Home Minister Rajnath Singh
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter on the eve of the Independence Day. He launched a social media awareness campaign about central armed forces personnel killed on duty. He has already launched a web portal, Bharat Ke Veer, to contribute for welfare of the families of soldiers who made sacrifice on the line of duty. Walking the talk, Singh donated Rs 1.59 lakh, a month’s salary, to Bharat Ke Veer initiative. His deputies Hansraj Ahir and Kiren Rijiju also followed suit and donated one-month salary towards Barat Ke Veer.
Silent On Gorakhpur
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to his ministers to use social media to communicate effectively on the issues of the day seems to have been overlooked by his ministerial colleagues from Uttar Pradesh so far as the Gorakhpur hospital deaths are concerned. Even as the tragedy has got national attention, Union ministers from the state seem reluctant to communicate with their followers on Twitter on this issue. The Gorakhpur tragedy has not found mention on the Twitter time-lines of nine of them: Rajnath Singh, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Mahesh Sharma, Manoj Sinha, V K Singh, Santosh Gangwar, Mahendra Nath Pandey, and Krishna Raj. While Kalraj Mishra and Sanjeev Balyan have retweeted content that has reference to the children’s deaths in the hospital. MoS, Health, Anupriya Patel mentioned it, stating that she has been deputed by the Prime Minister to visit the hospital.
Muted Pak I-Day
The 70th Independence Day of Pakistan was celebrated at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi on Monday, but unlike previous years there were no fireworks, as there is no full-time Pakistan envoy to India. The Pakistan flag was raised by Acting High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah at an impressive ceremony held on the Chancery’s lush green lawns. Shah, the Deputy High Commissioner and waiting for the next Pakistan envoy, read out the Independence Day messages from Pakistan’s President and Prime Minister. Some children of diplomats and employees at the High Commission performed national songs and tableaus, while Palwasha Haider, wife of the Acting High Commissioner, gave away prizes and gifts to the children. They ended the programme by cutting a cake that resembled Pakistan flag.
