China Eastern launches Shanghai-Delhi flight with near full capacity
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Beijing (PTI): China Eastern Airlines started its Shanghai-Delhi service on Sunday with a 95 per cent occupancy, becoming the first mainland Chinese carrier this year to resume direct flights to India after a gap of five years.
Flight MU563, carrying 248 passengers, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport for Delhi, the state-run Global Times reported.
Indian airline IndiGo will begin its daily Delhi-Guangzhou service from November 10.
China Eastern becomes the first Chinese mainland-based airline in 2025 to resume direct passenger flights between China and India, the report said, adding that the Shanghai-Delhi flight achieved a load factor of over 95 per cent.
The Shanghai-Delhi route is considered a key corridor linking two major economic centres and is expected to boost exchanges in trade, economy and culture, the report said.
Flights between India and the Chinese mainland resumed on October 26 when an IndiGo aircraft landed at Guangzhou in Guangdong province from Kolkata, ending a hiatus that began with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Services were not restored due to the military standoff between the two countries in eastern Ladakh, which ended in October last year.
China Eastern's Shanghai Pudong-Delhi route, operated by an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft, will run three times a week on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The airline said it plans to increase frequencies based on market demand and also aims to resume the Kunming-Kolkata service and launch a new Shanghai-Mumbai route.
Bilateral relations between Indian and China hit their lowest point since the 1962 war after the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020. Following several rounds of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides withdrew troops from various friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
A disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points, was finalised in October last year.
Days after the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, Russia, and decided on steps to stabilise bilateral ties.
In recent months, the two sides have taken a series of measures to rebuild engagement, including resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and restoring flight services.
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Assam govt moves SC against anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera
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New Delhi (PTI): The Assam government has moved the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court order granting one-week transit anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case registered against him for levelling allegations against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife.
The petition was filed on Sunday through advocate Shuvodeep Roy and is likely to be taken up for hearing this week.
On April 10, the high court granted one-week transit anticipatory bail to Khera.
The high court gave him a week's time to file an application before the court concerned and granted him relief with certain conditions.
"Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is of the view that the petitioner has made out a case for grant of limited transit anticipatory bail, as his apprehension of arrest appears to be reasonable and supported by material on record," the high court had said in its order.
The conditions were that the petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of arrest on his executing a personal bond for Rs one lakh with two sureties for the like sum each, cooperate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation as and when required by the Investigating Officer and that he shall not leave the country without prior permission of the competent Court.
The conditions further include that the petitioner shall, within the stipulated period, approach the competent jurisdictional court in Assam and seek appropriate relief and he, being a public figure, shall exercise restraint in making any further public statements in relation to the subject matter of the present case, which may prejudice the investigation, the order said.
The Congress leader on April 5 had alleged that the Assam CM's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister's election affidavit for the April 9 Assembly polls in that state.
The case against Khera was registered at the Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station under several sections of the BNS, including 175 (false statement in connection with an election), 35 (Right of private defence of the body and of property) and 318 (cheating).
Khera, who approached the high court on April 7, showed his residential address in Hyderabad. He had requested the high court to release him on bail in the event of his arrest.
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