THE INDIA STUDY CIRCLE FOR PHILATELY

The 2024 A.G.M. of the ISC was held by Zoom at 16.00 hours on Saturday 30th November.

No nominations had been received for the post of Treasurer, so Terry Hare-Walker offered to continue on a temporary basis, while the Committee investigated possible solutions. Terry informed the Meeting that annual subscriptions would remain the same, except for members in India, where they would rise to RS. 1,800, because of the falling value of the Rupee with respect to the Pound over several years.

Dan Walker was re-elected as Members’ Representative

It was announced that the UK Circulation Packet had terminated because John Tinker, who had been doing a good job for several years, has developed medical problems; at present, there is no-one to take over.

ISC Auction no. 243 closed on 7th December; details will be published in the near future.

Issue no. 233 of India Post has been distributed and no. 234 is in production. Members have been informed that they can now download all published issues of India Post from the ISC Website. Spare issues of India Post were now being donated to twelve prominent libraries around the world, thus enhancing the standing of the ISC.

The first two volumes in Series 3 of the ISC’s Handbook of Indian Philately, “The Origins of Mail by Rail in India 1860-1880” by Chris Bartlett and an update of Ray Benns’ “The Sacred Cow Issues of Bundi” by John Warren, are virtually ready to be acquired via Amazon Print-on-Demand.

The first of a new series of Zoom Display Meetings was held on Saturday 9th November with a presentation of “The Birth of Air Mail – The First Aerial Post at Allahabad (Prayagraj)” by Piyush Khaitan, followed by ‘Q&A’ and ‘Show and Tell’ sessions. It is intended that these meetings become a regular occurrence on the second Saturday of each month; guests are welcome to attend.

Several ISC members received awards for their displays at CHICAGOPEX 2024: Sandeep Jaiswal (2 Large Gold Medals), Dan Walker (Large Gold Medal), Vivek Chopra (Gold and Large Vermeil Medals), Apratim Bhattacharya (Large Vermeil Medal), Srinivas Prava (Vermeil Medal) and Nestor C. Nunez (a Vermeil Medal in the ‘Literature’ section, albeit not on an India-related subject).

Sandeep Jaiswal, the ISC Program Secretary, has committed to having the ISC as the only convening Society at the Philatelic Show in Boxborough, Massachusetts, USA, from 18th to 20th April. On Saturday 19th April presentations will be arranged at the frames, to be followed by lunch. The link to the show is: http://www.nefed.org/ps_index.php.

Arrangements for ISC involvement in EUROPHILEX 2025 at the National Exhibition Centre, just outside Birmingham, UK, from 7th to 11th May are continuing. The ISC Meeting on the 7th will see ISC 75th Anniversary celebrations, highlighted by the publication of a high-quality commemorative book (see below). More details about the Meeting will be issued in due course and general details of EuroPhilEx can be found on their website.

The ISC will be holding a meeting at MIDPEX 2025 on Saturday the 5th July at the Warwickshire Event Centre, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK; further details to come.

BOSTON 2026 World Expo will be a major International Stamp Show, held from 23rd to 30th May 2026 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Our Program Secretary, Sandeep Jaiswal, is organizing the ISC input; look out for further details, including information about the details of the dinner that Sandeep will be arranging following the ISC meeting.

The Committee has agreed that there should be celebrations next year to mark the 75th Anniversary of the ISC, at BOXBORO 2025 and, particularly, at EuroPhilEx 2025. Sandeep Jaiswal is organizing the production of a high-quality, hard back book, which will include a section on ‘The History of the ISC’ and another with contributions from members. All ISC members have been asked to send a scan of their ‘Favorite Item’ with a description, together with a paragraph about themselves and a photograph, if they wish. The deadline for submissions is 31st January. Every ISC member will receive a free copy of this commemorative book.

Sandeep Jaiswal also announced that the Committee has agreed to the launch of the ISC Expertization Service, in which there had been much interest for some years. This would entail a committee of experts from the ISC examining items and issuing ‘certificates’ (in reality, statements of expert opinion). A submission form, with a list of charges, will be available on the ISC Website, to be printed off and filled in, with a requirement for submitters to sign that they agree to accept the conditions detailed. This will then be sent to Sandeep with the item to be examined. Proceeds of the service will go to ISC funds.