'In the whole of my career, some ten-twenty characters might have really satisfied me.'
'A change we have seen after the Russia-Ukraine war is the energy crisis in Europe.' 'Earlier, in Europe, people used to change their clothes after 5 washes, now they are using it till 15-20 washes.' 'They used to change their entire wardrobe after 2 months or so, but because of the economic conditions, it has changed.' 'It has affected exports as 40% of our exports is to Europe, 30% to the US and 10% to the UK.' 'The war has to end for better days to come.'
'My parents were there to see me enrol as a lawyer. From afar itself, I could see tears in their eyes.' 'Three days after, I appeared in court for my first case, and my father was there to see me. He had tears in his eyes.' 'And even before I completed two months as an advocate, I won a case!'
Shobha Warrier reports from Thiruvananthapuram where a former UN diplomat is battling a former governor for the Lok Sabha seat.
'Though federal, the Constitution is unitary in nature. All matters relating to revenue are centralised. It is necessary that matters related to finance have to be decentralised... States need more freedom in designing schemes with their interest in mind. There has to be a Constitutional amendment to give more powers to the states. A special session of Parliament should amend the Constitution, especially the 7th Schedule,' Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
'Since many people are vaccinated, this virus is now concentrating on the throat and the nose and replicating fast and transmitting also very fast.' 'That's because the current vaccines will not be able to fight it when it is in the throat, nose or the mouth.'
'Shashi Tharoor has publicised whatever little he has done, far more than what he has actually done. Some of the bigger promises he made could never be implemented.' Ajit Joy, a former police officer and Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier that he is a more attractive candidate in his constituency than sitting MP Tharoor.
'Have you met anyone who said "I will not boycott Chinese products"?'
'What we need is right skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling.'
'That would once and for all teach all the film-makers of this country a fitting lesson!'
'Vaccination is very important for an economy to start functioning properly.'
'...signatures.' 'But such signatures are missing in this virus.'
'Rahul Gandhi wants a group under the name 'new generation'. But look at the people who surround him.'
'Working in collaboration is beneficial and more rewarding in the long run.' 'Competition may bring personal glory, but is very short lasting.' 'Work with people who are interested in working with you instead of competing with you.'
'I was very much aware of what was coming, but not to this extent.' 'If I had expressed what I felt, our campaign would have been in trouble.'
'All actions for COVID-19 should be the same as for other routine health conditions.' 'There is no need to report the matter in the media all the time; not on front page please.'
'National assets, created over the years through tax-payers's money, should not be handed over to business houses at throwaway prices.'
'The top 11 billionaires in India added so much to their wealth during the pandemic that it would have sustained MNREGA for 10 years or the ministry of health for 10 years.'
'There is indeed a link between BCG vaccination and resistance to COVID-19.'
'...Rs 137 lakh crores of people's money?' 'It is not the government's money, it is people's money.'
'The only reason why these troubling developments are taking place is because of a certain arrogance of power displayed by this government that hopes to clamp down on those voices which have repeatedly pointed out that their bloated rhetoric and grandstanding are not matched by their insipid and tepid response in matters of governance.'
'How ironic that a party that seeks to arrogate the mantle of nationalism to itself is actually behaving like the imperial oppressors.'
'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.'
'They are not tom-tomming what a great thing the Supreme Court decision is.' 'If they say it was a great thing, the public will react because people suffered and are still suffering.'
'The staff student ratio in Kerala medical colleges is already compromised as in the last few years, the Kerala government has taken a decision to admit maximum number of students in all the medical colleges.'
'The prospects for both India and the global economy is that we are headed towards a very difficult time.' 'I see very uncertain at least 8-10 months for both India and the rest of the world.'
'China can't stop any company from relocating to India.'
'If you want to really grow, it has to be geometric progression like it happened at the Centre or Haryana or Tripura, where you made a quantum jump.' 'This is possible in Kerala provided we present a better alternative with a great leadership, but the current leadership is busy fixing each other.'
'We will have to face the effects of climate change for generations to come!'
'The people of Tamil Nadu are fed up of these people, whether it is Panneerselvam or Palaniswami.'
'Others will think twice before attacking our space assets.'
'If you talk about any kind of equality, you are under attack.'
'It is high time that we act instead of just talking about how and why the climate is changing.'
'What we have done is a symbol of new India; that is what a small start-up can do, a few hundreds of people coming together, developing a rocket and launching to space and succeeding at the very first attempt.'
'These young men have become religious fundamentalists and gone to lead the life of Salafis somewhere.'
'The controversy created by a Gujarat minister was totally unnecessary and unwanted.' 'It is a disgrace that a person who happened to be Gujarat's finance minister, spoke this kind of rubbish.'
'When people who ignored us, when relatives who have not spoken to us for a long time, congratulated us, it was a proud moment for my mother.'
'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.'
'The next fiscal year will be a good one.'
'Women use acting as a way to protect themselves.'
