Serbia-India: Joint Stamp Issue (2018)

Updated on 22 Sep 2018: A joint stamp issue between India and Serbia was announced by Serbia Post Office as early as January this year, but India Post officials did not confirm the existence of this stamp set, despite repeated requests, until it's very issuance on 15th September. The stamp were originally planned for release on 9th October, but were later scheduled for release on 3rd September during an official trip of the Vice President of India to Serbia. Due to the national mourning period in late-August for the former Prime Minister of India Vajpayee, the dates of this trip were adjusted and changed to 15th September. So, even though these were issued a few weeks earlier than originally known, there was a minor last minute delay.

The stamp subject for the joint stamp issue is quite interesting. The Serbian side chose well known inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla and the Indian government chose the well known philosopher and spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda. On the surface this appears to be a complete mismatch; with a scientist and a religious philosopher, but Tesla and Vivekananda have something in common and shared a friendship. Serbia and India are celebrating 70 years of their diplomatic relations and 2018 is also 125th year of Swami Vivekananda's landmark speech on Hinduism during the World Religion Parliament in Chicago (1893). So, kudos to the postal administrations for this well thought commemoration.

India-Serbia: Joint Issue (2018) - Swami Vivekananda & Nikola Tesla

The stamp on Tesla was designed by Boban Savic 'Geto' of Serbia and the one on Vivekananda was done by Gulistaan, an artist working with the Indian Post Office. Stamps from the Serbia Post Office were printed in sheetlets of 4 se-tenant pairs (65,000 stamps each). In addition to the two individual stamp sheets (45 stamps each), India Post also issued a souvenir sheet comprised of the two stamps. I'm still awaiting details on the print quantity for the Indian stamps, but will add it here once available.

Serbian version of the Joint Stamp Issue with India

I've noticed several collectors wonder about the links between Tesla and Vivekananda, so it was worth looking for some information about their connection and friendship. Apparently it all began in February 1896 in New York City, when Tesla and Vivekananda met after a play by actress Sarah Bernhardt. After discussions and exchanges about Akasha, Prana and Kalpa, Swami ji and Tesla's friendship seems to have begun. Vivekananda believed that if Tesla can prove matter can be reduced to energy, the concept of Vedanta would be backed by Western science as well. Tesla continued his research to prove this, and was influenced by Vivekananda in later years, even using Sanskrit words Akasha and Prana for matter and energy, respectively. Neither Tesla was fully successful in proving this theory, nor Vivekananda was alive much longer to observe this. But, there was clear connect between the East and West and is nicely represented in these stamps.

India's XI Definitive Stamp Series - Makers of India

Update 6 on 29 May 2016: One more of the four remaining definitive stamps - on Gopinath Bordoloi - in the Makers of India series is available for purchase on ePostOffice. It was likely supplied to post offices from mid-April 2017. Just three more stamps are pending to be issued to complete the series. There was discussion in the philatelic community about new Makers of India postcards and inland letters as well, but nothing has been seen so far.

Update 5 on 18 Dec 2016: It's been quite a while since this post was last updated. The key points to note is that most of the stamps, except four of the planned 27 stamps have been issued and available for purchase on ePostOffice or at the local post offices. The stamps that were put on sale in the second and third quarter of 2016 are listed below along with the ones that are yet to be issued. We urge India Post to put the remaining four stamps in circulation as soon as possible, to complete this new definitive series.

Released Q2 2016 onward
Bhimsen Joshi
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Jawaharlal Nehru
Maharana Pratap
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Subhash Chandra Bose

Pending stamps
Gopinath Bordoloi
Mother (Saint) Teresa
Rabindranath Tagore
Thiruvalluvar

Update 4 on 01 Apr 2016: A lot of the definitive stamps in this series are now available across many post offices and even online at ePostOffice. Just posting an update to the grid/list below. Green indicates that the stamp has been sold at at least one post office in India. Although not technically sound, it appears to be an overall good decision to have started a new definitive stamp series. It has a much needed freshness to it. Happy Collecting!

Update 3 on 23 Jan 2016: Sharing an image for 19 of the definitive stamps for this new stamp series. Only a handful of them (8 more) remain to be seen. Some of these might be available soon. Let's go looking for these stamps on mail or in local post offices.

Update 2 on 18  Dec 2015: Here's a major overhaul of the Makers of India Stamp Series. Below is a final version of the stamp series with a total of 27 personalities and one Yoga stamp. The denominations for all the stamps is shown as well. Better Philately is most likely the first source of this information for philatelists. Happy Holidays!

A few points of note: 
1. Gopinath Bordoloi has been included in the stamp series, so have Srinivasa Ramanujan, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Thiruvalluvar. 
2. Karpuri Thakur no longer features on the final list.
3. An additional stamp on Yoga (25 Paise) will also be released along with the personality series. There was even a mention of inland letter cards or airmail letter cards with the Yoga theme as well.
4. There will be no 2 Rupees or 15 Rupees stamps in this definitive series.
5. Removed references to release dates. Neither official dates for first day of issuance are being announced nor first day covers are being provided. So, it doesn't provide a fair opportunity to know the stamp release date for this series.

Update 1: Added Bhagat Singh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad and Ram Manohar Lohia stamp date and denomination. Appears to be an odd move to release a bulk of the new stamps in 5 rupees denomination.

As a response to the less representative Builders of Modern India stamp series, a new one is being put in place. As of early December 2015, seven 5 Rupees stamps have already been released. This new list has not been put out officially, but is a guess based on news information in the last few months. Mainstream media had enjoyed a week long spectacle when the Indira and Rajiv Gandhi stamp sales were halted in July 2015. Government officials presented their case during this time and provided insight into this new stamp series as well. Three of the guesses have so far been accurate based on this list. Additional updated for first known sale date will be added as it becomes available. There will be no first day covers (FDC) or an official release date for this series of stamps, so one has to be content with approximate release dates based on first availability of the stamps in post offices.

The number of personalities, presumably to be honored with the new stamp series is more than twice the previous definitive stamp series, but appears to cover a wider range of historical figures, political, social and spiritual leaders. Although more representative it is still missing a sports personality, a representative of North-East India and and an industrialist. If given a choice, the following should be included as well:

Dhirubhai Ambani, Aurobindo, G. D. Birla, Gopinath Bordoloi, Dhyan Chand, Satish Dhawan, Tenzing Norgay, Dadasaheb Phalke, Munshi Premchand and Vikram Sarabhai.

Although, not ideal, the best way to enable a larger series of stamps could be by printing limited quantities for each personality. This would prevent from a glut of the definitive stamps in post offices and could end up adversely impacting sale of commemorative stamps as well. Many post offices tend to sell overstock commemorative stamps along with the definitive stamps to remove dead stock and also provide variety to customers. Anyways, given that the new stamp series was initiated so soon after the public discussion, a blog post for initial thoughts and a way to track progress of the Makers of India stamp series seemed appropriate.

Makers of India – Eleventh Definitive Stamp Series (2015 onward)

Issue Description	Contribution to Making India	Denomination
Mahatma Gandhi	Indian Independence	25 Paise
Subramania Bharathi	Writer & Poet Indian Independence	50 Paise
Bal Gangadhar Tilak	Indian Independence – Home Rule League	Re 1
Bhimsen Joshi	Arts & Culture (Singer)	Rs 3
Bismillah Khan	Arts & Culture (Shehnai Player)	Rs 3
M. S. Subbulakshmi	Arts & Culture (Singer)	Rs 3
Ravi Shankar	Arts & Culture (Sitar Player)	Rs 3
Srinivasa Ramanujan	Mathematics	Rs 4
Bhagat Singh	Indian Independence – Socialist Republican Association	Rs 5
Deendayal Upadhyaya	Integral Humanism Led Bharatiya Jana Sangh	Rs 5
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar	Indian Constitution Modern Buddhist Movement	Rs 5
Gopinath Bordoloi	Indian Independence Assam Chief Minister	Rs 5
Jayaprakash Narayan	Indian Independence Total Revolution of 1970s	Rs 5
Jawaharlal Nehru	Indian Independence First Prime Minister	Rs 5
Lal Bahadur Shastri	Indian Independence Second Prime Minister	Rs 5
Moulana Abul Kalam Azad	Indian Independence First Education Minister	Rs 5
Rajendra Prasad	Indian Independence First President of India	Rs 5
Ram Manohar Lohia	Indian Independence Socialist Leader	Rs 5
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	Indian Independence First Home Minister/Deputy Prime Minister Integrated 600 Small States	Rs 5
Subhash Chandra Bose	Indian Independence Pre-Independence National Army	Rs 5
Swami Vivekananda	Indian Philosophy – Vedanta & Yoga	Rs 5
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee	Indian Independence Founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh	Rs 5
Thiruvalluvar	Ancient Tamil Poetry & Philosophy	Rs 5
Chhatrapati Shivaji	Warrior & Ideal Rule of Maratha Empire	Rs 10
Maharana Pratap	Gallantry Warrior & Rule of Mewar Empire	Rs 10
Mother Teresa	Catholic Religious Sister Missionaries of Charity	Rs 20
Rabindranath Tagore	Indian Independence Indian Writing & Poetry India’s National Anthem	Rs 50

Sri Lanka - India Joint Stamp Issue or Not?

Anagarika Dharmapala was a Buddhist revivalist and a reformer from Sri Lanka. He was born in September 1864 in Colombo, growing up in a traditional Sinhala home. Anagarika founded the Mahabodhi Society in Sri Lanka with an aim to upkeep the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya. The ascetic soul worked tirelessly to spread the Buddhist philosophy until he passed away in 1933 in Sarnath, India.

Last year was the 150th birth anniversary year of Anagarika Dharmapala. Sri Lanka Post and India Post released commemorative postage stamps to celebrate the occasion. The Sri Lankan stamp was released on 17th September 2014 and the Indian stamp was released by the President of India on 24th October 2014. 

Although the stamp designs and the release dates are different, the occasion was similar. Considering that Sri Lanka also commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, it was no surprise that India and Sri Lanka cooperated for this stamp release as well. This was a reciprocal gesture between two neighboring countries. It is important that both the postal departments make a press release describing this coordinated effort for stamp release. This does seem like a joint stamp issue, just lacks a clarification from the authorities.

Luminaries of IISc Bengaluru

A set of two stamps released to commemorate 100 years of Indian Institute of Sciences in December 2008 was a fitting tribute to the leading institute of science research in India. The se-tenant was aesthetically designed and captured the essence of its existence over the past century. 

Design of the first stamp is quite intriguing with so many personalities on one stamp. I was unable to recognize a few faces at first, but an interesting article written by the then director of IISc, P. Balaram sheds light on these pioneers (Burjoji Padshah: Realizing a Vision, Current Science, Vol. 95, No. 12, 25 December 2008, 151-152). The numbered image below followed by the list should help the readers.

1. Homi Bhabha - Nuclear Physicist

2. Burjoji Padshah - Jamsetji Tata's associate; Tata family acquaintance

3. Morris Travers - First Director of IISc, Bengaluru

4. G. N. Ramachandran - Physicist

5. Satish Dhawan - Aerospace Engineer; ISRO Chairman (1972-1984)

6. C. V. Raman - Physicist and Nobel Laureate

7. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata - Industrialist and Philanthropist

8. Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV (Maharaja of Mysuru) - Land Donor 

9. Swami Vivekananda - Social reformer; inspired J. N. Tata