SIGNED AND SEALED: IPL TEAMS RR AND RCB SOLD FOR HUGE AMOUNTS MANGALURU  WEDNESDAY  MARCH 25, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION After months of negotiations, defending champions and inaugural winners will have new owners post IPL. Deal subject to BCCI approval. If both the deals are cleared, the owners are expected to take charge post the 19th edition of the league. While RR was bagged for $1.63bn, RCB was purchased for just over $1.78bn. While the former was picked by a consortium fronted by US-based entrepreneur, Kal Somani, the latter was fronted by a consortium led by Aditya Birla Group | P13 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Scheduled Caste status limited to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists: SC U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday held that only individuals belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist faiths can be considered members of a Scheduled Caste (SC), and conversion to any other faith will result in the person losing the SC status. “No person who professes a religion other than Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist shall be a member of Scheduled Caste. Conversion to any other religion results in immediate and complete loss of the Scheduled Caste status,” the court said, while upholding an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. A bench of justices P K Mishra and Manmohan passed the order on an appeal filed by Pastor Chinthada Anand, who alleged that he faced caste discrimination from one Akkala Ramireddy and others. Anand filed a complaint against Ramireddy under the SC/ST Act and the police lodged an FIR. Ramireddy then approached the Andhra Pradesh HC. The HC quashed the FIR on the ground that Anand had lost his SC status upon conversion to Christianity and, therefore, cannot claim protection under the SC/ST Act. It had held that Anand holding an SC certificate will not help his case since conversion to Christianity, where caste distinctions do not exist, nullifies the SC status. The Supreme Court upheld the HC order. PM: LEAST POSSIBLE IMPACT ON INDIA TRUMP LIKES PAK’S MEDIATION OFFER The PM underlined efforts to reduce dependence on a single source of energy. “The crisis has shaken the global economy. Continuous efforts are being made to ensure that India suffers the least possible impact” US President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Pakistan’s offer to be the host to facilitate talks to end the West Asia conflict by re-sharing Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif’s post on the Truth Social platform Don dials Modi on de-escalation Both leaders discuss the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz secure and accessible to all J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focusing on the urgent need to deescalate tensions in West Asia and keeping the critical global shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz open, safe and accessible for the whole world. “Received a call from President Trump and had a useful exchange of views on the situation in West Asia. India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest. Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world. We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability,” Modi wrote on X. US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, too, highlighted the maritime safety DAY aspect, saying “President Donald Trump just spoke with Prime Minister Modi. They discussed the ongoing situation in the Middle East, including the importance of keeping the Strait open.” The conversation is the first between Modi and Trump since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Febru- 25 SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES IF CRISIS CONTINUES: PM Amid a deepening global energy crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the Rajya Sabha and said prolonged instability could lead to unavoidable and serious consequences. “If the global circumstances created by this war persist for a long time, serious consequences are inevitable. Therefore, India is accelerating the resilience-building measures it has undertaken in recent years,” he said. “During the great crisis of the pandemic, the Centre and the states together presented an excellent model of COVID management. We must continue to work in the same spirit”, he asserted ary 28. It comes amid rising tensions and sharply rising energy prices. On Monday External Affairs , Minister S Jaishankar had held conversation with US counterpart Marco Rubio. Washington has signalled cautious diplomatic eng agement with Tehran. It has emerged that the US has engaged Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye in back-channel for looking at solutions for ending the war with Iran. India has also engaged directly with regional leaders. Modi spoke over the weekend with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian. Re slumps 23 paise, hits new low The rupee on Tuesday dropped 23 paise to close at 93.76 against the US dollar as a stronger greenback, elevated global crude prices, and FPI outflows weighed on the local currency Pvt sector growth slips to 3.5-yr low as war impacts demand E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Mumbai PRIVATE sector business activities, as measured by HSBC Flash India PMI Composite Output, fell to a three-and-a-half-year low in March amid a drastic drop in demand and a spike in costs due to the ongoing West Asia conflict. The index slipped to 56.5 in March, marking the weakest growth since October 2022. The composite PMI was 58.9 in February . HSBC attributed the poor show to the West Asia conflict, weaker domestic demand, market instability and , inflationary pressures. “Output growth eased across both manufacturing and services as the energy shock unfolds. Softer domestic demand weighed on new orders, which rose at the slowest pace in more than three years, despite a record surge in new export orders. Cost pressures intensified, but companies are absorbing part of the increase by squeezing margins,” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief economist at HSBC India. The slowdown was more pronounced in the manufacturing sector, where output growth eased amid global uncertainties. Factory output expanded at its slowest pace since August 2021. The manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.8 in March from 56.9 in February , a four-and-a-half-year low, while the manufacturing output index fell to 55.1. Services activity also moderated, with the business activity index easing to 57.2 from 58.1, marking the weakest growth since January 2025. On a positive note, data showed that exports remained strong, driven by robust demand from Asia, Europe, the US, and West Asia. Harish departs days after passive euthanasia order E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi HARISH Rana, the first person in India to be granted permission for passive euthanasia in a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court earlier this month, died on Tuesday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), days after his nutritional support was withdrawn. “Harish Rana passed away at 4.10 pm on March 24 at AIIMS, Delhi,” the hospital said. The Supreme Court had permitted passive euthanasia for Harish on March 11. He was moved to the palliative care unit of AIIMS’s Dr B R Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital on March 14. Subsequently, Harish’s nutritional support was gradually withdrawn. A specialised medical team headed by Dr Seema Mishra was constituted to implement the process. The 31-year-old Harish had been in a coma for over 13 years after falling from the fourth floor of a building in 2013. Harish’s family expressed hope that the court’s decision could help others facing similar situations.