Evening News - 23 March, 2020
03:33 Share

To deal with coronavirus situation, Assam will go on a lockdown from 6 pm tomorrow until March 31 midnight, said Health & Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.The announcement was made during a Press Conference at 5 pm today.. During the lockdown period pharmacy, petrol depo, grocery shops will be open. Office, educational institutions, government, private offices, industry, and all else will be shut. No one can come out. People will have to stay inside.First instance of violation will cause 6 months jail. Second instance of violation will be penalized with 2 years inside jail under IPC. Fire brigade, hospital, essential services will be open. Ambulance service will go on.

Arunachal Pradesh will go on lockdown until March 31 as a precautionary measure against coronavirus situation. All essential services shall be exempted from this. "No public transport services, including operation of taxis, auto-rickshaws, will be permitted except transport of all kinds to and from hospitals, airport, helipad, railway stations, and goods carriers carrying food and essential commodities," the notification said. All shops, commercial establishments, offices, factories and workshops shall also shut their operations, it said.

Gautam Barthakur from Assam was in charge of sending 263 Indian students from Rome to India.Barthakur works as Airport Manager of Air India in Rome, Italy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Air India for evacuating Indians stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delhi police has booked a man under Sec 509 of IPC who had spat at a Manipuri woman and called her “corona.”The incident took place in Vijaynagar area of North Delhi on Sunday.Netizens have condemned the incident. Some even shared details of the incident on Twitter.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that no domestic commercial airlines will be operational from March 25. Cargo flights will not come under this limitation.

Chief Minister  of Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh has announced full curfew with no relaxations as coronavirus cases surge in the state and the country. It is worth mentioning that, India had reported its fourth death from coronavirus after a 70-year-old man died in Punjab.

With several regions of the country under lockdown and government urging people to avoid mass gatherings, various health agencies around the world, such as WHO, are urging people to use the word “physical distancing” instead of “social distancing.” Health officials insist that the current scenario is not about giving up social contacts but to maintain healthy distance from one another so that the spread of virus can be prevented.