Coronavirus: PM Modi called for lights to be turned off and lamps to be lit for nine minutes
Highlights
- Millions of people switched off non-essential lights and lit diyas
- Spiritual slogans and chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" were heard as well
- PM tweeted photo of him lighting lamp at his official residence in Delhi
Millions of people switched off non-essential lights and lit diyas (earthen lamps) and candles in their balconies and verandas on Sunday night following a call last week from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "challenge the darkness spread by the coronavirus crisis", which has crossed 4,000 cases nationwide and been linked to the deaths of at least 109 people.
As the clock struck 9 pm tens of thousands of diyas, a traditional lamp usually seen during Diwali and other festive occasions, were lit as people wearing face masks burst firecrackers, blew conches (horns) and shouted and cheered in response to the Prime Minister's call.
Spiritual slogans and chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" were heard as well.
Although the Prime Minister had requested diyas be lit for nine minutes from 9 pm, people kept up the chanting and cheering for nearly 30 minutes, with the lamps left burning for much longer. People also kept lights switched off in their homes for much longer than the Prime Minister had asked.
At around 9.30 pm, Prime Minister Modi tweeted a photo of him lighting a lamp at his official residence in Delhi. Wearing a blue kurta, the Prime Minister also posted a short Sanskrit poem that, roughly translated, read: "Salutations to the light of the lamp which brings auspiciousness, health and prosperity (and) which destroys inimical feelings; Salutations to the light of the lamp".
In Gujarat, the Prime Minister's mother, 93-year-old Hiraben also joined in, lighting an earthen lamp after turning off all the lights in her home.

PM Modi lit a lamp at his official residence
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and their respective families also lit lamps outside their homes, as did Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and BJP chief JP Nadda.
The chief ministers of several states, including Tamil Nadu (E Palaniswami) Uttar Pradesh (Yogi Adityanath), Bihar (Nitish Kumar), Uttarakhand (Trivendra Singh Rawat) and Telangana (K Chandrashekar Rao), also lit diyas, as did Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and former Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu.
The entire event led to #9MinutesForIndia emerging as one of the top trends on Twitter.

President Ram Nath Kovind and his family lit diyas outside Rashtrapati Bhavan
Interestingly, although the country is under the Prime Minister's "total lockdown" and only shops selling essential items are allowed to function, a number of makeshift roadside shops and carts sold diyas at various places across the country on Sunday.
It is unclear where the firecrackers were purchased from, since these too are not on the list of essential items.
On Friday the Prime Minister had urged people to turn off lights, stand in their balconies and hold candles, diyas, and even mobile phone flashlights, for nine minutes in a nationwide show of solidarity.
The Prime Minister's request sparked fears among state electricity boards that the sudden mass power fluctuations - as millions switched off and switched lights back - could overload the system.
The Union Power Ministry subsequently issued a statement allaying such fears. Nevertheless, state power boards had asked workers to be on stand-by.
Fortunately, no major power outages or blackouts were reported.
According to RK Singh, Minister of State for Power, nationwide demand for electricity went down by 32,000 MW between 8.49 pm and 9.09 pm. It began increasing after that but did so in a phased manner, meaning power supply was kept stable.
The demand went down from 117300 Megawatts at 2049 hrs to 85300 Megawatts till 2109 hrs; that is a reduction of 32000 Megawatts. Then it started increasing. Frequency was maintained within a band of 49.7 to 50. 26 Hz, which means the voltage was kept stable. (2/4)
— R. K. Singh (@RajKSinghIndia) April 5, 2020
This was the second "collective display" to show unity in the fight against the virus requested by the Prime Minister since the lockdown started. He had earlier asked people to stand in balconies and clap, or bang utensils, for five minutes at 5 pm to celebrate medical staff in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Across India at least 109 deaths have been linked to the novel coronavirus, with 32 deaths and 693 new cases reported in the past 24 hours alone. The latest figures from the Union Health Ministry take the takes the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 4,067 cases.
This is for the fourth consecutive day that India has registered an increase of 500-plus cases The nation went under the "total lockdown" on March 25 in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of the virus.
Worldwide 1.3 million people have been infected and nearly 70,000 killed.
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India
State & District Details
State | Cases | Active | Recovered | Deaths |
---|---|---|---|---|
DistrictCases Akola757 Aurangabad1974 Dhule228 Jalgaon1039 Mumbai45478 Mumbai Suburban5363 Nagpur692 Nashik1575 Palghar1421 Pune9920 Satara629 Solapur1291 Thane13660 Yavatmal150 Ahmednagar190 Amravati291 Beed54 Bhandara41 Buldhana88 Chandrapur32 Hingoli208 Jalna201 Kolhapur646 Latur139 Nanded176 Nandurbar42 Parbhani78 Raigad1462 Ratnagiri350 Sangli145 Gadchiroli42 gondia69 Osmanabad125 Sindhudurg114 Wardha11 Washim13 | 8141020 343 | 1763 146 | 7990824 194 | 148433 3 |
DistrictCases Chittoor319 Guntur511 Krishna557 Kurnool795 Sri Potti Sriramulu Nell*296 Anantapur428 East Godavari356 Prakasam104 Srikakulam183 Visakhapatnam103 West Godavari199 Y.S.R.205 Vizianagaram23 | 2339121 3 | 16 | 2324372 3 | 14733 |
DistrictCases Bengaluru Rural40 Bengaluru Urban529 Mysuru107 Bagalkote103 Ballari60 Belagavi337 Bidar219 Chikkaballapura149 Dakshina Kannada179 Dharwad61 Gadag45 Kalaburagi669 Mandya346 Tumakuru36 Uttara Kannada95 Vijayapura201 Chamarajanagara0 Chikkamagaluru19 Chitradurga14 Davangere204 Hassan205 Haveri24 Kodagu4 Kolar29 Koppal5 Raichur369 Ramanagara3 Shivamogga67 Udupi1176 Yadgir538 | 4075984 131 | 635 4 | 4035028 126 | 40321 1 |
DistrictCases North Goa57 South Goa69 | 259415 55 | 178 36 | 255224 19 | 4013 |
DistrictCases Chengalpattu1314 Chennai23324 Kanchipuram503 Madurai322 Namakkal83 Ranipet133 Thanjavur130 Thiruvallur774 Thiruvarur67 Tiruppur116 Vellore71 Virudhunagar185 Ariyalur444 Coimbatore188 Cuddalore477 Dharmapuri15 Dindigul175 Erode75 Kallakurichi324 Kanniyakumari110 Karur88 Nagapattinam99 Perambalur133 Pudukkottai53 Ramanathapuram119 Salem258 Sivaganga46 Tenkasi103 The Nilgiris17 Theni129 Tiruchirappalli119 Tirunelveli433 Tirupathur45 Tiruvannamalai496 Tuticorin333 Villupuram509 Krishnagiri43 | 3596013 88 | 549 32 | 3557414 56 | 38050 |
DistrictCases Kannur357 Kottayam73 Alappuzha76 Idukki40 Kasaragod333 Kollam118 Kozhikode90 Malappuram119 Palakkad224 Pathanamthitta98 Thiruvananthapuram104 Thrissur106 Ernakulam60 Wayanad36 | 6833284 223 | 2186 96 | 6759501 127 | 71597 |
DistrictCases Raipur46 Korba100 Balod41 Baloda Bazar85 Balrampur17 Bastar2 Bemetara21 Bijapur2 Bilaspur100 Dantewada0 Dhamtari6 Durg31 Gariyaband10 Janjgir-Champa56 Jashpur77 Kabirdham52 Kanker19 Kondagaon0 Korea39 Mahasamund54 Mungeli87 Narayanpur0 Raigarh47 Rajnandgaon52 Sukma0 Surajpur9 Surguja14 | 1177829 13 | 18 9 | 1163664 4 | 14147 |
DistrictCases Hyderabad2475 MedchalMalkajgiri75 Ranga Reddy183 Suryapet87 Vikarabad40 Warangal Urban32 Adilabad22 Jagitial77 Jangoan8 Jayashankar Bhupalapally9 Jogulamba Gadwal40 Kamareddy11 Karimnagar17 Khammam26 Kumuram Bheem Asifabad8 Mahabubnagar30 Mancherial43 Medak11 Nalgonda33 Narayanpet3 Nirmal21 Nizamabad76 RajannaSircilla16 Sangareddy26 Bhadradri Kothagudem5 Mahabubabad10 Mulugu3 Nagarkurnool8 Peddapalli5 Siddipet7 Wanaparthy1 Warangal Rural4 YadadriBhuvanagiri40 | 842348 24 | 145 | 838092 25 | 4111 |
DistrictCases Baleshwar190 Bhadrak137 Jajapur322 Dhenkanal36 Kalahandi33 Kendrapara164 Khordha238 Koraput16 Sundargarh102 Anugul26 Balangir129 Bargarh16 Boudh34 Cuttack155 Deogarh33 Gajapati61 Ganjam581 Jagatsinghapur91 Jharsuguda8 Kandhamal28 Kendujhar34 Malkangiri20 Mayurbhanj73 Nabarangpur2 Nayagarh86 Nuapada69 Puri103 Rayagada2 Sambalpur16 Sonepur29 | 1336779 15 | 82 9 | 1327492 6 | 9205 |
DistrictCases Barwani60 Bhopal1880 Dewas140 Dhar132 East Nimar266 Gwalior211 Indore3839 Jabalpur276 Ujjain799 Agar Malwa15 Alirajpur3 Betul35 Burhanpur351 Chhindwara16 Dindori29 Harda4 Hoshangabad37 Khargone196 Mandsaur112 Morena109 Raisen71 Ratlam51 Sagar228 Shajapur39 Shandol14 Sheopur26 Tikamgarh18 Vidisha37 Anuppur22 Ashoknagar13 Balaghat9 Bhind87 Chhatarpur35 Damoh26 Datia12 Guna8 Jhabua14 Katni3 Mandla15 Narsinghpur17 Neemuch319 Niwari0 Panna20 Rajgarh31 Rewa39 Satna24 Sehore12 Seoni2 Shivpuri15 Sidhi17 Singrauli13 Umaria10 | 1055055 9 | 49 2 | 1044229 7 | 10777 |
DistrictCases Ahmadabad17125 Anand107 Arvalli134 Banas Kantha147 Bhavnagar146 Gandhinagar410 PanchMahals107 Surat2311 Vadodara1555 Bharuch56 Botad55 Chhotaudepur37 Dang5 Dohad43 GirSomnath45 Jamnagar63 Kachchh99 Kheda98 Mahesana159 Mahisagar125 Narmada25 Naysari35 Patan105 Rajkot135 SabarKantha101 Surendranagar55 Tapi6 Valsad47 Amreli16 DevbhumiDwarka22 Junagadh31 Morbi4 Porbandar11 | 1279760 241 | 1291 112 | 1267419 129 | 11050 |
DistrictCases Ajmer379 Banswara91 Bharatpur563 Jaipur2177 Jhalawar329 Jodhpur1748 Kota503 Nagaur500 Alwar90 Barmer34 Bhilwara250 Bikaner112 Chittorgarh188 Churu81 Dausa61 Dholpur60 Dungarpur374 Hanumangarh31 Jaisalmer53 Jhunjhunu64 Karauli17 Pali352 Rajsamand140 SawaiMadhopur26 Sikar231 Tonk171 Udaipur724 Baran59 Bundi5 Ganganagar8 Jalore164 Pratapgarh14 Sirohi130 | 1315894 29 | 190 6 | 1306043 22 | 9661 1 |
DistrictCases Faridabad867 Sonipat404 Ambala93 Bhiwani60 CharkiDadri43 Fatehabad38 Gurugram2950 Hisar98 Jhajjar114 Jind38 Kaithal48 Karnal104 Kurukshetra55 Nuh68 Palwal120 Panchkula39 Panipat78 Rohtak145 Sirsa50 Yamunanagar19 Mahendragarh47 Rewari56 | 1057039 58 | 172 46 | 1046153 12 | 10714 |
DistrictCases Agra933 Aligarh215 Amroha80 Bareilly17 Bijnor157 Bulandshahr166 Firozabad190 Gautam Buddha Nagar1119 Kanpur Nagar286 Lucknow386 Mathura129 Meerut504 Moradabad252 Muzaffarnagar117 Rae Bareli78 Rampur203 Saharanpur298 Sant Kabeer Nagar132 Varanasi243 Auraiya37 Ayodhya120 Azamgarh138 Baghpat68 Bahraich73 Balrampur49 Banda27 Basti214 Bhadohi60 Budaun23 Etah52 Etawah46 Ghaziabad794 Ghazipur159 Gonda59 Gorakhpur166 Hapur225 Hardoi49 Jalaun41 Jaunpur194 Jhansi41 Kannauj69 Kasganj16 Kaushambi6 Mainpuri46 Mau48 Mirzapur22 Pilibhit15 Pratapgarh15 Prayagraj30 Sambhal116 Shamli40 Shravasti23 Sitapur32 Sultanpur97 Unnao42 Ambedkar Nagar92 Amethi206 Ballia60 Barabanki168 Chandauli38 Chitrakoot4 Deoria143 Farrukhabad36 Fatehpur3 Hamirpur3 Hathras43 Kanpur Dehat4 Kheri72 Kushi Nagar67 Lalitpur3 Maharajganj85 Mahoba3 Shahjahanpur25 Siddharth Nagar159 Sonbhadra10 | 2128469 44 | 170 30 | 2104650 14 | 23649 |
DistrictCases Central4817 East2472 New Delhi3405 North3059 North East1914 North West5463 Shahdara1580 South2329 South East2446 South West2391 West4768 | 2008440 152 | 424 78 | 1981492 74 | 26524 |
DistrictCases Dhubri30 Goalpara19 Marigaon50 Baksa14 Barpeta28 Biswanath16 Bongaigaon12 Cachar80 Charaideo29 Chirang6 Darrang20 Dhemaji47 Dibrugarh61 Dima Hasao86 Golaghat203 Hailakandi57 Hojai89 Jorhat24 Kamrup42 Kamrup Metro276 KarbiAnglong13 Karimganj85 Kokrajhar37 Lakhimpur57 Majuli2 Nagaon143 Nalbari23 Sivasagar20 Sonitpur27 South SalmaraMancachar4 Tinsukia84 Udalguri28 West KarbiAnglong5 | 746102 | 2 | 738065 | 8035 |
DistrictCases East District3 North District0 South District3 West District0 | 44336 2 | 7 2 | 43829 | 500 |
DistrictCases Buxar134 Gaya115 Munger188 Patna279 Rohtas256 Arwal52 Aurangabad75 Banka134 Begusarai243 Bhagalpur266 Bhojpur103 Darbhanga143 Gopalganj123 Jehanabad178 Kaimur (bhabua)105 Lakhisarai72 Madhepura82 Madhubani199 Nalanda123 Nawada122 PurbiChamparan138 Purnia135 Saran101 Siwan139 Vaishali87 Araria68 Jamui47 Katihar175 Khagaria253 Kishanganj75 Muzaffarpur96 Pashchim Champaran57 Saharsa88 Samastipur139 Sheikhpura118 Sheohar20 Sitamarhi73 Supaul87 | 851439 4 | 9 2 | 839127 2 | 12303 |
DistrictCases 24 Paraganas North1031 24 Paraganas South281 Darjeeling97 Howrah1435 Jalpaiguri88 Kalimpong18 Kolkata2777 Maldah235 Medinipur East153 Medinipur West159 Hooghly604 Murshidabad125 Nadia139 Paschim Bardhaman70 Purba Bardhaman130 Alipurduar39 Bankura116 Birbhum206 Coochbehar210 Dinajpur Dakshin50 Dinajpur Uttar216 Jhargram9 Purulia66 | 2118928 9 | 56 6 | 2097339 3 | 21533 |
DistrictCases South Andamans33 Nicobars1 North And Middle Andaman1 | 10751 | 0 | 10622 | 129 |
DistrictCases Pondicherry111 Karaikal2 Mahe4 Yanam0 | 176003 7 | 52 | 173975 11 | 1976 |
DistrictCases Anjaw0 Changlang31 Dibang Valley0 East Kameng0 East Siang1 Kamle0 KraDaadi0 KurungKumey0 Leparada0 Lohit3 Longding0 Lower Dibang Valley0 Lower Siang0 Lower Subansiri0 Namsai2 PakkeKessang1 Papum Pare8 Shi Yomi0 Siang0 Tawang1 Tirap0 Upper Siang1 Upper Subansiri0 West Kameng0 West Siang1 | 66891 | 0 | 66595 | 296 |
DistrictCases Dimapur20 Kiphire3 Kohima7 Longleng0 Mokokchung0 Mon8 Peren2 Phek1 Tuensang3 Wokha0 Zunheboto0 | 35988 | 0 | 35206 | 782 |
DistrictCases Dadra And Nagar Haveli20 | 11591 | 0 | 11587 | 4 |
DistrictCases Ranchi148 Bokaro16 Deoghar5 Dhanbad32 Garhwa80 Giridih19 Hazaribagh110 Jamtara2 Koderma58 Simdega48 Chatra1 Dumka5 East Singhbum170 Godda2 Gumla28 Khunti10 Latehar14 Lohardaga8 Pakur4 Palamu27 Ramgarh75 Sahebganj0 SaraikelaKharsawan20 West Singhbhum21 | 442605 1 | 20 | 437253 3 | 5332 |
DistrictCases Gomati74 North Tripura14 Dhalai196 Khowai24 Sepahijala174 South Tripura53 Unakoti49 West Tripura45 | 108034 | 0 | 107094 | 940 |
DistrictCases Kargil77 LehLadakh43 | 29433 1 | 4 1 | 29198 | 231 |
DistrictCases Anantnag395 Bandipora175 Shopian255 Srinagar300 Baramulla271 Budgam110 Ganderbal37 Jammu138 Kathua53 Kulgam295 Kupwara231 Rajouri39 Ramban151 Reasi26 Samba25 Udhampur155 Mirpur0 Muzaffarabad0 Doda27 Kishtwar10 Poonch35 Pulwama108 | 479613 5 | 72 | 474756 12 | 4785 |
DistrictCases Chamba29 Hamirpur117 Kangra105 Sirmaur11 Solan32 Una41 Bilaspur21 Kinnaur2 Kullu4 Lahaul And Spiti0 Mandi21 Shimla10 | 313339 100 | 354 69 | 308770 31 | 4215 |
DistrictCases Jalandhar297 Ludhiana293 Patiala132 Amritsar485 Barnala25 Faridkot74 Firozepur50 Gurdaspur154 Hoshiarpur140 Kapurthala44 Mansa31 Moga65 Pathankot86 S.A.S Nagar137 Sangrur107 Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr)99 Sri Muktsar Sahib71 Tarn Taran163 Bathinda60 Fatehgarh Sahib57 Fazilka53 Rupnagar (Ropar)74 | 784683 19 | 108 5 | 765286 14 | 19289 |
DistrictCases Haridwar94 Dehradun370 Nainital323 Almora71 Bageshwar31 Chamoli36 Champawat45 PauriGarhwal36 Pithoragarh43 Rudraprayag30 Tehri Garhwal110 Udam Singh Nagar83 Uttar Kashi24 | 449561 8 | 19 | 441787 12 | 7755 1 |
DistrictCases Bishnupur7 Chandel5 Churachandpur32 Imphal East10 Imphal West21 Jiribam3 Kakching2 Kamjong5 Kangpokpi26 Noney1 Pherzawl3 Senapati6 Tamenglong2 Tengnoupal9 Thoubal18 Ukhrul4 | 139924 | 0 | 137775 | 2149 |
DistrictCases Chandigarh313 | 99412 6 | 28 2 | 98202 4 | 1182 |
DistrictCases East Khasi Hills22 East Garo Hills0 East Jaintia Hills0 North Garo Hills1 Ribhoi0 South Garo Hills0 South West Garo Hills4 South West Khasi Hills0 West Garo Hills5 West Jaintia Hills1 West Khasi Hills1 | 96790 | 2 | 95163 | 1625 |
DistrictCases Aizawl10 Champhai0 Hnahthial0 Khawzawl0 Kolasib11 Lawngtlai2 Lunglei2 Mamit8 Saiha0 Saitual1 Serchhip0 | 238969 | 0 | 238243 | 726 |
DistrictCases Lakshadweep District0 | 11415 | 0 | 11363 | 52 |
With input from ANI