Gandhi's sandals and spectacles to be sold at auction in New York

Mahatma Gandhi's sandals and distinctive spectacles are to be sold in a unique auction lot also including his pocket watch.

The sandals were given to a British army officer in 1931 prior to the Round Table talks in London that were held to discuss Indian self rule.

Gandhi gave his metal rimmed, circular lensed glasses to an army colonel with the words: "These gave me the vision to free India."

His Zenith pocket watch was given to his grand niece, Abha Gandhi, his assistant of six years, in whose arms he died after being shot in 1948.

As Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma, had few possessions these items are of huge interest and are expected to well exceed the estimate of £30,000.

Gandhi was pictured wearing the pocket watch, made in about 1910, and it is expectted to be the highlight of the lot.

A bowl and plate that were given by the great political and spiritual leader to his grand niece are also for sale.

The items have letters of provenance and were collected by the unnamed vendor who is now selling them.

Michelle Halpern, from Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York, which is staging the auction, said: "This is a truly historic sale of Gandhi's possessions. Of course he didn't have much, so anything of his that comes up for sale is worth that much more.

Tim Geithner unveils new plan to rescue US banking system

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has admitted America’s original bank bail-out was “inadequate”, as he set out a revamped plan to provide more than $2 trillion to stabilise ailing financial institutions and revive lending. Mr Geithner, who as the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was instrumental in devising the previous $700bn bail-out, admitted that the “force of government support” in the Autumn failed to prevent the “deepening pressure brought on by the financial crisis.”

Admitting public distrust in the first bail-out, led by his predecessor as Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, Mr Geithner admitted that today's “comprehensive strategy will cost money, involve risk, and take time.”

Today's plan comes a day after President Barack Obama used his first White House press conference to tell Americans that passing his massive economic stimulus bill would mean the difference between "catastrophe" and saving or creating "up to four million jobs."

US stock markets markets responded badly to the plan, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending losses to more than 3pc in early trading.