“Despite all the challenges we face, I remain convinced that yes, the future is female.”
Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state, urging women to “step up and speak out” at the MAKERS women’s leadership conference (Time, February 20)
“The Budget, along with the finance minister’s speech, indicates yet again that the NDA government has little interest in social policy. More than lack of funds, what is striking is the lack of creative ideas and initiatives in health, education and social security.”
Jean Dreze, development economist, on the Union Budget 2017-18 presented to Parliament on February 1 (Outlook, February 13)
“Demonetisation is a disastrous and unilateral decision whose deleterious effects will linger till 2018-19 and restrict growth at 6 percent, and the second and the third order issues such as joblessness and economic slowdown would start rearing its head in the coming months.”
P. Chidambaram, former finance minister, on the impact of demonetisation on the Indian economy (The Hindu, February 26)
“Indians who flock to the US and for whom the Green Card is the brightest dowry and greatest asset, do not go there to help out the US in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They go purely and simply because employment prospects are so bleak at home.”
Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, senior journalist and columnist, on the controversy over issue of H1-B visas to Indians (Deccan Chronicle, February 28)
“In India, we need to reverse the pendulum that has swung fully to the science from the art side in medicine. Many medical educationists have argued that art and literature should have a place in the medical curriculum because art helps doctors to understand experiences, illness and human values and that art itself can fulfill a therapeutic role.”
Anand Krishnan, AIIMS professor, on ‘Why doctors need humanities’ (Times of India, February 28)