Air Delay Payoff

China's civil aviation authority is considering a standardized national compensation scheme for delayed flights, according to a Chinese media report.

The plan, likely to follow an EU model basing compensation on the length of the delay, is expected to reduce mass claim disputes, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on July 15, citing an anonymous insider.

Under the country's current guideline for flight delay compensation, each airline is allowed to set its own compensation standards, often fueling the discontent of passengers.

Data published by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in May showed that more than 500,000 flights were delayed across the country in 2012, the worst record in the past five years.

Deep Exploration

China's Chang'e-2 deep space probe has reached a distance 50 million km away from Earth, said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The probe, now "in good condition," set a "new height" in the nation's deep space exploration at 1 a.m. on July 14, said an administration statement.

Chang'e-2 will be able to travel to a distance as far as 300 million km away from Earth, according to calculations of scientists at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

The probe was launched on October 1, 2010 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China and later orbited the moon.

After finishing its lunar objectives in June 2011, the probe left its lunar orbit for an extended mission to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point.

On December 13, 2012, it flew by Toutatis, an asteroid about 7 million km away from Earth, making China the fourth after the United States, the EU and Japan to be able to examine an asteroid by spacecraft.

Urban Drainage

A guideline for upgrading drainage systems has been developed for cities across China, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on July 13.

According to the guideline, drainage facilities in downtown areas in 36 large cities should be upgraded to handle heavy rain and prevent floods from occurring.

The ministry requires municipal authorities to submit compiled construction plans in accordance with the guideline before mid-2014.

A heavy downpour that occurred in Beijing last July paralyzed the city, prompting authorities to reflect on poor drainage systems.