-The Hindu The traditional ration cards will soon be replaced by smarts cards in Gurgaon as part of a pilot project by the Union Government in Haryana and Chandigarh to streamline the Public Distribution System. Announcing this at Gymkhana Club here, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Food & Supplies Department) Shakuntala Jakhu said that the task of preparing smart cards will be first taken up in the Pataudi block of Gurgaon. Besides...

-Live Mint It turns out that some state officials were using NRHM to enrich themselves The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched seven years ago with the goal of improving healthcare delivery to people in villages, especially the poor, through a generous infusion of federal funds. Local authorities were given a relatively free hand in deciding how to spend the money, with the Centre promising funds with no strings attached for...

-IANS Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday approved setting up a monitoring system to fast track implementation of major projects with outlay of over Rs.1,000 crore, a day after the official data showed contraction in manufacturing activities. "In order to address the issue of major investment projects being delayed for a variety of reasons, the Prime Minister has approved setting up of an Investment Tracking System to ensure speedy implementation of such projects,"...

Bihar, which was synonymous with poverty, has emerged as the fastest growing state for the second year running, clocking a scorching 13.1% growth in 2011-12. Not just that, on the back of four years of double-digit growth, its economy is now bigger than that of Punjab—until recently the preferred destination of Bihari migrant workers. Among the top five states, Bihar is followed by Delhi and Puducherry. Mineral-rich Chhattisgarh, which many had...

-The Telegraph The Centre has renewed efforts to forge a consensus on allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail by writing to all chief ministers, seeking to drive home the urgency against the backdrop of grim economic data. “Letters have been written to all chief ministers to build consensus to open up the multi-brand retail sector to FDI,” a commerce ministry official said. The statement came a day after the country posted its...