“Im not a politician. There are many people working to improve their lives. The answer will come from India. Its an absolutely extraordinary nation that is charging through the 21st century and I think they will address their own issues.” Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, answering a question on how to improve the conditions of slum children in India (Time, March 2) “Mere numerical expansion, without an understanding of the symptoms of poor education wont help.” Excerpt from the Yash Pal Committee report (Times of India, March 9) “We cant afford our kids to be mediocre at a time when theyre competing against kids in China and India who are actually in school about a month longer than our kids.” US President Barack Obama addressing a town hall meeting in California (March 19) “I dont see enough anger among civil society and the media about the lack of quality in secondary education… Different central and state boards have different parameters and requirements. So how do you gauge quality?” Sam Carlson, education specialist of the World Bank (Times of India, March 24) “This represents a failure of policy and lack of an effective alternative to public transport. Nano is going to increase emissions exponentially and add to (road) congestion.” R.K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, on the Rs.1 lakh Tata Nano motorcar “Theres only one word for the speech that Varun Gandhi gave in Pilibhit last fortnight — disgraceful… Not just Nehru, even Feroze Gandhi, Varuns grandfather, must be turning in his grave at some of the things he is saying.” Nayantara Sehgal, well-known author and niece of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru (Outlook, March 30) “China is today unhappy, paranoid, bitter — and angry at the Western world.” Venkatesh Vembu (DNA, March 27)
