Page 16 - Sri Lanka

Rajapaksas to launch political bid in Sri Lanka, to target elections

Sri Lanka's powerful Rajapaksa clan, which suffered political battering due to the country's worst economic crisis in 2022, will launch its political comeback bid on Sunday by targeting the impending elections. Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa were ousted from power during anti-government protests following the crippling financial and political crisis in 2022. The ruling Sri Lanka People's Front of the Rajapaksas, commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), will hold a public rally later in the day in the north central rural town of Thalawa, party member and former minister SM Chandrasena told reporters. He said that Mahinda Rajapaksa would inaugurate the rally, aiming to prepare the party grassroots for the major elections - the presidential or the parliamentary. We will start our campaign to gear the party for whatever the election that comes first, Chandrasena ...

Senior Lankan officer to lead team probing arrest of 4 nationals in India

Sri Lanka police on Wednesday said a senior Deputy Inspector General will head a team appointed to investigate four of its citizens arrested in Gujarat when on an alleged mission to carry out terror activities in India at the behest of the banned Islamic State. Acting on a tip-off, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday apprehended four Sri Lankan nationals at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad after they travelled from Colombo via Chennai. The men travelled to India to carry out terror activities at the behest of the banned terror outfit Islamic State (IS) and are members of IS radicalised by a leader from Sri Lanka who is living in Pakistan, according to the Indian police. A senior Deputy Inspector General-headed police team has been appointed by the Inspector General Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, police Spokesman and Senior Superintendent Nihal Thalduwa told PTI. He said the police chief's action followed official intimation of the Lankan citizens' ..

Sri Lanka strongly rejects UN rights report on enforced disappearances

Sri Lanka has questioned the timing and the mandate of a report issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) this week in which it asked the country's government to ensure accountability for enforced disappearances during the armed conflict with the LTTE. The OHCHR report issued on Friday said Sri Lanka's Government must take meaningful action to determine and disclose the fates and whereabouts of tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to enforced disappearance over the decades and hold those responsible to account. According to the Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials, the ministry would officially write to the OHCHR on its unilateral action to issue a report, particularly its timing. Sri Lanka was irked by the timing -- a day ahead of plans by the Tamil diaspora and kith and kin in the country of those who died during the final battle of the government's war with the LTTE in May 2009 to commemorate the dead. Events were held

PhonePe collaborates with LankaPay to promote UPI payments in Sri Lanka

Apart from the National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI) UPI, these transactions will be facilitated by the LankaPay National Payment Network

PhonePe partners LankaPay, enables UPI payments for travelers in Sri Lanka

PhonePe on Wednesday announced a partnership with LankaPay to allow its users to pay using UPI across Sri Lanka. At an event to mark the collaboration, PhonePe said its app users travelling to Sri Lanka can make payments using UPI across LankaPay QR merchants. The transactions will be facilitated by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and LankaPay National Payment Network. Users can scan LankaQR code to make secure and quick payments without carrying cash or calculating currency conversions. The amount will be debited in INR, showing the currency exchange rate. PhonePe's CEO, International Payments, Ritesh Pai, said the collaboration with LankaPay offers unparalleled convenience to Indian tourists who can now use a familiar and secure payment method while travelling and paying across LankaQR merchant points. "We are excited about the potential of this collaboration that would enhance payment experience to Indian tourists and business travellers during their stay in Sri Lanka and

Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mauritius: List of visa-free countries for Indians

Thailand and Sri Lanka have extended the visa-free entry facilities for visitors from India

Sri Lanka retains $50 visa fee for foreign visitors, free for Indians

Visitors from India, China, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia will continue to receive tourist visas free of charge, the Sri Lankan government has said

Foreign firms to continue visa services at Colombo airport: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's immigration authorities on Sunday said the foreign companies facilitating visa services for travellers at the Bandaranaike International Airport here will maintain their operations. The clarification came after the airport witnessed protests by tourists against the foreign companies for their poor visa service on Wednesday. Subsequently, the immigration department took control of the visa-on-arrival counters as the private staff manning the counters had left following the protests. The services of the foreign companies GBS Technology Services and IVS Global FZCO in partnership with VFS VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd would be continued at the airport, senior immigration department officials said. The delays at the visa-on-arrival counters were a technical fault, which would be rectified by next week and the foreign companies would resume their operations after that, they said. It was earlier alleged that the companies concerned were Indian. However, the Indian High Commission

NPCI, Bank of Namibia ink an agreement to develop UPI-like system

The development follows NPCI's push to take UPI rails international after breaking into other markets such as France, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Mauritius

Twenty-four more Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lanka repatriated: Govt

Twenty-four Indian fishermen who were detained by the Sri Lanka Navy for allegedly fishing in the island nation's waters were on Friday repatriated to India, two days after another group of five Indian fishermen were sent to their homeland. "Twenty-four Indian fishermen repatriated from Sri Lanka. They have boarded from Colombo and are currently on their way home," the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a post on X. On Wednesday, five Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy were repatriated to India. Earlier this month, 19 Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy were repatriated to India, the Indian High Commission said. The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan territorial waters. The Sri Lanka Navy has so far held 23 Indian trawlers and 178 Indian fisherme

Chinese marine research ship back in Maldivian waters after two months

Xiang Yang Hong 03 was docked at the Thilafushi industrial island's harbour on Thursday morning, news portal Adhadhu.com reported on Friday

Shaurya Aeronautics, Russian firm awarded management of Matta airport

A joint venture between an Indian and a Russian firm have been awarded the management of Sri Lanka's Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota, the government spokesman said on Friday. The USD 209 million facility was once dubbed the "world's emptiest airport" due to a lack of flights. The Sri Lankan Cabinet, which met on January 9, approved the calling of Expression of Interest by prospective parties, government spokesman and minister Bandula Gunawardena told reporters here. Accordingly, five proposals were received, and the Cabinet-appointed consultative committee decided to award a management contract spanning 30 years to Shaurya Aeronautics (Pvt) Ltd of India and Airports of Regions Management Company of Russia. The Cabinet approved the proposal submitted by the minister of civil aviation and airport services, Gunawardena said. Mattala Airport, named after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was one of the major infrastructure projects of Rajapaksa's nearly decade-

Sri Lanka approves IMF-backed law to seize any proceeds from crimes

The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) will allow for the judicial freezing and forfeiture of proceeds of crime and establishes a new authority to manage such seized assets

China's Sinopec charts global expansion with refinery in India's backyard

India is also deepening its involvement in Sri Lanka's power sector with solar projects and grid connectivity

US, Sri Lanka to conduct joint maritime drill ahead of Iranian Prez's visit

The US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the Sri Lankan Navy will conduct a bilateral maritime joint exercise from Monday, including anti-terrorism manoeuvres, the American mission here said. The joint exercise called the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) gets underway two days before the proposed visit of Iran President Ebrahim Raisi to the island nation to inaugurate an Iranian-funded hydropower project. However, the confirmation of the visit, happening in the current backdrop of Israeli-Iranian tensions, is yet to be announced by the Sri Lankan authorities. CARAT Sri Lanka will feature the expertise of the US Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST), a US Marine Corps unit specialised in security and anti-terrorism for naval assets, engaging alongside their Sri Lanka Navy Marine counterparts on a full spectrum of naval capabilities, according to an official press release. The CARAT Sri Lanka bilateral maritime exercise underscores the strong partnership and shared

7 people killed, 20 injured as racing car veers off track in Sri Lanka

The injured were taken to Diyatalawa Base Hospital and are currently undergoing treatment

Bharti Airtel signs deal to merge Sri Lankan unit with Dialog Axiata

Airtel Lanka to have 10.35% voting shares in the merged entity, according to agreement

Sri Lanka govt, Oppn trade barbs over failure to reach bondholder agreement

Sri Lanka continues to engage all debt restructuring negotiations in good faith, within principles of equitable treatment among creditors with maximum transparency, the government has said as it faced criticism from the Opposition for maintaining secrecy over the debt restructuring process. The government on Tuesday announced that it failed to reach an agreement with its international bondholders for restructuring around USD 12 billion in debt. The main opposition's economy spokesman Harsha de Silva in a statement said they were disappointed with the lack of transparency in the debt restructuring process. .It is obvious that that government has failed to strike a deal favourable to the people of Sri Lanka, de Silva of Samagi Jana Balawegaya party added. It is clear that the participating bondholders do not want to move away from the original structure they proposed based on the performance of the Sri Lanka economy to be measured on their much higher alternative baseline as opposed

IMF ready to support Sri Lanka's discussions with int'l bondholders

Sri Lanka will consult with the IMF to assess if the latest proposals discussed with bondholders were within the parameters of its bailout program

Bharti Airtel to merge Sri Lanka ops with Dialog Axiata in equity swap deal

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel will merge its Sri Lanka operations with Dialog Axiata in an equity swap deal, a joint statement said on Thursday. Airtel Lanka's turnover in financial year 2023 was Rs 294 crore and it contributed 0.21 per cent to Bharti Airtel's overall business. "Dialog Axiata PLC , Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata) and Bharti Airtel Limited signed a definitive agreement to combine their operations in Sri Lanka," the statement said. Under the agreement, Sri Lanka-based telecom operator Dialog will acquire 100 per cent of the issued shares in Airtel Lanka, in consideration of which Dialog will issue to Bharti Airtel, ordinary voting shares which will amount to 10.355 per cent of the total issued shares of Dialog by way of a share swap, it said. Airtel Sri Lanka commenced commercial operations in Sri Lanka in 2009. "The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has granted its approval for the proposed merger, underscoring its vision to advance the ..