Tuesday, June 02, 2009 BEIJING: China on Tuesday took up US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's call to work together in battling the financial crisis as the Asian giant tries to position itself as a major force on the global stage.Beijing was eager to deepen efforts with Washington on dragging the world out of the economic slump, Vice Premier Wang Qishan told Geithner in a Monday meeting, the foreign ministry said. But state media expressed opposition to the government's policy of buying massive US debt that they said could see the value of China's assets battered as the financial crisis continues.Wang, who is in charge of China's economy, was quoted by the ministry as telling Geithner: "We will send a message that China and the United States are cooperating substantively to get over the difficult times. "This will help boost confidence and promote global financial stability and world economic recovery."The two sides further laid the groundwork for the first "strategic and economic dialogue" agreed to by Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama and to be held in Washington later this year. "The major task of the dialogue is to address the global economic slowdown," Wang said.Geithner is scheduled to meet Hu and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao later Tuesday, the last day of his two-day visit.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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