All international commercial passenger flights will remain suspended till April 14, aviation regulator DGCA announced on Thursday, amid a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 19 had announced that no international commercial passenger flight operations will take place in India from 1.30 am on March 23 to 5.30 am on March 29.

Hundreds of people were left stranded at various checkpoints on the Andhra Pradesh- Telangana borders since Wednesday night as authorities refused to let them into the state in view of the coronavirus lockdown, exposing the communication gap and lack of coordination between the authorities of the two States.

After frantic SOS calls by the stranded persons, including pregnant women and children, AP authorities finally agreed to let them in, on the condition that they be shifted to a quarantine facility.

As the government readies for the fight against the novel coronavirus, Indian Railways is considering offering its coaches and cabins to be used as isolation wards in rural and remote areas for patients who have tested positive.

All railway services have been suspended till April 14 in wake of the 21-day nationwide lockdown.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday addressed the media and said that people do not need to panic amid the lockdown as shops providing essential services will remain open 24x7 in the city during the entire 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kejriwal also said that food delivery has also been allowed in the national capital.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, annoucing her support to the 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, which has infected around 649 people across the country.

In the letter, the Gandhi said that her party stands with the people of India in thte time of criris. Congress stands with people of India at this time of national crisis. We extend full support to the 21-day lockdown and extend cooperation to the government.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a relief package for the poor and migrants in the country in light of the 21-day lockdown in the country to tackle the challenge posed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan scheme worth Rs 1.7 trillion will have two parts — cash transfer and food security, said the Finance Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday join a meeting of G20 leaders via video conferencing, that has been organised to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting will be chaired by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.

The prime minister took to Twitter on Wednesday to inform about the development.

With the 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 having come into force, the Centre on Wednesday postponed the process of updating the contentious National Population Register (NPR) and the first phase of the Census 2021.

The house listing and housing enumeration of the Census 2021 and NPR were slated to be carried out simultaneously from April 1 to September 30.

The global coronavirus death toll crossed 20,000-mark on Wednesday Italy recorded another 683 deaths within 24 hours, taking the number to 7503. The number of cases in the country reached 74,384 with 5,210 more cases being recorded on Wednesday.

Spain, the second most affected country in the European Union, surpassed China in terms of the number of deaths as added 443 dead to its yesterday's figure. Spain has recorded 3,434 deaths against China's figure of 3,281.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the Mahabharata war was won in 18 days and it would take 21 days for India to win the war against novel coronavirus.

His remarks came a day after he announced a 21-day nationwide complete lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.