Delhi Confidential: SOS Rail For Bail

As India prepares for an aggressive fight against COVID-19, the government is encouraging everyone to contribute in whatever way she/he can. To support the recently announced PM-CARES fund, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a proposal over the weekend for every employee of the Defence Ministry to voluntarily contribute. The proposal includes employees of Defence Public Sector Units, and the three forces: the Army, Navy and the Air Force. The ministry anticipates the contribution to be in the range of Rs 500 crore. To ensure that it remains voluntary and is not binding on anyone, whoever does not wish to contribute can opt out.

Meeting Online

Besides the corporates, business establishments or offices, political parties have also embraced video-conferencing in the wake of the nationwide lockdown. The Congress, the other day, organised a meeting of all its general secretaries, states in-charge, state presidents, CLP leaders and heads of frontal organisations to discuss the party’s efforts to combat COVID-19 via video-conferencing. Eighty-two people, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel, are said to have participated in the meeting. On Sunday, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi addressed a press conference via Zoom, a video-conferencing app.

A United Fight

The international department of Communist Party of China has sent a handbook—published by the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19, founded by Jack Ma Foundation—to the Left parties in India. The book, compiled by frontline and best medical teams in China, is aimed at providing advanced knowledge on COVID-19 and to share its experiences in combating this pandemic. When he received the book, All India Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan forwarded it to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, stating that it could help them in their fight against the pandemic. Vijayan promptly responded to Devarajan, saying that he would go through it.