Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, April 3, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:
Indian equity markets remained largely flat on Wednesday. Both Sensex and Nifty fell marginally around 0.1 percent each.
Director Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur became a cult classic because of its realistic depiction of 1980s gang wars in eastern India’s coal belt. However, reality is stranger than fiction – an adage that journalists strive to prove. We invited Romita Datta, a West Bengal-based journalist, to write about Sheikh Shahjahan, a revolver-toting goon who came to rule over the village of Sandeshkhali. As his power and popularity grew, Shahjahan aligned himself with the various political forces in West Bengal, including the Left, CPI (M), and the Trinamool Congress. But before becoming an elected official, Shahjahan got caught up in allegations of extortion, land grabbing, sexual abuse and money laundering. He was finally arrested in February. Romita's exhilarating story of this powerful shrimp-farming thug captures his rise to prominence and how he then ended up behind bars.
The pandemic, social distancing, inflation and unseasonal rains all got in the way of the alco-bev industry’s success over the last few years. But an unusual Indian Summer seems to be just what it needs for a revival of its spirits. In this weather, a cold beer can turn around a hot, sweaty day. Beer makers hope so too: they are gearing up for increased sales in 2024. Last year, sales dropped 10 percent as unseasonal rains dented demand. However, officials from these companies expect some uncertainty stemming from election dates. A long election cycle will result in sporadic dry days, lowering sales, writes Mint's lifestyle and hospitality correspondent Varuni Khosla, in this seasonal industry forecast.
The devil works hard, but political parties in India work harder. After the Supreme Court struck down Electoral Bonds as "unconstitutional", the Ministry of Finance is now working towards a new scheme for campaign financing or the funding of political parties. Mint's economy reporter Gireesh Chandra Prasad reports that the new scheme will directly address the apex court's concerns around transparency and extent of financing. This scheme, however, is only likely to come into place once the general elections are over, Gireesh adds.
For years now, electric two-wheelers have enjoyed generous subsidies by the central government. The government recently introduced another subsidy, but this is capped at 10,000 rupees per vehicle. Mint's national editor and auto expert Sumant Banerji writes that this move will hike prices by anywhere between 5 to 10,000 rupees per scooter — an increase of about 7 to 10% for automakers. The industry, for its part, hasn't passed on this hike to the consumer yet. With electric scooters already more expensive than their petrol counterparts, any further increase in prices might put potential customers off, writes Sumant.
Last week, some Axis Bank customers got a huge shock when they received messages of money being randomly deducted from their account. To make matters worse, the money was deducted in a foreign currency. A series of international fraudulent transactions hit dozens of Axis Bank customers across India. Some others received OTPs to carry out the same transaction. Axis reversed these transactions in a few days, but the damage was done. Mint Money's Shipra Singh spoke to some victims of this scam. Some of these customers had already blocked their cards and requested a new one — only to find these fraudulent transactions taking place in the new card as well. Axis hasn't provided an explanation to its customers as to why this happened. Shipra also provides a helpful list of actions one should take if they are affected by this scam or know someone who is.
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Guns n’ prawns: The strongman who ruled Sandeshkhali’s blue economy
As India braces for a hot summer, beer makers have much to cheer
From the ashes of electoral bonds, a new scheme is rising
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