Gandhi blood sample up for auction in London

Two microscope slides bearing the blood of former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi are to go on same in London on Tuesday & are expected to fetch from 10,000 pound to 15,000 pound ($15,200-$22,800).

The slides were obtained in 1924 when the father of the Indian independence movement was recovering from an appendectomy near Mumbai. He was thought to have donated the blood to the family he was staying with at the time.

"to Ghandi devotees, it has the same status as a scared relic to a Christian," said Richard Westwood-Brookes, a historical documents expert at Mullock's auctioneers which is selling the item.

"it is an artefact which is revered by disciples of Ghandhi, particularly in India and therefore that is the sort of person who would go for it," he added.

The slides are part of a larger collection of items obtained by Mullock's, which include the former leader's sandal's, shawl and bed linen.

Demand for Gandhi memoralilia has been steadily growing since Mullock's sold soil samples and blades of bloody grass purportedly from the spot where Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, for 10,000 pound ($15,000) last year.

Reuters

Chinese businessman pays record price for Belgian racing pigeon

A Chinese bunissessman has paid a world record $398,500 for a Belgian pigeon, highlighting Asia's huge and growing intrest in racing birds.

The one-year-old award-winning pigeon named Bolt was bred by Belgian pigeon fancier Leo Heremans, a well-known name to pigeon enthusiasts, who sold his entire collection of 530 birds for 4.3m euro at an auction over the weekend.

"You can compare it to artwork. A painting made by Picasso is worth more than one made by an unknown artist. It's the same with this pigeon," Nikolaas Gyselbrecht of pigeon aution site PIPA said.

Because the bird was still young, its new Chinese owner could use it for breeding for atleast another 8 years, Gyselbrecht said.

Although the event attracted intrest from 27 countries, nine of 10 most expencive racing pigeons sold at the auction were purchased by clients from China and Taiwan, PIPA said.

Reuters