The Centre has suspended all tourist visas till April 15 in a bid to contain spread of novel coronavirus. The suspension will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure. The decision was taken at the 6th meeting of group of ministers held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. An official release said, all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas stand suspended till 15th April 2020. Visa-free travel facility granted to OCI card holders is also kept in abeyance till April 15.

Any foreign national who intends to travel to India for compelling reason may contact the nearest Indian Mission. All incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days.

Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. On their return, they can be subjected to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days.

Five Indian boxers, including the seasoned trio of Vikas Krishan  in 69 kilogram, Pooja Rani in 75 kg and Satish Kumar in
91 kg category, yesterday secured Tokyo Olympic berths by advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Qualifiers with mostly commanding victories in Amman, Jordan.

Satish, Rani, Krishan, Lovlina Borgohain in 69 kg and Ashish Kumar in 75 kg became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for quadrennial showpiece scheduled in July-August this year.

While fourth-seeded Rani notched up a facile 5-0 win over Thailand's Pornnipa Chutee, Krishan endured a difficult one against third-seeded Japanese Sewonrets Okazawa before prevailing in a unanimous verdict against the Asian silver-medallist.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Nari Shakti Award winners have made great contribution in building the society and inspiring the nation. Interacting with Nari Shakti Puraskar winners in New Delhi last evening, Mr Modi said, the country could not have achieved the open defecation free status without significant contribution from women.

He said malnutrition issue can also be resolved with greater women participation. 15 Women achievers from various parts of the country including Leh, Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh shared their trials, struggles and how they achieved their goals with the Prime Minister.  Yesterday, President Ram Nath Kovind honored these women achievers with the Nari Shakti Puraskar at Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of International Women's Day yesterday.

The first ever Khelo India Winter Games will begin today at Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 900 participants will take part in the 5-day event. Organised by Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council in collaboration Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Games will be held in various sports disciplines.

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has reached Gulmarg for the Games. Mr Rijiju also participated in an interactive session with youth at the National Integration Camp hosted by Government Physical Education College Gadoora, Ganderbal yesterday. The camp was hosted to motivate and guide the youth for their active participation in the promotion of unity, communal harmony, national integration, FIT India.

Later sports material kits under FIT India campaign and promotion of sports culture among rural youth were distributed to over 250 youth hailing from youth clubs from Ganderbal and Srinagar district.

In Mizoram, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizos, Chapchar Kut is being celebrated across the state today. The Chapchar Kut is also regarded as the most popular spring festival to the people of the state. The gaiety and fervour of Chapchar Kut shines through with plenty of dancing and music to keep everyone in good spirits. This festival is a public holiday in the state.

Air correspondent reports that Though the festival is beginning today, the celebration started yesterday with the mega event holding at the Assam Rilfles Ground at Aizawl. On the occasion, state Art & Culture Minister R Lalzirliana welcomed all people to participate in the fun and amusement events being organised during the festival. Traditional bamboo dance - Cheraw and other dances were performed at the main event, attracting thousands of people. Almost similar festive events are being held throughout the state.

The Indian government has given a go ahead to a plan State Bank of India (SBI) to lead a consortium that will buy a stake in troubled Yes Bank Ltd.

However, while this works out, Yes Bank depositors can only withdraw Rs 50,000 from their accounts starting today till April 3. This Rs 50,000 cap is an aggregate amount across all bank accounts at Yes Bank – savings, deposits or current accounts.  

Exceptions will be made in a few cases and ‘competent authority’ will decide on these exceptions. The amounts in these cases cannot be more than Rs 5 lakh or the amount of money that is in the accounts (whichever is less).

Health Ministry is organizing a national level training workshop today for all the states and hospitals from other Ministries on COVID-19 management.

The workshop to be organized in New Delhi, will train the trainers for COVID-19. It will give training on hospital preparedness and non-pharmaceutical interventions, infection prevention, standard precautions, environmental cleaning, disinfection and biomedical waste management, risk communications and community engagement and other aspects to tackle the situation related to novel Coronavirus.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said that such workshop will be taken up to the district level.

Sports Authority of India, in association with Hockey India today announced the first edition of the Khelo India Women's Hockey League Under-21.

It will be organized by Hockey India at three different venues in three phases between March to November.

While phase one will be held from 23rd to 29th of this month at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, the second phase will be held from 13th to 19th at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, followed by the final one from 22nd to 29th November at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Delhi Government has directed an immediate closure of all Government, Government aided, private, Municipal Corporations of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council primary schools till 31st of this month.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in a tweet said, the decision was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst the children.

Kendriya Vidyalayas in Delhi will also remain closed for primary classes till 31st March in view of Coronavirus.

President Ram Nath Kovind today conferred 61st annual Lalit Kala Akademi's awards on 15 artistes at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The awardees include Anoop Kumar Manzukhi Gopi from Kerala, David Malakar from West Bengal, Hari Ram Kumbhawat from Rajasthan, Devendra Kumar Khare from Gujarat, Dinesh Pandya from Maharashtra, Mohan Kumar from Karnataka and Yashwant Singh from Delhi.
Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel and the Akademi Chairman Dr. Uttam Pacharne were also present on the occasion