China denies any violation of Indian air space

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - The discovery of water on the moon by Indian maiden lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 is just the breakthrough international space scientists were waiting for in order to kick start the moon exploration programme again, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) said Thursday. This is a massively impressive accomplishment, RAS Secretary Martin Barstow, a leading British astronomer, told IANS after American scientists made the stunning announcement that the Indian mooncraft had sent evidence of water on the lunar surface.

September 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China Friday signed an agreement to build a communication satellite in the next three years, officials said. China will provide $200 million to Pakistan to build the PAKSAT-1R satellite.

September 17th, 2009 BEIJING - China has selected 30 men and 15 women candidates in the second round of its space-training programme, officials said Thursday. All 45 candidates are air force pilots.

September 16th, 2009 China picks first female astronaut candidatesBEIJING — China's military-backed space program has selected 45 astronaut candidates, including its first women hopefuls, for a training program less than a year after the country completed its first spacewalk. The 30 male and 15 female candidates are part of a program to pick five men and two women astronauts to participate in three more manned missions planned before 2012.

September 13th, 2009 WENCHANG - China Monday began construction of its new space launch centre in Wenchang city, on the northeast coast of the tropical island province of Hainan. It is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

September 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Sixteen Indian fishermen have been arrested for entering Pakistan's territorial waters, authorities said Sunday. Maritime Security Agency (MSA) caught the 16 Indian fishermen over violation of Pakistans sea limits and their three vessels were also taken into custody, Geo TV reported.

August 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In the first significant outcome of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India, the US has given clearance to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch Algerian satellites with American components. This follows the signing of a Technical Safeguards Agreement covering launches of satellites, having US components on Indian launch vehicles, during Hillary Clinton's New Delhi visit.

July 21st, 2009 China denies links in US economic spying caseBEIJING — China on Tuesday denied links to a Chinese-born engineer who was convicted in the U.S. last week of stealing trade secrets for China during his 30-year career at Boeing and Rockwell International.

July 9th, 2009 BEIJING - China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, has revealed that Chinese women would soon be seen in space. During a web chat with the official Xinhua news agency, Liwei said: "The selection (of China's first woman astronaut) is underway I believe Chinese women will be seen in space in the near future." Yang, now 44, made history when he voyaged beyond the planet's atmosphere for 21 hours aboard the Shenzhou V spaceship in 2003.

June 16th, 2009 BEIJING - A military strategist has proposed that the Chinese Army set up its own space forces for the future to protect China's growing outer space assets. Wang Fa'an, a senior researcher at Academy of Military Sciences, said the country would be carrying out many space missions in future, and this which would necessitate China developing its own space forces.

June 6th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Even as Nepal's lawmakers Saturday decided to send a team to the western region, where there are growing claims of attacks on villagers by India's border security force - the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB), the Indian embassy here denied the allegations. In a statement issued here, the embassy said it had "cross-checked the factual situation with relevant Indian authorities" who clarified that "there has been no violation of international border or any attacks upon Nepali nationals by Indian border guard forces".

March 31st, 2009 BEIJING - China declared Tuesday that it desired mutually beneficial cooperation with India and it posed no threat to New Delhi. 'The leaders of China and India have already reached consensus that the two countries will not pose a threat to each other,' Xinhua quoted foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang as telling reporters here.

March 9th, 2009 BEIJING - China plans to launch 15 to 16 satellites this year, an official said here Monday. 'Though the global financial crisis is taking a toll on the world economy, it has no impact on China's space programmes,' said Zhang Jianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project.

March 5th, 2009 BEIJING - China has started a new round of selection for taikonauts and five to seven of them will be part of the final list, said an official of the country's space programme Thursday. 'The new taikonauts will mainly take missions related to China's planned space station,' said Zhang Jianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project, on the sidelines of the annual session of China's parliament.

February 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - China has sacked a top official of the state-run China Development Bank on corruption charges, officials said Wednesday. Wang Yi, vice president of the bank and a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was sacked for 'severe violation of disciplines and the law', the disciplinary commission of the CPC, said.