-The Indian Express Cash transfers seem to be the latest fad. With elections looming, the Prime Minister’s National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers has been tasked with an ambitious mandate to provide vision and direction to enable direct cash transfers of subsidies under various government schemes and programmes to individuals to enhance efficiency. Certain activists warn against an ill-considered and hasty transition from food to cash. Others believe directly transferring the...

-The Indian Express Nearly 45 trillion bidis and cigarettes manufactured over the past 100 years in the country are expected to be responsible for nearly 100 million deaths of adult Indians, a recent study has found. "Our calculations are derived from using the most conservative estimates and yet present mortality estimates which are significant and alarming," researchers Pranay G Lal, Nevin C Wilson and Prakash C Gupta said in a study published...

-The Times of India A once-a-week medicine for diabetics — a disease that affects nearly 63 million Indians — could soon become a reality. Studies on diabetes have seen a global upsurge, with the latest data showing that bio-pharmaceutical research companies across the globe are busy developing 221 innovative new medicines. The drugs, which will help around 347 million patients include new therapies that target key abnormalities of pancreatic cells, increase insulin secretion...

-The Hindu For any law to truly liberate those trapped in manual scavenging, their numbers must first be established by a comprehensive survey Everybody declares with a full heart, and in a low voice, that it is a national shame. From Manmohan Singh and Pratibha Patil to Mukesh Ambani and Aamir Khan, the last mentioned a new convert to the Dalit cause, there is no dearth of people queuing up to take...

-Express News Service Dikshit releases Delhi Statistical Handbook, says city an attractive destination for all. With more than 5 lakh vehicles added to the roads in the last year, Delhi recorded the biggest jump ever in motor vehicle registrations. But as the number of vehicles increased, no significant change in road length was recorded in the Capital. The figures were made available when Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit released the Delhi Statistical Handbook, 2012,...