-The Hindu Business Line   Opening bank accounts in rural areas is all very well, but biometric frauds are a serious possibility The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) aims at bringing millions of rural Indians within the financial mainstream by opening bank accounts. In 2006, the Reserve of India, recognising that a majority of rural Indians had little or no access to banking services, allowed banks to use third-party, non-bank agents...

-The Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit is likely to throw up highly contentious intellectual property rights issues. Indeed, for the last several years, US drug majors and their European counterparts have lobbied hard to demonise the Indian patent regime. But the government must continue to defend the law and stand its ground. Particularly since our own industrial moguls have caved in and are less vocal about their opposition...

-The Business Standard Market to help farmers directly reach wholesalers and retailers New Delhi: Deepak Sharma, a third-generation farmer in Jammu, will no longer have to pay steep commissions when he next visits Delhi to sell his produce, thanks to the new market in Alipur here. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday laid the foundation stone of the Kisan Mandi in Alipur village for farmers like Sharma to sell fruit and vegetables...

-The Hindu At least five cases have been reported in recent times from western part of the State Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): When Rahul, a sugarcane farmer in Badaut area of Baghpat district in western U.P., shot himself on the night of September 13, he had a debt of Rs. 12 lakh. Rahul shot himself with his brother's LICensed rifle in his house in Dhikana village. Anil Kumar, the Station House Officer of Badaut...

-The Hindustan Times Soon, motorists caught speeding, driving drunk or jumping red lights may not get away with a light fine and a few stern words from the traffic cop. The punishment would get harsher as the gravity of the offence increases - a Rs. 3-lakh fine and not less than seven years in jail for causing the death of a child; Rs. 5 lakh in penalty and three months in jail...