written by indianachu at Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday apologised for the inclusion of the picture of a former Pakistani air chief in a full-page advertisement issued by the women and child development ministry and ordered an internal inquiry into the lapse.

"The Prime Minister's Office has noted with regret the inclusion of a foreign national's photograph in a Government of India advertisement," the media adviser to the prime minister said in a statement.

"While an internal enquiry has been instituted the PMO apologises to the public for this lapse," he added.

The advertisements issued by the government's Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) for the ministry on the occasion of National Girl Child Day had inexplicably included the photograph of former Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Ahmed, who was Pakistan's air chief 2006-2009, along with such national heroes as Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and Amjad Ali Khan.

With television channels playing it up, the government quickly ordered a probe into the faux pas.

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