Indore, Aug 6 (PTI) A group of local Muslim women has written a citation letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailing his leadership and ensuring peace and harmony in the country on the day of Ram temple 'bhoomi pujan' in Ayodhya.

Nearly 20 burqa-clad women, under the banner of Sahja Sanskriti, a social organisation, on Thursday handed over the letter to Indores BJP MP Shankar Lalwani at Regal Square here where the background was decked up with saffron flags and a cut-out of Lord Ram.

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They also raised slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai" and Modiji Zindabad on the occasion.

They were holding placards stating they welcome the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, where Modi performed 'bhoomi pujan' for the grand structure on Wednesday.

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One of the women, Sakina Bi, while reading out the citation letter, said, Because of your foresighted leadership there was peace and harmony in the entire country when the verdict was announced in the Ayodhya matter by the Supreme Court (in November last year) and also during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram temple."

People belonging to all faiths readily accepted the verdict and the construction of the temple, she said.

Another woman from the organisation, Rukhsana, said, We are very happy and we are confident that in the future also peace and harmony will prevail in the country.

Lalwani, speaking on the occasion, said, I will handover this citation letter to the Prime Minister. Everybody is happy that with the bhoomi pujan at Ayodhya, the 500-year- old dispute has been resolved peacefully. PTI HWP MAS RSY RSY 08062058 NNNNee that happening in the next year,” Calder said.

“If there's a vaccine that comes out, that's been proven to be effective or ... if the virus mutates and that isn't as dangerous, then it may open (stadiums fully) but I can't see it happening really until next year at the earliest.

“We're probably looking at a maximum 25% full capacity ... perhaps in some stadiums, it may be down to 17% and there's a financial viability there as to whether it's viable to open up the stadium."

Scientists at Oxford University this week said their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot. They can't tell yet if the vaccine truly protects against COVID-19 or approve its use widely.

“It's going to take time to vaccinate the population, to encourage people to take up the vaccine and then see how effective it is,” said Calder, who is not an expert in vaccines.

“I'm sure that the government and the advisers would say we ought to just wait and see a little bit longer before we start opening up the whole of society ... it's going to be difficult, I think, for another year.” Britain now has Europe's highest official pandemic death toll, which stood at more than 45,000 as of Thursday.

Calder was speaking to the AP in a video interview between calls with the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

He was also called on by the Premier League to speak to managers and players during the national lockdown while uncertainty persisted about the safety and wisdom of resuming the competition during a pandemic.

“There was actually a lot of fear ... about going back into an unknown environment and trying to think of a way of getting them through that, out of their houses into grounds safely,” Calder said.

“There is no way we could make it safe and we had to be very, very explicit about that. And all you can do is try and reduce the risk and make a very safe environment at work.”

Premier League players and other club staff have required twice weekly testing for the coronavirus. Of 2,208 tests last week, there were no positive cases.

“The prevalence of the disease has gone much further down and we've now got to review the whole structure,” Calder said.

“We will have to change the testing regime and I would hope that at some stage we won't need to test. But I think initially we've got to continue testing to a certain extent.

“How that goes we're taking advice from the government experts and the virologists and the world experts. But ultimately, I think in next season we may start off with once or twice a week initially with the testing and then review as we go through the season.”

One way players can avoid being infected while away from their clubs is taking preventative measures during the brief offseason break in August.

“When you when you're away, just keep your social distancing — don't let your guard down,” Calder said.

“You probably want to choose the place you go to carefully. The United States of America and Brazil and South America are difficult places ... I'd avoid States and South America at the moment and India and Pakistan.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)