‘Non-Gandhi chief will cause Congress to split within 24 hours’: Natwar Singh

New Delhi, Mar 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that people should not think of COVID-19 quarantine facilities as a prison and spoke with two survivors of the infection during his radio show 'Mann Ki Baat' to establish that it was curable.
The Prime Minister spoke to coronavirus survivors -- Ramagampa Teja and Ashok Kapoor - and urged them to share their success against the infection with people.
The Prime Minister asked people to listen to the survivors who had successfully defeated the coronavirus.
"I have spoken to a few people who were infected from the virus and speaking to such people. While I tried to boost their morale they also lifted my spirits when I talked to them," he said.
Speaking to the Prime Minister during the show, Ramagampa Teja, an IT professional, who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Dubai, said that he was frightened when he tested positive for the disease and could not believe that this has happened to him.
He said even his family was very stressed after finding out his COVID-19 positive status. "But their test results came negative, which I took as a great blessing. And since then, there were improvements every day," he said.
Teja was admitted to a government hospital in Hyderabad and was released after 14 days as he successfully overcame the infection. "The first few days were the hardest but the dedicated doctors and nurses at the hospital ensured that I recovered," he added.
He asked people not to be afraid of being quarantined. "People feel that going into quarantine means going to prison. They should know that the government quarantine is for them and their families. I want to emphasise that people must get tested and do not fear quarantine," he added.
The Prime Minister congratulated him and his family and asked him to share an audio clip of his experience. "I would like you to make an audio of your experiences and share it on social media so that it goes viral and removes fear from people's minds," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also spoke to another coronavirus survivor, Ashok Kapoor, six members of whose family in Agra were tested positive for the deadly virus.
On being asked by the Prime Minister whether they had feared for their lives, Kapoor said, "We were not scared as we received excellent cooperation from the doctors and support staff at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital."
The six of them were shifted to Delhi and put under quarantine for 14 days where all of them successfully recovered from the infection.
The Prime Minister also commended the spirit of Ashok Kapoor and said: "Your experience came in handy for all. My best wishes to you and your family."
He also urged the Kapoor family to spread awareness regarding COVID-19 in the way they see fit. "Please spread awareness your way and you can feed whoever is hungry, look out for the poor and also spread awareness to people urging them to follow the rules," the Prime Minister said.
"If everyone follows the rules, the country will be saved," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also thanked the people involved in ensuring the continuous supply of goods and services in the country and advised them to "follow all the safety precautions, take care of themselves and their family members."
Earlier in his address, Modi had asked for the forgiveness of all countrymen, and especially the poor, for the nationwide lockdown in the country in the view of the novel coronavirus. He had then termed it a necessary measure needed to defeat the infection in India.

Washington, May 23: President Donald Trump has labeled churches and other houses of worship as “essential" and called on governors nationwide to let them reopen this weekend even though some areas remain under coronavirus lockdown.

The president threatened Friday to “override” governors who defy him, but it was unclear what authority he has to do so.

“Governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now — for this weekend," Trump said at a hastily arranged press conference at the White House. Asked what authority Trump might have to supersede governors, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she wouldn't answer a theoretical question.

Trump has been pushing for the country to reopen as he tries to reverse an economic free fall playing out months before he faces reelection. White evangelical Christians have been among the president's most loyal supporters, and the White House has been careful to attend to their concerns throughout the crisis.

Following Trump's announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for communities of faith on how to safely reopen, including recommendations to limit the size of gatherings and consider holding services outdoors or in large, well-ventilated areas.

Public health agencies have generally advised people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and encouraged Americans to remain 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from others when possible. Some parts of the country remain under some version of remain-at-home orders.

In-person religious services have been vectors for transmission of the virus. A person who attended a Mother's Day service at a church in Northern California that defied the governor's closure orders later tested positive, exposing more than 180 churchgoers. And a choir practice at a church in Washington state was labeled by the CDC as an early “superspreading" event.

But Trump on Friday stressed the importance of churches in many communities and said he was “identifying houses of worship — churches, synagogues and mosques — as essential places that provide essential services.”

“Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential” but not churches, he said. “It's not right. So I'm correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential." “These are places that hold our society together and keep our people united,” he added.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said faith leaders should be in touch with local health departments and can take steps to mitigate risks, including making sure those who are at high risk of severe complications remain protected.

“There's a way for us to work together to have social distancing and safety for people so we decrease the amount of exposure that anyone would have to an asymptomatic," she said.

A person familiar with the White House's thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations said Trump had called the news conference, which had not been on his public schedule, because he wanted to be the face of church reopenings, knowing how well it would play with his political base.

Churches around the country have filed legal challenges opposing virus closures.

In Minnesota, after Democratic Gov. Tim Walz this week declined to lift restrictions on churches, Roman Catholic and some Lutheran leaders said they would defy his ban and resume worship services. They called the restrictions unconstitutional and unfair since restaurants, malls and bars were allowed limited reopening.

Some hailed the president's move, including Kelly Shackelford, president of the conservative First Liberty Institute.

“The discrimination that has been occurring against churches and houses of worship has been shocking," he said in a statement. "Americans are going to malls and restaurants. They need to be able to go to their houses of worship.” But Rabbi Jack Moline, president of Interfaith Alliance, said it was “completely irresponsible” for Trump to call for a mass reopening of houses of worship.

“Faith is essential and community is necessary; however, neither requires endangering the people who seek to participate in them,” he said.

“The virus does not discriminate between types of gatherings, and neither should the president." Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, made clear that churches and other houses of worship will not resume in-person services in her state until at least next weekend and said she was skeptical Trump had the authority to impose such a requirement.

“It's reckless to force them to reopen this weekend. They're not ready,” she said. “We've got a good plan. I'm going to stick with it.” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, said he would review the federal guidance, while maintaining a decision rests with him.

"Obviously we'd love to get to the point where we can get those open, but we'll look at the guidance documents and try to make some decisions rather quickly, depending on what it might say,” he said. “It's the governor's decision, of course.”

The CDC more than a month ago sent the Trump administration documents the agency had drafted outlining specific steps various kinds of organizations, including houses of worship, could follow as they worked to reopen safely.

But the White House dragged its feet, concerned that the recommendations were too specific and could give the impression the administration was interfering in church operations.

The guidance posted Friday contains most of the same advice as the draft guidance. It calls for the use of face coverings and recommends keeping worshippers 6 feet from one another and cutting down on singing, which can spread aerosolized drops that carry the virus.

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.