Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest wealth creator among the top 100 listed Indian firms over the past five years, adding ₹7.9 lakh crore in market value, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services. It was followed by ICICI Bank at ₹7.4 lakh crore and SBI at ₹5.5 lakh crore. Overall, the top 100 companies created ₹148 lakh crore wealth.

An X user claimed that billionaire X owner Elon Musk has unfollowed and blocked Canadian musician and his former partner Grimes on his platform. Responding to the user, Grimes said, "He followed me then blocked me. I'm not gonna be following and unfollowing. My only priority is co-parenting...This is so silly, lol." The couple has three children together.

Canada has launched public consultations ahead of negotiations for free trade agreement with India, even as it stated promoting trade is "priority" for them. The consultations are scheduled to end on January 27 next year. "Canada is committed to...diversified international partnerships that drive economic growth and create good jobs for Canadians," International trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said.

Democratic lawmakers, Senators Ron Wyden and Chris Van Hollen, called for formal probe into multi-million-dollar stock buys by rich executives with close ties to Trump administration, reported The Guardian. They highlighted Robert Pender and Michael Sabel, co-chairs of Venture Global, who each reportedly bought nearly $12 million company stock shortly after meeting Trump administration officials.

An engineer from China sued his company and sought 320,000 yuan (₹41 lakh) as compensation after being fired for taking too many bathroom breaks, with the longest lasting four hours, South China Morning Post reported. He claimed he had haemorrhoids. However, the court observed that the time spent in the bathroom "greatly exceeded" his physical needs.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) acted upon many intermediaries who were involved in filing income tax returns with bogus claims of deductions and exemptions under Income Tax Act. It was observed that huge amount of bogus claims have been made on account of donations to political parties or charities. CBDT also gathered incriminating evidences during searches against them.

Insurtech startup Acko has started preparations to launch an IPO that could raise $300-400 million, Livemint reported. The company is in preliminary talks with bankers, with formal pitches expected to happen next week. Backed by private equity firms General Atlantic and Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Acko achieved the unicorn status in 2021.

Nestle India has appointed former Pernod Ricard human resources chief Nitu Bhushan as its new Head of Human Resources, effective March 2, 2026. The appointment forms part of a broader leadership transition at the FMCG major, which has also announced upcoming changes in its finance and technical leadership over the next year.

SBI Mutual Funds (MFs) invested in Lenskart and Pine Labs' IPOs and increased stake in Eternal in November. It sold stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank and Eicher Motors. ICICI Prudential MF increased stake in ITC, ICICI Bank, and Trent while reducing stake in Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, and SBI. Axis MF raised stakes in Shriram Finance, BHEL and Ashok Leyland.

IIT Ropar has launched the '100 Startups 100 Days' initiative to accelerate deep-tech and AI startups ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Led under the guidance of Director Prof. Rajeev Ahuja and supported by iHub AWaDH and Annam.ai, the programme offers mentoring, incubation and funding pathways to strengthen India’s emerging startup ecosystem.