Photojournalist Chandu Mhatre, one of the first to reach Bhopal after India's worst industrial disaster ravaged the city, remembers his worst seven days, in a conversation with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
'COVID-19 and diabetes have a very intricate relationship.' 'People with diabetes tend to get the most severe forms of COVID-19.'
Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
'I want to show that we are also part of this society and want to participate just as much, whether it is for security or whatever community work there.'
'It is not the test, but the symptomatic phase in this disease that really matters.'
'Strengthen hospital capacity, look after patients who need care, primarily ICU care...' 'Train doctors, get PPE, get ventilators, have treatment protocols in place.'
'You have sufficient protection if you take the second dose of the Covishield vaccine at 12 weeks, because this vaccine works in a way where it provides protection in the first dose.'
The oil mafia sheltered the 10 Pakistani terrorists in Machhimarnagar in Colaba and in fact a woman even showed Ajmal Kasab and his accomplice the way to Cama and Albless Hospital. The many theories floated before the Ram Pradhan committee, that looked into the attacks.
'Many sepoys fought with distinction, winning some of the first Victoria Crosses to be awarded to Indians; and indeed, as in any army fighting under such inhumane conditions -- standing in the freezing sludge, with shrapnel tearing through bodies and being subjected to gas attacks -- some buckled under pressure.'
'This year's Budget didn't give into populist measures everyone was expecting after demonetisation, so I think that was a positive step.' 'Hopefully the Budget will continue in the way it has been.'
'Unless it is a situation where a patient must be hospitalised, that patient can be very easily treated at home... Patients recover in situations where they are more comfortable.'
'There were moments when you didn't know if you will get out of there alive.'
'Vaccination is the only safe way to get immunity.'
Pablo Bartholomew, the legendary Indian photojournalist whose searing images from the Bhopal gas tragedy stunned a nation's conscience 30 years ago, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
'All the vaccines that are available in most countries, right now, are all highly effective and safe.'
'Every time you put on a mask and take the mask off and adjust the fit, you are putting additional fatigue on the materials.'
'People are just putting the mask below their nose.' 'They are only protecting the mouth, but not the nose.' 'People need to understand that it is the nose which has to be protected.'
'This year, we know the virus. Last year we didn't know anything about it.' 'The best part is that for the Indian population there has been some amount of cross protection.'
'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.'
'And he was really trying just to do the best by the shareholders, and by the laws of India.'
When the Indian brunost bravely ventured into the international cheese arena in Spain, along with 4,000 others from 45 countries, before 230 judges, its sterling desi pedigree spoke for itself, winning a silver in the brown cheese category and giving India a berth on the global cheese map.
'A man, probably a lawyer, in black trousers and a white shirt, next to me, was talking to a woman in white.' 'My stock-taking stopped frozen in its tracks.' 'I was sitting almost right next to Indrani Mukerjea.'
'When I read page number 50 of Transcendence, second paragraph, there he writes, "No more manoeuvres are required any more, as I am placed in my final position in eternity".' 'And within a month of that. he was no more.'
'What the interview with Modi told me was that now he is open to granting interviews.' 'And in this connection let me offer our credentials for being considered in this election season,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'People wondered aloud why she had given up on the aging, getting-day-by-day-more-infirm avatar. And was freshly blooming.'
'Wherever the Delta variant is spreading, and the population is not vaccinated, there is death and devastation.'
'We hope that people are aware that even after the lockdown, we will have to follow a lot of things that we were following during the lockdown.' 'Don't get out for non-essential things.' 'Don't gather together for parties, religious events or at religious places.' 'Ensure social distancing at work and otherwise.' 'You know, in India, it is not uncommon for people with a cough and a cold to go to work.' 'We really want people to understand that if you have a cough, cold, fever, just stay at home.' 'Don't get back to work or don't get back to school.'
'Did Islam kill those five people in London?' 'Or did one wacko individual do them in?' asks Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'You will still want to take all the necessary precautions, which is the right thing to do.'
'If our body is able to mount a very successful immune response, we can negate the virus.'
'The vast majority of people are going to get better.' 'And the small fraction, who are not going to get better, unfortunately, there's no drug that we have that can that can alter the trajectory.'
'Even after this epidemic gets over, we know that there are going to be months of effects on the economy and poverty.' 'A lot of things are catastrophic for people from the lower socio-economic classes.' 'Social distancing is going to start killing their day-to-day wages.' 'We are not even measuring that impact.'
A virologist answers questions on the deadly virus presently haunting the world.
In this May 2014 interview with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com, the politically conscious Karnad spoke of why he is concerned about Modi coming to power.
'Where did this fungus suddenly come from and get all over the country?'
Madhu Kinnar, newly-elected mayor of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
'I challenge people just do it for a month to see how you feel, okay?'
'Whenever you roll out: effectiveness is important, operational logistics are important, side effects are important and vaccine hesitancy is important.'
'Mucor is an environmental fungus, and it's much more prevalent in hot and humid areas.' 'The amount of fungus in the air is much higher in India than some other parts of the world.'
