-TheWire.in The negotiator’s comments were non-committal but indicated that for now, the RCEP talks have not yet moved decisively into a TRIP-plus scenario. The chief negotiator for New Zealand, at the Asia trade pact talks in Hyderabad this week, made pointed reference to TRIPS-plus (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) provisions, saying that while the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property rights was sufficient, it was up to the countries to analyse whether...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre in a U-turn today told the Supreme Court the right to privacy can be a fundamental right subject to certain limitations, and said it wanted a "smaller bench" - instead of the current nine-judge constitution bench - to decide whether the Aadhaar scheme violated that right. Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, the country's top law officer, made the concession after the bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and...

-The Hindu Business Line Entitlements of developed countries need to be eliminated before other reforms, study suggests New Delhi: Seeking to expose the double-standards of developed countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a joint paper by India and China has revealed that rich nations, including the US, the EU and Canada, have been consistently giving trade-distorting subsidies to their farmers at levels much higher than the ceiling applied on developing countries....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as the Chinese state media turned shriller on India and accused foreign minister Sushma Swaraj of lying to Parliament on the Doklam impasse, India and China are working together at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to get developed countries such as the US and the European Union members to reduce subsidies for farm products that are detrimental to exports from developing and poor countries. Earlier...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India has been ranked 132 out of 152 countries in an index that rates countries by their commitment to reducing inequality. The first report edition of the index, released recently, showed that OECD countries headed by Sweden ranked the highest while Nigeria was at the bottom. The US had the highest level of inequality among developed countries, though it is the wealthiest country in history. Ironically,...