There’s nothing straight about Hormuz

Akshara· Host0:00

[upbeat music] In today's episode, we'll break down two important stories. First, we'll talk about turning the Strait of Hormuz boring again, and then we'll talk about India stepping in with a credit guarantee for MSMEs. Welcome back to The Daily Brief by Zerodha, where we cut through the noise to help you understand what's actually happening in the most important stories from business and markets. If you are listening to this on your commute, on a walk, or at the gym, you can also find The Daily Brief as an audio podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you prefer reading, check out the newsletter using the link in the description. I am your host Akshara, and today is Monday, 22nd June. Coming to the first story. So as recently as February, the Strait of Hormuz was boring enough that you could afford to know nothing about it. It was a peculiarity, something that shipping nerds made up what if scenarios around, but you could safely afford to ignore it. It was ultimately just a routine fact of international trade. And then the war broke out, and briefly it became the most important 33-kilometer stretch in the world, but it was better off as an afterthought. Back then, hundreds of ships could pass it every single day, carrying a massive share of the world's energy, and it wouldn't make a single headline. Ports planned their schedules weeks in advance, and insurers, private entities whose very job was to study risk, barely saw any. Just months ago,