Member (Planning), Postal Services Board, Shekhar Kumar Sinha, going through the booklet 'Aikya' brought out by India Post along with the First Day Cover and Commemoration Stamp on the International Fleet Review-2016 in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.—Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

India Post that released a First Day Cover and stamp to commemorate the International Fleet Review 2016 has gone one step ahead and published a booklet on the relevance of the event.

Releasing the booklet – Aikya – at a function here on Sunday, Member (Planning) Postal Services Board Shekhar Kumar Sinha appreciated the efforts taken by Visakhapatnam Post Master General Sharda Sampath and her team on putting together the information and photos on previous Fleet Reviews conducted in India and also the first edition of the International Fleet Review conducted in 2001.

The Philatelic Department had taken up activities beyond simple publication and sale of commemorative stamps and first day covers, he said.

The Philatelic Bureau was organising an annual letter writing contest for students in October. The India Post was asking the principals of schools to organise regular letter writing competitions to help in character building of students.

The wait for letter to be delivered once it is posted helps inculcate patience, secondly once the letter is in the post box one has to have faith in the Postal Department this inculcates a value of trust among the students, Mr Sinha explained.

He called upon the philatelists and philately organisations to actively encourage the next generation to take to the king of hobbies – Philately – and disseminate their passion to the next generation, he said.

Post Master General Visakhapatnam Region Sharda Sampath explained the efforts that went into compiling the book and acknowledged the cooperation of Command Education and Welfare Officer Commodore Amit Vikram, Captain Dorai Babu and Commander Murthy in getting the official information on past events.

While the underlying theme of IFR was unified through oceans marking unity among the navies, the organising of the event played a major role in bringing together different government departments, Post Master General Vijayawada Region M. Sampath remarked.


The booklet not only carries information on the event but also has a crossed stamped First Day Cover, it is available at the Philatelic Bureau outlets in the city.

Member (Planning) Postal Services Board Shekhar Kumar Sinha appreciates efforts taken by Visakhapatnam Post Master General Sharda Sampath and her team on putting together the information and photos on previous Fleet Reviews conducted in India and also the first edition of the International Fleet Review conducted in 2001