NAGAPATTINAM l wednesday l march 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION SIGNED and SEALED: IPL teams RR and RCB sold for huge amounts After months of negotiations, defending champions and inaugural winners will have new owners post IPL. Deal subject to BCCI approval RR for over `15,200 cr, RCB for `16,700 cr faces behind the two consortiums 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 ■ ■ Both franchises are bringing in new owners who have a track record of owning sports properties in other leagues. In fact, Somani, has been an investor with Royals since 2021 Teams are attractive to US-based individuals and companies because of closed-door league, TV rights deal and potential for growth $67mn, $111mn RR was picked for $67mn while RCB was signed for $111mn before 1st ipl 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 DMK seals seat deal: DMDK gets 10, VCK 8, MNM sits out P r a b haka r Ta m i la r a s u @ Chennai The protracted negotiations in the DMK alliance came to an end on Tuesday with 10 seats allotted to new ally DMDK, eight seats going to long-time friend VCK, and Kamal Haasan’s MNM, peeved over paltry seat share, deciding not to contest the elections. Though the actor’s other demand to allow his candidates to contest on the party’s torchlight symbol was also turned down by the DMK, he offered “unconditional support” to the Secular Progressive Alliance. “This is not sacrifice, but duty. This is not selfishness, but patience,” the actor said in a post on X. VCK was the first to sign the pact on Tuesday for eight seats, which included six reserved constituencies and two general seats. While this was two more than the seats it contested in 2021, the party had demanded seats in two digits (10 or more). The party had earlier expressed disappointment over DMK trying to reduce the number of seats despite the party’s longstanding ideological congruence with the ruling alliance. VCK president and MP Thol Thirumavalavan, after signing the agreement with DMK president and CM Stalin, however, told reporters that he was satisfied with the number of seats. “Considering the limitations of the DMK due to more parties joining the alliance, we have whole-heartedly accepted the eight seats. The victory of the alliance is as important as VCK’s interest,” he said.  P5 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 asday pect, saying “President Donald Trump j u s t s p o ke w i t h 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 February 28. It comes amid rising tensions and sharply rising energy prices. On Monday External Affairs , 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 Minister S Jaishankar had held conversation with US counterpart Marco Rubio. Washington has signalled cautious diplomatic engagement 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. Shortly after his call with Trump, Modi spoke to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake about energy crisis. 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 Ne w s Se 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. Scheduled Caste status limited to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist faiths: SC U D AYA N K IS H O R E @ New Delhi Nilgiri in Australia Indigenous stealth frigate INS Nilgiri arrives at Port Jackson, Sydney to take part in the international fleet review hosted by the Royal Australian Navy | PTI 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 The long road back The Supreme Court said to reclaim the Scheduled Caste (SC) status, a person must prove they were originally born into a caste listed as SC, before they adopted other faith, give evidence of reconversion, show they have renounced the other faith they had adopted, and demonstrate their original caste community has accepted their reconversion 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. “We have no hesitation in holding that the appellant (Anand), having ceased to be a member of the Madiga community upon his conversion to Christianity, and having failed to establish any subsequent reconversion, does not satisfy the mandatory Constitutional requirement for claiming the status of Scheduled Caste,” the bench ruled. Free fridge, oil, dal part of AIADMK’s 297 poll promises T Mu r uga n a n dha m @ Chennai AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday promised free refrigerator, one kg of dal and one litre of cooking oil for all rice category ration cardholders if his party is voted to power in the Assembly election. Releasing the party’s manifesto of 297 poll promises, with focus on women’s welfare and 75% jobs in pvt broader outreach to various secfirms for Tamils tion of society, Palaniswami said the free refrigerator is meant to According to the reduce the household workload of manifesto, once the homemakers. The manifesto, AIADMK is in power, a law will be enacted which promised to hike quota for government school students in mandating a medical education from 7.5% to minimum of 75% of 10%, included the populist promjobs in all private companies, factories, ises already made by Palaniswami in three installments earlier. and commercial The party promised Minimum establishments be reserved for Tamils in Support Price (MSP) for agricultural products, particularly Tamil Nadu foodgrain, pulses, and oilseeds and MSP of `3,500 per quintal for Assembly paddy and `4,500 for a tonne of elections sugarcane. The manifesto outlined a multipronged approach to women’s safety, including expanding the Kavalan safety app and Amma Padmk allots a trol vehicles from seat to vck in Chennai to other pondy I P4 cities, and ideology more strengthening important than seats: CPM I P6 CCTV surveillance by creating world-class security infrastructure in tier-two cities. To support working women, especially those migrating from villages, a large number of hostels for them will be established in urban areas.  P4 stalin: war crisis handling cannot be outsourced Slamming the remarks of PM Narendra Modi, that country’s people should be prepared to face crisis due to war in West Asia, CM Stalin on Tuesday said handling of crisis can’t be outsourced to public | P4 Harish departs days after passive euthanasia order Nellai halwa giants in dire straits as fuel crisis turns off stoves b itt e r s w e e t Express news service @ 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. Express news service @ Tirunelveli The storied halwa shops of Tirunelveli have started facing the heat of the LPG crisis as fuel shortage has forced some outlets to cut their production. While a few shops have increased the price of the sweet, others have shuttered their doors completely Shop owners, . who have already slashed production by nearly 50%, warn that the crisis is creating a “Covid lockdown-like scenario” for the industry . According to sources from the food safety department, shops in Tirunelveli produce Jobs of 50 workers at Santhi Sweets are at stake, the owner said | Express around 2,500kg to 3,000kg of halwa daily Some outlets even . sell their stock online. “This volume increases to over 5,000kg during festivals like Pongal, as a lot of locals purchase halwa for their friends and family in Chennai, Bengaluru and other cities,” an official added. Speaking to reporters, Siva Subramanian, owner of the 50-year-old Santhi Sweets, said, “We usually produce 1,000 kg of halwa per day At least 70% . of the gas we buy is used for making halwa, and the rest is used for other sweets. We purchase eight to nine commercial LPG cylinders daily only for making halwa. Now, it has come down to three to four. Since the gas agency has told us that it would not be possible for it to continue supplying even these four cylinders, we are planning to close our shop on Wednesday or Thursday We . have already reduced halwa production by nearly half. We do not have the facility to use firewood in our production unit. Even if we start using it, neighbours may complain about smoke,” he added. He said that over 50 workers in his shop may lose their jobs. “I paid salaries to my workers during the Covid lockdown in 2020. I will try to do the same this time as well till the situation in Gulf countries improves,” he added. It may be noted that due to the popularity of Santhi Sweets, there are more than 100 halwa shops operated by different persons under the same name across Tirunelveli city  . P5