Sri Lanka Financial News

NSA Ajit Doval participated in the 6th NSA-level Meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave on Thursday in Port Louis, Mauritius to give push to steps to stabilise Indian Ocean Region. The Colombo Security Conclave was established in 2020 when India, Sri Lanka and Maldives agreed to expand the scope and membership of their Trilateral Meeting on Maritime Cooperation. Mauritius joined the conclave at the 5th NSA-level meeting of the Conclave on 09-10 March 2022 held in Male, Maldives. Cooperation under the CSC focuses on five pillars of cooperation including maritime safety and security, countering terrorism and radicalization, combating trafficking and transnational organized crime, cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim on Wednesday became only the 11th player in Test cricket history, and first in 22 years, to be given out for "obstructing the field" on the opening day of the second match against New Zealand here. Rahim, who became the first Bangladesh batter to be dismissed in this way, blocked a climbing delivery from New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson in the fourth ball of the 41st over, and then tried to keep the ball away with his right hand even though it was far from the off-stump. The Kiwis quickly appealed and the on-field umpires referred the matter to the TV umpire Ahsan Raza who gave Rahim out.

Adani Ports will meet on December 12 to consider a fundraising proposal through the issuance of non-convertible debentures and non-cumulative redeemable preference shares. «A meeting of the Board of the company will be held on December 12 to consider the proposal for issuance of non-convertible debentures and issuance/renewal of non-cumulative redeemable preference shares, on private placement basis/ preferential basis,» the company said in a filing. The fundraising will be done in one or more tranches. Shares of Adani Ports rallied over 23% in the last five days after the group received a shot in the arm on a Bloomberg report that quoted unnamed officials in the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as saying that the allegations by Hindenburg Research were not relevant. The US agency had recently announced funding of $553 million for the Group's port business in Sri Lanka. In November, Adani Ports recorded strong cargo volumes of around 36 MMT, a robust 42% year-on-year increase. Growth was witnessed across all three broad cargo categories – dry bulk (over 60% YoY), containers (over 26%) and liquids and gas (over 23%). In the eight months of FY24 (April-November 2023), the company handled around 275 MMT of cargo, showing a healthy 21% YoY growth.

Gautam Adani has proved to be a windfall for emerging-market investor Rajiv Jain, just nine months after his firm GQG Partners Inc. bought into the Indian conglomerate. The combined market value of the 10 companies controlled by the Ahmedabad-headquartered Adani Group has increased by more than $79 billion since the purchase by GQG on March 2.

visa policies for nearby international destinations have fueled a surge in airfares, impacting travel choices. Popular and easily accessible destinations like Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia have become visa-free for Indian travelers, leading to a spike in demand and subsequently driving airfares to new highs. Almost all international airlines, with the exception of the United States, have fully resumed connections to India. Indian carriers have also increased flights abroad for the winter season, resulting in more competitive airfares to distant European and North American destinations. According to a TOI report, the Delhi-Phuket economy return this Christmas starts at Rs 50,000, significantly higher than the average of Rs 30,000 a few months ago. In contrast, Delhi-London flights begin at Rs 70,000, a notable reduction from the Rs 90-95,000 range seen during the summer. “In comparison to last year, all international airlines are now operational for routes like Delhi-Dubai, or Saudi and to London, hence airfares for these sectors are down by about 20-25%. On the other hand, airfares for popular Southeast Asian destinations like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have more than doubled in comparison to last year for this period,” a spokesperson for travel portal Yatra told TOI. Anil Kalsi, Vice President of the Travel Agents Federation of India, told TOI that there is a «serious» demand for both domestic and international destinations this winter, with Southeast Asia being particularly popular. The visa-free status has made a significant impact, with destinations like Thailand witnessing a doubling of Indian tourist arrivals after granting visa exemption from November 10, 2023.

Adani Group stocks extended to the fourth day as nine out of 10 stocks traded in the green with Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas rising by 16%. Nifty constituents Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone were the top index gainers in the early trade as they rose 6% and 7%, respectively. On Wednesday, the combined market cap of all Adani Group companies stood at Rs 14.65 lakh crore. Meanwhile, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Power, NDTV, Adani Wilmar and Ambuja Cements gained between 13% and 1.2% around 9:35 am.

Adani Group stocks have been on a roll lately. They leapt after 24 November, when the Supreme Court reserved its judgement on petitions asking for an inquiry of January’s crash triggered by a Hindenburg Research report charging the group with stock manipulation, accounting fraud and much else, all flatly denied by the group.

Indians might be holidaying overseas this Christmas-New Year season than last year as relatively cheaper fares and packages, better connectivity, and easier entry requirements have made the proposition more compelling. Tour and travel companies such as Thomas Cook, SOTC and EaseMyTrip have seen up to 30% uptick in demand for short-haul international routes compared to last year. Packages for many of these destinations are comparable with those for popular domestic spots, as some countries are actively wooing Indian travellers with visa-free entry and by nudging airlines to offer easy connectivity at affordable rates. Consider this.

India head of a destination-management multinational, his job used to be mostly about introducing global clients to exotic vacation spots in his own country. Nowadays, he spends nearly all of his time on taking rich compatriots abroad — for leisure, conferences, and, of course, big, fat, Indian weddings. No surprise, then, that Malaysia’s recent scrapping of visa requirements for Indians and Chinese citizens visiting for 30 days or less has made Yadav a happy man.

Onion prices have nearly doubled in a year. The all-India retail price of onions increased 94.39% to Rs 57.85 a kilogram on November 29 from Rs 29.76 per kg a year ago, according to the government data. This happened despite India continuing to be the world's second largest grower of onions and producing multiple crops a year. How have onion prices moved in the past few months? Onion prices started to climb in Maharashtra’s Pimpalgaon and Lasalgaon wholesale markets, Asia’s largest, in the second week of August.

China and India will be granted visa-free entry to Malaysia for a duration of up to 30 days from December 1, as announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a speech at the People's Justice Party congress on Sunday. The visa exemptions, confirmed by Malaysia's Home Affairs Ministry in a statement on Monday, will be in effect until December 31, 2024. As reported by PTI, China and India represent Malaysia's fourth and fifth-largest tourist markets.

Sri Lanka says it has reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors including India and Japan on debt restructuring

Elephant Mali, who was the star attraction at Manila Zoo for four decades, died on Tuesday. Tributes have poured in for the elephant christened by activists as one of the world's «saddest». Announcing Mali's death in a Facebook video, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said visits to the zoo to see Mali were among her happiest childhood memories. She was seen last Friday constantly rubbing her trunk against a wall. Manila Zoo's Chief Veterinarian Dr Heinrich Patrick Peaa-Domingo said that it indicated that the Asian elephant was in pain.

As the world gathers for CoP-28 in the UAE, world leaders will need to demonstrate leadership and diplomacy to accelerate global climate action. This must be done in the context of the pressing realities of climate change, economic cycles and current geopolitics. My recommendations on what they should do are below: Greater mitigation commitments by developed countries: The carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius was last estimated in 2020.

TOKYO (Reuters) — A group of Sri Lanka's creditor nations are likely to reach an agreement on debt relief and an extension of repayment deadlines for the South Asian nation, Japan's Jiji News reported on Wednesday, without naming a source or giving any details.

Thomas Cook India and its subsidiary SOTC are seeing at least 20% growth in bookings for October-December 2023, from a year ago for these destinations, with their customers favouring either no-visa destinations or those offering easy terms or those granting visas on arrival. Thailand is already seeing 30% growth for the upcoming holiday season over November 2022 and January 2023. It waived visa requirements for Indians, allowing 30 days stay from 10 November to 10 May.

Indian Army and the Air Force, learnt about each other's operational drills and tactics during this exercise, a defence release said. Brigadier S Taluja, Commander, Aundh Military Station, and Major General PGPS Rathnayaka, Sri Lankan Army, addressed the contingents during the closing ceremony.

gender pay gap across sectors in India is well known. But what is liable to raise eyebrows is that even a 'modern' sector like technology, with its sturdy linkages with the global economy and young cohort of workers, suffers from the same malaise. A new Aon PLC report shows that the unadjusted gender pay gap in the tech sector in 2023 is 28-30%, while in junior management, it is 18-20%.

Sri Lanka has paved the way for a $4.5 billion investment by China in Hambantota. The town, which also houses a port that was leased to a Chinese state-owned shipping company in 2017, is at the heart of India’s concerns about growing Chinese influence in New Delhi’s strategic backyard. Mint take a look at the announcement and its implication.

NEW DELHI : Jubilant Foodworks Netherlands BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of food services company Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, is set to acquire 51.16% of DP Eurasia for €73.36 million. JFN already owns 48.84% ordinary shares of DP Eurasia, which operates as an exclusive master franchisee of the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. For funding the acquisition, JFN proposes to use a combination of an existing term loan facility availed from HSBC (which is backed by the corporate guarantee issued by the company), Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

World Cup, would be shifted out of Pakistan or played under hybrid model, reports said on November 27. The tournament could be moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), or played under an Asia Cup-like hybrid model with matches scheduled in both the countries, the media reports claimed.