Published 10:00 IST, March 29th 2020
Small Kids, Big Gesture: Modi thanks 15-&-8-yr-olds who donated savings to PM CARES fund
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his gratitude towards two youngsters who donated their savings to the PM CARES Fund
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his gratitude towards two youngsters who donated their savings to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund). Taking to Twitter, he thanked the two-- Kavya Khandelwal (15) and Chaitanya Khandelwal (8), and stated that it was 'deeply touching'. He also added that the youngsters are at the forefront fo fighting the deadly Coronavirus.
On Saturday, the two kids' father Vishal Khandelwal took to Twitter and stated that his children have donated their entire savings to the PM CARES Fund in order to fight COVID-19.
The PM CARES Fund
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), where citizens can contribute to aide the government's efforts in supporting those affected by disasters. This fund will provide relief to the affected from any walk of life dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation. PM Modi also urged Indians to donate generously. The fund is chaired by PM Modi and includes Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Coronavirus crisis
As of date, India has reported over 1,000 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. Out of all the states, Kerala and Maharashtra have reported the most in the country. Meanwhile, 19 people have died so far due to the deadly virus. Due to the outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put India under a national lockdown for 21 days. Further, India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar.
Presently, there are around 662,967 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of around 30,851 people. Meanwhile, around 141,953 people have reportedly recovered. Currently, as per reports, the hardest-hit region is the United States of America, followed by China, and then Italy, Iran and South Korea, where the number of cases is rising by the hour.
Updated 10:00 IST, March 29th 2020