-The Hindu Business Line Informal networks play a key role in building a trust mechanism that dispels the fear in rebels to quit insurgency groups How do rebels quit armed groups and return to the same political processes they had once sought to overTHRow? A lot has been written on why men and women rebel. But we know very little about why and how rebels quit. This is, however, a predominant concern...

-Livemint.com For the first time during the tenure of the present government, overall inflation of food articles is negative, implying a decline in prices Last week the India Meteorological Department (IMD) presented its first forecast for the monsoon this year. The forecast at 97% of the long period average (LPA) suggested yet a third year of normal monsoon rains, following 2016 and 2017. This should have ideally brought cheer to farmers struggling...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday defended in the Supreme Court "hanging" as the most suitable mode of execution, rejecting the argument that it was barbaric and instead other methods such as shooting by a firing squad or lethal injection should be explored. "The execution as contemplated under Section 354(5) CrPC is not barbaric, inhuman and cruel as well as in compliance with safeguard No. 9 of the resolution adopted...

-The Hindu There are 119 laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy: plea The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and all States to remove references to leprosy as a disability from statute books, saying leprosy is curable and patients should not be victims of social stigma. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heading a THRee-judge Bench, said references to leprosy as a disability in the written laws amounted to “statutory...

-Down to Earth Waste pickers recycle almost 20 per cent of India's wastes. Yet they are unrecognised, face discrimination and are not entitled to government schemes India produces about 5.31 million tonnes of waste each year and is facing an unprecedented solid waste management crisis. Coupled with an upward trend in industrialisation, rural migration, spending and an increasing propensity for capitalist consumption, the amount of waste generated in India will continue...