Page 16 - Sri Lanka

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 ..

Sri Lanka fails to strike agreement on restructuring terms with bondholders

Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis since independence from the British in 1948 after its foreign exchange reserves ran to catastrophic lows in early 2022

India allows export of 10,000 tonnes of onion to Sri Lanka, eases ban

Directorate General of Foreign Trade says India has approved 79,160 tonnes of onions for export, overriding a ban imposed in December

Uncertainty over elections could risk Sri Lanka's economic recovery: ADB

The "uncertainty" over the impending elections in Sri Lanka will cause a possible downward trend in the country's economic outlook, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said. The island nation is set to face a presidential election in the last quarter of this year, while the parliamentary election is due mid-next year. However, political uncertainty prevails in the country as opposition parties have pledged to reverse the current IMF-linked reforms, which have proved to be unpopular with the masses. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has steered the recovery programme by going into a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a USD 2.9 billion facility, maintains that the island could once again face economic collapse if the IMF programme reforms are not adhered to. Outlining the economic risks Sri Lanka is facing, the ADB in its South Asian chapter's economic trends report released yesterday said, Among them the most important is uncertainty associated with the .

'No ground' for India's request for return of Katchatheevu: Lanka minister

The statements coming out of India on "reclaiming" Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka have "no ground", the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said. The senior Sri Lankan Tamil politician's comments came days after the Narendra Modi government targeted the Congress Party and its ally the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu accusing them of overlooking national interests in the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The BJP has also been targeting the two parties for not ensuring the rights of the fishermen wanting to fish in waters around the Katchatheevu island. It is the election time in India, it is not unusual to hear such noises of claims and counterclaims about Kachchatheevu," Devananda told reporters in Jaffna on Thursday. I think India is acting on its interests to secure this place to ensure Sri Lankan fishermen would not have any access to that area and that Sri Lanka should not claim any rights in that resourceful area, Devanan

Sri Lanka unaware of ship carrying toxic waste from the US, say official

Sri Lanka is not yet aware of the nature of hazardous materials on the cargo vessel that collided with a key Baltimore bridge last week as it was supposed to declare the contents of containers only 72 hours before the time of arrival into the Colombo Port, officials here said. The Singapore-flagged container ship vessel Dali, which was mainly manned by an Indian crew, collided with the 2.6-km-long four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore in the early hours of March 26. The 984-foot cargo ship was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ship was carrying 764 tonnes of hazardous materials as reported by the US media. According to the information available, there are 57 containers with such toxic materials that can be categorised under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. The waste included mostly corrosives, flammables, miscellaneous hazardous materials, and Class-9 hazardous materials, including explosives & lithium-ion batteries in 56 ...