'How many people have died in India so far due to Covid?' 'Multiply that by at least four, and that many people in intense grief are there in the country.'

'I knew there was a huge business opportunity, but it was Dr Kalam who made me jump into it as an entrepreneur.'

'If they add a small paragraph that no purchase will be allowed below the MSP, they have a winner on their hands'

'It is a political failure, and not a medical failure.'

'The SJM has requested the government to bring a change in the law which will ensure MSP as the floor price for all farmers below which nobody should buy anything from them.'

'You have come out with a package for the kisan.' 'You have a package for industry.' 'But has anyone addressed the issues concerning small traders?'

'When you oppose a policy, you are labelled anti-government.' 'The problem is, the policymakers have never done any business in their lives.'

'No matter how much you fast track, you cannot say, here is a highly efficient vaccine even by the middle of next year or the end of next year'

'When restaurants are open, pubs are open and people are moving around, a second wave will happen because you are giving a chance for the virus to spread.'

'The skills and abilities of civil servants are still respected, even though they become whipping boys when things go wrong.'

'Today, political formations seem to adopt an 'us' versus 'them' approach which shows up even in their attitude towards civil servants.'
'This creates an added layer of fear.'

'You just make the bureaucracy honest and make them function with integrity.' 'Everything will be taken care of after that.' 'But this Mission Karmayogi does not even mention these two words -- honesty and integrity.'

'The babus in Delhi are not able to understand the pain industry is facing.'

'If you want Aatma Nirbhar, your policies should favour self-reliance, but your policies do not help the idea.' 'How are we going to be self-reliant if you make things difficult for us?'

'Right now, we are increasing production in anticipation of the demand during the festive season.' 'If the demand doesn't come back, all the production will languish in the factories.'

'Industry realises we cannot overly depend on imports from anywhere including China.'

'So far we have paid our salaries and pension in full because we had some reserve fund.' 'But we cannot afford to do so for more than another three months.'

'The Sangh Parivar's position is that whatever gold that is there in a temple should remain there. It shouldn't be taken away by anyone.' 'See, we are not misappropriating anything; we are only using it for the welfare of the temple and the devotees.'

Prof Ananth Narayan, well known financial expert who works as a faculty member at the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and the RBI's nominee director on the board of Yes Bank, expects a double-digit contraction in India's GDP this fiscal year. In the first of a two-part interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com, Prof Narayan, below, says, "Giving liquidity and loan to cover the cash flow problem is not sufficient because you are essentially increasing the debt of many of these companies. And they might not be able to bear the burden."

'We first need to acknowledge the truth.' 'We are trying to diminish the problem and say, everything is okay and green shoots are emerging.' 'Imagine you are a doctor and not getting accurate medical reports, how do you diagnose and treat the illness?' 'We are not dealing with a terminal illness here, we are dealing with BP and cholesterol, which are imminently curable.'

'The government has failed to understand the seriousness of the situation, and that's why they are underestimating the problem.' 'They think some tinkering here and there will fix the economy automatically.'

'Just see what kind of political, social and economic impact it will have when the number of unemployed goes up four times in one year suddenly.'

'The last three decades were the era of D, where D stands for deforestation, destruction, degradation, disaster, damages, diseases, difficulties... and finally it leads to death.'

'Mr (Gautam) Adani invested in Vizhinjam port when no other viable party was willing to bid.' 'He has also been active in charitable work and CSR projects in our coastal areas.' 'As the local MP, I do not judge the local situation purely through the prism of politics.'

'The outlook for private investment, which has been such a weak link for India for so long, remains challenging.'

'India is in a slowdown which most of us have not seen in our living memory.'

'People in general have a kind of contemptuous attitude to those from Malappuram. But we have shown the entire world what dedicated and selfless work is.'

'When you don't have food to eat, will you be worried about the virus or the next meal?'

'The lay of the runway is not at all safe.' 'Even operating a 737 is dangerous there.' 'During the monsoon, they must ban landing on runway 10.'

'The virus has been ahead of us till now, and we have been chasing the virus.' 'It is time we have to be a step ahead of the virus, and this is possible only by checking the oxygen level.'

'Our people are crazy about cricket, but they are more crazy about their country, and their armed forces.' 'To the people of India, there is nothing that is above the nation, not even cricket.'

'Urbanisation results in heavy rainfall events.'

'Social distancing, wearing masks and hygiene should be practised more strictly.'' 'People should not assemble in close spaces as the micro droplets may hang in the air and can last for a longer time.'

'As a person who has seen the treasure, I am worried about its safety.'

'When you have a committee, there will not be any autocracy.' 'It means one person cannot take any decision on the temple.'

'The ban on Chinese imports is a suicidal step.' 'This will result not only in economic depression, but in a chaotic situation.'

'When you start distributing wealth, you end up distributing poverty.'

'When the country is jobless, why should I pay through my nose to feed these people who want some perks in office?' 'Let them also join India's unemployed.' 'Let them also taste the bitter medicine of being jobless.'

'No matter how much the political pressure is, I cannot say I will bring the Moon for you tomorrow!'

'We are going ahead with the trials assuming what we have is the vaccine.' 'There is also a chance that what you have is not the vaccine. Then, you have to go back to the drawing board again.' 'So far, there has been no success in developing a good vaccine against coronaviruses.' 'That's why there are hundreds of trials going on at different stages in different parts of the world.'