This is because the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple located on the top of the staircase is a National Heritage site listed under the National Heritage Registry.

In a 2015 interview with StarMetro, Batu Caves Sri Mahamariamman Temple Devasthanam committee chairman Tan Sri R. Nadarajah had said that three lots encompassing 6.6ha in Batu Caves – Lot 1197, Lot 4557 and Lot 6020 – had been designated a heritage site in 2012.

Nadarajah added that a few other sites were gazetted as well, including the entire compound where the yearly Thaipusam festival took place.

Activist and Sentosa assemblyman G. Gunaraj told StarMetro that JWN conservators were unhappy as permission had not been obtained from them as required under Section 40 of the National Heritage Act 2005, prior to the renovation.

“I was told that in accordance with the Act’s Section 40 requirements, the temple management must refer to the department to identify best conservation methods when there is any development or renovation work done in close proximity to a national heritage site.

“This is to ensure the integrity and legacy of the heritage structure is maintained,’’ Gunaraj said.

Buckets of colourful paints were used for the steps.

“They are disappointed that efforts to get the temple listed as a heritage site might have been in vain as the paint job could lead to the temple being delisted,’’ he said.

Gunaraj said he had read that when a heritage site fails to correspond to its “outstanding heritage” value, it could be removed from the National Heritage list.

International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Malaysia committee member Rosli Mohd Ali said: “It has been going (renovations at Batu Caves) for a long time now, but whatever they do, they must get consent from JWN.

“The temple committee cannot expect the temple to be on the heritage list and yet do whatever they like,’’ he added.

Rosli, who is also an architect, cited the historic monuments of ancient Nara, which is a Unesco heritage site in Japan, as an example.

“It included a group of Buddhist temples which had great cultural and heritage significance.

“When the government restored some of the sites which were deteriorating, it was done following stringent guidelines to ensure the integrity of the site was intact with an adequate buffer zone,” he explained.

Temple committee defends renovation

When contacted, Nadarajah said they had the necessary approvals to proceed with the renovations.

“The paint job does not require any approval. For the renovation, we had approval from Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).

“Since we are not constructing any new building, we did not need to seek approval from JWN,’’ he said.

However, MPS corporate affairs deputy director Ahmad Fauzi Ishak said there was no record of any approval given for any works in Batu Caves, in a long time.

“In fact, we are still waiting for the documents and corresponding technical reports required to legalise the structures and buildings in and around Batu Caves, which has been going on for the last five years,” he said.

Nadarajah said the renovation works on the Batu Caves ground began early last year.

“In preparation for the consecration ceremony on Aug 31, all 13 temples in Batu Caves underwent renovations, and this included new entrance towers, new tiles, paint and sculptures, among others.

“Experienced temple builders from India were commissioned for much of the renovation works. The temple now looks a lot like those in India, or even better.

“We have spent RM6.1mil so far but the actual cost will be revealed on the consecration day,” he said, adding that the sum was from donations.

Nadarajah said the idea for the steps’ colour scheme was mooted by his son Datuk N. Sivakumar, who also sits in the committee.

He added that the colourful steps would attract more tourists to visit the site and the renovations would give devotees a more comfortable place to pray.

Nadarajah’s claims, however, have raised concerns as MPS is still in the process of legalising many of the structures in Batu Caves which were built without going through standard approval processes.

It was also learnt that JWN’s enforcement team have been visiting the site regularly since the temple was listed as a heritage site, for monitoring purposes under Section 39 of the Act, and the temple management were repeatedly reminded to get JWN’s consent for any works carried out at the site.

The temple, also known as the cave temple, is one of 30 caves open to the public.

The cave temple has a 100m vaulted ceiling and right above the cave is an opening where one can see the sky.

The stairway is divided into sets of 17 steps by landings and a 272 flight of steps lead up to the temple.

Previously, StarMetro had reported that Batu Caves could not qualify for the Unesco World Heritage List as its current building was not in harmony with its surroundings.

Meanwhile, the JWN source said they were looking into the matter to get an explanation from the temple management to see what kind of action would be taken.

Trump offered no details on what if any actions he might take, but a top White House aide suggested the administration may look at some type of regulation in response to the president’s complaints.

After a pair of early-morning tweets assailing Google, Trump expanded his warnings to other big internet firms in comments to reporters at the White House.

“I think Google is really taking advantage of a lot of people and I think that is a very serious thing and it is a very serious charge,” Trump said.

He went on to cite Facebook and Twitter, in an apparent reference to his claims last week of social media suppressing conservative voices.

“You can’t do that to people,” he said. “We have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in.”

Trump added: “Google and Twitter and Facebook — they are really treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful.”

In his Twitter comments, the US president complained that Google searches for “Trump news” brought up mostly negative stories about him.

“They have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?” he wrote.

According to Trump, “96% of results on ‘Trump News’ are from National Left-Wing Media.”

Google strongly rejected any bias claims.

“Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology,” it said.

“We continually work to improve Google search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.”

It was not immediately clear what, if any, measures Trump envisioned, but his top economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House that “we’re looking into it” when asked about the claims on Google.

Last week, Trump tweeted that “Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices” and added “we won’t let that happen.”

– Free speech guarantees –

The president’s claims on Google appeared to be based on a report from the Trump-friendly news site PJ Media which relied on an analysis chart by conservative news host Sharyl Attkisson that categorized major news outlets such as the New York Times, CBS and CNN as “left wing.”

“Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good,” Trump said.

Google and other internet firms have long faced complaints about search results, which are based on algorithms that can take into account user browsing history, location and other factors.

But technology and media analysts say there is little evidence to suggest Google skews results for political reasons. And if they did, the president would have little recourse under the constitution’s free speech protections.

“Accusations of search engine ‘bias’ have existed as long as there have been search engines. Indeed, search engines are ‘biased’ in the sense that they privilege some information over others,” said Eric Goldman, who heads Santa Clara University’s High Tech Law Institute.

Goldman said that any government attempts to force search engines to display only good news would be a flagrant violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment speech guarantees.

“Any effort by Trump to ‘fix’ search engine results will violate the First Amendment. It’s not even a close question,” Goldman said.

Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California maintained that Trump’s comments merely show he refuses to tolerate negative news coverage.

“Instead of yet another @realDonaldTrump conspiracy theory, the simpler explanation is that when @POTUS behaves badly, such as by ripping kids from parents or disrespecting an American hero, most of the free press reports it,” Lieu tweeted.

Pressure is ‘worrisome’

Nuala O’Connor, president of the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology, said that while “algorithmic bias” is a legitimate question, there is no evidence of bias and that it would be worrisome if the government tried to step in with regulations.

“It’s deeply concerning that any government official would try to bring public pressure on a platform over news and information that is important to our democracy,” O’Connor said.

While there is little to suggest that internet firms actively suppress content for political reasons and many conservatives have large online followings, public perception is another matter.

A Pew Research Center survey released in June found 43 percent of Americans say major technology firms support the views of liberals over conservatives, and 72 percent say social media platforms actively censor opposing political views.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 85 percent said social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints, according to Pew.

Professor Dr Aung Tun Thet made the remark during a talk on building trust in local healthcare services held in Yangon on August 26.

He stressed the need to make sure that people have faith in local healthcare services.

“Currently, the trust in healthcare delivery is low. Outbound medical tourism is increasing because people have little trust in local hospitals and clinics,” said Dr Aung Tun Thet.

He spoke of the need for doctors, nurses and other staff at hospitals and clinics to meet professional standards. He added that doctors must stay up to date with medical developments and latest knowledge.

Professor Dr Maw Oo from the intensive care unit of Yangon General Hospital claimed the quality of medical treatment and equipment is not different at home and abroad but the level of service is different.

Myanmar patients who seek treatment abroad mostly do so in Thailand and Singapore. Singapore has notably greater transparency in medical expenses.

Noting that the massive refugee emergency that began one year ago in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has become “one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises,” the UN chief said that “the response to the crisis must be a global one.”

Speaking at a Security Council meeting to mark one year of the refugee exodus from Myanmar, Guterres said that “much more must be done to alleviate the very real risks to life from current and impending monsoons.”

The secretary-general expressed his gratitude to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim for mobilizing almost half a billion dollars in grant-based support for Rohingya refugees and host communities.

“The grant-based assistance approved by the Asian Development Bank is also crucial in meeting medium-term needs and providing assistance towards life-saving priorities,” he said.

Noting that “conditions are not yet met for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their places of origin or choice,” the UN chief said that he wants members of the Security Council to join him in urging the Myanmar authorities to cooperate with the UN, and to ensure immediate, unimpeded and effective access for its agencies and partners.

Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting about Myanmar at United Nations Headquarters in New York City, New York, US, August 28, 2018. [Photo/Agencies]

“Access is critical to meet the enormous needs, and to allay the fears of refugees who would like to return home,” he said.

“There can be no excuse for delaying the search for dignified solutions that will allow people to return to their areas of origin in safety and dignity, in line with international standards and human rights. The United Nations remains ready to help develop such a plan,” said the UN chief.

“Voluntary relocation along with freedom of movement, an end to segregation and discrimination, inclusive development, the re-establishment of the rule of law and public safety are essential,” he added.

File photo: In this Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017 file photo, Rohingya woman, Rukaya Begum, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, holds her son Mahbubur Rehman, left and her daughter Rehana Bibi, after the government moved them to newly allocated refugee camp areas, near Kutupalong, Bangladesh. [Photo/IC]

The Security Council on Tuesday afternoon was briefed by the UN chief, the UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett, and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Tegegnework Gettu on the situation in Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis. The British Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN, Lord Ahmad, chaired the meeting.

Britain, this month’s president and the lead on Myanmar in the Council, has chosen to hold a meeting on Myanmar to mark the one-year anniversary of the crisis that has led to more than 750,000 refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Tuesday indicated that the United States will resume key joint military drills with South Korea if the North remains recalcitrant despite the June 12 Singapore summit agreement.

“We took the step to suspend several of the largest exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit. We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

He was holding a joint press conference with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford.

The secretary’s remarks reflect a palpable sense of frustration among US officials over Pyongyang’s recent attitude.

President Donald Trump canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit this week to North Korea, saying there’s no sufficient progress in denuclearization efforts.

A top North Korean negotiator, Kim Yong-chol, recently sent a letter to Pompeo, according to The Washington Post. CNN cited sources as saying that Kim warned in the letter that denuclearization talks are “again at stake and may fall apart.”

The North has arduously demanded the declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Trump administration, however, wants the North to submit a list of its nuclear arsenal first.

The US views the suspension of major military exercises with South Korea as a main incentive for the North.

Mattis made clear that, “We suspended several of the largest exercises, but we did not suspend the rest.” He added the US has no plan to suspend more drills any more.

Asked repeatedly to elaborate on the next steps, he said, “We are going to see how the negotiations go, and then we will calculate the future, how we go forward.”

He again pointed out the military’s focus, for now, is to support diplomats leading the campaign to rid the North of its nuclear weapons.

Mattis left room for flexibility, as Pompeo is still committed to engaging with Pyongyang.

“America stands ready to engage when it is clear that Chairman Kim (Jong-un) stands ready to deliver on the commitments that he made at the Singapore summit with President Trump,” Pompeo said in a statement.

His spokesperson, Heather Nauert, also said the US will be patient in the ongoing diplomatic effort.

“This wouldn’t be easy from the start, and it would be, could be a somewhat lengthy process,” she said at a press briefing. “Overall, sometimes we move forward; sometimes we stand right where we are. The president, overall, remains very clear-eyed about the challenges and difficulties ahead of us.”

She stressed that the cancellation of what would have been Pompeo’s fourth trip to the North as the chief US diplomat was a decision based on discussions by the “entire national security team.”

In their judgment, Nauert said, they determined that now is not the right time to make the trip and Trump agreed with that.

She would neither confirm nor deny the news report of the North’s letter to Pompeo.

Asked if a new round of inter-Korean summit talks, slated for September, should be called off as well, she recalled South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s talk of the need for denuclearization.

On the Pentagon head’s comments on military trainings, she said Pompeo and Mattis maintain very close coordination.

“Also, part of this is having conversations with the South Koreans and our allies,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dunford said the US is continuing air and maritime operations to disrupt ship-to-ship transfers of fuel in violation of U.N. sanctions against the North.

His comments came amid growing concerns about loopholes in the sanctions.

In experiments, researchers showed that bees initially put off by sugar water containing neonicotinoids — the most widely-used class of insecticide worldwide — soon started seeking them out to the exclusion of untainted food.

The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Neonicotinoids, earlier research has shown, disrupt the ability of bees to reproduce and lower their resistance to disease.

“At first, it appeared that the bees did avoid the food containing the pesticide,” said lead author Andres Arce, a researcher at Imperial College London.

“However, as individual bees increasingly experience the treated food they develop a preference for it.”

Even when the position of their feeders was switched, the pollinators made a beeline for the one laced with insecticide.

Neonicotinoids target nerve receptors in insects much in the way nicotine — the addictive ingredient in tobacco — does in humans and other mammals.

“Our findings… tick certain symptoms of addictive behaviour, which is intriguing given the addictive properties of nicotine on humans,” said lead researcher Richard Gill, also from Imperial.

Unlike contact pesticides, which remain on the plant surface, neonicotinoids are absorbed by seeds and transported to leaves, flowers, roots, and stems as the plant grows.

Several countries have banned forms of the insecticide, mainly due to its impact on Nature’s little helpers.

In the European Union, three neonicotinoid-based products will be off-limits in open fields starting on December 19. France has banned five chemical variants starting Saturday.

Canada recently announced it would phase out two neonicotinoids used on canola, corn, and soybean crops.

Widely used over the last two decades, neonicotinoids were designed to control sap-feeding insects such as aphids and root-feeding grubs.

In recent years, fears have been growing over the declining health of bees globally, and the possible role of neonicotinoids.

Pesticides have been blamed as a cause of colony collapse disorder, along with mites, viruses, and fungi, or some combination.

The United Nations warned last year that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinators — particularly bees and butterflies — risk global extinction.

Cody Wilson had initially published the downloadable files on his website four weeks ago, after a deal struck with the Donald Trump administration that ended the federal government’s efforts to block him.

Wilson’s actions caused a political firestorm, and even prompted Trump to tweet that making gun blueprints easily available online “doesn’t seem to make much sense!”

Multiple states filed a joint lawsuit claiming Wilson endangered public safety. One of the homemade weapons could evade metal detectors and all lacked traceable serial numbers.

A federal judge issued a temporary order on July 31 barring the distribution of the digital blueprints, and on Monday extended that order until the states’ lawsuit is adjudicated.

Wilson told a news conference Tuesday that he interpreted the judge’s ruling as only barring the free online distribution of the blueprints. He instead began to offer the files for sale, and promised to send physical copies on flash drives or by email.

Visitors to his online marketplace, which was once again active Tuesday, could name their own price for the information.

“Everyone in America who wants these files will get them,” Wilson said. “I’m happy now to become the iTunes of downloadable guns, if I can’t be the Napster.”

Wilson insisted that the digital files had already been available elsewhere online for years, and that barring him from distributing the content was akin to free speech censorship.

“What’s at stake in the courts is simply the government is trying to tell you what you can and can’t have, what you can and can’t download online,” he said.

Seattle-based US District Judge Robert Lasnik said in his Monday ruling that free speech rights were “dwarfed” by the harm that Wilson’s actions could cause.

“The very purpose for which the private defendants seek to release this technical data is to arm every citizen outside of the government’s traditional control mechanisms of licenses, serial numbers, and registration,” Lasnik wrote in his ruling.

“It is the untraceable and undetectable nature of these small firearms that poses a unique danger.”

The Washington state attorney general, who is leading the multi-state lawsuit, responded to Wilson’s latest move by reiterating that it was “again illegal to post downloadable gun files to the internet.”

“I trust the federal government will hold Cody Wilson, a self-described ‘crypto-anarchist,’ accountable to that law,” Bob Ferguson said.

“The facts of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya must be said, and they must be heard,” said Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley and other ambassadors stopped short, however, of using the word “genocide” that was cited in a UN-backed report released the day before accusing Myanmar’s top brass of a long list of atrocities in Rakhine state.

“Here in the Security Council, we must hold those responsible for the violence to account,” Haley said.

The report by UN investigators called on the Security Council to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, or to create an ad hoc international criminal tribunal, as was done with the former Yugoslavia.

The UN-backed fact-finding mission said that Myanmar’s “top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State.”

The crimes it cited after a long inquiry included murder, enforced disappearance, torture and sexual violence “perpetrated on a massive scale.”

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown in August last year on insurgents amid accounts of arson, murder and rape at the hands of soldiers and vigilante mobs in the mainly Buddhist country.

Several other Security Council members joined the call for the perpetrators to be brought before an international tribunal, including Britain, France, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Sweden. They also called for a mechanism to “collect and preserve proof” of abuses.

But China and Russia, which as permanent members of the Security Council have veto powers, have said they prefer “dialogue” with the Myanmar leadership to resolve the conflict.

For the past year, the Security Council has limited itself to statements condemning the violence and demanding access for humanitarian aid, and for the right of those who have fled to return to their homes.

Myanmar has vehemently denied allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya rebels.

Faced with stonewalling from Myanmar, the UN only managed to nominate a special envoy to the country in April.

“It is clear that conditions are not yet met for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their places of origin or choice,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

He said that in Rakhine state, “some 130,000 Rohingya remain confined in camps with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. They have extremely limited access to health, education and other essential services, and to ways of making a living.”

Guterres did not weigh in on the issue of bringing the perpetrators before an international court, but said that “effective international cooperation will be critical to ensuring that accountability mechanisms are credible, transparent, impartial, independent and comply with Myanmar’s obligations under international law.”

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hau Do Suan, rejected the conclusions of the UN report and questioned the impartiality of investigators, saying: “I would like to reiterate that we did not accept the mandate of the mission because we have our concern about the mission’s impartiality.”

Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group called on the international community to prevent those responsible for abuses in Myanmar from escaping justice, with the latter organization saying the UN General Assembly was better able to create a judicial mechanism due to divisions within the Security Council.

The group, consisting of Bambang and Bert Toar Polii, Frangky Karwur and Jemmy Bojoh, as well as Conny Sumampauw and Rury Andhani were beaten by a Chinese team in Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Sunday.

The presence of Bambang in the Games was all over the internet as soon as it was revealed some days ago that he would be competing. Bambang, the owner of multinational tobacco company Djarum, is the oldest member of Team Indonesia. Bambang also owns more than 25 percent of publicly traded Bank Central Asia (BCA), according to Forbes.

“If you want to be a good businessman or a good leader, then play bridge,” Bambang, 78, shared his wisdom with the press on the sidelines of a preliminary round game in the super mixed category.

Bambang, who tops the Forbes’ Indonesia rich list with a net worth of around US$11.2 billion, revealed that he started to play bridge when he was 6 years old after seeing his uncle playing the card game.

Years later, Bambang decided to take the sport seriously. He believes the sport has no age barrier and it also helps him in running his businesses.

“Bridge is a game of decision-making, just like business,” said Bambang. “You gather information, analyze it and make a decision.”

Powerful people in the world of business, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and billionaire Warren Buffet reportedly play bridge.

Besides playing the game himself, Bambang said he had also opened a special school for bridge players. The school is similar to his Djarum badminton club.

Bambang claimed the two schools had greatly supported Team Indonesia at the Games.

“[I’m] not stopping right there [in bridge] as I am also trying to include the sport in the school extracurricular program, starting from elementary level,” he added.

Bambang believes the sport is not only for old people. He takes China as a perfect example as it has a successful junior team with members aged 13.5 years old on average. China is the strongest competitor for Indonesia in the Games in Jakarta.

At the Games, Bambang is paired with Bert Toar Polii in the super mixed category.

Along with 24 other bridge players in the Indonesian squad, the pair has its sights on two gold medals out of a total of six up for grabs in the men’s team, mixed team, super mixed team, men’s pairs, women’s pairs and mixed pairs.

Bert, who is 14 years younger than Bambang, said that he became Bambang’s partner three years ago after the latter’s initial partner was unavailable because of sickness. At first, Bert was set to be Bambang’s coach.

“It is harder to find a bridge partner than it is to find a life partner. [In bridge] we have to think and feel in common,” said Bert. “We’re an aggressive pair.”

When asked about Bambang’s special characteristics in bridge, the civil engineer said his partner was truly a thinker, which he believes could be a double-edged-sword.

“In some cases we were penalized as he was thinking for too long,” Bert said with a laugh.

Bert added that he and Bambang had spent almost every day preparing for the Games. They usually train two hours per day on weekdays, and five hours per day on weekends.

As a pair, Bambang and Bert’s best achievement is a fifth-place finish in the senior open team category at the World Bridge Series Championships in China in 2014.

Indonesia’s highest achievement in the sport is winning four gold medals in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.

Bridge is a new sport in the Games. It is expected to be played at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The offshore tremor struck at a shallow depth of eight kilometres (five miles), about 100 kilometres southeast of Kupang on the Indonesian portion of Timor island, the USGS said.

It was followed by a shallow 5.6 magnitude quake nearby.

Witnesses described a powerful jolt from the first tremor which lasted a few seconds.

“I was on the second floor of my office and suddenly everybody ran outside because of the earthquake,” said an AFP reporter in Kupang.

“All the chairs were shaking… we were traumatised by all the earthquakes in Lombok.”

A string of deadly earthquakes that rocked Lombok island this summer killed some 555 people.

Indonesia’s disaster agency said things had quickly returned to normal.

“Local disaster mitigation agency officials are still monitoring the impact of the earthquake,” agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

“There are no victims or damage.”

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 Indonesians.