A family feud, millennial money culture and a controversial coronation

🤺 Nine of out ten publicly traded companies in India are family owned or controlled. As families grow and evolve, the pressure on control of these businesses will increase, in some cases leading to intercine feuds. Such is the case of Hikal, a 34-year-old speciality chemicals and pharma company. Hikal is at the centre of a bitter battle involving billionaire industrialist Baba Kalyani and his sister Sugandha Hiremath. Mint spoke exclusively to Hiremath, who has gone to court against her brother. With reporting spanning over a quarter of a century and across continents, Mint's managing editor Satish John brings us a deep dive into what is really happening between the Hiremath and Kalyani families. One absolute must read for the week.

🇨🇳 A new regulatory move that places fresh restrictions on Chinese imports may hit Indian industry writes our trade policy reporter, Ravi Dutta Mishra. Bureau of Indian Standards' quality control orders will impact the import of raw materials used by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Chinese exporters are unlikely to bend for Indian regulations because India is only 0.5 percent of their export trade. Read this crucial report.

😷 We'd like to believe that the worst of the Covid-19 virus is behind us. But to really know what may happen, we need to get to the origins of the virus in Wuhan, China, says Soumya Swaminathan, the former chief scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Mint's public health correspondent Priyanka Sharma brought us key health and science insights in this interview.

📊 Everyone wants a home, but will our economic growth hold if businesses aren't borrowing as much? Mint's banking correspondent Shayan Ghosh reports that home loans (mortgages) grew faster than corporate borrowings in this past fiscal (FY23). Interestingly, this occurred during a time of rising interest rates and soaring inflation. A report with important signals for India's macro economic progress.

🛬 The Wadia Group's woes and highs – what does the conglomerate need to do to turn some of its major businesses around? In the past five years, three of the four businesses—Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burmah and National Peroxide—have averaged negative returns, of 10-22% a year, while the broad market has risen at an average 12%. The group's airline Go Air is financially challenged and has filed for bankruptcy. Britannia is its lone bright spot. Read this analysis by How India Lives about one of India's oldest business houses.

💰 Millennial money culture: want to understand how this age group of investors prefers to invest? Mint Money's Jash Kriplani interviews millennial investors to understand what motivates them to save, why mutual funds are their preferred mode of investing and why small investment plans (SIPs) are their go to method versus lump sum investments.

👔 The storied Tata Group is introspecting about one of its key talent pipelines for its top business leaders, the Tata Administrative Services (TAS). TAS officers, a unique creation of this sprawling conglomerate, are known to be high-achieving generalists, handpicked and groomed by Tata Sons to manage and run businesses across the group. However, the once-coveted programme seems to have been afflicted by a blue blood syndrome, according to our careers and HR correspondent, Devina Sengupta.

📈 Until recently I was oblivious about the cult following of one of India's most respected value investors and wealth managers. Then I learned about Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services or PPFAS in an interview with budding journalist (and money nerd) Sashind Ningthoukhongjam. It is only fitting that Sashind makes his debut with Mint Money's editor Neil Borate. And how better than to tell the story of a fund house that has come to be described as India's own Berkshire Hathaway. PPFAS took ₹150 crore in 2013 to ₹30,000 crore a decade later, delivering a staggering return. Here's how they did it, along with the challenges they have faced along the way.

🇮🇳 At Mint, our editorial stance has consistently favoured freedoms for people and markets. We place a premium on businesses built with integrity and like to back entrepreneurs that make it despite the odds. Which is why we didn't like where India landed in The Economist's Crony Capitalism Index (India placed 10th most crony capitalist out of 43 countries). Our editorial dissects the various factors that contributes to crony capitalism and examines the methodology of assessment, but firmly concludes on the following note: “We need more wealth creation in fields where state favour plays a minimal role.” In other words, ‘minimum government, maximum governance’.

🧑‍💻 Manu Joseph, arguably Mint's most irreverent columnist, penned one about the importance of having a decent boss. It begins by talking about the sex lives of young professionals, progresses to Freudian theories of workplace dynamics and also tells Manu's own story of struggle at the start of his working life. A short, funny read that will leave you with lots to think about.

💂 If you like unpopular opinion, Rahul Jacob, Mint's columnist, has one on King Charles: give the man more credit! Jacob elegantly explains some of Charles' better traits and efforts at diversity. And why not? As Time magazine's correspondent, he witnessed the handover of Hong Kong by the Prince of Wales in 1997. Read to know how the monarch handled it.

🗂 One of Mint's most distinctive columns drew to a close this week, much to my dismay. Aparna Piramal Raje's intersectional writings on workspaces and business success captured the imagination of architects and interior designers as much as organisation behaviour experts and business owners. From March 2010, Head Office featured 110 people, 85 percent of whom Aparna interviewed in person. Read her final column to learn the secrets of how workplaces influence corporate well-being and leadership.

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That's all for this week folks.

Please write to us with your thoughts, ideas and feedback. We would love to hear from you.

Thank you for your time and have a great weekend!

Nikhil Kanekal

Head of Subscriber Experience

nikhil.k@livemint.com