COVID-19: PM Modi lauds chess stars for arranging online exhibition match

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded leading Indian chess players for taking part in an online exhibition chess tournament to raise funds for the PM-CARES Fund that has been setup to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The players include former world champion Vishwanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna and B Adhiban, Koneru Humpy and Dharika.

"Innovative effort and kind gesture by our chess players, including @vishy64theking, @viditchess, Pentala Harikrishna, B. Adhiban and @HarikaDronavali. Am sure the participants would have had an enriching experience," said Modi in a tweet.

The Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 11.41 per cent of coronavirus patients have recovered from the infection and a total of 170 districts have been identified with hotspots, while 207 have been identified as non-hotspots.

The total number of confirmed cases in India is 11,439, while 377 people have succumbed to the disease and 1,305 people have been cured. The total number of active cases in the country is 9,756. A total of 1,076 cases have been added in the last 24 hours, said the Health Ministry.

"We are focusing on following the proper protocol for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, especially people in the high-risk group and patients with comorbidities," said Agarwal while emphasising on saving lives from the viral infection.