African elephant adorns tourism ministry’s stamp

NEW DELHI - The environment ministry is irked by images of African elephants on stamps released by the tourism ministry to mark World Tourism Day Monday — and shot off a letter expressing unhappiness.

The tourism ministry released 18 stamps on India’s rich biodiversity to highlight important tourism interest spots.

The ministry released full-page ads in national dailies with the stamps. The goof up has led Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to write to Tourism Minister Kumari Selja.

“The minister wrote after receiving a number of phone calls from elephant experts. He wrote that such a bloomer could have been avoided,” said a senior ministry official.