India Post to print best tiger stamps by students

NEW DELHI - Three thousand schoolchildren took part in a Save the Tiger stamp designing competition here Sunday. The six best designs will be issued as India Post stamps on Children’s Day, Nov 14, next year.

The competition set the mood for the larger world philatelic exhibition, Indipex 2011, by the India Post next year, aimed at bringing together the philatelic community.

An exhibition will take place Feb 12-18 at Pragati Maidan in the capital. A total of 71 countries will participate in it, displaying their collection of stamps and other philatelic items.

Indipex 2011 director Harpreet Singh said a letter-writing competition on the subjects ‘Save the Tiger’, ‘What steps you and your parents are taking to make your home more environments friendly’ and ‘What India can do to preserve the earth for future generations’ was also held.

He said the aim of organising the event was to augment students’ interest in philately and develop the power of writing.

“This generation is increasingly exposed to the e-world with access to all information on web,” he said.

“We hope that through the exhibition we develop an interesting and educative way to shape people’s mind to think innovatively and individually about the growing concerns of today and our rich diversity of culture and heritage through philately,” he added.

The competition was held for three categories of students - those up to Class 5, from Classes 6 to 8 and from Classes 9 to 12.

The postal department will organise more such competitions and events across the country.