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About the author: Emir Phillips is an associate professor of finance at Lincoln University. His research on central banking and the political economy has appeared in the Cambridge Journal of Economics and the Journal of Economic Issues.Nearly 20 years after Satoshi Nakamoto debuted Bitcoin as the ultimate banking disrupter, banks are still here. Central banks are bigger than ever.

Bengaluru: Indian consumer branding is undergoing a quiet transformation, as companies adopt culturally familiar brand personas rather than Westernised ones to win shoppers.A new generation of homegrown labels, such as Nicobar, Gully Labs, and Vahdam Teas, is keeping Indian aesthetics, local languages, regional stories, and indigenous craftsmanship at the forefront of their products and communication. From design motifs inspired by traditional art to campaigns rooted in everyday Indian experiences, these firms are tapping into the growing consumer appetite for authenticity and cultural relevance.New Delhi-based Gully Labs, which sells modern sneakers for men and women, curates all its products with local artisans and derives its name from the Hindi word 'gully,' meaning street.

Mint analysis found.While the number of instances rose from 26 in 2023, 30 in 2024, to 38 in 2025, the size of the penalty shrank. These include fines on the public sector, private sector, foreign banks, small finance banks, and payments banks.These penalties totalled ₹25.5 crore in 2025, while the median amount was ₹55.7 lakh.

Climate finance is becoming an increasingly important topic, especially as we see more gaps in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments and rising surface temperatures. Countries outline their climate goals by labelling targets as either unconditional, achievable with their own resources, or conditional, relying on international support for finance, technology, or capacity building.

Indian stock markets: The Indian equity benchmarks ended Monday’s trading session on a cautious and subdued note, as persistent selling pressure weighed on overall market sentiment.Nifty 50 declined 0.38% to close at 25,942.10, while Sensex shed 346 points to settle at 84,695.54. Market breadth remained weak, with only 11 stocks advancing against 39 declines within Nifty 50 pack, highlighting broad-based selling and a negative undertone across sectors.Although selective buying was visible in a handful of stocks, it failed to offset the overall weakness.

₹200– ₹350 per month delivers over 100 channels across multiple languages, making it the most economical and reliable shared-screen option. OTT, by contrast, requires multiple paid subscriptions and dependable broadband connectivity, both of which increase household costs.This, he added, explains why OTT growth remains urban-skewed and individual-first, while television continues to be family-first.The living-room television continues to function as a cultural anchor for Indian households, agreed Anil Suryavamshi, vice-president – digital (south & west) at media agency Carat India.“OTT fulfils the need for personalised, mobile-first viewing, but communal content still lives on TV,” Suryavamshi said.

Will and Ariel DurantIn the day-to-day intensity of building and running a business, it’s easy to get consumed by immediate decisions, metrics and crises. The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant reminded me of the importance of occasionally stepping back and zooming out. The Durants distil centuries into recurring themes: ambition, cooperation, conflict, resilience, and show how little human nature truly changes.

Meanwhile, the companies creating the AI superstructure are having a golden run on the stock market. Valuations of companies making advanced chips, hardware, data centres, or AI engines are loaded with expectations that AI will find ample and utilitarian business use-cases. Some of the large investment and sourcing deals across these AI companies are interlinked, and fragility in one part of the chain can have a cascading effect.

Why it’s recommended: NALCO is exhibiting strong bullish momentum supported by high trend strength. The stock is trading firmly above short-term support zones and is part of the broader metals sector rally.

₹96,557 crore) in dividends and share buybacks and about $1.5 billion (around ₹14,000 crore) on acquisitions, Mint research showed. Earlier in FY22, the same companies spent about ₹27,000 crore on buyouts and gave ₹81,669 crore to shareholders.

Fractal Analytics Ltd is likely to begin the book-building process for its ₹4,900 crore market debut as early as next week, two people directly aware of the matter said.India's first artificial intelligence unicorn, which received regulatory approval for launching its initial public offering (IPO) in November, is likely to file updated draft papers by mid-January 2026, one of the people quoted above said.The company has been meeting potential investors, both local and global, and has received investment commitments from several of them, the other person explained.Book building is a process where merchant bankers determine a price range within which investors can bid for shares in an IPO. The final price is determined after the bidding process is completed.A book-building process is also likely to help Fractal decide on its pre-IPO placement, the second person said.

the bill is probably necessary. Opening up the sector to greater foreign participation could bring capital, expertise, and competitive pressure.Reducing bureaucratic hurdles for share transfers and expanding the definition of intermediaries are sensible updates.

India Ageing Report 2023 projects that the number of persons aged 60 years and above would double from 149 million in 2023 to over 347 million (25% of the population) by 2050. The dependency ratio would grow from 16% in 2020 to 34% by 2050.This has profound social, political and economic implications.

₹10,300 crore ($1.15 billion) for supplying subsidized chips to startups or research centres for developing AI platforms that exclude the Western biases of existing models.This puny outlay, compared with other sovereign budgets (such as France’s $117 billion), is predicated on the hope of private capital pitching in.That might be slightly problematic, given India Inc’s reluctance to invest; a survey by EY India and Confederation of Indian Industry shows that over 95% of enterprises have earmarked less than 20% of their infotech budgets for AI.But the government’s year-end guidelines reveal an indulgent attitude towards the private sector in the name of innovation that may tempt many Indian companies to use artificial intelligence for shirking their after-sales service responsibilities. Many banks and consumer-facing companies have already replaced a human voice with under-developed, inefficient and untrained AI bots.

Investor money has swung decisively towards flexi-cap funds in recent months. From May to November 2025, flexi-cap schemes accounted for 28.7% of total net inflows into diversified equity mutual fund categories.The timing of this surge is telling.

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] Delhi: From the boardrooms of Mumbai to the policy corridors of Delhi, executives began huddling early this year over a little-known but indispensable component found in virtually every vehicle on the road: rare-earth magnets.When China imposed a ban on these materials in April 2025, not many were aware of the critical role these magnets played.

From India and New Zealand wrapping up trade talks in record time to the Centre planning a higher outlay on rail safety, a drop in overseas education remittances, shifts in the rural job guarantee burden, and a record US court payout in the Johnson & Johnson talc case—here's a compilation of this week's news in numbers.The Centre is likely to announce an outlay of over ₹1.3 trillion in FY27 on rail safety in the Union budget, about 12% higher than the current fiscal’s amount of ₹1.2 trillion, Mint reported. Funds would be used for rolling stock maintenance, track renewals, and expanding Kavach—India’s automatic train protection system.This marks a shift in the government’s focus towards railway safety: the outlay was up only 2% in FY26.

Jaws, which I remember watching with my eyes closed and ears plugged with fingers. The sharks circled my cage, bumping it, rocking it wildly, battering it so they could get at me. One came close to severing a metal bar and breaking into the cage.

Mint explains what Titan's entry into this segment means for India’s nascent LGD market, and for the smaller, established players already operating in the space.beYon is Titan’s new lab-grown diamond jewellery brand, marking its first direct retail foray into the LGD segment. The brand has debuted with a standalone store on New Link Road in Andheri West, Mumbai.The location places beYon in the middle of one of Mumbai’s most competitive jewellery corridors.

US-India trade deal have emerged as a key disappointment for investors, he added.Sectoral trends were mixed, with selective profit-taking visible across most segments. Metals emerged as the week’s standout performer, gaining 2.3%, aided by recent gains in copper and zinc, Vijayakumar said.

Write to Neal Templin at [email protected] updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.