Considering the prevailing situation in the UK, the BJP led- Centre has decided that all flights originating from the UK to India shall be temporarily suspended till December 31.

Meanwhile owing to this, equity indices fell sharply on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex crashing over 1,300 points amid concerns over a new Covid-19 strain.

The 30-share BSE index dived more than 2.5 per cent in late noon deals; while the broader NSE Nifty was testing the 13,400-mark.

A new and faster-transmitting strain of the virus in the UK is an area of concern. Acceleration in the number of cases in the US and poor economic data are other dampeners, V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services told news agency PTI.