Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Tuesday, May 21, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.

No stock market updates from us today as the markets remained shut on Monday as Mumbai went to the polls.

Yesterday, Iran's interior minister confirmed that the country's leader, Ebrahim Raisi, had died in a helicopter crash that also killed the country’s foreign minister. We invited Elizabeth Roche, an associate professor at Jindal University, to write about the implications of this tragedy. Roche also answers what's next for Iran, and how this will affect India, the Middle East, and the West.

A couple of weeks ago, a research paper by Banaras Hindu University sparked widespread worries among Indians. The paper said a significant number of people faced adverse side-effects after taking Covaxin, the indigenously developed covid vaccine. Bharat Biotech, which developed the vaccine, brushed off the concerns, pointing to other studies that proved the vaccine's safety record. Now, the government is stepping in to dismiss any concerns: the Indian Council of Medical Sciences said that BHU's study was poorly designed, and had no control group of unvaccinated individuals to compare with. Priyanka Sharma writes that the participants were contacted by telephone, and no physical examination was conducted. This ought to put Covaxin users at ease.

The Reserve Bank of India has reprimanded a host of financial entities lately, from Paytm to Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bank of Baroda. Under governor Shaktikanta Das, the banking regulator is doing its best to whip every lender into shape. Prior to Das, Raghuram Rajan was at the helm. His goal was cleaning up banks' balance sheets, while Das wants to ensure better governance. But as Shayan Ghosh writes, the way the RBI has been going about this is interesting: it is now not afraid of taking big decisions. Earlier, the central bank relied on fines and warnings. Today, it is cancelling banking licences and preventing companies from taking on new customers — essentially hurting the core of their business. Shayan takes a deep dive into the RBI's practices, and why it's resorting to such measures to protect citizens.

If you go to buy an electric vehicle, you'll realise that one big advantage EVs have over their fossil fuel-counterparts is that they don't carry any road tax. For example, in Karnataka, the road tax for petrol cars can be up to 17 percent of the car's price. This is an incentive from the government for companies and buyers to go green. But you don't have to electrify yourself fully to get discounts from the government. Take for example, ethanol-powered cars. Alisha Sachdev reports that union road minister Nitin Gadkari expressed interest in lowering the taxes on ethanol and ethanol-blend cars from anywhere between 2 and 14 percent. This would significantly lower the cost of cars that use either pure ethanol or a blend of ethanol and petrol, called flex-fuel cars. While flex-fuel cars aren't yet produced in India, Gadkari claims they pollute even less than EVs. In the battle between electric and petrol, ethanol seems to have gained the political upper hand.

It's a good time to be a premium D2C company. Brands such as bespoke apparel maker Bombay Shirt Company, luggage maker Mokobara, and organic dairy startup Akshay Kalpa have raised funds from some of India's largest venture capital firms in the recent past. Sowmya Ramasubramanian speaks to investors who are bullish on this segment, as they see an increasing number of people willing to pay premium prices. Convenience plays a role, too. Sowmya writes that these products are more likely to be available on quick commerce apps than legacy brands. She also writes about the reality of affluent consumers, and how big an audience such brands can actually target.

We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at [email protected]. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance.

Show notes:

India’s ties with Iran: What after Ebrahim Raisi?

Govt rejects Indian study about Covaxin side-effects 

In EV vs hybrid battle, flex fuel vehicles win political favour

No carrot, only stick: Why the RBI has gone beyond moral suasion and fines 

VCs chase a pot of gold as India's growing affluent class goes premium 

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