-The Hindustan Times As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his team pull out all stops to  shake off criticism of policy paralysis with a string of reform measures, rising prices and sliding growth continue to remain key worries. A Hindustan Times survey, one of the largest of its kind covering 28,395 respondents across 13 cities, shows nearly two in three (62.7%) of the people surveyed said that high food prices were hurting...

-The Hindustan Times With the detection of fresh cases of dengue fever every day, the state capital seems to be falling in the grip of the infection. Altogether, 132 cases have been reported from different parts of Patna till date.   “Though the disease has not yet taken the shape of an epidemic, the situation may take an ugly turn if health authorities fail to initiate steps on a war footing to...

-The Hindustan Times Finance minister P Chidambaram’s grand plan to redefine how the Centre spends its funds through state governments is facing stiff opposition from within, pushing the Planning Commission to seek the cabinet’s views on the proposal. The Centre disburses billions of rupees to states for achieving national developmental goals, but its effective use remains an area of concern. Though the Planning Commission had suggested reforms, Chidambaram — in a...

-The Hindustan Times Blood pressure and diabetes will be included for the first time in the National Family Health Survey-4, which covers 17,000 villages and urban units. The project began in May 2012 and the results are expected next year. This year the survey will be conducted digitally, so data will be out within a year, instead of the usual three years. The 15,000 interviewers and 3,000 senior-level officers will check the...

-The Hindustan Times The UPA government's ambitious unique identification or Aadhaar project would result in saving of about Rs. 1,10,000 crore by 2020, around 58% of expenditure of major public welfare schemes, a Planning Commission study released on Saturday said. The Prime Minister's Office had given April 2014 as the deadline for disbursing cash transfer through the UIDAI platform for all major government schemes. A cost benefit analysis done by the National...