“To choose IIM directors on the basis of ‘group discussions’ is to lower the best academic institutes to the standards of the worst TV shows.”
Ramchandra Guha, historian-author, on the Union HRD ministry’s plans to make group discussion mandatory for hiring IIM directors (Bangalore Mirror, May 16)
“So far as the government is concerned, there is only one holy book, which is the Constitution of India.”
Prime minister Narendra Modi in an interview with Time (May 18)
“For India to become an attractive option for China’s neighbours we need Mr. Modi to set aside his fiddle, get away from insecure NRIs, do ghar vapsi and stay at home for a while and attend to its myriad challenges.”
Pankaj Mishra, well-known author, on prime minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to China and East Asia (The Hindu, May 24)
“Make in India is directly related to how we educate and skill the people of India. Accomplishing the transformation agenda requires the availability of the right people, with the right skills and knowledge.”
Vinita Bali, former managing director of Britannia Industries, on an action agenda for the one-year-old Narendra Modi government (Forbes, May 29)
“As a result of what I helped construct, women in Delhi are able to have a mode of public transport that’s safe for the first time. That’s an incredible outcome. I’d like to see that across India.”
Reiko Abe, an engineer who couldn’t find a job in Japan, but has overseen construction safety on Indian metro projects for seven years (Mint, May 30)
“The HRD minister attracts sound bytes, eyeballs and controversy, but no one has focused on a forgotten fact: when 15-year-old students from states that do relatively well in education took part for the first time in 2011 in the PISA, they performed worse than students from all countries other than Krygyzstan.”
Editor T.N. Ninan in Business Standard (May 30)