'It is certain Jayalalithaa will be in no position to attend to official business.' 'Indeed, doctors would have forbidden anything that would aggravate her condition and lead to complications,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant, advising how a Constitutional vacuum can be averted in Tamil Nadu.
'Infectious disease is a given of humankind. There will always be another around the corner.'
Younger party leaders are livid with the Murli Manohar Joshi-headed manifesto drafting committee for not taking their suggestions, reports Archis Mohan.
'The genetic thing is not in your control. The virulence is not known.' 'The only thing is if you can avoid it.' 'Once you get COVID-19, none of it is in your control.'
India's COVID-19 fatality rate has dropped significantly to 2.43 per cent from 3.36 per cent on June 17 due to effective clinical management of coronavirus cases, the health ministry and asserted that the country has handled the pandemic 'relatively well'.
The Omicron variant carries 'concerning' mutations that may make it more transmissible and allow it to evade immunity, scientists said on Monday, stressing that the one certainty in the uncertainty of the many things unknown is this -- COVID is not a short-term crisis and vaccines are still a critical tool.
As remarkable as DRDO's contribution in containing and treating COVID-19 has been, its success over the last 15 months has been in its primary role of developing conventional defence equipment and technologies.
Dressed in pink, her hands flying about in eloquent gestures, excitement on her face, Indrani made quite a picture. There was pin-drop silence as she made strong points about why nothing in the hearings had uncovered anything against her. She spoke about there being "Not a shred of evidence... No scientific evidence because it didn't happen!"
'Maoists are enraged that the media is reporting the truth.' 'They want to physically isolate the media and psychologically isolate the villagers who have found the confidence to speak to the press about the real situation.' 'Like terrorism ended in Punjab, Naxalism will end in Chhattisgarh,' the AIIMS doctor-turned IPS officer and SP of Dantewada tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
When BJP leaders, including Mr Modi's number two, Amit Shah, use the pandemic to launch an assault on state governments run by opposition parties, or to topple them, they are exploiting a grave crisis in cynical political self-interest, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'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.'
When the highest court gave a decision on the Navtej Singh Johar case, it held that LGBT citizens have a right to not be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. It was keeping this in mind that this same sex couple approached the Delhi high court.
'If people are not cooperating and do not follow policies laid down by the government or follow scientific infection control management, then all will be lost.'
2.3 million people are opioid-dependent. 860,000 people are opioid users. 123,000 people are heroin-dependent.
'Parrikar is living for Modi and Shah, not for his motherland or Goa'
'You can still acquire the COVID-19 virus even if you are vaccinated.' 'But if you develop the disease, (after being vaccinated) the likelihood is that it will be mild.' 'It just makes sense to continue to take precautions, because you may be around a lot of unvaccinated people.'
In Shujaat Bukhari, Kashmir has lost a journalist, an activist, ambassador, a formidable voice and, above all, a great human being, mourns Athar Parvaiz.
Speaking at the inauguration and laying of foundation schemes of various schemes, Modi said, Leh and Ladakh will also be benefited by this.
Kidney scouts roam around the labour markets in the poorest districts of Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi in search of potential donors.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
'I try to say to myself, 'Don't cry in front of people'. But sometimes I can't help it.'
Top 20 images of all the events of the week that was.
'It is absolutely important for us to continue to message to people that they must wear masks, keep physical distancing, as much as is practically possible, at work or at home.'
Women are great team players and collaborators, 'but they don't put themselves forward,' Dr Gagandeep Kang, the first Indian woman scientist to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, tells Veenu Sandhu.
The CBSE had announced that it had rationalised the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 for the 2020-21 session by up to 30 per cent to make up for the academic loss caused due to COVID-19. However, it was the decision to drop topics related to Social Sciences which drew sharp reaction from opposition parties like the Congress, Left, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
SEWA International, a leading Indian-American non-profit organisation, has so far raised more than $250,000 for its COVID-19 relief efforts. It is using the money to buy personal protective equipment's, in particular facial masks and surgical masks, to donate free to the local law enforcement officials and hospitals in some of the hot spot areas like New York, who have run out of these essential items.
Journalist Anita Saluja was one of the last persons to meet Sushma Swaraj on August 6. She spent nearly an hour chatting with the late leader, which is why her sudden death later in the evening came as an unexpected shock for her. She talks to Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com about her association with Sushma Swaraj over the last few decades.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
It's more common than majority of Indians realise.
'The D K Adikesavulu clan is so wealthy, owns so many houses, and has so much jewellery,' notes T V R Shenoy, 'that it did not notice a servant stealing at the rate of Rs 66 lakh every year!'
People have developed a fatalistic attitude where they believe that anything can happen. They think, 'there's no medicine, no beds in the hospitals, what are we alive for?' And when you get that kind of an attitude, you stop taking precautions
Keeping its promise of honouring 'unsung heroes', the government this year honoured with Padma awards several personalities who served the poor, set up free schools and popularised tribal arts globally.
At a time when the BJP is facing a perception battle, is Sambit Patra, its national spokesperson, helping the party's image?
'Prevention plus vaccination is what is going to take us into better territory by September or October.'
'We have to rise over our divisions.' 'Divisions within us allow unscrupulous politicians to divert attention from issues like corruption and governance.'
"We have to collectively address all doubts. The vision of flexibility with which this policy was brought... We will have to show in a similar way maximum flexibility in implementing it," Modi said while addressing the 'Governors' Conference on the Role of NEP in Transforming Higher Education'.
Whistle-blower officer Ashok Khemka has been shunted again, in breach of rules by BJP government in Haryana. All actions of the previous Congress govt against him still stand even as the Narendra Modi government has chosen to keep away.
'Your body will be able to deal with Omicron at any time, but it depends (on when) if you are vaccinated.'
I am only suggesting greater sensitisation and understanding of adults' sexual and lifestyle choices, says Shekhar Gupta.
