-TheWire.in The Wire meets families of 16 people who lost their lives in extra-judicial killings by the police on the suspicion of smuggling cows in the Mewat region of Haryana. Nuh (Haryana): On the wintry night of December 6, 2017, as Shareef lay on the bed in his courtyard in Salaheri village in Nuh, flashes of memory from 25 years ago kept disrupting his sleep. He recalled how his friend Aarif was...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A five-judge Supreme Court constitution bench on Wednesday ruled that parliamentary standing committee reports can be examined by courts for evidence evaluation, rejecting the Centre's argument that it would be a breach of parliamentary privileges and an encroachment into the domain of the legislature. The apex court, however, said "admissibility of a parliamentary committee report in evidence does not MEAn facts stated in the report stand proved", as...

-The Hindu Telangana’s experience is instructive The institutionalisation of “social audits” to ensure implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been challenging. Since being included in the 2005 Act at the behest of social movements, social audits have been ineffective in most parts of the country due to government indifference. So far, 26 States have created social audit units (SAUs), but the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) detailed guidelines...

-TheWire.in If Trump carries out his threat of pulling the US out of the deal and re-imposes sanctions on the Persian Gulf country, oil prices could start soaring, hitting India and other major crude importers hard. New Delhi: The global oil market is waiting with bated breath for US President Donald Trump’s next move on the Iran nuclear deal, expected to be announced on Tuesday, four days ahead of the May 12...

-The Hindu Business Line Because they are wealthier and have a lower population than northern States New Delhi: The southern States are less dependent on transfers from the Centre than many of their northern peers, but a cut in transfers could leave their fiscal situation precariously poised and upset some of their expenditure plans. That is exactly what they fear will happen when the 15th Finance Commission uses the 2011 population data —...