All stories by SHOBHA WARRIER
'Let them have a secret police to censor films!'
Rediff.com13 Jul 2021'That would once and for all teach all the film-makers of this country a fitting lesson!'
Third Wave: Bigger Threat in Rural India
Rediff.com13 Jul 2021'The roadmap ahead seems very difficult especially in the rural areas where there is very poor infrastructure, vaccine reach and hesitancy.' 'These are a deadly cocktail for the next wave.'
'RBI should be more concerned about inflation'
Rediff.com6 Jul 2021'We have lived through 10% plus inflation in India and we are aware of the economic pitfall.' 'With the RBI now having formally adopted an inflation target range, they cannot turn a blind eye to the impending risks.'
'Economic recovery depends a lot on vaccination'
Rediff.com1 Jul 2021'Vaccination is very important for an economy to start functioning properly.'
When you engineer a virus, you leave behind...'
Rediff.com29 Jun 2021'...signatures.' 'But such signatures are missing in this virus.'
'Second Wave is Not Over'
Rediff.com29 Jun 2021'We keep worrying about this variant or that variant. Forget about that.' 'Every variant can be stopped with a mask.' 'We don't want to do the simple thing of wearing a mask, but we worry ourselves to death about different variants.'
'You can't blame the people of India!
Rediff.com26 Jun 2021'What was the message that was going to them?' 'The message was, we are a great country and we have beaten Covid!' 'No one talked about the precautions to be taken.'
'We are in a much, much worse stage than the Emergency'
Rediff.com26 Jun 2021'During the Emergency, it boiled down to two people: Mrs Gandhi and her younger son.' 'But today, the cancer is spreading all over.'
'Every life lost is a loss to the country'
Rediff.com20 Jun 2021'India was fortunate to have a late entry into the pandemic; even the first wave entered India 2-3 months after many other countries experienced it.' 'Similarly, the second wave reached here after other countries went through it.' 'Despite having seen what other countries faced, we didn't ramp up our infrastructure sufficiently enough.' 'We remained highly under prepared.'
'Pandemic could potentially set us back a few decades'
Rediff.com20 Jun 2021'The future looks quite bleak unless we ramp up testing and start vaccinating on a war footing.'
'The agenda is to grab land'
Rediff.com15 Jun 2021'The administration started intruding into the kitchens and bedrooms of the local community.'
'For the first time in 50 years the people of Lakshadweep who have till now never raised their hands, got out on the streets and started raising their voices.'
'We can defeat BJP in 2024'
Rediff.com14 Jun 2021'We may be weak now, but the importance of the Congress cannot be denied.'
'The top-down management of a party stifles ambitious political leaders'
Rediff.com14 Jun 2021'We must encourage ambitious leaders and not stifle them.'
'We were like ostriches burying their heads in the sand'
Rediff.com11 Jun 2021'We behaved as if this disease is not a problem for India.' 'We acted as if it would go away. But it didn't go away; it exploded.'
Mr Modi, please listen to Dr John
Rediff.com11 Jun 2021'What the government should do is to use the vaccine judiciously, not just to prevent a third wave alone, but to stop the number of deaths happening in the interim.'
'Maharaja of Travancore was a living saint'
Rediff.com29 May 2021'What a saint he was. What a godly person he was.'
'Government of India should own responsibility of universal vaccination'
Rediff.com29 May 2021'The vaccine policy should be such that all people should get the vaccine free.'
Cyclones are going to be a regular feature
Rediff.com26 May 2021'Each cyclone has its own identity and its own behaviour based on the environmental conditions in the ocean and in the atmosphere.'
Lessons from Cyclone Tauktae
Rediff.com26 May 2021'Storms push a lot of water into land, then there is heavy rainfall due to the cyclone.' 'Along with this, we see the gradual rising of the sea level.' 'We see this during and after the latest Cyclone Tauktae.' 'This kind of overlapping events are increasing and we do not know much about how to tackle them.'
Lessons from Cyclone Tauktae
Rediff.com24 May 2021'Storms push a lot of water into land, then there is heavy rainfall due to the cyclone.' 'Along with this, we see the gradual rising of the sea level.' 'We see this during and after the latest Cyclone Tauktae.' 'This kind of overlapping events are increasing and we do not know much about how to tackle them.'