Shera stamps a hit amongst athletes at CWG village

The post office at the Commonwealth Games Village is doing brisk business. At the centre of attraction for foreign athletes is the set of Shera postage stamps, selling like hot cakes.

The postal department opened a post office in the International Zone of the Games Village Sep 16 to provide a vend for speed post, registered post, ordinary mail and other services. It also houses a philately section where people can buy stamps.

India Post released four stamps - Shera, Queen's Baton, Talkatora Stadium and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium - commemorating the Games. Another stamp will be released Oct 3 on the opening ceremony of the 19th Games.

According to the postal officials, the stamps related to the Games are attracting large number of people.

"We have got an amazing response from athletes and delegates in the Games Village. We have sold stamps worth over Rs.14,000 in last one week. Majority of people are buying the Shera stamp having images of the Games mascot," Veerpal Singh, of India Post.

Singh also said they are very happy with the overwhelming response from the players.

"India will be hosting World Philately Exhibition February and this is a sort of curtain raiser for us. We hope to do more business in the coming days," said Vipin Kumar, another staffer at the Village post ofice.

Brittany Teev, a tennis player from Cook Islands - a net of 15 islands in the heart of South Pacific with a population of a mere 13,200 - said: "I bought 10 Shera stamps as souvenirs for my friends back home. I have also bought lots of postcards having shera stamps to send message back home as it is the cheapest means of communication. The facilities here are brilliant."

Calling it one of the best stores in the Village, Alan Ritche from Scotland said: "It is awesome. The people in the store are so friendly that it is an experience of a lifetime."

Some 7,000 participants and officials from 71 countries and territories are expected to attend the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, India's biggest sporting event after the 1982 Asian Games.

200 handicrafts kiosks at INA Market before Commonwealth Games

To give a fillip to the handicraft industry, Municipal Corporation of Deli (MCD) is planning to set up several kiosks at INA Market that will sell mostly handicraft products and food items. These kiosks will serve as a model market.

The civic agency also plans to set up such markets across the city — one in each ward, said MCD officials.

"A total of 200 kiosks will be set up in INA Market. Many of these kiosks will sell handicraft products. Since Dilli Haat is right opposite INA, these kiosks will cater to tourists visiting the area to buy souvenirs during the Commonwealth Games 2010.

However, the approval for setting up these model kiosks is yet to be taken from MCD’s standing committee, an official said.

These kiosks will have solar panels. A toilet that can function without water will also be put near the kiosks. The decision to set up the kiosks was taken in the licensing committee meeting of held last week. The civic body had received 1,31,000 applications for licence to operate such kiosks.

"To maintain a record of all street vendors, we are planning issue identification cards to all vendors," said Surender Gupta, chairman of the licencing committee of the MCD. The civic agency said it had completed the process of surveying all street vendors and registering them.