PTI joins Meta’s fact checking programme
New Delhi: Press Trust of India (PTI) has joined Meta’s Third Party FactChecking Partnership (3PFC) programme to identify, review and rate content as misinformation across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta announced the onboarding of India’s leading news agency as it seeks to expand its thirdparty factchecking network just as electioneering for the Lok Sabha polls has picked up.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasing a commemorative coin with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das at the 90th anniversary celebrations of the RBI in Mumbai on Monday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, State Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other dignitaries were also present at the event
curity and increasing reliance on digital banking. “We need to think about the changes that will be required in the country’s banking sector and its structure,” Modi said at an event to commemorate 90 years of RBI.
The Prime Minister also called for the Central Bank to undertake a study to asses the need for private sector credit across various sectors of the economy, keeping in mind the growth prospects and potential of the country.
“Given the rapid changes taking place in today’s world, especially in the areas of technology, innovation, business practices and growing complexities in the financial sec
tor, RBI is constantly evaluating the emerging trends and taking necessary policy measures to remain in sync with the evolving situation. Our effort is to anticipate situations and take proactive action,” Governor Shaktikanta Das said.
POLICY MAKING
Addressing members of the financial services industry, PM Modi said that there are new sectors being created such as space and tourism and there is a need to develop expertise in funding these sectors.
He added that Ayodhya is poised to become the biggest religious tourism centre in
the world in the coming years.
He also jokingly warned members about the possible “flood of work” the day after he takes oath as PM for the third time, indicating that he remains confident of BJP winning the upcoming elections.
“Abhi 100 din chunav mein busy hoon. Aap ke paas bharpur samay hain. Aap sooch kar rakhiye kauki shapath lene ke doorse din hi dhama dham kaam aane wala hain. (I am busy with elections for the next 100 days. You have sufficient time to deliberate upon solutions because the day after taking oath, work will begin),” he said.
The BJPled government will continue its efforts to make India more selfreliant and the focus, over the next 10 years, will be to adapt to the changes arising from a more cashless economy, expand the scope of digital transactions, ensure credit access to all, improve financial inclusion and ease of doing banking, and integrate new AI and ML technologies.
“While deciding the target for the next 10 years, we have to keep one more thing in mind. That is the aspirations of the youth of India. India is one of the youngest countries in the world today. RBI has an important role in fulfilling the youths’ aspirations,” he said.
Riding high on the bullish sentiment in the economy, banks are rushing to either sell their noncore assets or dilute their stake to partially make up for their shrinking margins amid high cost of funds and free up growth capital.
Despite banking regulator giving two years time to HDFC Bank for holding stake in its whollyowned subsidiary HDFC Education and Development Services (providing services to three education schools), the bank is planning to sell its entire stake via Swiss challenge process to derive the maximum price for the asset.
Canara Bank decided to sell 13 per cent equity shares in its joint venture subsidiary Canara Robeco Asset Management Company by listing the business on the stock exchange. The public sector bank has 51 per cent stake in the mutual fund.
Similarly, the country’s largest bank State Bank of India also approved sale of 6 per cent stake in its subsidiary SBI Mutual Fund, but had to call off after market turned volatile due to Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
REDIRECTING CAPITAL
Amit Goel, Chief Global Strategist, Pace 360 said RBI has directed banks to maintain a certain amount of capital relative to the riskweighted assets and thus by divesting noncore assets, banks can free up capital that can be redirected towards their core banking activities.
This strategic move not only enhances their financial health but also enables them to invest in areas that could potentially improve their net interest margin, he said.
Shrey Jain, Founder and CEO SAS Online India’s
This strategic move not only enhances banks’ financial health but also enables them to invest in areas that could potentially improve their net interest margin
Deep Discount Broker, said rise in policy rates and falling liquidity in the system have inflated the cost of funds for the banks and has put pressure on their’ margins.
Listing subsidiaries that are doing well on the stock exchanges augurs well for banks’ shareholders as analysts will start factoring in the underlying value, he added.
Vijay Singh Gour, Senior Analyst, Choice Broking, said last June, HDFC sold HDFC Cedilla as RBI asked them to merge the entity before merging HDFC with HDFC Bank or bring down holding to 10 per cent in two years. Merging assets worth ₹15,000 core of HDFC Credila with assets of ₹25 lakh crore would have taken one year after receiving multiple approvals and the management decided to sell the asset, he added.
Shreyansh V Shah, Research Analyst, StoxBox, observed that with the equity market and mutual funds doing well, it has become difficult for banks to garner cheap deposits. Banks believe that the current bull market will help them enhance the valuation of their stakes in these subsidiaries which will help them reap the benefit of premium valuations, he said.
“Banks are likely to face the brunt of increased cost of funds on account of intense competition to grow deposits from small finance banks,” said Shah.