India Post 2015 - Designers & Printers

Date	Issue Description	Stamp / FDC Designer	Cancellation Designer	Printer
7-Jan-15	MyStamp – Gujarat (3 designs)	N/A	N/A	ISP, Nashik
8-Jan-15	100 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return (2 designs)	Sankha Samanta	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
22-Jan-15	Beti Bachao Beti Padhao	Brahm Prakash	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
30-Jan-15	Swachh Bharat (3 designs)	Sankha Samanta, M. Vaibhav Shenoy, Ankita De, Jenwin Baby, K. S. Bharanija, J. Sreeramulu	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
14-Feb-15	Project Rukmani	Suresh Kumar	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
20-Mar-15	Indian Ocean and Rajendra Chola 1	Suresh Kumar	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
27-Mar-15	Engineers India Limited	Brahm Prakash	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
10-Apr-15	India-France: Joint Issue (2 designs)	Sankha Samanta, David Ducros	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
18-Apr-15	Patna High Court	Brahm Prakash	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
21-Apr-15	Old Seminary, Kottayam	Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
21-Jun-15	International Yoga Day	Kamleshwar Singh	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
14-Jul-15	MyStamp – Godavari Pushkaram 2015	N/A	N/A	ISP, Nashik
17-Jul-15	Nabakalebara 2015 - Shri Jagannath Dham, Puri	Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
24-Aug-15	Samrat Ashoka	Kamleshwar Singh, Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
2-Sep-15	Women Empowerment (4 designs)	Suresh Kumar, Gurmeet Singh, Athul S. Raj, Pratheek Roopjith	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
10-Sep-15	10th World Hindi Conference	Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
15-Sep-15	Valour & Sacrifice – 1965 War (3 designs)	Nenu Gupta	Nenu Gupta	SPP, Hyderabad
30-Sep-15	Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Constitution of India	Brahm Prakash	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
1-Oct-15	Mahant Avaidyanath	Vinita Sinha	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
15-Oct-15	Charkha (2 designs)	Sankha Samanta	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
15-Oct-15	Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	Kamleshwar Singh	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
21-Oct-15	Border Security Force	Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
29-Oct-15	3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (6 designs)	Suresh Kumar	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
2-Nov-15	First Gorkha Rifles & Third Gorkha Rifles 1815-2015 (2 designs)	Nenu Gupta	Nenu Gupta	SPP, Hyderabad
14-Nov-15	Children’s Day (2 designs)	Sankha Samanta, Yamini K., Kimaya Gupta, Rohit Gupta, V. Hemachandran	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
16-Nov-15	Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited	Brahm Prakash	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
24-Nov-15	India-Singapore: Joint Issue (2 designs)	Alka Sharma, Wong Wui Kong	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
24-Nov-15	EEPC India	Alka Sharma	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
3-Dec-15	Zoological Survey of India (2 designs)	Suresh Kumar	Alka Sharma	SPP, Hyderabad
23-Dec-15	Sumitranandan Pant	Nenu Gupta	Nenu Gupta	SPP, Hyderabad
26-Dec-15	Alagumuthu Kone	Nenu Gupta	Nenu Gupta	SPP, Hyderabad
30-Dec-15	Institute for Defense Security and Analyses	Nenu Gupta	Nenu Gupta	SPP, Hyderabad

India Post 2012

Another list of India Post stamps. This one is from 2012. Note one of the lines for London 2012 Olympics stamps is red. That's because it's been a challenge to gather information for these stamps. The information brochure lists 0.04 million each as the print quantity, but there doesn't appear to be a clear indication whether these were actually issues in sheets or sheetlets only. Any update from the blog readers be greatly appreciated. Sheetlets and miniature sheets are highlighted in light grey for easy reading. Do leave a message if there are any errors in this listing.

United States 2015 - Postal Stationery

Date	Issue Description	Format	Print Quantity
12 January	Bank Swallow Envelope Reprint (Forever)	WAG and PSA (#s 6¾, 6¾W, 9, 9W, 10 & 10W)	N/A
12 January	Folk Art Eagle Envelope Reprint (Forever)	WAG and PSA (#s 6¾, 6¾W, 9, 9W, 10 & 10W)	N/A
12 January	$5.75 Glade Creek Grist Mill Pre-paid Priority Envelope	Pre-paid Priority Mail Envelope	N/A
17 April	Water Lilies Stamped Envelope (Forever; 2 designs)	PSA #10 (Pack of 10)	0.37 Million
18 May	Missing Children (Social Awareness) Stamped Envelope (Forever)	PSA #10 (Pack of 10)	0.37 Million
31 July	Fanciful Flowers Stamped Card	Single Card / Double Reply Card / Sheets of 40	3.12 Million / 96,000 / 2,500

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.

Half-way There?

July is about to set in with the customary long weekend celebrating the Independence Day. Just a few thoughts before crossing over to the second half of the year.

India Post: Highlights

- A set of two stamps and a miniature sheet were released to celebrate 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi's return from South Africa. Prime Minister Modi released this set of stamps in Gandhinagar during the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas. There was a different version of the miniature sheet that was designed by India Post and shared on this blog.

- Another MyStamp sheet, 'Gujarat' with three different stamp designs was released during the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Gandhinagar (January 2015). This MyStamp sheet is probably available in Gujarat only. Not sure how collectors from other regions of India can get access to this stamp sheet.

- Swachh Bharat stamps (3 stamps in individual sheets of 45 and a miniature sheet) were released on 30 Jan 2015 to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom day. There was a good bit of confusion regarding the total quantity of stamps printed and India Post has still not obliged the philatelic community with any clarification! No wonder price of a set of 3 sheets (45 stamps each design) has risen to almost threefold the cost price.

Fact Check on Swachh Bharat stamps

Total # of stamps printed - 5 lacs

Total # of stamps (each design) - 1.67 lacs

Compare this with the 1 lac stamps printed to commemorate Raj Kumar Shukla in the year 2000. If prices of Raj Kumar Shukla stamp are any indication, it would be prudent to buy a few sets before the prices go any higher.

- Look out for the India-France Joint Issue miniature sheet as well. Although the face value is relatively higher when compared with the Swachh Bharat stamps, lower print quantity (1 lac) could lead to stocks running low in the post offices.

The year has been lackluster, so far as Indian Philately is concerned. Swachh Bharat and India-France stamps did provide some excitement, but the lack of a fixed stamp program, lack of clarity for future stamp releases and an unresponsive postal department act as dampeners.

Looking forward to the stamp releases to commemorate Nabakalebara, Women empowerment, BHEL Limited and Emperor Ashoka. That's it for now.

Interesting Find: Two Preps for Gandhi 2015 Miniature Sheet?

Two stamps commemorating the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's return from South Africa were released in January 2015. A miniature sheet (souvenir sheet) containing both the stamps was also released. Now it appears there was another design with two additional features that did not make it to the final version. The other design contained an image of the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad and a logo describing the 100 years (1915-2015). Apart from these two differences, two other important changes were the denomination of the second stamp that shows the landing scene with a ship in the background as well as the stamp description. Increasing denomination of some stamps to provide for foreign postage is an on-going trend with India Post. It needs another blog post to better understand how higher denomination stamps inflate the cost of stamp collecting. This Gandhi stamp could have reached a lot more collectors and sold better had the cost of the miniature been restricted to 10 rupees instead of twenty five.

Stamp description changed from Mahatma Gandhi's Return from South Africa to 100 Years of Mahatma Gandhi's Return.

Left: Image from India Perspectives (indiaperspectives.in)
Right: Actual Miniature Sheet