BJP's Kerala unit chief Rajasekharan sworn in as Mizoram Governor

Panaji (Goa)/Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bengaluru(Karnataka)/New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): With the government allowing the re-opening of restaurants and eateries from Monday, these establishments re-opened across several states on Monday including in Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, with necessary precautions in place amid COVID-19 crisis.

Restaurants reopened in Panaji today after relaxations in lockdown.

Speaking to ANI, Goa Hotel and Restaurant Association President, Gaurish Dhond said, "We expect that not more than 25 per cent of restaurants will reopen because our labour force is dependent upon migrant workers who have gone to their homes".

"Every guest will be checked with a thermal gun, we will provide them with a sanitizer and a digital menu most probably. We would like to request our customers to pay online. Residential hotels are also allowed to operate and guidelines have been issued for them," he added.

Bars are not allowed to operate, he added.

While religious places across the country were thrown open today, worship places continued to remain closed in Goa till June 30.

In Bhopal restaurants opened but with fewer customers venturing to eat outside.

Speaking to ANI, C Kumaran, Manager, India Coffee House, New Market said, "We will conduct a temperature check for customers at the entry point. Then the customers will have to wash and sanitize their hands only then they will be allowed to sit inside. Only two persons will be allowed to sit on a four-seat table."

"This restaurant has a seating capacity of around 120 persons which has now been reduced to 50. Even in the kitchen, staff capacity has been reduced to 50 per cent," he added.

Meanwhile, malls re-opened in Bengaluru today, people along with staff members were allowed to enter inside Garuda Mall while maintaining social distancing.

"As per government norms, we are following all the preventive measures. Staff and other people are being sanitized and then only allowed inside the mall. The mall has been deep cleaned. People entering the mall should have Aarogya Setu App installed in their mobile phones if not, they will be sent back," said John Joseph, Manager, Garuda Mall.

Restaurants re-opened in the national capital as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced yesterday that all restaurants and malls are allowed to resume operations from today.

New Delhi, May 30: As the NDA government completes one year of its second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed several achievements and initiatives taken by his government in the past year in an audio message addressed to the people of the country.

PM Modi said, "This day last year began a golden chapter in the history of Indian democracy. It was after several decades that the people of the country voted back a full-term government with a full majority."

"Your role has played a pivotal role in creating this chapter. In such a situation, this day is an opportunity for me to bow to the citizens of the country and the democratic ethos of our nation," said PM Modi.

"Had the situation been normal, I would have got the chance to meet you. Your affection and active support in the past year have given me new energy and inspiration. During this period, the way you have shown the collective powers of democracy, they have become an example for the whole world," he added.

PM Modi talked about several important initiatives taken by his government in 2014 as well as India's demonstration of its mettle through the surgical strike and airstrike.

"Six years ago in 2014, the people of this country voted to bring a major change in the country. You voted to change the country's policy and manner. During that tenure where surgical strike and airstrike took place, one rank one pension, one nation one tax GST, and better MSP for farmers were also fulfilled. That period was dedicated to fulfilling many needs of the country."

He further said that in these years the country has seen systems coming out of the quagmire of inertia and corruption. The country has seen governance change to make life easier for the poor.

"During that period, India's stature in the world increased. By opening bank accounts of poor people, by giving them gas connections, by providing free electricity connections, by building washrooms, by building houses, the dignity of the poor has also been increased," said PM Modi.

Ahmedabad, Jan 12: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday unveiled over 5.5 lakh postcards written by Ahmedabad residents to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The postcards were stacked on the dais as Shah addressed a gathering of BJP workers who formed letters `C A A’ in front of him.

The state BJP claimed that the party’s “largest awareness campaign” in support of the CAA had found a place in Limca Book of Records and World Record of India.

“It is not just words but a letter of thanks written from the heart. Our public outreach programme is a reply to the lies being spread against the CAA,” Shah said addressing BJP workers from his former Assembly constituency Naranpura.

The BJP had promised to enact the CAA in its manifesto, he said, asking why the Congress did not oppose it then.

Targeting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Shah said, “Congress has a government in Rajasthan. The Congress party in that state had promised that Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan would be given citizenship.

“Why do you oppose it when we fulfill the promise made by you?” the Union home minister asked.

“In 2006 and 2009, Ashok Gehlot wrote a letter for the same. We covered Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, all of them under the Act, you had only mentioned Hindus and Sikhs,” Shah claimed.

Saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by bringing in the CAA, granted “human rights to lakhs of people”, he asked why opposition was against it.

He challenged “Rahul Baba” (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi), Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal to show if any provision of the CAA took away the citizenship of Indian Muslims.

“There is no such provision. Lakhs and crores of people have come to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh to save their religion, their self-respect, to save themselves. Where else will they go?” he asked.

“From the first prime minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru to the first home minister, first president of the country, and Mahatma Gandhi himself had said that whoever comes to India from Pakistan will be granted citizenship. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains coming from Pakistan have nowhere else to go,” he said.