Beijing - China's two stock markets soared by more than 6 per cent Wednesday, buoyed by speculation of more government economic measures and an overnight rally on Wall Street.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in foreign and local currencies, gained 115.04 points, or 6.05 per cent, to close at 2,017.47.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index ended the day up 32.33 points, or 6.16 per cent, jumping to 557.31.

Both markets had lost more than 6 per cent Tuesday after strong gains last week and Monday.

Washington, Nov 19: A team of scientists is planning to dig three narrow wells, 3-kilometers deep, into the Earth’s crust, which would help them to predict future earthquakes in China.

China’s Szechwan province recently went through a devastating earthquake on May 12 this year, which resulted in 70,000 deaths and 20,000 missing.

Equivalent to 1,200 H-bombs, it pulverized the earth’s crust for more than 280 kilometers, in the space of 90 seconds, destroying entire cities and swallowing up eight million homes.

Two months later, Ji ShaoCheng of the Universite de Montreal’s affiliated engineering school Ecole Polytechnique arrived in Szechwan province to study the damage first hand.

Islamabad, Nov. 18 : Pakistan has denied that it perceives the planned first joint exercise of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with its Chinese counterpart as threatening or a matter of concern in any way.

Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major had talked about the region''s two largest air forces'' coming together during his recent Beijing visit. He had stated that though there was no schedule as yet, it would take place "sooner than later". December will also see the Chinese army coming for joint army exercises in Karnataka''s Belgaum district.

Beijing - Up to 2,000 residents rallied against rumoured plans to relocate a north-western Chinese city devastated by the Sichuan earthquake, with some protestors smashing windows and attacking government cars, reports said on Tuesday.

The crowd had grown since early Monday in response to rumours that the local branch of China's ruling Communist Party had decided to relocate the quake-hit city of Longnan in Gansu province, the influential Caijing magazine said.

Hong Kong - The majority of consumers in Asia are skeptical about the motives behind companies that sponsor environmentally friendly initiatives, a global study published Tuesday claimed.

Most believed companies only sponsor green initiatives to improve their public image or to sell more products rather than because they cared about the environment, the study of green perceptions, attitudes and behaviour concluded.

Of the six Asian countries included in TNS Our Green World study, the Koreans emerged as being the most skeptical, with only 5 per cent of those questioned believing companies went green because they cared.

Beijing - State-run China Central Television, the country's main national broadcaster, has suspended its live coverage of the Chinese Super League after the latest in a series of scandals to hit the ailing league, reports said on Tuesday.

A mass brawl at the end of last Wednesday's match between Beijing Guo'an and Tianjin Kangshifu was apparently the final straw for CCTV.

"The present situation of Chinese football has hurt everybody," Jiang Heping, the controller of sports channel CCTV-5, told the popular Titan Sports newspaper.

Jiang said CCTV made the decision to drop coverage to be "responsible to the country and to people."