Sri Lanka Financial News

Salvage crews at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore are turning their focus to the thousands of tons of debris sitting atop the massive cargo ship that veered off course last month

Someone with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that the massive container ship that caused the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge experienced apparent electrical issues hours before it left the port

NEW DELHI : India has allowed export of 10,000 tonnes of onion to Sri Lanka through the National Cooperatives Exports Cooperative, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification late on Monday. With this, India has approved as much as 79,160 tonnes of onions for export overriding a ban on shipments imposed in December 2023. The government recently approved an additional 10,000 tonnes of onion export to the United Arab Emirates over and above the 24,400 tonnes allowed earlier.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Bishnu Pada Ray, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has claimed that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, "gifted" the Coco Islands, a part of northern Andaman Islands to Myanmar. Ray, who is the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from the region also criticised the Congress for its allegedly "historical anti-India stance", in an interview with ANI on April 14. Ray claimed that Nehru had reportedly given the Coco Islands to Myanmar as a gift, the publication reported.

MI vs CSK IPL 2024: Rohit Sharma delighted fans by temporarily taking on the role of a bus driver for his team, Mumbai Indians (MI). This playful act occurred as the team returned from their practice session at the Wankhede Stadium. MI will take on their archrivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an IPL 2024 encounter on April 14.

Katchatheevu island an election issue ahead of Lok Sabha polls without thinking of its implications on the India-Sri Lanka relations. The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the Katchatheevu island is in the limelight again with the BJP and the opposition parties engaged in a war of words. Sinha, who had served as India's finance minister, and external affairs minister, said the island falls on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary. «I am extremely dismayed that no other than the prime minister of the country has raised this issue. I am aware of the fact that Katchatheevu was an island which when the maritime, international maritime line was drawn fell on the side of Sri Lanka and therefore went to Sri Lanka.

Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has praised the inform Riyan Parag, saying his potential is there for everyone to see but the Sri Lankan legend fell short of stating that the youngster deserves a place in India's T20 World Cup squad. The 22-year-old is second only to Virat Kohli in the leading run-getter's list this IPL season having scored 261 runs, with a top score of 84 not out and a strike rate exceeding 158. The hard hitter's 76 off 48 balls went in vain as Gujarat Titans overhauled the imposing 196-run total off the last ball of the innings here on Wednesday to break the Royals' four-match winning streak on Wednesday. «I think his (Parag's) potential is there for everyone to see. I think for Riyan it's really about concentrating on Rajasthan and this season, and whatever happens (being considered for T20 World Cup) will happen after that,» said Sangakkara in response to a question about whether the Assam cricketer could be in line for an India berth for the World Cup later this year in the West Indies and the USA.

Odisha were a country, its economy would be larger than Tanzania's, Sri Lanka's or Ghana's. The state has nearly bridged the gap with the national per-capita income. In 2003, its per-capita income was 60% of the national average, and today, it's close to 90%. This convergence was possible as Odisha's economy grew faster (7.4%) than the national average (6.2%). Its population growth rate has slowed to 0.6% a year, compared to 0.9% for the nation. Growth momentum has been evident across sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and services. Additionally, at nearly 10% of its economy and growing at 8% annually, mining has contributed to the state's economic well-being and robust public finances. Thanks to mining royalties, the state has a unique fiscal advantage. It collected non-tax revenue to 3.5% of its GDP a year, compared to 1% for an average Indian state during the last decade.

India on Wednesday said it is and will remain Colombo's most reliable friend and dependable partner as it underlined that New Delhi was willing to offer modern defence equipment to friendly partner countries like Sri Lanka. Addressing the Second India-Sri Lanka Defence Seminar here, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, said that like in other areas, India and Sri Lanka were cooperating closely on security and defence matters. «Because of our geography, our security is interlinked and intertwined. And when we speak of security, we must remember that it has acquired a wider meaning than we have traditionally associated with it,» Jha said and added, after the Covid19 pandemic and impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict, it has come to include energy, health, food and even economic security. The various advanced platforms and equipment developed indigenously in India can also become viable, affordable and modern solutions for the Sri Lankan military, he said.

Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday termed allegations against the Congress over the Katchatheevu island issue as «baseless». The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the Katchatheevu island is in the limelight ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP and the opposition engaged in a war of words over the issue. The island is located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka. In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the «Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement.»

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Wednesday took strong exception to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's remark on Katchatheevu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded an unconditional apology. Accusing the Congress leaders of having «no guilt» for having compromised on our territorial integrity by ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka and for putting the lives of Tamil Nadu fishermen at risk, he said the views expressed by the Congress leaders on the subject only displayed their mindset. «Not a Blade of grass grows there' for Aksai Chin & 'who lives there' for Katchatheevu reflects Congress' mindset,» Annamalai said in a post on 'X' referring to the earlier remark made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Aksai Chin and now Congress leader Digvijaya SIngh's comments on the islet given to Lanka. Annamalai posted a video of Singh criticising Modi for raising the Katchatheevu issue.

DMK in Tamil Nadu, on Katchatheevu and 'Shakti' remarks, accusing them of keeping the «country in the dark» over the island issue and charged them with ill-treatment of women. He especially singled out the DMK over alleged corruption, saying the Dravidian party had the «first copyright» on the issue and added the «family» was intent on looting the state, in an apparent reference to the party's first family, headed by its president and Chief Minister M K Stalin. «The DMK has the first copyright on corruption, the entire family is looting Tamil Nadu,» he said at an election rally here, while canvassing votes for NDA candidates, including BJP nominees for the April 19 Lok Sabha elections in the state. He further charged the DMK with being «a family company,» that was impeding the progress of the state's youth with its «old mindset.»

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore plans to meet this week with members of Congress to discuss support for rebuilding the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge

IPL 2024: Twenty-two year old Sri Lankan spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has been chosen to replace Sunrisers Hyderabad legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Hasaranga was ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to chronic heel pain in his left foot, ESPNcricinfo reported on Tuesday. Follow PBKS vs SRH 2024 IPL Live Score here "Wanindu Hasaranga will be unavailable for the season due to injury.

collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has blocked the main shipping channel at Baltimore's port for nearly two weeks. “I’m going to be spending part of this week with our delegation going down and meeting with leaders and ranking members in the Congress and letting them know that this issue is not partisan. This is a patriotic responsibility to be able to support one of this country’s great economic engines," Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Hindustan Times, Stalin said that the paramount issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is to prevent India from becoming a "totalitarian and unitary state". MK Stalin said that "PM Modi’s return to power is not even beneficial for the BJP. The party will cease to exist; only Modi will remain".

Engineers working to clear the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore say they expect to be able to restore navigation in and out of the port by the end of this month

which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge. Authorities believe six workers plunged to their deaths in the Patapsco River; two bodies have been recovered so far.

Mint. Fourth Partner Energy, which counts TPG Capital’s RISE Fund and Norway’s Norfund as investors, has a current installed green energy capacity of 1.35 gigawatt (GW), with operations in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia; and plans to reach an installed capacity of 3.5GW by 2025. It was founded in 2010 as a solar component and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm.

Sri Lanka's Cabinet has not discussed the Katchatheevu issue so far as it was never raised, a government spokesman said here on Tuesday, after India's ruling BJP blamed the Congress Party for ceding the tiny island to Colombo in 1974. «The Cabinet did not discuss it as it was never raised,» Bandula Gunawardena, the Cabinet spokesman and minister of information told reporters here today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited a media report to assert that new facts reveal that the Congress Party «callously» gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. Jeevan Thondaman told The Indian Express that Sri Lanka “has not received any communication from India" regarding its claim on the Katchatheevu island and if it does, the foreign ministry will reply to it. "As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, Katchatheevu island falls within the Sri Lankan line of control….So far, there has not been an official communication from India to return the powers of Katchatheevu island….If there is such a communication, the foreign ministry will reply to that," Jeevan Thondaman was quoted as saying.