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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are eager to bounce back when they face each other today (26 March) in the IPL.

Indian rupee closed marginally higher on Wednesday following a choppy trading session, influenced by maturity of positions in the non-deliverable forwards market, exporter activity, and mild dollar sales from foreign banks. The rupee ended at 85.7050 against the U.S. dollar, slightly higher from its previous close at 85.7550. The local currency hovered between 85.89 and 85.6850 through the session.

Assembly budget session, defying the party whip, and plans to address the issue with «disciplinary action» once CM Mamata Banerjee returns from her London visit later this week, party sources said on Wednesday. According to TMC sources, the TMC's Disciplinary Committee will take further action once they receive a list from the office of Speaker Biman Banerjee regarding lawmakers who had requested leave. During the second phase of the budget session, the TMC had issued a whip directing MLAs to be present in the Assembly on March 19 and 20. The party's disciplinary body is scrutinising the attendance, and it has been found that over 30 MLAs were absent during the last few days of the Budget session. The party is seeking an explanation from these lawmakers about their absence despite the party's directive to be present. According to party sources, TMC leadership considers repeated absenteeism a serious issue.

The common theme in those defeats was how the seemingly powerful batting and bowling units of KKR and RR failed to fire. While the Rajasthan outfit might offer the excuse of playing on a Hyderabad shirtfront for the malfunction of their bowling unit, the Kolkata side do not have any such cover. It will also be a blot on stand-in skipper Riyan Parag who, at times, looked perplexed on the field about the decisions to be made. The Rahul Dravid-coached side will eye sharper and more intuitive leadership from Parag against KKR.

PM Modi is set to inaugurate the new Pamban bridge, India’s first vertical sea bridge, in Tamil Nadu on April 6, coinciding with Ram Navami, a significant Hindu festival marking the birth of Lord Ram. The inauguration is expected soon after PM Modi returns from his two-day visit to Sri Lanka on April 4-5. Constructed at a cost of Rs 535 crore, this ambitious engineering project was executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). Spanning just over two kilometres, the bridge replaces the old 1914-built bridge, which had become severely corroded after over a century of service and was closed in 2022. This new bridge is expected to enhance rail connectivity to Rameswaram, one of the most sacred sites in Hinduism, associated with the legend of Lord Ram's bridge to Lanka as told in the Ramayana.

Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the states and union territories to create a grievance redressal mechanism against misleading advertisements that «can cause great harm to society». A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said state governments should create such mechanisms for members of the public to lodge complaints about objectionable advertisements prohibited under Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954.

Express Entry candidates will no longer receive extra Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for having a valid job offer, including offers supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The change took place in the Ministerial Instructions effective March 25, 2025, as per a CIC News report. Before this change, Express Entry candidates with arranged employment could earn an extra 50 or 200 CRS points, significantly increasing their chances of receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence (PR). This change now impacts the CRS scores of all candidates in the Express Entry pool who had previously benefited from additional points for arranged employment. ALSO READ: Canada to send invitations to apply for Parents and Grandparents PR pathway in 2025 Candidates who have already received ITAs or who have PR applications in progress are not affected. In a press release on December 23, 2024, Canada stated that the removal of additional points is a temporary measure, but did not say when the measure would conclude.

Ashok Leyland Limited on Wednesday refuted recent media reports claiming that the company was in advanced negotiations to acquire the promoter's stake in SML Isuzu from Japan's Sumitomo Corporation. In an exchange filing, the company denied the news as «factually incorrect». The reports, which had circulated within media outlets, suggested that Ashok Leyland was nearing a deal to take over the stake of the promoter, Sumitomo Corporation, in SML Isuzu. However, Ashok Leyland clarified that there was no truth to these claims. «The Company would like to outrightly deny this news as factually incorrect. Kindly take the above on record and disregard any misleading information that may have been circulated in the media,» the auto maker said in its statement.

Noida and are planning a liquor run, now might be the perfect time. Liquor shops across the NCR are offering discounts and deals to clear out their stock before the new excise policy in Uttar Pradesh comes into effect on April 1. This year, UP introduced an e-lottery system for liquor shop licenses instead of renewing licenses as done in the past six years. This change allows new players to enter the market. Additionally, the government has introduced “composite shops” that will sell both beer and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) together. Because of this, many separate beer and IMFL shops will be merged. Shop owners are now rushing to sell off their stocks by March 31 since any unsold liquor will be seized by excise officials. To avoid losses, vendors are offering various discounts and deals like buy-one-get-one-free offers and price reductions. Offers on beers and whiskeys in Noida For example, a liquor store in Noida's Sector 18 is offering a buy-one-get-one deal on whiskey, while a Sector 93 shop is focusing on beer promotions. Some shopkeepers prefer reducing prices instead.

One New Zealand Warriors forward Dylan Walker has returned to Australia after being released by club on compassionate grounds. The 30-year-old Walker is set to join join Parramatta Eels, the Australian professional rugby league football club. He had joined One New Zealand Warriors in 2023 on a three-year deal. He has played 232 games in Australia's National Rugby League with 124 of them coming for Manly Warringah. One New Zealand Warriors CEO Cameron George issued a statement on the development and wished Walker all the best. “We were keen for Dylan to stay until the end of the season but we appreciate why he needs to return to Sydney. We’ve really enjoyed having him at our club and he has given us tremendous service. He goes with our support and best wishes.” Walker appeared in 46 matches for match for One New Zealand Warriors and his last match was on March 21 when he ended on the winning side as his team beat Te Atatu Roosters at Go Media Stadium. His deal with Parramatta Eels is until the end of 2026 season. Parramatta Eels General Manager of Football Mark O'Neill said, «We’re excited to have a player of Dylan’s caliber join the Eels. Dylan is such a tough competitor who will suit our style of football and he will provide class and experience to our team.”

Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra while addressing Private Sector Collaborator Forum 2025 in Mumbai asserted that the measures taken to combat money laundering should not overzealous which can stifle legitimate activities and investments. «While we continue to keep our financial systems safe from money laundering and terrorist financing, policymakers must ensure that our measures are not overzealous and do not stifle legitimate activities and investments,» Malhotra said on Wednesday.

Coforge Ltd.(up 1.22 per cent), HCL Technologies Ltd.(up 0.72 per cent), Persistent Systems Ltd.(up 0.67 per cent), MphasiS Ltd.(up 0.54 per cent) and LTIMindtree Ltd.(up 0.39 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Domestic benchmark index NSE Nifty fell 22.61 points to 23646.05, while the BSE Sensex traded 161.0 points down at 77856.19.

However, foreign fund inflows supported the rupee at lower levels.

Sultana Begum, the great-granddaughter-in-law of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, is a living example. Once part of a royal lineage, Sultana now lives in a cramped hut on the outskirts of Kolkata, a world away from the luxury her ancestors once knew, as revealed in a TOI report.

Maruti Suzuki has received a draft assessment order from the Income Tax Authority for the financial year 2021-22, proposing additions and disallowances totaling Rs 2,966 crore to its reported income. The order, dated March 24, 2025, was disclosed by the company in an exchange filing on Tuesday night. «The company has received a draft assessment order for FY 2021-22, wherein certain additions/disallowances amounting to Rs 29,660 million to the returned income (the income disclosed by the company in its tax return) have been proposed,» Maruti Suzuki India stated.

The NSE Nifty index traded 1.35 points up at 23670.0, while BSE Sensex was down 60.05 points at 77957.14 as of 10:29AM(IST)on March 26.

JSW Steel has become the world’s most valuable steelmaker after the Sajjan Jindal-led company crossed a market capitalisation of over $30 billion on Tuesday. The strong stock market performance of JSW Steel reflects a broader rally among Indian steelmakers after a government body recently recommended measures to protect the domestic industry from a surge in cheap steel imports.

Gopala Poly(up 19.99%), Redex Protech(up 19.98%) and Infronic Sys(up 18.72%) were among the stocks that surged over 15%.

Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), has signed definitive agreements to acquire two operational road assets from CDS Infra Projects for Rs 1,500 crore. The assets, developed under the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), are located in Haryana and Punjab and form part of the 669-km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. The transaction is subject to regulatory and NHAI approvals, along with customary closing conditions. NIIOF, the flagship core infrastructure fund of Neo Asset Management, focuses on acquiring derisked, operational infrastructure assets that generate stable and predictable cash flows. HAM road projects operate under 15-year concessions with NHAI, offering contracted revenues independent of traffic volumes, making them relatively lower-risk investments.

On the BSE, Shivansh Finserve(down 19.96 per cent), Looks Health Services(down 12.05 per cent), Arcee Ind(down 9.90 per cent), Kesoram Inds.(down 9.56 per cent) and Mewat Zinc(down 9.18 per cent) were among the stocks that plunged over 5 per cent during the session.