Book Review

 

Guardians of Heritage

Exploring The World of GI Tag Products of India

-      Senthilkumar Chandrasekaran

Guardians of Heritage : Exploring the Wold of GI Tag Products of India by Senthilkumar Chandrasekaran : First Edition 2025 : Published By Mohanapriya Senthilkumar : ISBN 978-93-342-5045-9 : Copyright : Senthilkumar Chandrasekaran : Pages: 280 : Size A4 : Type Hardbound : Price: INR 1950: Author email : csenthilkumar78@gmail.com

 

A new book “Guardians of Heritage by Senthil Kumar Chandrasekaran” is an excellent book on different philatelic items related to Geographical Indications.  A geographical indication (GI) is a name used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which came into effect from 15 September 2003.

GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as: "indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.

India, with its vast cultural and ecological diversity, has given GI recognition to a variety of products ranging from the agricultural products, food products Handicrafts which promote the tapestry of culture and craftsmen, Manufactured products which show case the indigenous capability, to the natural products of India like the Makrana Marble. India Post has issued stamps, special covers, cancellations and other postal memorabilia to promote these GI Tagged Products of India. 

This book is based on author’s collection of philatelic items related to Geographical Indications. The book is a tribute to the GI Tagged Products. The author has shown different philatelic items  like Stamps, Miniature sheets , Special Covers, Special Cancellations, Permanent Pictorial Cancellations, Picture Postcards, Meter Marks, and other items issued by Deptt of Posts. related to GI products .

The author has given separate chapters to Agriculture Products Food Stuffs, Manufactured Products, and natural Products. The description of each product is given in detail.

 

A special chapter has been given in the book on special and specific Products from other countries like Czech Republic, Thailand, Japan, Peru, Chile, France, UK, Mexico, Portugal, Italy and Greece. This is a very interesting part of the book. It covers textile, Agriculture. Cheese, alcoholic beverages and other products from these countries.The list of State wise GI Tag Products and Alphabetical Index of GI Products has been given in the book which makes easy for reference.

The printing and layout of the book is excellent. There are about 600 multi coloured images covering different philatelic items from India and other countries. The book is very useful for all thematic collectors as well as for non philatelists too as it gives a comprehensive information on a variety of special GI Products of India. The author has given details about each item very systematically so it is a very good refence book for everyone..  The book will prove to  be an asset for all philatelists and book lovers. This book is specially recommended for School and college libraries as it has lot of information on a variety of interesting products from different parts of India and other countries. It will enrich the knowledge of students about many special products and the rich heritage of our country. Thematic philatelists will find this book very interesting as the author has tried to show different types of philatelic items in the book which are part of a thematic exhibit,  I recommend this book for every thematic collector as well as people from all walks of life of every age group. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senthilkumar Chandrasekaran is a Chemical Engineering Graduate from renowned AC Tech Campus of Anna University, Chennai, India. He is currently employed in an Indian multi national company specialised in Water and Wastewater Treatment as General Manager & Head of Engineering Function.

He was collecting stamps during his school days and restarted his philatelic interest during 2010 and became a very active collector cum exhibitor since 2019. His collection interests includes Water, Olympics, Gandhi, Joint Issue, Indian Heritage, Indian Postal Stationary and GI Tags.

He is a Life member of South India Philatelists’ Association (SIPA), Philatelic Congress of India (PCI), Ananthapuri Philatelic Association (APA) and Madurai Philatelist and Numismatist Association (MAPNA). He had participated in various State and National level exhibitions and won medals in different categories including Thematic, Postal Stationary, Literature and One-Frame.

 

 

Aland Harvest Festival !

Date of Issue : 20 September 2019

Åland harvest festival is one of the largest and most popular events in Åland. The 3-day festival is always arranged on the third weekend in September. Aland Post issued a beautiful set of stamps on 20 September 2019  to mark this festival !

The Lindau Messenger – an ancient courier service

 

Date of Issue : 1 September 2014

The Liechtenstein Post will issue a special stamp on 1st September 2014 to commemorate an ancient courier service “The Lindau Messenger”. The Lindau Messenger was a courier service operated between Lindau at Lake Constance and the Italian city of Milan up to the beginning of the 19th century. The Lindau Messenger transported goods, money and letters, crossing through areas of Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy on his way.

Each of the first four countries named is currently issuing its own stamp on this topic. The Liechtenstein stamp “Lindauer Bote” (value: CHF 1.40) shows suitable pictorial elements and gives the names of each stop. In addition, the altitude profile of the route, which reached its peak on Splügen Pass at 2113 metres above sea level, is depicted on the small 8-stamp sheet.

The exact date when the Lindau Messenger started to operate is not documented. However, it is assumed that he was already travelling along the arduous route on a fairly regular basis towards the end of the 15th century. In good weather, he completed the journey in five-and-a-half days but in snow and ice the trip took quite a bit longer.

At that time, Lindau and Milan were trading centres and re-loading points at crossroads of traffic routes. They thus became the points of departure for transports across the Alps. The messenger brought home luxury goods such as silk, gold thread, textiles of all kinds, exotic fruit and weapons.

Towards the end of the 17th and at the beginning of the 18th century, individual travellers were also allowed to accompany the messenger, the most famous of whom was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used the guidance of the Lindau Messenger across the Alps in May 1788 when returning to Germany from his travels in Italy and paid 122 guilders for it. In 1826 the transport services of the Lindau Messenger were stopped for political and economic reasons.

Club News

Release of NAARM Special Cover and NAARM My Stamp by India Post - 1 July 2014, Hyderabad

 

Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, renowned agricultural scientist, inaugurated the Centenary Batch of the Foundation Course for Agricultural Research Service (FOCARS-100) on 1 July 2014. The Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle issued a Special Cover affixed with the NAARM My Stamp to mark the occasion at the campus of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad on 1st July 2014. Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, released the Special Cover on FOCARS-100 and NAARM My Stamp with Smt. Mariamma Thomas, Director Postal Services, Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle and Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Ravi Viswanathan, Editor, NAARM who conceptualized the Special Cover facilitated the release. (Special Cover approval no. AP/04/2014)

Watch Video of the Special Cover release ceremony :   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29T6p1iz78

The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Indian Council of Agricultural Research was established in 1976 in Hyderabad with the Mission “To enhance Leadership, Governance and Innovation Capacities of NARS through Capacity Strengthening, Education, Research, Consultancy and Policy Support.

The Foundation Course for Agricultural Research Service (FOCARS) is induction training for newly recruited scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The objectives are to train the participants in various aspects of agricultural research and project management including developing skills for managing interdisciplinary research. The first batch of FOCARS started on 1st Sept. 1976 and till the 99th batch 5,561 scientists were trained.

 

Courtesy - Ravi Viswanathan, Editor, NAARM , Indian Philately Digest

Lighter Side

I wish to share here  some non philatelic pics because it is just related with the Rainbow….. These are   photos of very special rainbow called Fire rainbow taken by a pilot after take off from Bombay airport. I thank Mr Prashant Pandya for sharing these beautiful rainbow pics with me !!

Fire Rainbows are a rare phenomenon that only occurs when the sun is higher than 58 deg above the horizon and it's light passes through cirrus clouds mode of ice crystals.