COVID-19: Artistes from music industry to unite for all-star fundraiser 'The Care Concert'

Several singers and composers from the music industry, including Adnan Sami, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Neha Kakkar among others, will be performing a digital concert where viewers will have the opportunity to donate to the PM-CARES Fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Care Concert, to be streamed on April 11, will also feature artists like Tulsi Kumar, Armaan Malik, Amal Malik, Dhvani Bhanushali, Sachet Tandon, Parampara Thakur, Prakriti Kakkar, Palak Mucchal, Jubin Nautiyal, Aditya Narayan, etc. The artistes will come together on digital platforms to perform from their homes, asking viewers to donate while they play for them. 

T-Series, a radio channel, and YouTube have backed the initiative.

"Amidst such unprecedented and uncertain times when the world is grappling to fight the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to spread some cheer and also help everyone to fight this unitedly... The Care Concert' is an initiative to unite all of us together and motivate everyone to stay at home. 

"We hope to bring some positivity in the current scenario through music and also create an opportunity which allows us to do our bit for the society by donating to the PM CARES Fund," Bhushan Kumar, chairman and managing director of T-Series said in a statement.  The concert would be streamed on YouTube and Facebook handles of T-Series, where viewers can pledge money through a link provided for the donations. 

Many in the industry have stepped forward to pledge donations to various relief funds, including Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao, Kartik Aaryan, Pawan Kalyan, Prabhas, Ram Charan, Mahesh Babu, among others.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra increased by 33 to 335 on Wednesday, a health official said. Thirty of these cases were found in Mumbai alone, two in Pune and one in Buldhana, he said. The state had reported 302 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. Health Minister Rajesh Tope had said earlier in the day that the number of cases would increase further because there were around 5,000 persons in "high-risk" category. Relatives or close friends of these people had tested positive for COVID-19 (making it likely that they might have caught the infection too), he said.

(With PTI inputs)