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equity benchmarks tumbled nearly 1.5% on Wednesday, defying Wall Street's overnight gains, as investors spooked by the recent freefall in small-cap and mid-cap stocks rushed to offload riskier holdings. Brokers pushed traders to liquidate bets in smaller shares bought on loans following the capital market regulator's recent warnings of 'froth' and 'bubble' in pockets of the market. This sent the Midcap 150 and Smallcap 250 indices plunging 4.2% and 5.2%, respectively-their biggest single-day fall in two years.

IIFL Finance passed a resolution to raise ₹2,000 crore comprising a rights issue of ₹1,500 crore and non-convertible debentures of ₹500 crore, according to a statement issued by the company on Wednesday. The company said that it plans to raise ₹1,500 crore by way of fast track rights issue before the end of June 2024 while the NCDs will be raised by this month-end.

fund managers adopted a cautious approach in February and bought into stocks that haven’t participated much in the recent run-up. They bought oil & gas, real estate, cement, and consumer durables stocks.

Union government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it is ready to allow the Kerala government to borrow an additional ₹5,000 crore in the current fiscal year as a one-time measure. However, it will be subject to certain conditions to be imposed in the next financial year. Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman also told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan that giving additional borrowing to the state in FY 2023-24 is «neither prudent nor in the interest» of the state government. Rejecting the Centre's offer, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, for the Kerala government, said that the amount was inadequate and the proposal to impose stringent conditions would amount to interference in the state's finances and borrowing powers.

Delhi Capitals qualified for final after defeating Gujarat Giants by seven wickets in their Women's Premier League match here on Wednesday. The Capitals, who finished runner-up last season, defeated the Giants to finish on top of the points table at the culmination of the league stage. Featuring in their final league game, Delhi restricted the Giants to 126 for nine after being asked to bowl. Shefali Verma (71) then blasted a half century with seven boundaries and five sixes to help the Capitals comfortably chase down the target in 13.1 overs

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced names of seven more candidates in Gujarat, which has 26 Lok Sabha seats, dropping five sitting MPs, including junior Railway minister Darshana Jardosh, and replacing them with new faces. On March 2, the BJP, in its first list of 195 candidates, had announced nominees for 15 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, where the saffron outfit had swept the polls in 2019. After the release of second list of 72 candidates in New Delhi, contestants for only four seats in the BJP-ruled state remain to be declared by the saffron party.

Kriti Singh Debbarma as the party candidate for Tripura East (ST) Lok Sabha seat. The BJP earlier nominated former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who is currently the Rajya Sabha member, for the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of BJP on Wednesday declared its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and Debbarma, a former royal scion of Tripura and a social activist, is also one of the nominees. Debbarma is the elder sister of Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo and former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman.

JSW Infrastructure on Wednesday said it has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary for the execution of a port project at JNPT in Maharashtra. JSW JNPT Liquid Terminal Pvt Ltd has been incorporated on March 13, in Mumbai, according to a regulatory filing. The company said it has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority for equipping, operation, maintenance and transfer of additional liquid cargo berths LB3 and LB4 at the port. The terms of LoI require the incorporation of a special purpose vehicle to enter into a concession agreement within 30 days of the issue of LoI.

magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea early Thursday, about 65 kilometres southeast of the town of Kimbe, the United States Geological Survey said. The quake had a depth of approximately 50 kilometres (31 miles), and struck outside Kimbe, in the West New Britain region, at about 1:13 am (1513 GMT Wednesday), the USGS said.

Karnataka naming candidates for 20 constituencies. Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who represents Shiggaon in the assembly, will contest from Haveri, which is also his native district. The party has dropped former union minister DV Sadananda Gowda (Bengaluru North), Pratap Simha (Mysuru), Sanganna Karadi (Koppal), Nalinkumar Kateel (Dakshina Kannada) and GM Siddeshwara (Davanagere) while making some changes.

V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said words like 'sustainable', 'green', 'climate' and 'environment' are fads that have «lost their meaning» now. They have been used as "convenient packaging" by all to continue with the activities they do, he rued.

Reserve Bank of India has directed Kerala-headquartered Federal Bank to stop issuing co-branded credit cards, a high-margin business for the bank. The bank received the regulatory direction Tuesday. The bank has three co-branded credit cards with partnerships with OneCard Scapia Technology Pvt. Ltd and FI Brand Pvt Ltd, targeting mostly the new generation customers. The bank on Wednesday said it is in the process of rectifying the areas that are deficient and will seek regulatory clearance prior to resumption of new issuance.

capital on Wednesday amid weak trends in the overseas markets, according to HDFC Securities. The precious metal had closed at Rs 66,350 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver also plummeted Rs 600 to Rs 75,300 per kg. In the previous close, it had settled at Rs 75,900 per kg.

protests in Kerala against implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Wednesday decided to pursue legal measures aligned with the state government's stance against the contentious law. According to an official statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the Advocate General has been tasked with initiating legal proceedings in the matter, further to the original suit that is before the Supreme court. «The state government has already filed an original suit before the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution. As the central government has proceeded with the notification of rules under the CAA, the state is preparing for additional legal action through the Supreme Court,» it said.

Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved a new Marathi language policy, which aims to establish it as a language of knowledge acquisition and employment in the next 25 years. It also aims to devise steps for the conservation and promotion of various dialects of Marathi using modern technology like ChatGPT.

heavy industries ministry on Wednesday announced a new scheme to promote e-mobility in the country with an outlay of Rs 500 crore for four months beginning April 2024. The new scheme is for 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers. The second phase of FAME-II or Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India programme ends on March 31, 2024. Announcing E-Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024 (EMPS 2024), Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said the Modi government is committed to promoting e-mobility in the country.

Visa application volumes from Mumbai in 2023 registered a 30 per cent year-on-year growth, according to a report by VFS Global, closing in further to the pre-pandemic levels. When compared to the pre-pandemic numbers, visa application volumes from Mumbai reached 90 per cent of the 2019 levels. The demand pattern in Mumbai was in line with the overall growth trend registered in India, which saw a 16 per cent year-on-year in visa applications in 2023. In comparison to the pre-pandemic numbers, visa application volumes from India reached 93 per cent of the 2019 levels.

Gorakhpur has emerged as one of the key constituencies of Uttar Pradesh over the many Lok Sabha conducted in the country. The constituency derives its name from the Sanskrit word, Gorakshapuram which means abode of Gorakhnath. Gorakhpur has been known to have been a stronghold of BJP. The electoral battleground sees tough competition between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. The particular constituency holds importance for the current state Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, who was winning for five years but later decided to give up the position to be a part of the state legislative. Gorakhpur Lok Sabha polls 2024: Dates

Paul Alexander, known as "Polio Paul," has died at 78 after spending 70 years in an iron lung due to polio paralysis. Life in an Iron Lung

cardiac surgeon and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's son-in-law Dr C N Manjunath is slated to meet veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday evening, amid speculations that he may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore Rural segment, party sources said. According to sources, he is likely to join the BJP on Thursday. Incumbent MP and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's brother D K Suresh is the Congress candidate from Bangalore Rural once again. BJP and JD(S) are in an alliance in Karnataka and, according to sources, JD(S) may contest in three seats — Mandya, Hassan and Kolar, and also an agreement has been reached between the two parties regarding fielding Manjunath on BJP symbol.