 meters in height.The construction of tower commenced during 1906-07 and was completed in early 1909 and commissioned into service on 20th October 1909 to mark the submerged rock "Vellayam Kallu",about 10 km off the shore. The Lighthouse is majestically standing and proudly serving the seafarers for the last 100 years!

The Kadalur Point Lighthouse is 9 Km by road from the nearest railway station Quilandy on Mangalore-Shoranur section. There is a metalled road connecting Lighthouse station with Railway station.

Hong Kong, China - Brazil Joint Issue on "Football"

Hongkong Post will issue its tenth joint issue on the popular sport “Football” on 5th November 2009 with Brazil.

The four stamps feature Header by Striker ($1.40), Defense by Goalkeeper ($2.40), Long Pass by Skipper ($3) and Tackle by Defender ($5). In the design, quarters of the football positioned in different corners of the stamps come together at the centre to form a complete picture, symbolising the team spirit of this popular sport.

To Read more click here

Postal Week - Philatelic Exhibition in Mangalore.

A Philatelic Exhibition was arranged at the Head Post Office premises in view of the Postal week on 20th October 2009. The exhibit was inaugrated by the Sr. Suptd. of Posts Mr.A.M.D'Souza. The Senior Postmaster Mr.Sudhakar Mallya, ASP (HQ) Mr.Naveen Chander, Philatelic Bureau In-charge Mr.Deepak Alvares and other staff from the Postal department were present. Mr. Mansoor and Baikady Srinivas Rao from the D.K.Philatelic and Numismatic Association were also present.

Mr.A.M.D'souza praised and thanked all the exhibitors for exhibiting their collections for the benefit of the general public.The Exhibit was open from 9.30 A.M to 5.30 P.M. students from various schools and general public visited the exhibits and expressed their views.

Following exhibits were on display: "Elephants" by Kruthika Prabhu, "Children - Nation's pride" by Tapasya Bhandary, "Butterfly" by Baikady Srinivas Rao and "Russia" by Mansoor B. Some of the Minature sheets, postal stationery, stamps and postcards of India were also exhibited.

It is also proposed to hold another exhibition in the first week of November on Art, Culture and other themes of Karnataka and Indian Cinema in view of a stamp release on the great kannada film star Dr.Rajkumar.

India Post Freighter Carrier.

A Postage stamp of Rs.5 was released by India Post on its Official Carrier on 12th October 2009.

Hat-trick stamp release.

India Post is into a Hat-trick today by releasing 3 stamps in 3 days. On 10^th, 11^th and 12^th October of R.K.Narayan, Dinesh Nandini and India Post Freighter carrier. But the question all stamp collectors would like to ask India Post is "Is it available at all Philatelic Bureaus?" It has become a common feat for the India Post to release a stamp and not to supply to all the Bureaus for days or months. The Indian Railway stations stamp released almost 2 months back are still not available (not to mention the later few release too)at Mangalore Bureau and in many others.

It is seen that the miniature sheet of The Railway stations are sold by some of the Dealers for as high as Rs.200.What does India Post has to say on this? Is it another way of creating a Demand?

Gandhiji writes a Post Card - Postal Week - October 9-15.

Children are invited to write a letter on a Competition Post Card as Gandhiji would on any burning current topic. The competition will be called “Gandhiji writes a Postcard”The postcard in this case will be the competition postcard (Rs.10/-)which should be placed on sale at all Post Offices.

To know more about the competition visit the website of INDIA POST.

National Postal Week is being celebrated in India from October 9th to 15 by India Post. It is decided to conduct Quiz, Letter writing competitions, Workshop on Philately for the school children and mini exhibitions in schools/Post Offices to promote the hobby of Philately.

National Maritime Museum - FALMOUTH

Located on the waterfront at Falmouth, the National Maritime museum Cornwall, U.K, is the centrepiece of an international leisure complex. The museum consists of galleries and displays which include stories of famous craft, navigation and meterology, boat building and the Cornish maritime heritage.

To read further about this museum visit their website

Vesikko Submarine.

I received this card of the the Vesikko submarine through Postcrossing from Finland. This card has the picture of the submarine in an unusual angle!

Vesikko was a submarine of the Finnish Navy in World War II.After the war Vesikko was decommissioned because of theobligations of the Paris Peace Treaties that forbade Finland having submarines. Vesikko was lying as a wreck for years.The submarine currently lies on the island of Suomenlinna. It has served as a museum during the summers since 1973 as a part of the Military Museum of Finland. Vesikko is the last surviving Type II submarine in the world.

International Day Of Non-Violence

On 2 October 2009, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue a New York definitive stamp in the denomination of US$ 1.00. The stamp image depicts an artistic rendition of Mahatma Gandhi.

A New York card on the theme “International Day of Non-Violence” will be issued on 2 October 2009. The card depicts a picture of Mahatma Gandhi and the new US$ 1.00 definitive stamp. The card carries a statement by BAN Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and by S. M. Krishna, Minister External Affairs of India.

The New York card is only available in cancelled condition for a period of three months while supplies last.

To Visit and read more about this visit the UN Stamp Site

Stamp Booklets and Presentation Packs.

Recently, my mail has been flooded by questions on Stamp Booklets or Presentation Packs. Questions from "What is a stamp booklet" to "Is it a Philatelic item" have been asked, mostly from collectors from India as there is a trend of stamp booklets being released recently. I have answered many, and then I thought that this could be a separate entry.

What is a stamp booklet? Simply put, it is few stamps or set of stamps being placed in-between a small piece of cardboard to make the handling of stamps easier than a full sheet of stamp. Earlier issue of stamp booklet had nothing to do with Philately than for handling and included even definitive stamps. These were issued by countries like Luxembourg and Sweden in the early nineteenth century and followed by other countries. Presentation packs are usually one set of stamp, miniature/ souvenir sheet FDC pertaining to a particular release presented in an attractive pack, which is mostly Commemorative stamps targeting the collectors.

Now, what is Official and Un-Official, well those booklets issued by or with the permission of the India Post usually by Philatelic Clubs are said to be Official and which are done privately by collectors or Clubs are said to be Un-official.

The recent trend of many booklets and presentation packs (both Official and Un-Official) have put many a collectors in a dilemma to buy it or not. To add to the same these booklets are priced much higher than the stamps contained in it, some times 2 to 3 times more, issued in limited quantities and are sold like hot cakes by giving wide publicity.

Philatelists collect a wide range of items and I consider these one among them, so to collect it or not I leave it to individual collectors, but I would certainly not collect it at the current price it is being sold as it does not have any special place in Philately unless I do not have the same stamps separately. I am not even sure if it can be exhibited in any exhibition, local or international. I would like India Post to take note of the present trend and frame some rules for the issue of Stamp Booklets. My final word is "BUYERS BEWARE"

Dear Fellow bloggers, Philatelists and collectors, I would like to receive comments and views from all of you to start a discussion on this subject. (Please write your comments below, than e-mailing me, Thanks.)

UPDATES ON STAMPMANIA 2009

Dear Fellow Philatelists,

Countdown of Stampmania 2009 has begun…..

We're quite excited by the response we have got for the participation in Stampmania 2009. Against the target of 400 frames we have received more than 475 entries which indicate a great enthusiasm about one frame exhibition and Stampmania 2009. We have received a surprisingly high response in youth class with more than 150 entries indicating a positive change in young generation. Participation is from each and every corner of the country.

We are now processing the entries and allotment will be declared by 1st October 2009.

We are proud to inform you that World’s largest weekly stamp news magazine “Linns’ Stamp News” has published news about ‘Stampmania 2009’ in their latest issued dated 28th September 2009. Please visit ‘News Room’ link at our website www.stampmania2009.com We have tied up with Hotels of Vadodara for attractive discount on accommodation tariff for visitors of ‘Stampmania 2009’. Few hotels have already accepted our request and have offered flat discounted rates or 20% Discount on room tariff. Details of Hotels are now available at our website www.stampmania2009.com . More Hotels will be on list shortly.

I am sure this “Stampmania 2009” will be a great success in all means.

Good bye until next update.

With warm regards,
Prashant Pandya
Chairman - 'STAMPMANIA 2009' Organising Committee
President - Baroda Philatelic Society
Serving the cause of Philately since 1978
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(M): +919879571179
email: info@vadophil.org
www.vadophil.org
www.stampmania2009.com

Mangalore HPO under Project Arrow

The newly renovated Project Arrow Post Office (Head Post Office) Mangalore was inaugurated on 12th Saturday, September 2009 at 11.00 A.M by Sri. Vasumitra, IPS, Postmaster General, South Karnataka Region, Bangalore. Sri. K.M.Balakrishna, SSPO, Mangalore presided over the function and Sri. G.S.Hangund, Senior Postmaster, Mangalore was the guest of Honour.

Sri. Vasumitra described the various schemes of India Post under Project Arrow to the gathering, he also spoke of the future plans of India Post and said that most of the operations will be computerized, ATM facilities will be provided to the Savings Bank Account holders soon. He said that the Post Office is modernised to attract all class of customers. Later there was an interaction session for the Press and the general public.

Project Arrow Post Office - Mangalore.

The newly renovated Project Arrow Post Office (Head Post Office) Mangalore is to be inaugurated on 12th Saturday, September 2009 at 11.00 A.M by Sri. Vasumitra, IPS Postmaster General, South Karnataka Region, Bangalore.

Military Park in Buffalo

Today is a special day for Philatelist specially those who are interested in collecting fancy date cancellations. Today is 09.09.09

This entry has nothing to do with the cancellation but a postcrossing card which I received today, which has a picture of a Ship turned into a Museum in Buffalo, U.S.A.

This ship,Cleveland class cruiser, later converted to Little Rock class guided missile cruiser is now on display at this park and plays active parts in educational and entertaining activities such as overnight encampment programs and other events.

for further details visit its website

Postal History of Zamindari Dak

The Officer’s Choice Anandalok Salaam Bengal award saluted “unsung heroes” who have contributed silently to society in various fields. The first edition of the awards was given in four categories — bravery, education, medicine and sports.

Mohini Lal Majumdar walked away with pride with his silver trophy in Education category. He is the second Indian author to pen the postal history of India. His book, titled Postal History of Zamindari Dak, published in 1984, had come more than a century after the first one, which was written by Ananda Gopal Sen in 1875.

For the complete news Click here.