PM Modi holds meeting with 40 sportspersons including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, PV Sindhu to discuss COVID-19 situation in India
Story highlights
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a meeting, via video conferencing, with 40 top sportspersons from different sports and discussed the situation surrounding COVID-19 in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a meeting, via video conferencing, with 40 top sportspersons from different sports and discussed the situation surrounding COVID-19 in India. Among the top 40 sportspersons to join the meeting with PM Modi were Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Hima Das, Mary Kom, among others.
This was the first time that PM Modi interacted with sports icons of India since the 21-day lockdown was enforced to curb the spread of the deadly virus in the country. With the COVID-19 virus spreading like a wildfire in the nation, PM Modi asked all the sportspersons to spread the message of social distancing in a bid to combat the dreaded virus.
The other prominent athletes included PT Usha, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand, Hima Das, Bajrang Punia, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Manu Bhaker, Sharad Kumar, Ajay Thakur and Cheteshwar Pujara, among others.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meeting with 40 top sportspersons from various sports via video conferencing today, on #COVID19 situation in the country. pic.twitter.com/NGzl4mL45x
— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020
The likes of Ganguly, Tendulkar, Kohli, Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu and Hima Das offered their suggestions surrounding the COVID-19 situation in the country to PM Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meeting with 40 top sportspersons, including Sachin Tendulkar, PV Sindhu and Hima Das, via video conferencing today, on #COVID19 situation in the country. pic.twitter.com/eC4xKceL4a
— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020
Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, PM Modi urged people to gather for a unique exercise on April 5 at 9 PM to display the unity in the fight against COVID-19. PM Modi asked everyone to turn off all the lights at 9 PM, on April 5, and light a diya, candle, torch or flashlight for 9 minutes as a display of unity in these tough times.
From sharing videos that reaffirm the importance of fitness, helping the poor and needy, emphasising on social distancing as well as contributing to efforts such as PM-CARES, our sportspersons are doing excellent towards making India free from COVID-19.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 3, 2020
"On this Sunday, April 5, we will challenge the darkness of coronavirus threat together. On April 5, at 9 pm, I need your 9 minutes. At 9 pm, turn off all the lights in your houses and light a Diya, candle, torch or flashlight for 9 minutes at your doors, or balcony," PM Modi said on Friday.
The sporting calendar has been shredded into pieces by the COVID-19 pandemic with almost all the major tournaments and events getting either cancelled or postponed in the wake of the deadly virus.
In India, the total number of positive cases has rapidly risen to 2,069, as of Thursday morning, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the death toll now at 53.