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With time, stamps grow in value
No shelter for TB patient
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IIT-R powers private plants
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With time, stamps grow in value
— Abhai Mishra, general secy, Uttaranchal Philatelist
Association
Mussoorie, April 11 SP Jain has been engaged in collecting stamps since 1947 and has been able to build an impressive stamp collection which has become quite valuable
today. Jain has an interesting collection that includes the first and the second stamps of Independent India, the rare series of stamps on Mahatma Gandhi issued on the first anniversary of Independence, the first definitive series (archaeological series) of Independent India and several other interesting and rare stamps of India and of 50 other countries. “The first stamp of Independent India was issued on November 21, 1947 and had an imprint of the Tricolour with the words ‘Jai Hind’ printed in Hindi at the side and had a monetary value of 3.5 annas,” Jain informed. He said that Mahatma Gandhi was the first person to be depicted on the stamps of Independent India and a set of four stamps with valuations of 1.5 annas, 3.5 annas, 12 annas and Rs 10 were issued in his memory on August 15, 1948. According to Abhai Mishra, a renowned philatelist and general secretary of the Uttaranchal Philatelist Association, “A complete set of these four stamps is valued at around Rs 15,000 in the Indian market.” Jain, who has two out of these four stamps in his collection, tells an interesting tale about these valuable stamps. According to him, it was originally planned to issue a set of three or four stamps to commemorate the Mahatma’s 80th birthday (October 2, 1949) but due to his assassination on January 30, 1948, the situation changed and the government had to quickly print stamps mourning the death of the Father of the Nation. “A sketch of the great man was drawn by C. Biswas and proofs were prepared by the Security Press. Meanwhile, the government also conducted negotiations with Helio Courvoisier, a famous Swiss printing firm,” Jain said. Finally, the printing order was placed with the Swiss firm. At the instance of Jawahar Lal Nehru, the word “Bapu” was added on the stamps. “The irony is that the stamps issued in memory of Mahatma Gandhi were printed in ‘videsh’ (Switzerland) although Bapu had himself given the call to adopt Swadeshi goods. Perhaps in his lifetime, Bapu would have strongly objected to this,” he added. Abhai Mishra said that about 100 stamps of Mahatma Gandhi of Rs 10 denomination had the word “Service” specially printed on them and were meant for the official use of C. Rajagopalachari, the then Governor General of India. “Only 3-4 of these stamps are in existence and these have immense value ranging in several lakhs of rupees,” Mishra said. According to sources, one of these stamps was auctioned for 38000 euros in 2007. These examples show the immense revenue-earning potential of philately after a period of time. However, even in a very short term, some stamps fetch lucrative returns for the collectors. Like a stamp of Shirdi Sai Baba issued at Rs 5 just a few months back, it is today priced at Rs 80 in the collector’s market. “In just a span of 3-4 months, the market value of this stamp has shot up due to heavy demand among the millions of devotees of Sai Baba,” said Abhai Mishra. Examples such as these show the true value of investment of time and money into philately. According to sources, a stamp is bought and sold on e-bay India every 12 minutes! Moreover, stamps with imperfections and errors also have a high value. SP Jain shows two rare stamps of “Bodhisattva” in his collection. “The first Bodhisattva stamp was issued as a part of an archaeological series in 1949 but by mistake, the artist reversed the statue and showed the left hand as raised instead of the right one,” Jain said. The mistake was later realised and a fresh stamp was issued in 1951 after correcting the mistake. “I have both stamps and such error stamps have a higher market value,” he beamed. Moreover, first-day covers and information sheets of stamps can also be collected and these can also turn out to be of immense value. Mishra has in his collection a rare information sheet of a stamp issued in 1994 to commemorate the Calcutta blind school. “This was the first information sheet which was printed in Braille and finds mention in the Limca Book of Records,” he said. “Any type of philatelic collection which is interesting, unique and comprehensive always fetches a good monetary value,” said Mishra. In this regard, Mishra cites the example of his own unique collection for which he has received several awards in India and abroad. He said that since 2001, he has been collecting covers (stamped envelopes) of letters exchanges between the Indian contingent in Antarctica and India. He said, “A letter from Antarctica covers almost 25,000 km and passes through all modes of conveyance including plane, ship, helicopter, railway and road.” He said that these letters bear various postmarks like that of helicopter, ship, airmail, Indian station at Antarctica and Russian Novo station. Therefore, youngsters should take a leaf out of the books of people like SP Jain and Abhai Mishra and should seriously consider philately as a hobby. “Philately can provide immense general knowledge to children,” said Mishra. He believes that parents and teachers should be motivated to inculcate this habit among children. “It is unfortunate that the supply of stamps is drying up in this age of e-mails and couriers. Apart from their recreational value, these small pieces of paper can give handsome returns to its collectors,” Jain remarked.
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No shelter for TB patient
Dehradun, April 11
“I am a destitute, but due to the efforts of a lady acquaintance known to my mother I managed to get a place at the shelter home. However, I was regularly ill-treated by the staff there. Due to my medical condition I could not work. Soon, other inmates at the home began to shun my company afraid that they would contract TB,” rued Neelam. Meanwhile, hospital authorities said Neelam would have recovered from TB if her treatment was not discontinued. “She was already undergoing free treatment but in the absence of any support, regularity could not be maintained. Now her condition has become serious,” said Dr VS Tolia, TB Clinic, Doon Hospital. Doon Hospital authorities informed that Neelam was now undergoing treatment at the Premnagar Hospital. “Once she has sufficiently recovered, she will be discharged but since we have non-existent centres for destitutes who are afflicted with serious diseases, it is uncertain where she will go. The treatment has to be carried out for a period of eight months,” said CMS Doon Hospital RK Pant. Meanwhile, not unduly worried about the consequences of their action, authorities at Gramiya Mahila Kalyan Sansthan said that they had taken adequate care of Neelam and her complaints were false. “We not only provided her shelter but also got her regular treatment. The allegations are false,” said Hemlata Rawat, president of he organisation running the shelter home. But social activists said by and large no homes are willing to take patients with serious diseases, “Although TB is curable, due to disinformation the society does not take kindly to such patients. For destitutes and women the situation is worse,” said Hemlata, a social activist working on a project called ‘Sandhyadeep’.
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Anju gets 1st Indian doctorate on
Tunisia
Dehradun, April 11 Since 1987, Anju Bali Pandey did her research in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi on Tunisia. She wrote a book on the state in the year 2005 discussing domestic, foreign policies and women’s role in country’s development, and also how the its first President, Habib Bourguiba, worked for women empowerment
and made Tunisia a role model for other Muslim countries. “I started researching on this Muslim-dominated country because from my childhood, I was inspired by my father who belonged to Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and also because no one
has ever extensively researched on a Muslim country, which has a modern outlook and follows a sense of partnership and gender equality,”
said Anju. Anju got lot of recognition and her book made huge sales in India. She had also got massive orders of books from Tunisia and France. “In India, the sale has been satisfactory in metros but in other Muslim countries like Morocco, Algeria and France, the sale of my books has been outstanding. On March 19, I was invited to the embassy of Tunisia, New Delhi by the Tunisian Ambassador to India, Raouff Chatty, and was honoured for my research work on the state for good 20 years,” said an elated Anju. “As the sources are very less due to no research being conducted in the past, my professors and people at embassy has been a constant source
of inspiration for writing a book and well as completing my thesis for my PhD,” she said.
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IIT-R powers private plants
Roorkee, April 11 HK Verma, deputy director of IIT-R said the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) of IIT-R has prepared around 200 detail project reports for setting up small hydropower stations across the country so far. “Our country has huge a potential of small hydro power generation but we are harnessing our resources very less. Against the potential of generating 15,000 MW small hydropower, presently we are producing just 2,500 MW,” said Verma. Not only we are lacking in setting up such stations but we are not even using the up to mark paraphernalia at many existing hydro power plants, added Verma. In the direction to check the quality control in such projects, the IIT experts have been also entrusted with assignment of testing the used material and efficiency of the plants. Getting testing certificate from the IIT-R has become mandatory for SHPs owners to get subsidy from the concerned ministry. “So far, we have tested a total of 42 such power plants across the country. Where in Punjab, as many as seven projects have been tested by our team, while the number of tested plants in Himachal Pradesh is 12,” said Verma. In Punjab, the IIT team has so far tested the projects including Babbanpur (Sangrur), Chakbhai (Sangrur), Lohgarh (Ludhiana), Killa (Sangrur), Sahoke (Sangrur), Sidhana SHP (Bhatinda and Babehali (Gurdaspur). Besides checking the efficiency of the project according to norms, we also ensure that the equipment being used in the project should conform to prescribed national and international standards, said Verma. “The main purpose of the testing is to ensure the maximum utilisation of available water resources. Our experts also help owners of the project to overcome problems they face”, said Verma. Several thousands sites in the country have been identified by our experts, where such SHPs can be installed to overcome the problem of power shortage, added
Verma.
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In today’s computer age, youngsters have little time for once cherished hobbies like philately. However, it is another matter that if seriously pursued, philately does have the potential to reap rich financial rewards at a later date.
