Monday, July 11, 2011

DTN News - INDIA NEWS: Kerala Temple’s Secret Vaults Yield $22 Billion In Treasure ~ Debate Over Ownership

Defense News: DTN News - INDIA NEWS: Kerala Temple’s Secret Vaults Yield $22 Billion In Treasure ~ Debate Over Ownership
**Battle intensifies for Kerala temple's $22 billion treasure
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 11, 2011: A $22 billion treasure trove unearthed beneath Kerala’s Padmanabhaswamy Temple has sparked a fierce political and public debate over ownership and how best to put the vast wealth to use.

The vaults of the 16th century temple were prised open for the first time in June, since when public calls have grown for redistribution of the wealth to the poor.

Discovered in the vaults were a dazzling stash of gold ornaments, Napoleonic era coins and sacks of gemstones.

The archaeological find, one of the greatest ever made in India, has triggered a fierce legal battle for custodianship, pitting the royal family of Travancore, which controls the temple, against the Kerala High Court that has asked the state government to bring the temple under a public trust.

The current maharajah of the royal family, Marthanda Verma, has since challenged the court ruling in the Supreme Court, with the backing of some state politicians.

"The Supreme Court has stayed a Kerala High Court ruling asking the state government to take over the temple. We will go by the direction," Temple Affairs Minister V. S. Sivakumar said on Sunday.

While the royal family's guardianship of the temple's wealth over close to three centuries has drawn plaudits, critics say the fortune could go far to stimulate Kerala's local economy and improve living standards in a country with an estimated 450 million people living in poverty.

"The royal family had a great tradition of being progressive and it had been an integral part of the history and traditions of the temple. It would not be right to deny them any role in the temple's affairs," said Ramesh Chennithala, chief of the Kerala unit of the ruling Congress party.

A Supreme Court-appointed committee has so far opened and examined five of the six vaults but deferred opening of the sixth vault to ensure safety of the assets while armed commandos guard the site against looting.

The state government is of the view that the find will continue to remain the temple's property, mirroring the stance of Hindu groups who say the religious relics mustn't be removed.

Others say a museum should be established for the treasures.

"This will bring the capital city to world limelight and bring more tourists," said temple expert Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishnan.

The 500-year-old temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, is unique in terms of architecture and mythology, with legends of a curse protecting the long-hidden treasure.

India's devout masses have occasionally bestowed great wealth to religious sites and trusts that run hospitals and educational institutions through donations.




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DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS / PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistan Casualties Risen Since bin Laden Death ~ ICRC

Defense News: DTN News - OSAMA BIN LADEN NEWS / PAKISTAN NEWS: Pakistan Casualties Risen Since bin Laden Death ~ ICRC
**Pakistan Taliban continue strikes to avenge Osama bin Laden death
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / GENEVA, Switzerland - July 11, 2011: Casualties from violence across Pakistan since the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden in May have soared, with many more maimed and injured people going to humanitarian clinics, the ICRC said on Monday.

Pascal Cuttat, outgoing head of operations in the country for the Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross, told reporters another effect of bin Laden's death was an increased suspicion of foreigners, including aid workers.

"Violence has increased considerably since bin Laden was killed, and has spread into urban areas," said Cuttat. "We are seeing increasing numbers coming into our medical and orthopedic centers, more than we have seen for many years.

The al Qaeda leader was shot in May by U.S. Navy Seals who landed by helicopter at his secret compound in Abbotabad, north of Karachi.

Pakistan has complained that the operation was a violation of its sovereignty and relations between the two long-time allies have nosedived. The United States has suspended a third of its military aid to Islamabad.

In the latest reported incidence of violence, local authorities said a weekend a suicide bombing in the northwestern town of Battagram killed three policemen and two civilians.

Cuttat, who spent three years overseeing ICRC operations in Pakistan, where the humanitarian body has been present for more than half a century, said he did not see much change in the current climate in the foreseeable future.

"We are planning for much of the same," he said. Although the ICRC would like to extend its operations, bureaucratic obstacles form the Pakistan authorities were making it more and more difficult to move around for all foreigners.

"We are consistently facing suspicion of any foreigner working in the country ... To live and work and get permission to do anything has become more difficult. Everyone is struggling with the bureaucracy," Cuttat added.

He said one of his regrets on leaving the country was that he had not been able to obtain better access to prisoners and detainees -- one of the key functions of the ICRC in many countries around the world.

(Editing by Tom Miles)

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

DTN News - U.S. DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Arrives In Baghdad For Talks With Leaders

Defense News: DTN News - U.S. DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Arrives In Baghdad For Talks With Leaders
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / BAGHDAD, Iraq - July 10, 2011: Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta arrived here today for meetings with senior Iraqi and American officials.

It is his first trip to the country since becoming defense secretary nine days ago, and he has a range of issues he will bring up, he said during a short news conference with reporters during his first stop in Afghanistan.

"There is concern with security there and what is being done to stop the Iranian weapons from coming into Iraq" he said. In June, the United States lost 15 troops, the highest number in two years.

The secretary will also raise governance questions, he said.

"We're now more than a year since the elections and we still don't have a minister of defense or a minister of the interior," Panetta said. While the security services are functioning, it is the U.S. opinion that the absence of leadership in those two ministries is not helpful in the current security environment, he said.

Panetta will also point out that the United States is withdrawing all forces from Iraq by the end of the year. If the Iraqis want some sort of American follow-on force, they have to make a formal request.

Panetta will be meeting President Jalal Talibani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He will also meet with Kurdish President Massoud Barzani.

The topics will include reaffirming the U.S. commitment to withdraw all forces by the end of the year as part of the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement signed in 2008. He will also reaffirm that the United States is serious about a long-term relationship with Iraq over a wide swath of issues, including economic, cultural, educational and security, said a senior defense official speaking on background.

On the possibility of keeping a residual U.S. force in Iraq, Panetta will convey to the Iraqis a similar message that former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered when they visited.

"There's some urgency for them to make that request if they are going to make it," the senior defense official said. "It's simply the laws of physics associated with the drawdown, the time it will take to negotiate the agreement. We're starting to run up against the clock, and he will make that point."

Both sides understand the Iraqi security forces have gaps in capabilities. Most notably these are command and control, intelligence fusion, logistics and sustainment. "These could be helped by a small U.S. presence," the official said.

There is no specific number of U.S. forces that could remain in Iraq under discussion, the official said. The Iraqis must first ask for specific capabilities. "Once there are specific 'asks' then we can get down to brass tacks about numbers and missions," the official said.

The secretary will also stress how important it is for Iraqi security forces to not let up in going after all insurgent and illegal militia forces.

U.S.officials are concerned about increasing support from Iran to Iraqi insurgent groups. "The key right now is to do everything possible to ensure the Iraqis within their own country are doing what they can to stop the flow of weapons, and stop the Shiia from using them," Panetta said to Marines at Camp Dwyer in Afghanistan earlier today.

U.S.leaders expected some of the recent rise in violence in Iraq, said the senior defense official. Senior military leaders "always felt that as we came into the final period of the drawdown that militant groups across the Sunni and Shiia spectrum would try to bloody our noses on our way out to create the false narrative that they were driving us out of Iraq," he said.

"The drawdown is based on an agreement and presidential guidance, but the insurgents and Iranian groups are trying to create the impression that we are being driven out," the official said.

The Iranian government also may be trying to intimidate the Iraqi government as discussions for a continued U.S. presence after December 31 go on, the official said.



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