Electronic Lockdown

India's President Pratibha Patil's trip to China faced a breach in protocol when her flight was delayed as one of the parliamentarians accompanying her arrived late to the airport. Mr.Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that he was delayed because he could not understand how to use the electronic key to the executive hotel room he was staying in.

"I was not informed about what time I had to board the plane and I couldn't handle the electronic key to the lift and the room," the former rural development minister said.Official sources said Singh, along with the president and the official delegation, were staying at the super-deluxe Raffles Beijing Hotel where access to restricted VIP floors was through an electronic key that the minister found difficult to handle. 

President Patil was to take the flight at 9 a.m. but was delayed by 20 minutes. Since the special Chinese flight could not take off on time, other flights at the busy Beijing airport also got delayed, officials said.