“She was just a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore.”
Hillary Mantel, British author, describing Duchess of Windsor Kate Middleton, and sparking an impassioned debate about the royals (Time, March 4)

“The Africa star is shining brightly, and the destiny of Africa is now in our hands.”
Uhuru Kenyatta, newly elected president of Kenya in his victory speech (March 9)

“It is better to just give farmers money. It’s much better than giving them all this loony stuff. In each one of these subsidies – CNG, diesel, fertilizer — the biggest beneficiary is not the poor.”
Abhijit Banerjee, professor MIT, USA at the India Today Conclave 2013 (March 15-16)

“America’s inventors are as busy as they have ever been, and its entrepreneurs are seizing on their ideas with the same alacrity as always. Investment in research and development as a share of output recently matched the previous record, 2.9 percent of GDP, set at the height of the space race.”
The Economist on ‘The America that works’ (March 16)

“Thanks to lousy infrastructure, useless regulation and a famously corrupt telecom sector, the web is available to only 10 percent of Indians, many of them squinting at screens in cafes.”
The Economist on whether India can become a leader in mobile technology (March 16-22)

“To succeed in public life, nothing is as important as the skill for unclear speech. No one will know what you mean, and that really helps.”
Kaushik Basu, chief economist to the World Bank, on maintaining a successful public image (Times of India, March 27)

“There are enough policies, enough opportunities, but implementation on ground is most difficult because it’s like washing your own clothes. People hesitate to get into it, because it calls for rolling up your sleeves.”
S. Ramadorai, advisor to the prime minister in the National Council for Skill Development, on the gigantic skilling challenge (Business Today, March 31)