2614. 🇸🇨🇨🇾 Seychelles UPU And Cyprus Christmas Stamps.

 New issues -

🇸🇨 Seychelles postal service -

10 October 2024 - Centenary of the Universal Postal Union - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Design is a winning piece of art in a national children’s design competition. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post -

18 November 2024 - Christmas - 3 stamps. Designed by Panagiota Epifaniou. Lithographed by Baltic Banknote High Security Printing. Rating:- ***.

India Post -

🇮🇳 13 November 2024 - Commemoration of Acharya Santisarga Muni Maharaj - 1 stamp. Designed by Neptune Arora and printed by Security Printing Press Hyderabad. Rating:-**.

15 November - Campaign to eradicate sickle cell disease by 2027 - 1 stamp. Printed by Security Printing Press Hyderabad. Rating:- ***.

16 November 2024 - Centenary of the first publication of the Hindustan Times - 1 stamp. Printed by Security Printing Press Hyderabad. Rating::- ***.

1858. 🇬🇧 Royal Mail Will Issue COVID-19 Heroes Set.

 

  🇬🇧 Royal Mail has at last announced that it intends to issue a set of stamps to commemorate the Heroes of the battle against COVID-19 here in Britain which we now seem to be winning unlike so many of Britain’s European neighbours. With well over half of the adult population having received vaccinations against the virus (and more than one fifth of them also having received their second injection -  I’m about to receive mine) perhaps this is time to commemorate the front-line workers and others who have joined in the hand-to-hand fighting with the virus and seen us through to what’s starting to look like the other side. As cases of COVID-19 continue to fall in Britain the time for life to return to normal draws ever nearer here and it will be time also for the country to start helping other less well-off countries, many in The Commonwealth, 

 Royal Mail’s approach to celebrating the nation’s COVID-19 heroes is to hold a design competition for school children aged 4 to 14 in which schools will be encouraged to participate (as a school governor I have already drawn our head teacher’s attention to it the competition and he is very enthusiastic about it) and the publicity surrounding the competition includes an illustration of the frame which should be filled by the competing child’s artwork (see above).

  Each competition entry must be hand-drawn by the child and must be completely the child’s original work.The subject of the stamps is formally named ‘Honouring the Heroes of the Pandemic ... on a stamp’. Publicity emphasises that the stamps must not be in black and white and should be reducible to the size of the postage stamp. The competition closes on 28 May and  is restricted to 6000 schools on a first come first served basis. A complex series of judging will then take place, firstly on a regional basis and then 8 national winners will be chosen from the regional winning entries. Finally, after approval by The Queen, the 8 winning designs will be announced on 30 September 2021 (by post to the winners so with luck they may discover that they have won by some time around Christmas) and the winning children will receive £1000 in ‘high street vouchers’ and £1000 will also be awarded to the schools which are attended by the winning artists. One assumes that the new stamps will then be issued early in 2022.

  In its publicity Royal Mail points out that children’s art has been used in the designs of British stamps on four previous occasions - in 1966, 1981, 2013 and 2017, all as Christmas issues. Some of the designs have been rather better than some others.

  

It is pleasing that Royal Mail has initiated this design competition. It may even lead to a few younger people discovering that there is a hobby which involves collecting postage stamps and that it may be an interesting way for them to pass some of their time.

1780. 🇫🇰🇧🇳 Falklands Christmas And Brunei Fire Service Stamps.

🇫🇰 The postal service of Falkland Islands will issue a set of 4 Christmas stamps on 20 November 2020. The designs by Bee Design depict children’s artwork and the stamps were lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13 x 13.5. Rating:- ****.

Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps for information about the above issue.

  🇵🇰 The postal service of Pakistan issued a single stamp on 11 November 2020 on the subject of Pink ribbon breast cancer awareness. The issue was designed by Adil Salahuddin and lithographed by National Security Printing Company, Karachi and is perforated 13. Rating:- **.

🇧🇳 The postal service of Brunei Darussalam issued a block of 4 stamps on 20 October 2020 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the local Fire and Rescue Department. The issue was designed by Pengiran Haji Malik Hijrarahuddin bin Pengiran Haji Tengah and printed in lithography. This is the first issue of 2020 by the Brunei Darussalam postal service. Rating:- ****.

1065. 🇮🇳 India Celebrates 70 Years Of Independence.

  🇮🇳 Today, 15 August 2017, India celebrates the 70th anniversary of its Independence following the partition of Britain's Indian Empire into the Dominions of India and Pakistan which itself commemorated its Independence yesterday on 14 August (see Blog 1064).

  India Post issued 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 15 August 2017 to commemorate the anniversary and they featured photographs chosen from winning efforts in a children's photographic competition. The designs come under the title "Beautiful India". Rating:- ***.

  India Post has also issued a set of 4 stamps on the subject of the Caves of Meghalaya. Designs and more information awaited.

  🇲🇲  The date of India's Independence was chosen by the country's first Governor-General, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, to coincide with the second anniversary of the surrender of Japan at the end of the Second World War - a date that was called "VJ Day".

  The Japanese were in occupation of a number of British territories in the Far East including Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore and Burma. 

  In Burma they were resisted by British and Commonwealth forces but were supported initially by the Burmese leader Aung San and also by the Indian National Army led by Chandra Bose. In early 1945 Aung San turned to the Allied forces against the Japanese but the Indian National Army supported the Japanese to the bitter end. The Japanese finally surrendered formally to the Allies in Burma on 12 September 1945. In Burma the British and the Allies had received long term support particularly from the Karen people.

 The Karen people had suffered terribly during World War II - many of their villages were destroyed and massacres were carried out by both the Japanese and the Burma Independence Army which had assisted the Japanese invasion. After the end of the war the Karen hoped to have their own state within Burma but the British failed to support them in achieving this despite the Karen's great loyalty to the British during the war.

  Burma was granted independence in January 1948. Aung San, who had led the transitional government, was assassinated about 6 months prior to Independence. After independence was granted the Burmese government began to raise militias under the command of Major General Ne Win and in January 1949 some of these militias went on a rampage through Karen communities and consequently the Karen began an armed insurgency against the Burmese government. In 1962 Ne Win staged a coup against the Burmese government and a long period of military rule began.

  🇦🇺🇳🇫 Mentioned in a previous Blog (1024) but now with better illustrations is the Australia Post issue which is inscribed "Norfolk Island Australia" which was released on 18 July 2017and which is on the subject of Norfolk Island Flowers. The issue was designed by Sharon Rodziewicz and lithographed by EGO and perforated 14 x 14.5. Rating:- ***.

  🇦🇺🇨🇽 Also from Australia Post is a pair of stamps and accompanying miniature sheet issued with the inscription "Australia Christmas Island" which was released today, 15 August 2017. The stamps which commemorate the visit of European early explorers to the island were designed by Sonia Young and lithographed by EGOTrade and perforated 14 x 14.5. rating:- ****.

1040. 🇫🇰 🇬🇧 New Bird Definitives From Falkland Islands; Royal Mail Christmas Stamps Depict Children's Art.

  🇫🇰 The Falkland Islands postal service will issue a new definitive set on the subject of local Small Birds on 14 August 2017. The excellent set was designed by Andrew Robinson and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13 x 13.5. Rating:- *****.

  Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps for the information.

  🇬🇧 Royal Mail has revealed the winning entries in a children's competition to design stamps for Christmas 2017. The "Santa" design is by Ted Lewis-Clark, aged 10, from Frome in Somerset and the "Snow Family" is by Arsenal Wilson, aged 9, from Dudley in the West Midlands. The judge who chose the winning designs was none other than The Prince Of Wales. The stamps will be issued on 7 November 2017. I don't usually like stamps based on children's art but I think these are rather good. Rating:- ****.