While the death of one person has been confirmed, the fate of the remaining 17 people is not known
In the 'Additional guidelines for quarantine of returnees from abroad/contacts/ isolation of suspect or confirmed cases in private facilities', released on Thursday evening, the ministry said there are large number of facilities such as hotels, service apartments and lodges which are "unoccupied due to impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism".
As the Centre's decision ahead of the end of the 40-day lockdown brought cheers to lakhs of migrant workers across the country, quarantine centres and shelter homes were also being readied for the returning migrants with Uttar Pradesh alone preparing to receive an estimated 10 lakh people.
At a time when finding out who is paying for labourers' train tickets is a task for Sherlock Holmes, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand government has flown in stranded workers from Ladakh, and is probably the only state that has tried to give 'migrant workers' a modicum of respect, observes Debashish Chatterjee.
Over 50 per cent of all traffic to Jeddah consists pilgrims headed to Mecca and Medina.
"Not only this, but we also helped the citizens of our neighbouring countries to return to their country when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck, irrespective of caste, religion, class, area etc," said minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt.
The group along with three copies of the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, was airlifted from Kabul to Dushanbe by a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Monday.
International and Indian airlines are refusing to refund cash and giving credit that can be used later.
The United States has described as "discriminatory and restrictive" the Indian government not allowing American carriers operate chartered flights on Indo-US routes even though Air India was doing so under the Vande Bharat Mission.
In a big relief for thousands of stranded Indian professionals in America due to the coronavirus pandemic, the US government has decided to allow applications by H-1B visa holders for an extended stay in the country. The US department of homeland security in a new notification has said it recognises that there are immigration-related challenges as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.
It said it will also allow reservation of reserved tickets from common service centres (CSC) and through ticketing agents with effect from Friday. The zonal railways have been instructed to decide and notify opening of reservation counters as per local needs and conditions, the order stated.
International air travel of passengers has been permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat mission. Further opening-up will take place in a calibrated manner.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the worst Covid-19 affected state of Maharashtra to be more vigilant and make concerted efforts in identifying and sending the migrant workers still stranded there to their native places. The top court, which directed all states and Union territories to transport all stranded workers by train, bus or other modes within 15 days, said there were "huge lapses" by the Maharashtra authorities in dealing with the issue and asked the government there to announce a suitable place for their registration.
At least 44 passengers were airlifted in two sorties of Mi-17 helicopter from north Kashmir's Bandipora town to Dawar (Gurez), while 46 passengers were rescued from Dawar to Bandipora, an official spokesperson said.
At least three persons died on Saturday after uprooted trees fells on them in Odisha ahead of Cyclone Phailin's landfall at Gopalpur.
These slots, under the air bubble pact, will later be extended to operate regular flight services once international flight services resumes.
In the North Western Railway (NWR) zone, rail traffic was affected in some sections in Rajasthan and Haryana with 18 trains cancelled, 10 partially cancelled and one diverted due to the protest.
The Unlock 3 guidelines will come into force from August 1 and strict enforcement of lockdown in containment zones will continue till August 31.
Chennai airport will remain shut till December 6 in the wake of battering rains that have left the facility unusable, Airports Authority of India announced on Wednesday.
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was suspended due to lurking threat of floods in the Valley, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded, officials said.
More than 70 players and their entourage are confined to their hotel rooms for 14 days and unable to train for the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open after passengers on three charter flights returned positive tests.
The DGCA pointed to cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits among other lapses in its show-cause notice. The DGCA conducted the inspection after an Air India Express flight coming from Dammam in Saudi Arabia had a 'tail strike' while landing at the Calicut (Kozhikode) airport on July 2 last year, an official said.
Heavy rains on Wednesday morning caused water-logging in many areas and massive traffic jams in Hyderabad, leading to people stuck on the roads.
Like there's no dearth of memorable bus scenes and train imagery in Hindi movies, planes are equally prolific on silver screen.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
Exhausted but elated, around 600 Indian students, who waged a tough battle for survival before being pulled out of war-battered Ukrainian city of Sumy, are now on way to Poland on a train from where they will be flown back home likely on Thursday.
The first Qantas domestic flight took off from the airport in Melbourne with passengers cheering as boarding began after the airline was grounded on Saturday following series of union issues.
After the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was cleared by Parliament, violent protests broke out in Guwahati.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who has qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, is returning home from his training base in Turkey owing to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced many countries to shut their doors to passengers arriving from outside. The 22-year-old Chopra has been training in Turkey for the last one month.
States and Union Territories have been given the powers for delineation of Red, Green and Orange Zones as per COVID-19 situation, the MHA said. All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings during lockdown 4.0, it said.
The protesters were demanding inclusion of Meghalaya in the Inner Line Permit regime thereby exempting it from Citizenship Amendment Act.
The DGCA cracked the whip after an IndiGo flight bound for Lucknow returned to Ahmedabad within 40 minutes of its getting airborne due to a mid-air engine failure.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that social distancing and staying indoors were the only ways to deal with the fast-spreading coronavirus, pictures and videos of people standing in circles and squares to buy essential items like groceries and milk in many states went viral.
Air India's jumbo B747 made two flights to Wuhan city -- the ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 300 people, infected 14,380 others and spread to 25 countries, including India, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Air India announced up to 50 per cent reduction in monthly allowances of its employees, who have a gross monthly salary of more than Rs 25,000.
The six students may have to undergo tests to determine whether they have symptoms of the coronavirus. Ahead of the evacuation, the Indian Embassy had informed the Indians that they will be tested before the flight and undergo 14 day quarantine after reaching India.
The driver and the conductor of a bus that got stuck at the Minto Bridge underpass due to waterlogging were rescued by fire department personnel, officials said.
While 287 trains have already reached their destinations, 79 trains are in transit, officials said. Out of these 287 trains, 127 terminated in Uttar Pradesh, 87 in Bihar, 24 in Madhya Pradesh, 20 in Odisha, 16 in Jharkhand, four in Rajasthan, three in Maharashtra, two each in Telangana and West Bengal, and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, the officials said.
All existing visas granted to foreigners -- except those belonging to diplomatic, official, United Nations international organisations, employment and project categories -- shall remain suspended till prohibition on international air travel of passengers from and to India is lifted by the government, the order said.
A powerful typhoon has slammed into western Japan, inundating the region's main international airport, blowing a tanker into a bridge, disrupting land and air travel and leaving thousands stranded. Local media reported that seven people died and more than 100 others were injured when Typhoon Jebi caused violent winds in the west of the country. The storm is the strongest to hit the country in 25 years.