Sri Lanka Financial News

The study uses a Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) to assess various aspects of mental health. Participants are categorized based on their scores, ranging from «thriving» to «distressed.» In the rankings for 2023, the Dominican Republic topped the list with the highest average MHQ (91), followed by Sri Lanka (89) and Tanzania (88). Conversely, Uzbekistan had the lowest average MHQ (48), with the UK following closely at 49.

the scene of the city’s worst mass killing in recent memory says he did not know the accused killer lived there.Ottawa police allege 19-year-old Sri Lankan national Febrio De-Zoysa murdered a mother, and her four children along with a family acquaintance. The youngest victim was just a few months old.

NPCI on Friday announced that Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is now live in neighbouring Nepal. UPI users can scan QR codes to make payments to Nepalese merchants, said an official statement. This comes after a tie-up between the National Payments Corporation of India International Payments (NIPL) and Nepal's largest payment network Fonepay Payment Service in September last year. In its first phase, the partnership will enable Indian consumers to make instant, secure, and convenient UPI payments across various business stores in Nepal by using UPI-enabled apps, the statement said.

Canada's capital city Ottawa, police said Thursday. Police said they rushed to a home in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven after receiving a call at 11:00 pm Wednesday evening (0400 GMT Thursday).

New Delhi: The plan to restructure Sri Lanka’s debt could be completed by June, two people aware of the matter said, as the island-nation prepared to reach an agreement with its creditors in the coming months. "We expect that the agreements will be finalized around June, which will help settle the debt restructuring process with Sri Lanka," said one of the officials mentioned above, requesting anonymity. In May 2022, India's southern neighbour defaulted on its overseas debt after its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948 emptied out foreign exchange reserves.

Standard Chartered Bank, India has appointed Sanjay Gurjar the Co-Head, Client Coverage — Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking (CCIB) for India and South Asia, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Gurjar’s remit will cover Local Corporates & Middle Markets in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Nepal. Prior to this assignment, Gurjar was the Managing Director & Head, Banks & Broker Dealers (BBD), ASEAN & Head Financial Institutions (FI), Singapore.

China on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster «stronger» bilateral ties with Male, weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation. The Defence Minister of the Maldives Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, to discuss enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries. Maumoon and Major General Baoqun «signed an agreement on China's provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties,» the Maldivian defence ministry posted on its X handle. The details of the defence cooperation agreement were not provided.

ANI, Jaishankar emphasized that “big bullies" do not extend aid amounting to USD 4.5 billion when neighbouring countries face distress. EAM Jaishankar at the event on Sunday, “The big change today in this part of the world is what has happened between India and its neighbours.

minister on Sunday said the country's external sector performance has seen a marked improvement year on year with tourism fetching USD 342 million in January 2024, an impressive 122 per cent jump from last year. Speaking in Ruwanwella, his home constituency, Minister of State for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was delving into the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's external sector indicators issued mid-week. Siyambalapitiya said the bank figures show that receipts from tourism had fetched USD 342 million, which is a 122 per cent growth in January 2024 year on year.

13th ministerial conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) got extended and entered into the fifth day as the 166-members couldn’t reach a consensus on key issues of agriculture, fisheries subsidies, ending the moratorium on imposing customs duties on e-commerce transmissions and dispute resolution reform. Moreover, talks on elements on trade inclusiveness, women’s participation in trade, industrial policy and environment, in the draft Abu Dhabi package also remained unresolved. “Members are indicating that additional time will be needed to iron out some of the outstanding issues,” said an official, adding that, for this reason, the informal meeting of heads of delegation and the formal closing session were postponed to Friday.

PM Modi and said that it marks another great moment for the remarkable and exemplary partnership between Mauritius and India. He added that with the digital payment connectivity, the ties between India and Mauritius have entered a new dimension. “Indeed we are making history today on the Islands of Agaléga, where the inauguration of new airstrip, new jetty, and several other development projects.

Sri Lanka’s bustling Colombo airport is busier than it has been in the past few years. Last year, the country welcomed 1.5 million tourists, a fifth of them from India. Long-stay Russians number 300,000 and have transformed some of the country’s southern resort towns, not always for the better.

By Andrea Shalal

Civil Society Organisations Sunday said that there is no mandate for the adoption of the proposed agreement on investment facilitation for development (IFD) which is being negotiated by a group of members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), led by China. A WTO decision of 2004 prohibits negotiations on investment facilitation and efforts are on to bring the issue in through plurilateral means. Around 130 members support the pact. The US, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are also not part of this proposed pact. India and South Africa have opposed it as it neither has the WTO mandate or its members’ consensus and cannot be brought to the formal process in the WTO.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has set a target to further increase aquaculture production to meet rising demand for seafood and to fight global hunger and undernourishment

NTA) has announced that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) will be conducted at exam centres in 14 foreign cities on May 5. This decision comes after requests from aspirants, as the initial information bulletin for the exam did not mention centres outside India. «It has been decided that the exam will also be conducted in 14 foreign cities in 12 countries,» said NTA Senior Director (Exams) Sadhna Parashar. According to NTA Senior Director (Exams) Sadhna Parashar, the exam will be conducted in 12 countries, including cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah (UAE), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Bangkok (Thailand), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Doha (Qatar), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Lagos (Nigeria), Manama (Bahrain), Muscat (Oman), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), and Singapore.

India has slipped to the 85th spot on the Henley Passport Index. India had gone up to 80th position in January when the rankings for 2024 were unveiled. The Henley Passport Index is updated monthly. Six countries still jointly hold the top position in the 2024 Henley Passport Index, offering their citizens visa-free access to a record-breaking number of destinations. The most powerful passports in the world now allow citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Singapore to travel 194 out of 227 destinations worldwide without requiring a visa, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Four EU members have joined them at the top: Germany, Italy, Spain, and France.

New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka may conclude their long-awaited economic and technology cooperation agreement (ETCA) in FY25, two people aware of the matter said. The ETCA, which builds on an earlier free trade agreement (FTA) implemented in 2000, will enhance bilateral trade between the neighbours. India and Sri Lanka re-launched talks on the ETCA in November 2023 after about a five-year hiatus as both sides are keen to deepen the economic relationship between them.

India has allowed exports of onions on government-to-government basis to some countries, on recommendation of the Ministry of External Affairs, said people aware of the matter. One of the persons said a limited quantity of onion exports has been allowed for bilateral purposes though no decision has been taken on lifting a complete ban on onion exports. Details of the exporting agency could not be ascertained. Another person said the government has permitted exports of onions in limited quantities to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bahrain, Bhutan and Nepal, among others.

ALSO READ: IND vs ENG 3rd Test Highlights: Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal shine; India thrash England by 434 runs On the contrary, New Zealand have played 4 Test matches won 3, and lost one. Therefore its PCT percentage is 75. While, Australia played 10 Tests this season, where it registered 6 victories, 3 losses, and 1 resulted in a draw.

ALSO READ: India vs England 3rd Test: Bazball flops spectacularly as IND beat ENG with highest-ever victory margin of 434 runs Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal completed his 200 off 231 balls. Looking at some stats, with his double ton, Yashasvi has now become the only third Indian after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli to hit 200s in successive Tests. Apart from this, he also registered his name in the list of Indian legends who scored double hundreds in the second innings for India.