Treasure trove unearthed in Indian temple

1 July 2011 Last updated at 17:03 GMT By Ashraf Padanna Kochi The temple was built in the 16th Century by the kings of Travancore Treasure, thought to be worth billions of rupees, has been unearthed from secret underground chambers in a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time.

They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.

Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week.

Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult.

Security has been stepped up at the temple: "I have instructed the police chief to reinforce security further following the findings and it would be there permanently," Oomen Chandy, the state's chief minister, said.

Concealed riches

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple was built in the 16th Century by the kings who ruled over the then kingdom of Travancore. Local legends say the Travancore kings sealed immense riches within the thick stone walls and vaults of the temple.

The current Maharajah of Travancore has been the managing trustee of the temple

Since Independence, the temple has been controlled by a trust run by the descendants of the Travancore royal family. After 1947 the kingdom of Travancore merged with the princely state of Cochin, which eventually became the present-day state of Kerala.

The inspections at the temple began after India's Supreme Court appointed a seven-member panel to enter and assess the value of the objects stored in its cellars, including two chambers last thought to have been opened about 130 years ago.

The Supreme Court also endorsed a ruling by the high court in Kerala, which ordered the state government to take over the temple and its assets from the royal trust. It also ordered the trust to hand over responsibility for the temple's security to the police.

The initial court petition was brought by a local lawyer, Sundar Rajan, who filed a case in the Kerala High Court demanding the takeover of the temple, saying that the current controllers were incapable of protecting the wealth of the temple because it did not have its own security force.

Anand Padmanaban, counsel for Sundar Rajan, was present when observers appointed by the Supreme Court opened the treasure chambers.

"Treasures included very old gold chains, diamonds and precious stones which cannot be valued in terms of money," he told the BBC Tamil service.

"Many of those things were pretty old, going back to the 18th Century. They could not count it, so they are weighing it."

Only two of four chambers had been opened so far, he said.

Royal wealth?

The current Maharajah of Travancore, Uthradan Thirunaal Marthanda Varma, who is also the managing trustee of the temple, appealed to the Supreme Court against Sundar Rajan's petition.

He said that as Maharajah he had every right to control the temple because of a special law enacted after Independence, which vested the management of the temple with the erstwhile ruler of Travancore.

But his appeal was rejected - Maharajahs have no special status in India and they are treated like ordinary citizens.

The members of the Travancore royal family consider themselves to be servants of the presiding deity at the temple, Padmanabhaswamy, which is an aspect of the Hindu God Vishnu in eternal sleep. This is why they historically entrusted their wealth to the temple.

But there was a public outcry when the Maharajah attempted to retain control of the temple by citing the special law, with many arguing that the wealth belonged to the people now.

The vaults were opened in the presence of the panel, and observers, which include high court judges, temple officials, archaeology authorities, Sundar Rajan and a representative of the current Maharajah.

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Indian athletes fail doping test

1 July 2011 Last updated at 15:05 GMT Sini Jose (far right) and Mandeep Kaur (second from right) won Commonwealth golds Six Indian athletes - five women and one man - have been suspended after failing doping tests, officials say.

They include two members of the 4X400m relay team that won the gold in last year's Commonwealth Games, Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur.

Kaur has said food supplements may have caused her to test positive.

Sprinters Tiana Mary and Jauna Murmu, shot putter Sonia Kumari, and long jumper Hari Krishnan - the only man among the six - also failed the tests.

They were conducted at a national championship.

India's athletics authorities announced on Thursday that Krishnan, Jose, Mary and Kumari had tested positive for anabolic steroids and had been "provisionally suspended".

Kaur and Murmu had been suspended on Wednesday, they added.

Jose, Kaur and Murmu were expected to be part of the squad for the Asian Championships in Kobe, Japan, which begins on 7 July.

"So many athletes testing positive is a matter of concern and we will look into it," senior athletics official Manohar Lal Dogra told the Associated Press news agency.

During last October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi Indian walker Rani Yadav tested positive for a banned anabolic agent and was suspended. She had finished sixth in the women's 20km.

India performed well in track and field at the Games, and won only its second gold on the track when the women's 4x400m relay sprinted to victory.

Mandeep Kaur denied knowingly taking steroids.

"I am not a mad person that I would take steroids to enhance performance," she told the Times of India. "Steroids remain inside the body for three months.

"I suspect the food supplements, vitamins we took could have created the problems."

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Indian pledges billions to Africa

24 May 2011 Last updated at 14:05 GMT Mr Singh is also likely to take up the issue of Somali pirates India will offer $5bn (?3.1bn) credit to African nations to help them meet development goals, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

Speaking at a meeting with African heads of state in Ethiopia, Mr Singh also pledged to support African education and infrastructure.

He is in Africa in a bid to expand India's trade with the continent.

Analysts say India is lagging behind its rival China in trying to invest in and access African markets.

Mr Singh is at the beginning of a six-day visit to the continent.

India's commerce with Africa is worth $40bn (?25bn) a year, but it is dwarfed by China, which does roughly three times as much business with the continent.

Manmohan Singh spoke of a unique relationship between India and Africa, which he said owed its origins to a common struggle against colonialism, apartheid and poverty.

He said Africa had the potential for major growth.

"Africa possesses all the prerequisites to become a major growth pole of the world. There is good news in the struggle against HIV and Aids, as well as in improving literacy, reducing infant mortality and building institutions of representative government," he said.

The BBC's Will Ross, in Nairobi, says that despite the global downturn, India and Africa have been fairly resilient - economies are steadily growing although many of the poor would say they are not feeling the benefit in their own pockets.

While India's economy expanded by more than 8%, India's business links in Africa are also growing - one example being Bharti Airtel spending $10bn (?6.2bn) in 2010 to take over mobile phone operations across Africa from the Kuwaiti firm, Zain.

The challenge for African leaders, our correspondent says, is how to boost the trade and move away from an over-reliance on single commodities - the continent's raw materials.

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