Buddhist Mount Wutai in China listed as World Heritage site

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Chinese Defense Ministry has criticized US Defense Secretary Robert Gates for his "extremely irresponsible" words regarding China being one of America's main challengers. Gates had said that China's investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, and ballistic missiles could threaten America's move to project power and help its allies in the Pacific.

September 16th, 2009 LONDON - Archaeologists from Newcastle University, in collaboration with English Heritage, have begin the first systematic excavation of a cemetery on Hadrian's Wall in England, in order to preserve it effectively. Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England.

September 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Deputy Commissioner of Leh, Ajit Kumar Sahu, had visited the site where the Chinese intrusion was reported recently. He is undertstood to be sending a report to the Government.

September 1st, 2009 Giant air tanker drops water on Mount WilsonLOS ANGELES — A giant amphibious air tanker has made a huge water drop on flames on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles. The World War II-era flying boat bombarded the peak Tuesday to extinguish flames from a sprawling wildfire that could endanger the historic Mount Wilson Observatory and adjacent TV, radio and cell phone towers serving the region.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Tourist spots should be kept clean and drivers, waiters and cooks should be trained to ensure that travellers make repeated visits to popular hotspots like the Taj Mahal city of Agra, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said here Wednesday. "Public awareness campaign about cleanliness must be started in places like Agra where tourists come in large numbers, Selja said when Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Vinod Singh met her here to discuss tourism-related projects.

August 2nd, 2009 LONDON - A joint Austrian-Mongolian treasure hunt team has unearthed rare Buddhist treasures, not seen for more than 70 years, in the Gobi Desert. The relics, which include statues, artwork, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master, were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were looted and destroyed.

June 25th, 2009 SEOUL - The royal tombs of the Joseon Kingdom in South Korea are expected to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site at the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee now in session in Seville, Spain through June 30. According to a report in Korea Times, the final review is due for the June 26 to 27 session, and if approved, the tombs will become South Korea's ninth UNESCO-designated treasure.

June 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi, a city dotted with historical monuments and said to have been continuously inhabited since the 6th century, already fulfils two of the basic criteria for Unesco's World Heritage City status, says a leading conservation expert. "Unesco requires that a city should be of significance to human civilisation to get World Heritage City status and Delhi fulfils it," said A.G.K.

June 3rd, 2009 LIMA - Soon, the ancient city of Caral in Peru may be marked as a World cultural heritage site. According to a report in www.LivinginPeru.com, archaeologist Ruth Shady says that the ruins of the ancient city of Caral, located at 207 km or 128 miles to the north of Lima, meet the conditions to join the UNESCO World Heritage List.

May 31st, 2009 SOFIA - The latest archaeological research at the ancient observatory of Kokino in north-eastern Macedonia has revealed layers from the Iron Period, around the seventh century BC. "At the moment, there is intensive archaeological research on several sectors of the site," Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kancheska-Milevska explained during a Parliament session dedicated to questions of members of parliament.

May 29th, 2009 MALE - An Islander has discovered a pre-Islamic stupa, a Buddhist relic, beneath his house in Raa atoll Agolhitheemu in Maldives, while digging to build a well. According to a report in Minivan News, Yoosuf Adam, from Gulhaam House, found the coral stupa divided into three parts.

May 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A finger bone believed to belong to the Buddha was enshrined on May 9th in a 148-meter-high stupa, the world's highest, in an ancient temple in northwest China's Shaanxi province. The grand ceremony was held in the Famen Temple, Fufeng county, where a sarira, thought to be the middle finger of the left hand of Sakyamuni, was found in 1987 in a 1,000-year-old underground hall along with 2,000 ancient relics.

May 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A finger bone believed to belong to the founder of Buddhism was enshrined in a 148-meter-high stupa, the world's highest, in an ancient temple in northwest China's Shaanxi province. The grand ceremony started on Saturday in the Famen Temple, Fufeng County, where a sarira, thought to be the middle finger of the left hand of Sakyamuni, was found in 1987 in a 1,000-year-old underground hall along with 2,000 ancient relics.

April 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A two-year investigation has revealed that the length of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty era in China, is estimated to be more than 2,551.8 kilometers longer than earlier thought. According to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM), the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall is 8851.8 kilometers long.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The central government will soon set up a commission to frame guidelines for conserving heritage monuments and sites that are on the verge of decay. This was decided by the cabinet, presided over by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, here Thursday.