Image source: PC Gamer and MSN; Edited by Dinesh Raj M   Top publishing houses and authors' associations suing AI firms for Copyright violations has become old news by now as we wrap up yet another year of endless debates on AI vs Journalism. However, in what could be the beginning of a new trend with multiple implications, NY Times journalist and author John Carreyrou, along with five other writers, has sued Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, Perplexity and xAI alleging that they trained their AI systems on copyrighted works without permission. According to a Reuters report, John and the other writers accused AI companies of pirating their books and feeding them into the large language models (LLMs) that power the companies' chatbots. Though the lawsuit filed at the California federal court is one of several copyright cases brought by authors and other copyright owners against tech companies over the use of their work in AI training. Unlike other pending ca

  The Mooknayak Deputy Editor Ankit Pachauri has been selected for the prestigious Voices Fellowship organised by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune. Held from December 16–20 under IISER’s CARE Project, the five‑day programme brought together around 40 journalists from across India to strengthen science, environment and climate reporting through a data‑driven approach. Sessions covered topics including climate science, data journalism, fact‑checking, visualisation tools, and integrating field reporting with scientific evidence, led by scientists, researchers and senior environmental journalists. The fellowship was mentored by Nidhi Jamwal and Hirdesh Joshi, with Dr Shalini Sharma as programme coordinator. According to The Mooknayak, Pachauri said the training helped him view climate change as not only an environmental crisis but also one linked to social justice, public health, livelihoods and constitutional rights, stressing t

Journalist Farhan Khan, 30, died late Sunday evening following a road accident on the Bulbulpur–Sithauli road in Patranga, Jagran reported. According to Jagran, the accident occurred while Khan was returning from Khajuri village in Tikaitnagar. It is suspected that his motorcycle lost balance, struck a tree and overturned into a ditch, leaving him critically injured.

Senior journalist Jitu Sharma Rajkhowa, President of the Assam State Journalists’ Association, has been conferred the Swarna Hazarika Memorial Journalist Award 2025 by the Sadou Asom Lekhika Samaroh Samiti, The Sentinel reported. Rajkhowa, a prominent figure in Assam’s media landscape, played an active role in the Assam Agitation against illegal foreigners, enduring repeated hardships during the movement. He later dedicated himself to social service while continuing his journalistic career. With over 42 years of experience, Rajkhowa has consistently highlighted social issues and human suffering through his reporting. He currently serves as the Bokakhat correspondent of Asomiya Pratidin and is Editor‑in‑Chief of Raijor Khabor, published from Bokakhat, The Sentinel reported.

Image credit: e4m The media fraternity is mourning the deaths of three veteran journalists — Amit Mitra, Prabha Jagannathan and Baquer Mirza — all in their 60s, e4m reported. Amit Mitra, 62, a former Business Line journalist, passed away in Visakhapatnam on December 18. He began his career with The Indian Express in the mid‑1980s and joined Business Line in 1994, retiring in 2015. On the same day, Prabha Jagannathan, 60, died in New Delhi. She started her career in 1984 with Newstime and went on to work for The Telegraph and The Economic Times over three decades. Baquer Mirza, 67, passed away in Hyderabad on December 20. He began as a sub‑editor with The Siasat Urdu daily before joining the Indian Information Service, serving with the Press Information Bureau, All India Radio and Doordarshan until his retirement in 2018.

Prose Integrated, along with Digital Tribe, has been reappointed as the communications and outreach partner for ANMI StockTech 2026, extending its association with the platform to eight consecutive years. Curated by ANMI WIRC, ANMI StockTech 2026 will bring together brokers, investors, fintech innovators, exchanges, regulators, and cybersecurity experts to explore how technologies such as AI, automation, APIs, and algorithmic trading are transforming India’s capital markets. 

Despite official claims of 86 per cent tap water coverage by the PIB, villages in Tripura continue to depend on natural springs for their daily water needs. During her reporting in Dhalai district, independent journalist Nidhi Jamwal found taps installed without pipelines and water networks that existed largely on paper. In reality, residents relied entirely on springs, with women bearing the brunt as sources dried up and distances to fetch water increased.  Jamwal says empowering and supporting rural journalists is critical to exposing the gap between policy and lived reality, allowing neglected communities to raise concerns before crises deepen.  Journalists reporting from rural areas say many such stories remain invisible. Rural journalism extends far beyond agriculture, encompassing classrooms without teachers, clinics without medicines, caste-based exclusion, and villages waiting years for basic services. These reports may rarely trend online, but they point to long-