India

Bengaluru, Mar 29 (PTI) A leader of Janata Dal (Secular), headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, on Sunday requested the government to deploy defence personnel along with vehicles to evacuate stranded persons from the cities to their villages.

B M Farookh, also a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, said people returning to their villages from cities along the highways would end up in human suffering and disaster, "much dangerous than the impact of coronavirus."

New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday appealed to migrant workers not to leave for their native places during the 21-day nationwide lockdown in the interest of the country.

Taking to Twitter, he asked the migrant workers to stay wherever they were as the risk of the coronavirus spreading increases due to large gatherings.

Mumbai, Mar 29 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday assured that his government will take care of all migrant labourers and provide them basic necessities like food and water.

The 'Shiv Bhojan' scheme offering meal at Rs 10 will now be available at Rs 5 from April 1, he said in a webcast.

New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) The Centre on Sunday asked state governments and Union Territory administrations to effectively seal state and district borders to stop movements of migrant workers during lockdown, officials said.

During a video conference with Chief Secretaries and DGPs, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla asked them to ensure that there is no movement of people across cities or on highways as the lockdown continues.

Chandigarh, Mar 28 (PTI) Six distilleries in Punjab have supplied 33,000 litres of sanitizer free of cost to government hospitals in the state, an official said on Saturday.

The sanitizer was manufactured according to prescribed formula of mixing 96 per cent ethanol, 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide, glyceryl, permitted colour and sterile water, said Food and Drug administration Commissioner K S Pannu.

Kannur/Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 28 (PTI) A video of Kannur Superintendent of Police forcing three people to do sit-ups for violating lockdown went viral on the social media on Saturday, prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to express his displeasure saying such incidents would "tarnish" the good work being done by the force.

The Home Secretary has sought report from the DGP on the matter, Vijayan, told reporters in the state capital.

Kochi, Mar 29 (PTI): The The liturgical celebrations of the Holy Week from April 5 would be low-key and held without the presence of the faithful and would be livestreamed in view of the lockdown as part of measures to prevent spread of coronavirus, the Syro-Malabar Church has said.

"We are in the 21-day lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The celebrations of the Holy Week should be limited in respect of the restrictions imposed by the state government and the civil authorities," the Syro- Malabar Church said.

New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) SpiceJet said on Sunday that one of its pilots who did not fly any international flight in March has tested positive for the coronavirus.

"One of our colleagues, a first officer with SpiceJet, has tested positive for COVID-19. The test report came on March 28. He did not operate any international flight in March 2020," a spokesperson of the airline told PTI.

Jaipur/New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) A batch of 275 Indians, who were recently evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran, arrived in Rajasthan's Jodhpur from Delhi for quarantine on Sunday morning, an official said.

He said a preliminary screening of the passengers was conducted at the airport and thereafter, they were shifted to the Army Wellness Facility set up at the Jodhpur Military Station.

Kochi, Mar 29 (PTI) A Kerala couple who spent 21 days in a government medical college hospital fighting novel coronavirus infection, on Sunday hailed the medical care provided at the facility and said they were grateful to the doctors and nurses who brought them back to life.

"All should cooperate with the government and the Health Department in the implementation of lockdown," said Robin from Chengalam in Kottayam district.