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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A new craze has taken hold of Silicon Valley in recent months. Techies looking to prove they are among the vanguard of artificial-intelligence adoption have taken to “tokenmaxxing”, competing against one another to burn through the most tokens (as the chunks of text processed by AI models are known). Between January and March, the weekly tokens processed by OpenRouter, a marketplace for accessing models, quadrupled.As demand for AI soars, the industry behind it is struggling to keep up.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The impossible trinity, or trilemma, holds that a country cannot simultaneously maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, and an independent monetary policy; policymakers must prioritise two at the expense of the third.A strikingly similar trilemma sits at the heart of health insurance: the insurer’s duty to settle claims sustainably, the hospital’s duty to deliver effective, patient-centred care while earning a fair return, and the customer’s demand for affordability. Like the economic trilemma, this cannot be resolved by decree.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.An industry body has asked the government to scrap a proposal to ban audit firms from offering non-audit services to clients for three years after their term ends.It said the move will lead to operational inefficiencies, increased costs and hurdles for large corporate groups, and force companies to depend on smaller auditors, which could compromise service quality in complex areas.Companies including EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, BDO and Grant Thornton Bharat, among other audit firms, will be severely impacted if amendments proposed to the Companies Act of 2013 are implemented. These companies offer other advisory services besides audits for clients.The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), a body representing companies across sectors, submitted its comments and suggestions on the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, last week, Mint has learnt.According to the proposed clause in the bill, an auditor or audit firm shall not provide, directly or indirectly, any non-audit services to a company or its holding company or subsidiary.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday tightened and consolidated rules for e-mandates—automated instructions that allow recurring payments—aimed at improving transaction processing by payment system operators (PSOs) and reducing friction for users.Mint explains what has changed, why it matters, and what payment system operators will need to adjust.An e-mandate is a one-time authorization that allows a bank to automatically process recurring payments on a customer’s behalf. These are used for subscriptions such as OTT services, mutual fund investments, utility bills, insurance premiums, and loan instalments.Setting up an e-mandate requires a one-time registration and authentication using an additional factor of authentication (AFA), alongside the issuer’s standard process.Each mandate must specify a validity period, which customers can modify or withdraw at any time.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The government’s move to link the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act of 2023) with nationwide delimitation, or redrawing electoral constituency boundaries based on population, has stoked the latent but ever-growing sense of injustice that India’s southern states have long been smarting under.Remember, it was not so long ago that Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and a member of India’s ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), urged Andhra people to have more children. And Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The artificial-intelligence trade came roaring back to life this week, with the Nasdaq Composite closing at a fresh high on Thursday, marking 12 straight days of gains. Underneath the optimism, however, are some of the same concerns about circular finance that plagued the stocks at the start of the year.Those are valid concerns ahead of a flurry of Big Tech earnings reports due out next week, including Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Apple.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Every now and then, you come across a news article about someone deleting food delivery and over-the-top entertainment apps from their phone and going on to save a substantial amount on monthly expenses. These stories feel nice, and somewhere, we all wish we could do that too. But who does not want to have some pizza when watching an IPL match at home or watch the latest shows on an OTT platform?“If you ask most people what they spend on “extras”, they’ll think of a big dinner or a weekend trip.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The government is revamping Ayurveda institutes, modernizing hospitals, upgrading research and globalizing traditional systems for medical tourism, as announced in Union Budget 2026.Morbidity codes for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems have now been incorporated into the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases, and an index for the International Classification of Health Interventions through traditional medicines has also been agreed upon.This could, in time, position India as a hub for Ayurvedic and traditional medicine treatments.But can treatments at AYUSH centres be claimed in a cashless manner like allopathic procedures?The answer lies in how insurers currently interpret such treatments.Health insurance policies state that “inpatient treatments under Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy are covered.”For cashless claims, treatments must be taken at network hospitals. Reimbursement claims — where patients pay first and submit bills later — can be more complicated.Given the early stage of such claims, insurers and third-party administrators (TPAs) are balancing two competing pressures: honouring AYUSH claims as mandated by the government and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), while protecting portfolios from treatments that are not medically mandatory but taken for rest, restoration or wellness — where billing limits may not be clearly defined.The ecosystem for cashless claims is still evolving.

With the introduction of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill of 2026 (JV2), India’s government has made one thing unmistakably clear: the decriminalization of various actions covered by the country’s statute book is not a one-time gesture, but a sustained and serious programme of reform. Covering 79 Central Acts in a single sweep, the JV2 Bill follows the Jan Vishwas Act of 2023 and picks up where the Select Committee-examined 2025 bill left off. The ambition behind this exercise deserves recognition on its own terms.

NEW DELHI: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) promises a fresh start for bankrupt companies that have resolved their debt problems. Yet, creditors including government agencies come after them for their past dues – a headache for the company’s new investors.

multi-asset model has seen steady traction in recent years, according to industry insiders. While data at the industry-wide level is not available, Mint interviewed senior executives at large wealth management companies and portfolio management services, or PMS, firms and analyzed their portfolios to capture the trend.Some quick background: a wealth manager, typically, earns revenue in two ways.

West Asia crisis with resilient activity indicators and still-supportive demand. Further, the inflation environment too has remained benign.

The world has been through this before. Oil prices spike, supply chains shudder and emerging economies absorb the pain while advanced nations reach for their strategic reserves. But the conflict now roiling West Asia carries a twist that policymakers must not overlook: this is not a health shock, as covid was.

Summer often triggers last-minute purchases of high-ticket items such as refrigerators, stabilizers, air conditioners or energy-efficient fans.Belita Andrews, a 25-year-old assistant manager in Legal and Contracts, noted these are often necessities rather than luxuries. “Additional expenses include getting table fans or renting coolers.

Karnataka’s move to impose a tax on electric cars, a year after waiving levies, could slow down adoption in one of India’s key electric vehicle (EV) markets by eroding their price competitiveness with petrol and diesel vehicles, industry experts said. The shift comes even as other states continue to offer tax breaks to push EV uptake.According to a bill passed in the Karnataka assembly last week, a tax in the range of 5-10% of a vehicle’s price will be imposed on all EV cars based on their price at the time of registration in the state, which is expected to widen the price gap with less expensive internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.The move partly negates the state's own clean mobility policy released in 2025, under which road and registration taxes were waived off for all electric vehicles, except those priced above ₹25 lakh.This comes at a time when other large EV car markets such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are moving to waive off all such state taxes on EVs to promote their adoption.“At a time when EV adoption is crucial to cutting vehicular pollution and improving urban air quality, this decision risks undermining the state’s stated ambition of promoting zero emission mobility,” Sharif Qamar, associate director at The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), said.

The taxation of share buybacks in India has come full circle, reflecting the government's continuing effort to balance revenue considerations with anti-avoidance safeguards. Before 2013 buybacks were treated akin to a sale of shares, with shareholders taxed on the resulting capital gains.

Write to Alexandra Wexler at [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

graphics processing unit and memory costs is forcing a rethink of India’s flagship electronics incentive scheme, with the government now recalibrating Production-Linked Incentive scheme (PLI) 2.0 for IT hardware.The move signals a shift from volume-led assembly to value-linked manufacturing, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) servers and advanced components, potentially reshaping the opportunity set for electronics manufacturing services (EMS) players. PLI 2.0, in its revised form, is expected to better account for the higher bill of materials in AI hardware, while continuing to reward incremental production, reduce import dependence and deepen domestic capabilities.Against this backdrop, a clutch of EMS companies with exposure to servers, displays and semiconductor packaging could be early beneficiaries, if policy design aligns with industry expectations.Here are three stocks to watch:Syrma is emerging as a niche player in high-end electronics, with a growing foothold in the server ecosystem.

a “Chinese Warren Buffett” in a LinkedIn profile, was convicted in 2013 of defrauding customers in a $50 million Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to six years in jail and released in 2019.

New Delhi: Amid the West Asia war, ethanol makers have urged the petroleum ministry to accelerate higher fuel blending and utilize a massive surplus to safeguard national energy security, with India being one of the largest importers of crude oil, according to a letter seen by Mint.The All India Distillers Association (Aida) wrote to the petroleum and natural gas ministry on 3 March, days after the conflict broke out on 28 February, seeking incentives for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which run on very high ethanol blending, and higher procurement of ethanol by oil marketing companies (OMCs).Aida represents about 80% of India's total distillation capacity.The industry’s representation came after underutilisation of ethanol feedstocks in 2024-25 and 2025-26, according to a copy of the letter seen by Mint.Global oil volatility and supply chain disruptions make it imperative for India to strengthen domestic alternatives and accelerate indigenous biofuel production, the letter stated.“At a time when the country needs stronger domestic energy buffers against global oil shocks, idle biofuel capacity represents a missed strategic opportunity,” the letter said.Email queries sent to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp.

retirement strategy. Over the past few years, she has focused on consolidating real estate holdings, increasing liquid investments through mutual funds, and creating multiple income streams, such as rental income, to ensure financial stability and healthcare security in retirement.For Ahmedabad-based Vijay Vora, a chartered accountant, 75, who is currently self-employed as a management adviser and corporate consultant, retirement income comes from a mix of rental income from real estate, interest from fixed deposits, Public Provident Fund (PPF) savings, dividends, and freelancing income.Going ahead, he wants to start systematic withdrawal plans from his mutual funds.