Talks on over IAF evacuation plane’s arrival: China
THE INDIAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING TOLD INDIANS IN WUHAN THAT IT WAS WAITING FOR BEIJING TO GIVE PERMISSION FOR THE FLIGHT TO LAND
BEIJING: China on Monday said “competent authorities” from the two countries were in contact over the planned arrival of the India Air Force’s (IAF) relief and evacuation aircraft in novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-HIT Wuhan, days after India said Beijing was deliberately delaying it.
The statement from the Chinese foreign ministry comes amid the back and forth between New Delhi and Beijing over the delay in the IAF aircraft getting the required clearance to land in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
After bringing in medical supplies to aid China, on its way back the transport aircraft is scheduled to evacuate around 100 Indians, who continue to be stranded in Wuhan, locked down for over a month now.
“Competent authorities of the two countries are coordinating on this matter,” the Chinese foreign ministry told
in a written statement. On Friday, spokesperson, Geng Shuang, had said: “There is no such a thing as China delaying giving flight permissions.”
There apparently is a delay, according to external affairs ministry officials in New Delhi who said over the weekend that Beijing was simply not moving on New Delhi’s plea. The Indian embassy in Beijing told Indians in Wuhan over the weekend that it was waiting for Beijing to give permission for the flight to land, asking them to be ready to be transported to the Wuhan airport and fly at a short notice.
India submitted details of the IAF’S Boeing-made C17 Gobesions master III aircraft to the Chinese foreign ministry over a week ago.
It is not clear what has caused the delay but in the same statement the Chinese foreign ministry sent to on Monday, it responded to a query on India’s ban on medical imports to China. On the “prohibition on the export of medical materials, China has taken note of the ban issued by relevant departments of India,” the statement said.
“I want to point out that the Indian side has on many occa
publicly expressed its support to the Chinese government and people in their all-out efforts to combat the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia. China appreciates this,” it further said.
“We hope that the Indian side will, in the spirit of humanitarianism, release as soon as possible the medical and protective materials purchased by China before the ban and take concrete actions to support the Chinese people in fighting the epidemic,” it added.
The ban on exporting protective clothing could be the primary reason, despite the China-specific waiver that New Delhi implemented a week after the ban on January 31. What could have irked Beijing is that the initial ban on protective clothing was implemented abruptly and delayed orders, especially for masks, that were placed by Chinese
companies last month. A large volume of masks meant for China got stuck at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and a crucial week was lost.
CORONA SCREENING EXTENDED TO KARTARPUR BORDER
The government on Monday decided to begin special screening of pilgrims coming from the Kartarpur border in Punjab, after a high-level meeting on Coronavirus Disease among home and health ministries, and health secretary, Punjab. Pilgrims will also have to mandatorily wear masks. India is likely to send a military transport aircraft to Wuhan on February 26 to deliver relief material and bring back more Indians following a clearance from China, the health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
KOLKATA: Salary of more than 1,100 employees, including faculty members, of the Centrally funded Visva-bharati University (V-B) could be delayed due to paucity of funds, the university said in a notice issued on Monday.
The notice comes a few days after vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty said the university, founded by Rabindranath Tagore, was financially ailing. The university at Santiniketan, about 160 kilometres northwest of Kolkata, functions under the the Ministry of Human Resources Development. The President is the university’s ‘visitor’. “This is for information of all concerned that the salary for the month of February, 2020, is likely to be delayed due to paucity of funds,” read a notice issued by university’s acting registrar Asha, who uses only her first name, on Monday.
The university has about 400 faculty members, apart from 150 teachers in its school, Patha Bhavana, apart from more than 600 non-teaching staff.
No member of the faculty or non-teaching staff offered comments because of an order by the varsity authorities prohibiting them from speaking to the media.
When contacted, a senior HRD ministry official dismissed concerns that funds were not being provided as “unfounded”.