-Livemint.com Roots of disagreement lie in how farm support is calculated under WTO, with US blaming India for under-reporting subsidy given for wheat and rice Bengaluru: Farm subsidies seem to have become a major flashpoint in the escalating global trade war. In May, India came under attack from the US for its minimum support price (MSP) policy for foodgrain. India hit back, along with China, to demand that developed nations give up...

-The Times of India UNITED NATIONS: India, China, Russia and Myanmar are among several countries named in a report by UN chief Antonio Guterres that details an "alarming" level of harsh reprisals and intimidation against those who cooperate with the United Nations on human rights issues. The ninth annual report of the Secretary-General details the level of retaliation against human rights defenders on a country-by-country basis, including allegations of killing, torture, arbitrary...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The total number of buses available for transporting general passengers is less than one-tenth of the requirement, posing an enormous logistical challenge. According to government data, there are about 19 lakh buses in the country and only 2.8 lakh of them are run either by state transport undertakings or under stage carriage permits. "We need about 30 lakh buses to meet the requirement of general passengers....

-Firstpost.com India's two Northeastern states, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, have been put on a flood high alert after upper riparian state China alerted India on Thursday about the rising water levels in Tsangpo river. Tsangpo, which enters India through Arunachal Pradesh is known as the Siang river in the state. Further downstream, Siang river joins Lohit and Dibang rivers to form the Brahmaputra in Assam. Thus, a spate in the Chinese river...

-The Hindu The former Chief Statistician on calculating GDP back series, on indicators of development, and the fall of the rupee The draft of the back series GDP data, which was made public by the government recently, is unlikely to change drastically even if other methods of calculation are used, says former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen. The noted economist discusses GDP, employment and poverty data; the value of the rupee;...