Best of the Week: Short editions for tall promises

Dear reader,

I must start this week's edition of Best of the Week with an apology: for the first time in this newsletter's 22-month history, we'll only be bringing you five stories instead of the usual 10. I have a very good reason for missing out on half the workload for today.

More than a year ago, I had cribbed to you about how my current workload and timings don't permit me to indulge in long weekends. If you subscribe to the print edition of Mint, you would've noticed that it reaches your doorstep pretty consistently: Holi and Diwali are the only two publishing holidays for us.

Despite every public holiday and Vijay Mallya tweet, the Earth doesn't stop spinning on its axis, and news never stops coming. So any time Holi or Diwali comes up, I circle the date on my calendar excitedly: a well-deserved day off! In the middle of a week! 

The landscape has since changed. Last weekend, I enjoyed my first Saturday and Sunday off since I joined Mint, thanks to some smart shift management. I also relished a rare Thursday off from work due to Diwali. This was especially important to my colleague Siddharth, who visits home without fail every single Diwali. I, too, have family over—my brother is visiting me this week.

Unfortunately, prior to writing this edition, news just broke that noted economist and a friend of the paper Bibek Debroy had passed away. I was pulled in to do some work around that, and couldn't work on Best of the Week. I also can't spare time later, since I've promised my brother that I'll be taking him out in the evening. Between that and BOTW, I had to choose the former.

So, in the familial spirit of Diwali, please forgive this shortened edition, and let me tell you about our newsroom's best works from the past festive week:

😷 I've had a couple of friends visit Delhi for Diwali, and all of them have almost instantly fallen ill. The culprit is likely to be the poor air quality all over the National Capital Region. As winter approaches, Delhi's air quality is set to turn ‘severe’. Sayantan Bera writes about this consistent problem that has worsened everyone's immunity, and become a political standoff instead of what it should be — a health emergency. Sayantan explains the problems from a layperson perspective, as well as seeing what solutions other cities across the world came up with to solve similar problems.

💰 Even as a business journalist, I often have trouble understanding the depths (or the lack thereof) of my own finances. If you're like me, this is where a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) comes in handy. Jash Kriplani spoke to Nitin Sawant, the founder of advisory firm NS Wealth. Sawant is focused on an underserved market: farmers. He wants to help them understand their numbers, and plan a sustainable future. Based out of Sangli in Maharasthra, Sawant's team just consists of five members. His conversation with Jash reveals his noble motto, as well his strategy to achieve his goals.

🎨 Let's paint you a picture: the picture is of a sale. Specifically, the sale of AkzoNobel's Indian arm. While you may not be familiar with the parent company's name, you might be with its retail name: Dulux, the paints maker. AkzoNobel is based in the Netherlands, and is Europe's largest paints maker. Anirudh Laskar reports that it wants to get rid of its India business at a 50% premium. Potential suitors include JSW, Adani, Aditya Birla, and Asian Paints. Interestingly, Asian Paints already holds a 4.4% stake in the company. The entire company is said to be valued at around $2.5-3 billion, Anirudh adds.

🤔 It's tough to grow out of your parent company's shadow. Peak XV Partners is experiencing just that. The venture capital firm is experiencing a decline in brand value since it was hived off from global brand Sequoia last year. Shelley Singh writes that despite inheriting assets worth $9.2 billion, Peak XV recently announced a reduction of 16% in its growth fund. It also reduced its management fees, reflecting a diminished brand prestige. Its leaders assert that such a move is necessary to remain competitive, and maintain that the firm's image and economics are still unparalleled. 

🤑 Inflation, no more? That's what the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, thinks. In a recent economic review, the IMF declared that the global battle against inflation has "largely been won". That means that most countries across the globe have either met or are very close to their inflation targets. N. Madhavan explains that despite that, growth forecasts remain low. Projections for global economic growth have stabilised at 3.2% in 2024, slightly down from 3.3% in 2023. With a growth rate of 7%, India fares well in this aspect. However, global risks such as geopolitical conflicts, trade protectionism, and potential economic slowdowns remain significant—hence the low growth projections.

That's all I have for you this week. As Siddharth is on an extended break for the next few weeks, I promise to bring you a full-sized edition and some other keen observations from next week.

If you have any feedback, please write to shashwat.mohanty@htdigital.in.

Best,

Shashwat Mohanty

Assistant Editor