Saturday, March 28, 2015

India Post needs a Research Unit for Philately

Another round of stamps that contain unique spellings. First up, the D. K. Pattammal stamp issued in September 2014. This can get tricky, but I will try explain. The musician's name in the vernacular language (Hindi) is printed incorrectly. The Department of Posts is not going to make any amends, but I do want philatelists to be aware of this fact. Take a look at the snapshot from the information brochure released along with the stamps. The incorrect Hindi spelling on the actual stamp reads - D. K. Pattaamal, whereas it should be corrected as D. K. Pattammal (as printed in the brochure).


D. K. Pattammal
The next stamp issue that deserves mention was recently released on 20 March 2015. This stamp was released during the India and Indian Ocean international conference in Bhubaneshwar. The stamp commemorates Indian Ocean and king Rajendra Chola I. The theme is great and the stamp is design is decent as well. The problem lies in the fact that the king's name Rajendra Chola I is printed as Rajendra Chola 1. It is typical to use regnal numbers (written using roman numerals) for monarchs, but India Post's choice of using the common numerals was odd. In the Hindi spelling on the stamp, apart from the fact that the Hindi spelling of Rajendra Chola I, oddly reads Rajendra Chol I, use of the common numeral 1, instead of just spelling out 'Pratham' or 'First' is amusing. I am unsure about the spelling of Chola in Hindi, but if I find additional information will provide an update.
Anyways, thought I'd shed some light on these two stamp issues, with a hope that stamp design can improve in the future. There is an urgent need to establish a research wing within the philately division in the Department of Posts to avoid such gross errors. This research unit will enable collection of accurate information on stamp subjects, help design stamps in consultation with SPMCIL, national museums, Ministry of Culture, etc. A proper system of quality check with respect to stamp design and printing will ensure that the best product is delivered to the philatelists. This idea may have been mooted in the previous Five Year Plan as well, but when will it be implemented?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Check the Spellings #1

It is important to have the correct spellings on stamps and related philatelic material (brochure, FDC etc). In the last decade there have been numerous occasions of typographical errors on Indian postage stamps. These are mostly related to the vernacular (Hindi) spellings. 

First one being a postage stamp issued on 30 June 2008 to commemorate 50 years of Madhav Institute of Science & Technology, Gwalior during the valedictory function of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. The postage stamp has a spelling error in the Hindi alphabets. The Hindi word for 'Technology' is 'Praudyogiki'. It uses a letter, 'dya' in its spelling.  The stamp on the contrary mentions it as 'Praudhogiki', making no meaning out of it. It has replaced 'dya' with 'dha'. The Ministry under which the Department of Posts functions is Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, having 'Technology' in its name itself! Such blunders are an insult to the department, which cannot even take care of spelling mistakes in postage stamps, referred to as being a nation's reprecentatives to the world. The fascimile on the borchure shows the name spelt out correctly. The error could have cropped up during the printing process.

Another mistake can be found in the Brahmos missile postage stamps released on 22 December 2008. The FDC carries the spelling of the Moskva river, in English as MOSKAVA whereas it is correctly mentioned at MOSKVA on the miniature sheet. The version in the vernacular language, on the FDC reads as MASKOVA and on the miniature sheet as MOSKOVA. So, these are four different ways to the original MOSKVA river, after which the BrahMOS cruise missile is partly named. I request the artists to be more careful, since postage stamp is a miniature art form that conveys a message and thus needs attention to perfection. A proof-check of the philatelic materials should be done before being sent out for printing. These postage stamps are the message-carriers of a nation and this postage stamp in particular, will have significance in Russia as well.

A variation in spelling Satyajit Ray's name can be found in a definitive stamp release on the legendary filmmaker, a builder of modern India in March 2009. The vernacular spelling of Ray's name is different on the other stamp released to honor him in January 1994. The stamp in the definitive series translates his last name 'Ray' name to ' रे ' where as the commemorative version has is as ' राय '. One is curious to know what goes in the making of India postage stamps and why little to no attention is paid to the details and accuracy. It may not always be wise to question the spellings for proper nouns (individual's names) but, there is ample scope to improving uniformity in this regard.

This topic is one that deserves attention. The last word on this has not been written yet. As I finish writing this, there is a new postage stamp on Indian Ocean and Rajendra Chola 1 and there are a few minor errors on that postage stamp as well. Rest for later.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

India Post 2014

Posting India Post's stamp releases from 2014 with information including the format of each issue and the print quantity. Hoping this helps philatelists better plan their collection.

Date
Issue Description
Format
Denomination
Print Quantity*
14 January
Food Corporation of India
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.42 Million
30 January
International Year of Crystallography
Sheet of 45
Rs 20
0.41 Million
02 February
Indian Museum, Kolkata
(3 designs)
Souvenir Sheet of 3
Rs 45
0.61 Million
08 February
Jagjit Singh (2 designs)
18 Se-tenants
Rs 5 and 20
0.41 Mil each
11 February
Central Vigilance Commission
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.41 Million
25 February
Hasrat Mohani
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.31 Million
25 April
National Council of Churches in India
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.61 Million
30 April
Chattampiswamikal
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.7 Million
30 April
Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, Delhi
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
14 May
Drukpa Lineage of Buddhism
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.62 Million
12 June
2014 FIFA World Cup (4 designs)
Sheets of 49 each
Rs 5 x 2; 25 x 2
0.9 Mil each
12 June
2014 FIFA World Cup (4 designs)
Miniature Sheet of 4
Rs 60
0.4 Million
16 July
MyStamp – Fairy Queen
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
04 August
MyStamp – Hawa Mahal
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
04 August
MyStamp – Red Fort
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
04 August
MyStamp – St. Francis Church
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
04 August
MyStamp – Taj Mahal
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
05 August
MyStamp – Ajanta Caves
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
05 August
MyStamp – Greeting
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
05 August
MyStamp – Mysore Palace
(2 designs)
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5 each
N/A
05 August
MyStamp – Port Blair Island
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
05 August
MyStamp – Qutub Minar
Sheetlet of 12
Rs 5
N/A
20 August
Gaiety Theatre Complex, Shimla
Sheet of 21
Rs 5
N/A
03 September
Indian Musicians (8 designs)
Ravi Shankar
Bhimsen Joshi
D. K. Pattammal
Gangubai Hangal
Kumar Gandharva
Vilayat Khan
Mallikarjun Mansur
Ali Akbar Khan
Sheets of 45 each
Rs 5 x 6; 25 x 2
0.5 Mil each (6)
0.8 Mil each (2)
03 September
Indian Musicians (8 designs)
Sheetlets of 9
Rs 5 x 6; 25 x 2
1 Mil each
03 September
Indian Musicians (8 designs)
Miniature Sheet of 8
Rs 80
0.4 Million
25 October
Anagarika Dharmapala
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.5 Million
04 November
Liver Transplantation in India
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
12 November
UTI
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.403 Million
28 November
India-Slovenia: Joint Issue (2 designs)
Sheets of 45
Rs 5 and 25
0.6 Mil each
28 November
India-Slovenia: Joint Issue (2 designs)
Miniature Sheet of 2
Rs 30
0.3 Million
29 November
Sagol Kangjei
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
04 December
Swami Ekrasanand Saraswati
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
15 December
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
24 December
Kuka Movement
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
30 December
Baba Amte
Sheet of 45
Rs 5
0.6 Million
              *Print Quantity indicates the quantity of stamps or miniature sheet/sheets