Zepto has removed around 300 employees from its payroll to lower costs amid an intensifying competitive landscape, Moneycontrol reported. Affected employees have been transitioned to third-party service providers working with Zepto. Transitions affected operations, technology, and finance divisions. This move follows the recent $450-million funding round that valued the company at $7 billion.

The IT firm plans to roll out salary hikes in two tranches for FY26: 50% of employees will see increments from 1 January 2026, and the remaining 50 % from 1 April 2026. The decision comes amid accelerating AI-driven transformation and employee upskilling. CEO Venu Lambu called this staggered model the “new normal.

Meta has introduced key updates for its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in India. The device now supports Hindi voice commands, UPI Lite payments through QR code scanning, and features Deepika Padukone’s voice for AI interactions. Users can also enjoy new Diwali-themed photo filters, blending festive fun with cutting-edge AI technology for a more local experience.

Most people in India prefer to buy gold, silver or utensils to mark the festival of Dhanteras. However, multiple people also prefer buying brooms, which are believed to be linked with Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. According to Vastu Shastra, the broom represents the removal of poverty and negativity from the home, making way for abundance.

Reliance Industries has reported a 15.9% YoY jump in the consolidated profit after tax to ₹22,146 crore in the July-September quarter, whereas revenue rose by 10% in the same period. Jio posted a growth in Q2 as its revenue rose by 14.6% YoY to ₹36,332 crore, while its ARPU for the quarter increased to ₹211.4 ahead of its IPO.

Gold received from friends or non-relatives becomes taxable if the total fair market value of all specified movable property gifts in a financial year exceeds ₹50,000. "There is no special Diwali exemption for gold gifts," Alay Razvi, managing partner at Accord Juris, said. Gifts, including gold, received from specified 'relatives' like parents and spouse are tax-free irrespective of value.

Kotak Mahindra Group-backed Sify Infinit Spaces filed its preliminary papers to raise funds via IPO. The public offer will include a mix of fresh issues of shares worth ₹2,500 crore and an offer-for-sale up to ₹1,200 crore by Kotak Data Center Fund and Kotak Special Situations Fund. With this, it makes India's first data centre company to file for IPO.

A shop in Rajasthan's Jaipur is selling sweets for as high as ₹1.1 lakh per kg. The shop's most expensive dessert, and possibly Jaipur's priciest sweet, is 'Swarn Prasadam', which has a glazing that's pure gold ash coating and whose each piece is priced at ₹3,000. The other expensive sweets at the shop include 'Swarn Bhasm Bharat', which costs ₹1,950/piece.

Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha reportedly told employees that the quick commerce startup and DMart "are stuck at the same juncture right now". "We have cracked proximity, but yet to crack value and DMart, the retail giant, has cracked value but not proximity," he said, as per Moneycontrol. Palicha was speaking after Zepto raised nearly $450 million.

A 24Labs founder claims ChatGPT now drives more visitors than Google, signaling a major shift from SEO to GEO, Generative Engine Optimization. Backed by real traffic data, the post shows how AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot are reshaping discovery. Early adopters may gain the same advantage SEO pioneers had in 2005.