 |
|
China signs 70-plane deal with Boeing
China not to ape West: Hu tells Bush
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
India offers to take up health projects in Pak
Brown blocks “Blair Force One”
UK Sikhs oppose
removal of marble canopy
|
|
China signs 70-plane deal with Boeing
Beijing, November 20 The China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group Corporation (CASGC) signed a general purchase agreement with the Seattle-based Boeing Co. to buy 70-B 737-700/800 aircraft worth $ 4 billion. Boeing will deliver the planes between 2006 and 2008. Both sides signed an agreement on the mega sale here ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s talks with Bush. The deal is also expected to ease domestic pressure on Bush on the trade front. Aircraft exports by the USA could help offset a ballooning trade deficit with China, which could top $ 200 billion this year, analysts said. The signing in Beijing is part of a broader deal to supply 150 Boeing 737 aircraft. Eighty planes will be delivered only after 2008 and the deal yet to take a final shape, company officials said. Meanwhile, Dubai airline Emirates said on Sunday it had agreed to buy 42 Boeing 777 planes for $ 9.7 billion. The deal included 10 777-200LR, 24 777-300ER and eight of the freighter version. Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum told reporters the airline had agreed to take purchase rights for a further 20 Boeing 777s. US engine maker General Electric also won a $ 2 billion contract to provide engines and maintenance for the 42 twin-engined, wide-bodied aircraft. The GE will provide service for 12 years, including maintenance and overhaul, an Emirates statement said. Sheikh Ahmed also said Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, had yet to decide between the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 for its requirements for new mid-sized planes. “Regarding the 787 and the A350, we haven’t decided yet which way we will go,” he said. Emirates has placed the largest order for the Airbus A380 due to enter service next year. The plane maker is currently chasing orders for its newest model, the A350, due in 2010. The Boeing aircraft deal was announced at the opening day of the Dubai airshow and eclipsed the total value of deals done at the same event two years ago.
— PTI/Reuters |
|
China not to ape West: Hu tells Bush
Beijing, November 20 Hu also said that China will not allow “independence” of Taiwan while agreeing to crack down on intellectual piracy, gradually balance trade currently favouring Beijing and make currency reforms. “China will continue to build up democracy with its own characteristics and improve its people’s human rights based on the actual situation and the aspirations of the people,” Hu said after a 90-minute meeting with Bush at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. Bush, who earlier kicked off his third visit to China by attending a solemn service at Gangwashi Church, one of five officially recognised Protestant churches here, used the opportunity to call for more religious freedom in the Communist nation. Hu, also General Secretary of the ruling CPC, noted China’s democracy and human rights cause have made “remarkable achievements” since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially after the launching of the reform and opening-up drive. “The Chinese people have practiced democratic election, management, decision-making and supervision in accordance with the laws,” Hu added. Hu told Bush that China’s path of peaceful development is “an inevitable choice” based on its national conditions, its historical and cultural traditions and the current development trend in today’s world. On the vexed Taiwan issue, Hu said he told Bush that Beijing was committed to achieving peaceful reunification of the mainland with Taiwan but would not tolerate ‘Taiwan independence.’ “I reaffirmed to President Bush that the Chinese government and Chinese people are committed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits,” Hu said, adding that Beijing will by no means tolerate “Taiwan independence.” “To oppose and check so-called Taiwan independence and safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits serves the common interests of China and the United States,” Hu said. Hu and Bush met for the fifth time this year amid growing tensions in Washington about China’s growing economic, military and diplomatic might. — PTI
|
|
|
India offers to take up health projects in Pak Islamabad, November 20 Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed today discussed the progress of the composite dialogue process with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here and conveyed India’s wish to undertake specific projects in education and health sectors in the quake-hit areas of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the NWFP. “We had very fruitful discussions on the bilateral issues. I have expressed my hope to the Prime Minister that the forthcoming third round of the composite dialogue process would promote people to people contacts further and help both the countries sort out the issues between them,” Mr Ahmed, who took part in the donor conference for quake victims held here yesterday told reporters after meeting Mr Aziz. Mr Ahmed said he expressed India’s concerns over cross border terrorism, specially in the aftermath of the recent serial bombings in New Delhi as well as continued incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Aziz for his part reiterated Pakistan’s offer to conduct investigations if India provided any evidence linking banned terrorist groups in Pakistan. India, which has pledged 25 million dollars for quake reconstruction in Pakistan, preferred to take up specific projects in education and health sectors, Mr Ahmed said. While according to Mr Aziz, Pakistan preferred to import CGS sheets as well as MS iron bars for construction. The Indian Minister said he had taken up the issue of PoWs as well as the agreement between the two countries to provide easy consular access to each others prisoners and facilitate their quick release. Mr Aziz on his part denied any PoWs in Pakistan prisons and offered to look into any specific cases if any information or evidence was provided. The two sides also discussed the opening of the five points along the LoC for Kashmiris to cross over as well as send relief materials. Expressing the hope that all five crossing would be opened daily, Mr Aziz said that “we also encouraged them (Kashmiris) for trading across the LoC for goods being manufactured in Kashmir.”
— PTI
|
|
|
Brown blocks “Blair Force One”
London, November 20 Brown made it clear at a meeting last week that there would be no new funds to buy the jet and two other aircraft for ministers, The Sunday Times said. Despite support for the plan from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, Brown was arguing that at a time when public funds were tight, there were bigger priorities than “prestige” prime ministerial travel, the report said. If Blair were to get
such an aircraft, likely to be a jet with up to 40 seats, it would have put him on a par with leaders like US President George W. Bush, who had two Air Force One jumbo jets at his disposal. Blair’s plane would be kitted out with beds and sophisticated communications equipment. The newspaper quoted a Treasury insider, saying that Gordon “has thrown a spanner in the works and rejected plans to spend additional money. He has made clear that if this plan is to go ahead, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will have to fund it out of its own budget, which is very tight”. “We should be proud that we are the only G-8 country not to have a dedicated plane for politicians.” The row comes after Brown was presented with a report, commissioned by Downing Street, on upgrading the fleet of MoD aircraft that are provided for the royal family but shared with ministers. Brown argued that it should be the security of the Queen “and not the prestige of ministers” that should be decisive. Last week, Brown met Sir Peter Gershon, the government’s efficiency adviser, whose report recommended that three new aircraft should be put at the disposal of ministers and the royal family. The ministers currently borrow aircraft from 32 Squadron, known as the Queen’s Flight. But the ageing fleet is unable to fly long distances, the Sunday Times said. The Prime Minister’s Office has often had to charter commercial jets for long-haul flights, spending £ 800,000 on overseas travel in the past year. Gershon recommended that Blair and ministers should get their own fleet. This would be “cost neutral” to the taxpayer although it would require a large initial expenditure, the report said.
— PTI |
|
UK Sikhs oppose removal of marble canopy
London, November 20 “We are deeply disturbed by the decision of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) to replace the original marble palanquin at Nankana Sahib by a cheap gold-plated canopy,” Kartar Lalvani, Patron of the Sikh Society — an umbrella organisation of the British Sikhs — said. The Sikh Society comprises the Guru Nanak Foundation, the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation and the Khalsa College in the UK. “This strange and ridiculous scheme is either due to grave ignorance or owing to mala fide intention and I only hope that it is more of the former,” Mr Lalvani said. “I wonder what is the excuse for removing a valuable historic marble artefact,” he said. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had reportedly expressed reservation over the replacement of the marble ‘palki’. “A large number of Sikhs in the UK are most impressed by the courageous and principled stand taken by the Chief Minister of Punjab,” Mr Lalvani said. — PTI
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
