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Supreme Court ends up striking down President Trump’s tariffs: “I think that possibility is being overlooked a bit. It could reduce inflationary pressures, allow more rate cuts and accelerate the economy.”Tech bulls point out a key difference between now and the dot-com bubble: Today’s most-valuable companies, such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet, are some of the most profitable in history.

Even as Vodafone Idea has received a breather on most of its adjusted gross revenue dues, a near-term obligation remains. The telecom operator will need to pay ₹700–800 crore in AGR dues related to FY18 and FY19 over six years, including the current financial year, according to two officials familiar with the matter.This amount is outside the ₹87,695 crore in AGR dues as of 31 December 2025, which the government has frozen, and Vodafone Idea will pay it between FY32 and FY41.The reassessment process to arrive at Vodafone Idea’s final AGR liability is expected to take four to five months, one of the officials said.“In the Supreme Court’s 1 September 2020 order, the table of AGR calculations also included figures for FY18 and FY19.

lawsuits were filed in the last week of December by individuals in states including Arizona and California, who claimed they lost sensitive personal data such as financial account details, social security numbers, and addresses. Mint could not independently ascertain whether Cognizant intends to settle the claims.The 23 December complaint alleged that Cognizant did not disclose critical details of the cyberattack.“Defendants (Cognizant) have not disclosed the details of the cyberattack to Plaintiffs (complainants) or Class members, including the root cause of the data breach, the vulnerabilities exploited, and the remedial measures undertaken to ensure such a breach does not occur again.

Justice Department has stated explicitly that it is no longer in the business of routinely complying with orders from federal district courts or courts of appeal, and the administration has treated laws mandating spending (and more) as optional.The rhetorical foundation for these moves is Trump’s claim to have a “mandate” in the form of his (slender) election victory in November 2024. Never mind that, under the US constitutional system, presidents exercise authority within the terms set by the country’s laws.

The fate of Vodafone Idea Ltd hangs in the balance, with the Union cabinet on Wednesday clearing a relief plan that punctured hopes, hammered its shares, and shook its fundraising hopes.According to officials familiar with the matter, the cabinet has decided to freeze the struggling telco’s pending adjusted gross revenues (AGR) dues at ₹87,695 crore for five years. The amount can be paid from fiscal year 2032 (FY32) through FY41.That means the AGR amount will not increase, but it does not also reduce the overall AGR dues of the company, even though the officials said that the recalculation is still on the table and the amount may reduce later.

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shorturl.at/EFYLw) The spirit of the court’s observations could explain many of India’s deficiencies. Poverty in the country results in a tendency to peg everything on it. So India’s plans are often of low calibre.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] a year of testing the waters, India’s top law firms are heading into 2026 facing a decisive question: can artificial intelligence (AI) move from a promising pilot to everyday legal infrastructure? What began as cautious experimentation in 2025 is now shifting toward deeper, workflow-level integration, even as firms remain measured about governance, client confidentiality and the impact on pricing.

Mint examines what relief the government is considering for Vodafone Idea, why AGR recalculation alone may not be enough, how high tariffs would need to rise for the company to remain viable, and whether India’s telecom market can sustain repeated price hikes without losing subscribers or competition.In October, the Supreme Court allowed the government to reassess Vodafone Idea’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, which stood at ₹83,400 crore as of end of March 2025. The ruling came as a breather for the company, which has flagged concerns about its ability to survive beyond the current financial year without government support.AGR is the revenue base used to calculate licence fees and spectrum usage charges payable to the government.

Mint has seen copies of both filings.Privately held Natsoft filed its lawsuit against Hexaware in an Illinois district court on 23 September, alleging that Hexaware used application modernization software whose functioning was covered by nine patents developed by Updraft, an IT services company Natsoft acquired in 2024. The company claimed Hexaware marketed these products for both application modernization and GenAI use cases.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Justice Department released a second trove of files related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, including a fake video that purported to show the sex offender’s suicide. Roughly 11,000 documents were posted on the department’s website on Tuesday.

My father’s father, my Dada, was born in Sarangarh and lived out his life there. Sarangarh was one of the least consequential of over 550 ‘princely states’ when the British left in 1947, and yet it was one of those that wanted to be independent. To negotiate with Sardar Patel the terms of equal coexistence with India, a three-member delegation was sent by the King of Sarangarh to Delhi that year.

In Ex Machina last week (‘AI use of original work: A reverse Robin Hood proposal’), I argued that the working paper issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on copyright and artificial intelligence (AI) falls short of its objective because the mandatory blanket licensing regime it proposes transfers wealth away from the very creators it was supposed to protect. But as bad as this suggestion is, it is not the most egregious conceptual shortcoming of the report.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp and a former employee representing the US government are jointly approaching a US Court seeking review of a lower court order that mandates investigations into claims of non-payment of visa fees and related taxes to the US government.The move, depending on the outcome, could prevent a lengthy legal process and pave the way for a settlement.On 15 December, Cognizant and Jean-Claude Franchitti, formerly an assistant vice-president with the company acting as a whistleblower for the government, filed a joint motion to the United States Court of Appeals to do away with a New Jersey district court’s order from two years ago that permitted a court trial on claims of Cognizant’s alleged withholding of H-1B visa fees and taxes to the US. The motion has been reviewed by Mint.The genesis of the case goes back to 2023 when Franchitti, representing the US government, said Cognizant had knowingly concealed, misused, and brought employees to the US on other visas, thereby paying lower dues to the government.Franchitti said Cognizant applied for L-1 and B-1 visas for certain employees who did the work coming under the ambit of H-1B visa holders, thereby depriving the (US) government of higher filing fees required for H-1B visas.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In India’s film industry, where timing drives both buzz and box-office, a single last-minute court order can upend an entire release cycle—an industry-wide risk underscored by the recent case of Akhanda 2. The last-minute postponement of Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna’s action adventure film earlier this month, after a Madras High Court order put a stay on its screening following an appeal filed by Eros International Media Ltd, proves that theatrical films continue to fall prey to delays arising from prolonged legal disputes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. This year may go into the books as one marked by trade volatility, but 2026 may not be as calm as some investors hope. Trade concerns will linger in the new year, with the Supreme Court expected to rule in early 2026 on the legality of a swath of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in 2025.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: The proposed overhaul of India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is a game-changer that will cut the time taken to rehabilitate struggling corporations by half and dramatically step up recoveries, according to Baijayant Panda, chairperson of the Lok Sabha select committee that reviewed the IBC (Amendments) Bill 2025.

Earlier this month, the Delhi high court, in separate judgements, allowed Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries to manufacture and export generic semaglutide to non-patent-holding countries. However, both companies cannot sell the drug domestically until innovator Novo Nordisk loses its patent-exclusivity rights in the country in March 2026.While experts said the move by Dr Reddy’s and Sun Pharma is to grab an early-mover advantage in selling the blockbuster weight-loss drug, the companies won’t be the first to enter non-patented markets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In the late 1990s, Gary Winnick donated millions of dollars to the Los Angeles Zoo and rubbed elbows with President Bill Clinton. He would soon buy the most expensive home in the country.

Denmark has cancelled Christmas—or Christmas cards at any rate. From the end of this month, the nation’s postal service will no longer carry letters.

It is welcome that the Delhi high court has rejected Novo Nordisk’s effort to extend its patent on specific formulations of the blockbuster drug semaglutide, sold as Ozempic to treat diabetes and as Wegovy for obesity. In 2013, India’s Supreme Court had set a precedent on patent ‘evergreening’ by way of offering it in a different form; it dismissed Novartis’s claim that its new variant of Glivec (effective against leukemia) deserved a separate patent from its original formulation since it offered better bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy without back-up evidence.