THE WEEK morning brief: Delhi govt to feed 4 lakh, AirAsia Malaysia flights

Here are the key news stories to keep track of on Saturday, March 28

kejriwal pti Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a digital press conference on COVID-19 | PTI

Delhi govt food initiative

The Delhi government will from Saturday begin providing free food for up to 4 lakh poor people who have been affected by the ongoing lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told mediapersons on Friday that lunch and dinner will be served in 325 schools in Delhi. Responding to reports that hundreds of people do not have access to food during the lockdown, Kejriwal, said, “We will feed 4 lakh people in Delhi from tomorrow. No one will sleep hungry in our Delhi."

Home delivery of rations in Srinagar

The Jammu and Kashmir government will begin home delivery of monthly rations to 1.60 lakh households in Srinagar from Saturday. The measure was announced as part of the lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak. The home delivery of rations is intended to ensure that 12.5 lakh Srinagar residents stay home. Personnel of the departments of public distribution, agriculture, police, magistrates and municipal corporation will be involved in the delivery of rations.

AirAsia Malaysia to suspend operations

The Malaysia arm of budget airline AirAsia and its long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, will suspend all services from Saturday. The Malaysia arm is the largest wing of AirAsia that operates in four countries. It has around 90 aircraft out of AirAsia’s total fleet of nearly 190 jets. The move to ground operations comes due to the steep fall in passenger demand and restrictions on flights in numerous countries.

AirAsia Malaysia will halt services till April 21, while AirAsia X will be grounded till May 31. The Thai, Philippine and Indian arms of AirAsia had halted various operations in the past two weeks. The Thai arm of AirAsia still operates domestic flights.

Trump to see off hospital ship for New York

US President Donald Trump will attend a ceremony on Saturday to mark the departure of the USNS Comfort, a US Navy hospital ship, for New York to aid the city's health system in the fight against coronavirus. The USNS Comfort, which has a bed capacity to treat 1,000 patients, will not be treating coronavirus patients but would focus on other medical emergencies in a bid to free up New York hospitals to focus on the coronavirus fight.

New York has been the epicentre of the coronavirus situation in the US, reporting as many as 44,635 cases and 519 deaths by Friday.

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