1290. 🇧🇼 Excellent New Definitive Series From Botswana Post.

  🇧🇼 Botswana Post issued an excellent new definitive series on 31 August 2018 which is on the subject of Biodiversity at Kgalagadi and is made up of 15 stamps and 3 miniature sheets which each contain 5 different stamps depicting a different subject (birds, mammals and reptiles, fish and amphibians). This beautiful issue was designed by Philip Huebsch and printed in lithography.

  It is well worth devoting this particular blog to this single issue which confirms just how well worthwhile it is to collect contemporary stamps from Africa if you ignore the exploitative and cynical products emanating from such entities as Stamperija or IGPC. Rating:- *****.

1289. 🇫🇯 Local Reptiles From Fiji Post.

  🇫🇯 Fiji Post issued a set of 4 stamps on 13 July 2018 on the subject of Endemic Fiji Herpetofauna which isn't the catchiest title for a set of stamps that I've ever come across but which I interpret to mean 'Local reptiles'. It's an attractive set, not as expensive as some recent issues from Fiji Post, and I like it. Rating:- ****.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 30 August 2018 as a joint issue with the Armenian postal service. The designs feature the subject of Dance which has appeared on several previous issues released jointly with the postal services of other countries. I do not know what is so special about the relationship of India with Armenia that it warrants a special postage stamp issue to draw attention to it but India Post is currently prolific in releasing joint issues with other territories and at least the face values are pretty low. Rating:- ***.

  🇮🇴 The postal service of British Indian Ocean Territory will issue 4 stamps and a miniature sheet on 4 September 2018 to commemorate the International Year of the Reef. The designs are based on artwork by the winners of an international children's art competition. It seems unsatisfactory that each stamp has a face value of £2 and wouldn't it have been nice if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is responsible for the government of the territory though a Commissioner based in Britain had decided to get the children of the Chagossians, the former inhabitants of the BIOT whom the British had expelled from their homes in the territory in the 1970s, to submit artwork for use on the stamps of their homeland from which they had been banished? Rating:- **.

1288. 🇬🇧🇸🇸 Interesting Internet Auction Site Items From Royal Mail And South Sudan.

  🇬🇧 This looks like a case of premature issue. The final Royal Mail First World War Centenary issue is due for release on 13 September 2018 but a seller on an internet auction site is offering a used example of one of the £1.55p values for sale with the start of the sale being today, Tuesday 28 August which is quite a long way ahead of the planned date of issue. Unfortunately the stamp is not cancelled by a date stamp.

  🇸🇸 Following the surcharged stamps of 2017 which were reported in Blogs 1171, 1165, 1149 and 1134 it appears that more surcharges have now been released by the postal service of South Sudan. Two surcharges on the SSP5 Saddle billed crane stamp of 2012 are currently being offered for sale on an internet auction site - the first is a SSP100 surcharge in black and the second is a SSP300 surcharge in red. Rating:- *****.

  🇬🇬 As mentioned in Blog 1277 Guernsey Post will issue Guernsey Flag Post and Go stamps with an additional inscription and icon on 12 September 2018 at Autumn Stampex 2018. The inscription commemorates the Centenary of the Royal Air Force.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued a single stamp on 25 August 2018 to commemorate the Centenary of Patna University in Bihar which had actually been established in October 1917. Not the most exciting design in the world, Rating:- **.

 In Blog 1235 I listed some of the My Stamps issues released by India Post in the early part of 2018. Further such issues are listed below:-

  10 March 2018 - Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay - 2 stamps in sheets of 12 (6 x 2) with attached labels sold at a premium.

  13 May 2018 - Birth Centenary of Shri CU Shah, the Shri CU Shah Medical College and Medical School -1 stamp in a sheet of 12 with attached labels sold at a premium - 

  22 May 2018 - Border Security Force Wives Association - 1 stamp in sheet of 12 with attached labels sold at a premium.

  26 May 2018 - Vishwam Museum, Avdhoota Datta Peetham Mysuru - 1 stamp in sheet of 12 stamp with attached labels sold at a premium.

  7 July 2018 - Signs of the western Zodiac - 12 sheets each contains 12 stamps with a different stamp featured in each sheet. Subjects are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. All sold at a premium.

  9 July 2018 - 'The Ridge', Shimla in Himachal Pradesh - 1 stamp in sheet of 12 stamps with attached labels sold at a premium.