OPINION, P10 FE LINES WELL BEING Rules of war,love and politics Cabinet of curiosity A BURNING ISSUE A multisensory inclusive learning box for children with special needs to integrate learning & therapy Page 7 While burnout had increased during the pandemic, over three years on, there are few signs of it abating. In fact, cases continue to rise. Why is this so? Page 9 ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM WORDS WORTH Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL XXIII NO. 15 INTERVIEWWITH CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , ED to probe Paytm if new violations found WHAT'S INSIDE IN DEEPTROUBLE ● No free pass for tech firms from ■ Paytm Payments Bank regulations: IT min had lakhs of non-KYC compliant accounts ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 THEDIRECTORATEOF Enforce- India’s healing touch ment will probe Paytm PaymentsBankifanyfreshcharges of fund siphoning are found, revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra told Reuters on Saturday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)onWednesdayorderedthe payments bank unit of One 97 Communications, popularly knownasPaytm,tostopacceptingfreshdepositsinitsaccounts orpopularwallets from March. “If there are any fresh charges of money laundering againstPaytmbyRBI,thosewill be investigated by Directorate of Enforcement as per the law of the land,”said Malhotra. Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar also commented on Saturday that fintechs or tech companies do not have a free passfromregulatoryoversight. “Being a fintech orbeing a tech company doesn’t absolve anybody from regulatory oversight,” Chandrasekhar told With world-class facilities, well-qualified healthcare professionals and accredited hospitals and clinics—all at a compelling cost advantage—India is becoming a preferred destination for medical tourism ■ LEISURE, P6 Art and ancestors A meeting between the art of indigenous communities in India and Australia provides a wider canvas for understanding cultures & heritage IVINDER GILL New Delhi, February 3 WHILE ITS POPULARITY as India’s most popular dish is uncontested,theoriginofbutter chicken is a matter of such seriouscontentionthatDelhi-based restaurant brands Moti Mahal and Daryaganj have taken it to court. Both claim to have invented the iconic dish, and evenasthefightfromkitchento court is well known, it is also accepted that the court might find itself clueless over this one, withnowitnessorhardevidence ofwhoactuallyenrobedtandoori chicken in a tomato and cream gravyforthefirsttime. Jan 2023 Feb now cut the daily share trading limits for Paytm to 10%, from 20% INSIDE PAGE 2 reportersonthesidelinesofthe launch of Digital India futureLABS initiative in the national capital.“Asectoralregulatorhas absolute authority to regulate every entity within the sector. The RBI has done so and this is within their purview to do so,” Mar Chandrasekhar added. Sources said money laundering concerns and questionable dealings of hundreds of crores of rupees between popular wallet Paytm and its lesser-knownbankingarmhad led RBI to clamp down on tech poster boy Vijay Sekhar Sharma-run entities. RBI’s move means customers can access their existing deposits and pay for services with money stored in theirwallets till February 29. Continued on Page 2 REPORT CARD State Bank of India financials Q3FY23 Q3FY24 y-o-y chg (%) lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reported a 35% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its net profit for the quarter ended December at `9,164 crore, impacted by higher pension costs and wage revisions. The Q3FY24 net profit was lower than Bloomberg consensus estimate of `13,326 crore for the reporting quarter. Thebankmade`7,100crore ofone-timeexpenseforproviding pension at a uniform rate of 50% for all pensioners,and for providing ex-gratia benefit and neutralisationofdearnessrelief to all pre-November 2002 retirees and familypensioners. The Indian Banks’Association (IBA) and bank unions in December agreed on a 17% wagehikeforstate-ownedbank employees. Accordingly, SBI made `6,313 crore of incrementalprovisionsduringQ3for the revision and has cumulativelyprovidedatotalamountof `15,207.82croretillDecember 31 towards the settlement.The lender will make another 31.33 35.84 Advances (` trn) 14 42.13 47.62 Deposits (` trn) 13 NII (` cr) Net profit (` cr) 5 35 Source: Bank, BSE Aug Sep Oct Dec 2023 Source: NSE PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, February 3 PM NARENDRA MODI announced on Saturday that BJPstalwartandformerdeputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highestcivilianaward,describing it as a “very emotional moment for me”. “One of the most respected statesmen of FAMOUS FOOD BATTLES BUTTER CHICKEN: Delhi-based restaurants Moti Mahal & Daryaganj have gone to court, both claiming to have invented the iconic dish BIRYANI: Battle continues forever, with various versions— Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ambur, and many more— claiming to be the real deal and spices,origins of food have beenhotlycontestedfromtime immemorial.West Bengal and Odisha famously fought a ratherbitterbattle overthe ori- 13 bps In-linewithindustrytrends, SBI’snetinterestincome(NII)— difference between interest earned and expended—grewat a slow pace of 5% YoY to `39,816 crore, due to stiff “market conditions” wherein lenders are chasing deposits aggressivelytomatchpacewith credit growth,thereby sacrificing on margins.SBI’s net interest margin, a key indicator of lenders’ profitability, moderated 28 basis points (bps) YoY and7bpssequentiallyto3.22% in Q3FY24.The NIM will likely be stable from hereon and if at all it moderates, it will fall only by 2 bps-3 bps, Khara said, adding that deposit rates have largelypeakedandoverallinterest rates may start moderating in Q1FY25. The lender’s advances rose 14%YoYto`35.84trillionason December 31 and will continue togrow14%-15%goingahead, Kharasaid.Retailpersonalloans grew15%YoYto`12.96trillion, whilecorporateloansgrew11% YoY to `10.24 trillion.The bank isseeinghighercreditofftakeby the corporate sector and is seeingdrawdownofcreditlimitsby suchentities.SBIhasnearly`4.6 trillion of corporate loans in pipeline,75%ofthetotalisfrom private sector and remaining proposalsarefromgovernmentownedcompanies,Kharasaid. Continued on Page 2 Bharat Ratna for LK Advani our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a life that started from working at the grassrootstoservingthenation as ourDeputyPrime Minister,” Modi said on X. Modi spoke to the BJP's longest serving president,who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time with Atal Bihari Vaj- payeeheadingcoalitiongovernments,and congratulated him. After the announcement, the 96-year-old leader said the Bharat Ratna award is not only an honour for him as a person but also for the ideals and principles that he strove to serve throughoutlifetothebestofhis ability.“With utmost humility and gratitude, I accept the BharatRatnathathasbeenconferred on me today,” he said. Whose butter chicken is it anyway? Aresultofserendipity,when leftover tandoori chicken was mixed in gravy, the dish for years has been claimed to be an originalbyMotiMahalfounder Kundan Lal Gujral. But when the descendents of Gujral’s partner, Kundan Lal Jaggi, claimed ownership, after launching their own chain of restaurants named Daryaganj, Gujral’s family sued Daryaganj ownersfor`2crore.Thematter is pending in court. As the culinary world waits forthisspicytaletoculminate,it is not forthe first time food has been a bone of contention. From samosa to champagne, idli to sambar,and even potato P U N E Defence minister Rajnath Singh with Naval officers at the commissioning of INS Sandhayak, the first of four survey vessel large (SVL) ships, inVisakhapatnam on Saturday. Singh said the SVLshipwill go a long way in obtaining information about oceans and achieving the twin objectives of protecting the country as well as others, while warning that those involved in maritime piracy and smuggling will not be tolerated TWITTER 63,425 F&O -14,048 -2,691 -5,923 -10,184 Nov D E L H I , MIGHT AGAINST PIRATES F&O Cash market 7,500 13,100 14,400 20,200 15,500 Jul 0.77 `5,409croreofprovisionsinQ4 for wage revision, chairman Dinesh Khara said in a postearnings conference. FE had in January first reported that after making cumulative provisions to the tune of `9,000 crore till Q2FY24, SBI will likely make additional provisions of `11,000 crore towards meeting 17% wage hike revision in H2FY24. 2023 49,200 63,700 5,145 Jun -300 -6,100 700 -11,500 4,900 May Net NPA (in %) 0.64 the cash market. Compiled by Siddhant Mishra & Kishor Kadam 14,116 10,900 in 2022. December was the worst month of 2023, seeing a `14,048crore net outflow from N E W ● NAVAL 2022 Cash market (` cr) Apr 2021 88,300 1,42,800 (` cr) -3,500 -3,900 -4,600 -2,300 The government on Saturday said that the industry should look at flagship Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes as a kickstarter and not a crutch, reports Mukesh Jagota. “The PLI scheme is not to make the beneficiaries dependent on government services but can be utilised as a boost in the manufacturing sector,” commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said. ■ PAGE 3 ■ Stock exchanges have STARTUP ROCKSTAR BATTLES REGULATORY CRISIS ● Paytm customers are welcome to SBI, says chairman Retail investors net investments in NSE secondary markets Monthly trend 5,700 3,900 GOYAL: PLI SCHEMES ONLY A KICKSTARTER NETINVESTMENTS BY retail investors in the cash market fell close to 95% in calendar year 2023, compared to 2022. The figure stood at `5,145 crore at the end of 2023, against `88,300 crore in 2022.Thiswas itselfa near-40% drop from 2021,when it stood at `1.43 trillion. In contrast, net investments in the F&O market stood at `63,425 crore as of 2023, a 39% rise from the `49,200 crore recorded 9,400 13,300 MEITY HAS partnered with companies such as Qualcomm, IBM, Mahindra, Minda Corporation, Dell, Kaynes, Lava, boAt, NXP Semiconductors, Saankhya Labs, among 22 firms, to enable nextgeneration, high performance electronics system design in the country, reports Jatin Grover. ■ PAGE 3 310 m are dormant M U M B A I , Higher pension costs,wages drag SBI Q3 net down 35% THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST e-wallets; of this, about ■ There were instances where total value of transactions ran into crores of rupees, beyond regulatory limits L U C K N O W , Retail investment in cash down 95% in 2023 NEWS MEITY LOOPS IN TOP FIRMS FOR FUTURELABS 350 m single PANs were used for opening multiple accounts K O L K A T A , PIYUSH SHUKLA Mumbai, February 3 Paytm Payments Bank has about ■ In thousands of cases, FE BUREAU/AGENCIES New Delhi, February 3 IN THE K O C H I , 9,164 F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , 14,205 P U B L I S H E D READ TO LEAD 39,816 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2024, 30 Pages, `12 (Patna `12, Raipur `12) 38,069 FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY NEW DELHI ‘Power of words should be used to study our times, uphold humanity’ Page 4 SAMBAR: Southern states claim their version of sambar is authentic, with some claiming recently that the dish had its origins in Maharashtra RASOGOLLA: West Bengal & Odisha fought over its origins, with Bengal attaining a GI tag in 2017, but Odisha also getting one for its own version in 2019 gins of the sweet rasogolla recently,with Bengal attaining a GI tag in 2017, but Odisha, too,fightingtothefinishwitha GI tag for its own ‘authentic’ version in 2019. The battle of biryani will perhaps continue forever,withvariousversions— Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ambur, and many more— claimingtobetherealdeal,and each having its own fans. All southern states claim that their version of sambar is authentic, and with some claiming recently that the dish had its origins in Maharashtra, the debate is just heating up. However, authenticity of food is a fallacy.The same dish is cooked differently home to home,city to city and region to region.Forexample,dailystaple dal tastes different in every homedespitethesamemethod and ingredients. Food has no mathematicalformula,andreal cooks never go by measured quantities or detailed recipes, relying on instinct instead. And, to keep up with the times,restaurantstweakrecipes to suit customer demand. Several acclaimed restaurants like Bombay Canteen thrive on New Delhi recipes adapted from regional cuisines. The popularity of Indian Accent, touted to be India’s best restaurant, which recently opened in Mumbai, after Delhi and New York, is based on how regional food is celebrated in its menu. From sattu ka paratha to old Delhi’s DaulatkiChaat,toeventhesimple moong ki dal, traditional recipes get a modern twist. Essentially,it’snotimportant if you are eating a dish cooked exactly as it was invented, but how it tastes. Customers at restaurants also would care less about the origins of a dish and moreaboutitsflavour,beitbutterchickenorbiryani.