Legal and Policies
Disney Star India cracks down on illegal streaming website
MUMBAI: There’s reason to celebrate at Disney Star India. The media behemoth’s anti-piracy cell – led by Major Ashok Yadav – has – with the help of the Ahmedabad police – managed to crack down on a clutch of betting websites which were illegally running ICC T20 World Cup cricket streams.
“What’s alarming is the number of betting websites that have popped up this time during this World Cup and they are running live match video streams simultaneously. These guys at magicwin.games, magicwin.com were streaming the matches and encouraging youngsters to place bets,” said Yadav “We filed an FIR and asked help from the cybercrime cell in Ahmedabad and it has since been blocked from running the video streams. It’s to the police commissioner’s credit that it was brought down in 10 days and the pirate arrested.”
The cybercrime cell led by Lavina Sinha along with ACP Hardik Mankadiya have named three accused Divyanshu Patel, Shubham Patel and Harsh Patel, According to both Sinha and Mankadiya, the match video feed was being provided to Divyanshu from a cable operator in Pakistan who goes by the name of Azhar, while Shubham – who is based in Canada – would bring in customers from overseas. The police have arrested Divyanshu, who is a website developer from Mehsana district in Gujarat, and another member of the ring Omkumar Goswami whose job was to open bank accounts in which the betting money was deposited. Laptops, routers, encoders, personal servers have all been recovered from Divyanshu’s premises. Additionally, an international lookout notice has been issued against Shubham Patel.
“Servers were running in Winnipeg, Russia, Germany to keep this operation going,” said Mankadiya.
For the police, the larger crime of illegal betting is something that they are further chasing.
Investigations are currently ongoing around the fintech company that was involved in the UPI transactions for betting transfers while also looking into the media agency which had placed billboards throughout Ahmedabad promoting magicwin.
“Celebrities like Vidyut Jamal were endorsing magicwin without really knowing what they were doing,” said Mankadiya.
“We hope the new advertising regulations will help make these celebs more aware and be careful about what they are promoting,” said a media professional.
Shall we say Amen to that!
Legal and Policies
‘The India deal is on…’: India tariffs cut to 10% from 18% after Trump’s SC defeat
In response, Trump rolls out blanket 10 per cent tariff, “effective almost immediately”
WASHINGTON: The White House said on Friday that US trading partners, including India, will face a flat 10 per cent tariff after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose sweeping import duties. Countries that reached tariff agreements with Washington, both before and after Trump’s original orders, will now be subject to the same 10 per cent levy, even if higher rates had previously been agreed.
The ruling invalidated Trump’s reliance on a 1977 law to levy sudden, country-specific tariffs, dealing a sharp blow to one of his signature economic policies. Within hours, the administration responded by certifying a new, across-the-board 10 per cent duty on imports into the United States.
In response, Trump announced an additional blanket 10 per cent tariff on all imports into the United States, signing a new order and saying on social media that it was “effective almost immediately”, after a year in which his administration had imposed varying duties to reward allies and punish rivals.
According to a White House factsheet, the new levy will take effect on 24 February and remain in force for 150 days. Exemptions will continue for sectors under separate investigations, including pharmaceuticals, and for goods entering the US under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
A White House official told AFP that the administration would seek ways to “implement more appropriate or pre-negotiated tariff rates” at a later stage, signalling that country-specific arrangements could return through alternative legal routes.
The move directly affects India, which earlier this month announced a framework for an interim trade agreement with the United States. That arrangement followed Trump’s decision to lift 25 per cent punitive tariffs linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil and cut reciprocal duties from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. Under the new regime, Indian exports to the US will instead face the flat 10 per cent rate.
Trump insisted the Supreme Court verdict would not disrupt the India-US trade deal. “Nothing changes,” he said, adding that India would continue to pay tariffs while the United States would not.
“They’ll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs. So the deal with India is they pay tariffs… It’s a fair deal now,” Trump said, describing the shift as a “flip” from past arrangements. “The India deal is on… all the deals are on—we’re just going to do it in a different way.”
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled six to three that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise a president to impose tariffs. Chief justice John Roberts said the law contained “no reference to tariffs or duties” and did not grant such “extraordinary power”.
Trump reacted angrily, accusing the court, without evidence, of foreign influence and claiming the ruling left him “more powerful”. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent later said the administration’s alternative approach would leave tariff revenues “virtually unchanged” in 2026.
The decision does not affect sector-specific duties on steel, aluminium and other goods, nor ongoing investigations that could lead to further levies. Still, it marks Trump’s most significant Supreme Court defeat since returning to the White House.
Markets reacted calmly, with Wall Street shares edging higher. Business groups welcomed the ruling, while uncertainty remains over whether companies will receive refunds for tariffs already paid. Analysts estimate potential refunds could reach $175 billion, though legal clarity is lacking.
