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  • ‘No Indian troops in Lanka’

    ‘No Indian troops in Lanka’

    Indian High Commission in Colombo, clarifying the country stand over the issue, said that India stands with the people of Sri Lanka….reports Asian Lite News

    India has categorically denied reports about it sending troops to Sri Lanka.

    Earlier, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said in a tweet that India should send the military to Sri Lanka if Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requests any such assistance.

    Indian High Commission in Colombo, clarifying the country stand over the issue, said that India stands with the people of Sri Lanka.

    “The High Commission would like to categorically deny speculative reports in sections of media and social media about India sending her troops to Sri Lanka. These reports and such views are also not in keeping with the position of the Government of India” it tweeted.

    “The spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs of India clearly stated today that India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established institutions and constitutional framework,” the High Commission added.

    Swamy, in his tweet, has said, “Both Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa were elected in a free election with thumping majority. How can India allow a mob to overturn such a legitimate election? Then no democratic country in our neighbourhood will be safe. If Rajapaksa wants India’s military help we must give.”

    ALSO READ: Lanka Economic crisis: A gift from China’s BRI

  • Lanka Economic crisis: A gift from China’s BRI

    Lanka Economic crisis: A gift from China’s BRI

    Ironically, China, which offered high-interest loans for infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, has refused to assist the island nation and remained quiet during its current crisis….reports Asian Lite News

    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had recently accepted the fact that the island nation is participating in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a “bankrupt country.”

    Sri Lanka is not the only country that is suffering from the economic crisis, Nepal Maldives and Pakistan are also going through a rough patch. And this all is actually a gift from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), The Hill reported.

    Ironically, China, which offered high-interest loans for infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, has refused to assist the island nation and remained quiet during its current crisis.

    President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who along with his brother, former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was responsible for Sri Lanka’s heavy borrowing from China – recently lamented that South Asian countries in financial trouble are not getting the same attention from Beijing as before.

    Earlier, Rajapaksa claimed that his request to Chinese President Xi Jinping for a USD 1 billion loan to buy essential goods had gone unanswered and also informed that Sri Lanka was unable to tap a USD 1.5 billion credit line from Beijing, reported The Hill.

    It is pertinent to mention that Sri Lanka’s budget deficit is currently 13 per cent of its GDP and there is less than USD 2 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

    According to the publication, China, for years, has been trying to trap India and force the United States out of South Asia through tricks like bribing the elites and also offering other nations massive loans for grandiose infrastructure projects.

    China now faces the prospect of diminished influence in a region where a few years ago its footprint seemed to be growing.

    The recent economic crisis in Sri Lanka shows that China’s lending loans are based less on economic viability and more on giving China a strategic advantage.

    Hambantota port, located around 250 km from Colombo was built with high-interest Chinese loans. The Sri Lankan government struggled to repay the debt they had taken from China following which the port was handed over to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. With little trade flowing through Hambantota, China can use that for their military purpose, according to The Hill.

    This is a tragic fall for a country that has ranked the highest in its region in human development indices and, until recently, had a higher GDP per capita (USD 3,850) than India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. Even in 2019, Sri Lanka had USD 7.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves. But expensive and unproductive infrastructure projects have become a major factor in the country’s economic decline.

    Other countries in South Asia have also been saddled with Chinese-funded white elephants — projects whose cost, particularly maintenance, is disproportionately higher than their economic return. Chinese lending caused a severe economic crisis two years ago in the Maldives. Nepal, which also borrowed from China for infrastructure projects, faces a balance of payments challenges.

    Other than Sri Lanka, China’s closest friend Pakistan is also suffering from the economic crisis. Currently, Pakistan is negotiating with the IMF to avert defaulting on its financial obligations.

    The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an infrastructural project, which was once trumpeted as a game-changer for Islamabad has now turned into the Chinese effort to find a foothold on the coast of the Arabian Sea and close to the oil-producing Gulf states.

    Servicemen are seen on duty on a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 10, 2022. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua/IANS)

    China is Pakistan’s single largest creditor. Pakistan’s external debt stands at USD 131 billion, of which USD 41 billion is owed to multilateral creditors and almost USD 19 billion to China.

    Instead of bolstering Pakistan’s economy, the heavy borrowing from China and economic mismanagement have resulted in double-digit inflation and erosion in the value of the Pakistani rupee. During the latest crisis, China has offered nuclear-armed Pakistan further loans, but that would only further draw the country into China’s “debt trap”, The Hill reported.

    The economic problems in both Sri Lanka and Pakistan are partly structural. Elites in both countries pay little in taxes while supporting large military budgets. An endless war against the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, and against India and Afghanistan in Pakistan’s case, is hardly conducive to investment. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: China issues security warning after sale of stolen data

  • SL military chief refutes claims of troops movement

    SL military chief refutes claims of troops movement

    “There is no such attempt to attack or disturb ‘the Aragala Bhumiya’,” Sri Lanka military chief said….reports Asian Lite News

    Amid the ongoing protests in Sri Lanka over the economic and political crisis, the Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka, General Shavendra Silva denied the social media reports of military personnel marching towards Galle Face protest site on Monday.

    “There is no such attempt to attack or disturb ‘the Aragala Bhumiya’ as falsely circulating in social media now,” Ministry of Defence Spokesman said quoting the Chief of Defence Staff, General Shavendra Silva as he refuted the fabricated information.

    In another official statement, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka also denied the rumours of a military operation to occupy the Aragalaya struggle ground at this moment.

    “Do not panic, continue your struggle peacefully and non-violently,” Fonseka said.

    The protests demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa started off on April 9. Since then it has been continuing 24/7 irrespective of the adverse weather and other shortcomings.

    Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)

    People from all walks of life — doctors, lawyers among others — have since gathered at Galle Face vowing their support to the protests.

    Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts affecting a large number of the people, resulting in massive protests over the government’s handling of the situation.

    The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a fall in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reckless economic policies, like the government’s move last year to ban chemical fertilizers in a bid to make Sri Lanka’s agriculture “100 per cent organic”.

    Due to an acute shortage of Foreign exchange, Sri Lanka recently defaulted on the entirety of its foreign debt amounting to about USD 51 billion.

    The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice. Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation have fuelled the shortages. The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.

    Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year.

    The development comes after protesters stormed into President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official home and later broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence and set it on fire on Saturday.

    Both President Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe have announced to step down from their posts amid the ongoing protests. (ANI)

    Rs 17 million recovered from President’s house

    Protesters who stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house on Saturday amid the country’s worst economic crisis have recovered cash of over Sri Lankan Rupees 17 million from the mansion and handed it over to the police, local media reported.

    According to Sri Lanka’s newspaper, News Wire, the recovered money was handed over to the police.

    A video was being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthed.

    Earlier on Saturday, Sri Lankan commoners stormed into President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official home and later broke into Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence and set it on fire.

    Both President Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe have announced to step down from their posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.

    Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress.

    The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.

    Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation have fuelled the shortages. The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down

  • Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down

    Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down

    Rajapaksa’s resignation comes after thousands of people stormed into the President’s House in Fort on Saturday….reports Asian Lite News

    Amid mounting pressure from protesters, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he is resigning from his post.

    Rajapaksa has informed that he will be resigning as previously announced, the Prime Minister’s media unit said, according to Colombo Gazette.

    Earlier, on Saturday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced in a press conference that the President will resign from his post on July 13.

    Rajapaksa’s resignation comes after thousands of people stormed into the President’s House in Fort on Saturday.

    Even Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also announced to step down from their posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.

    Shocking visuals float on social media as Lankans mark their protest against Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Photo Credit: Twitter)

    The dramatic visuals came from PM’s official residence where they were seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in park premises and preparing food for dinner.

    The worsening economic situation in the country has led to increasing tensions and over the last few weeks, there were reports of several confrontations between individuals and members of the police force and the armed forces at fuel stations where thousands of desperate members of the public have queued for hours and sometimes days.

    Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice. Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation have fuelled the shortages.

    The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty – some for the first time – adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: Sri Lankan PM Wickremesinghe resigns

  • SL crisis should be warning to us all: UNDP

    SL crisis should be warning to us all: UNDP

    As interest rates rise in response to soaring inflation, there is a risk of triggering further recession-induced poverty that will exacerbate the crisis even more, accelerating and deepening poverty worldwide….reports Asian Lite News

    With the war in Ukraine dragging on, countries already under pressure from the knock-off effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, risk seeing the same economic crisis as Sri Lanka, the UN said on Thursday as it advised the international community to introduce radical financial measures to help countries saddled with debt.

    “We’re witnessing a tragic series of events that are unfolding in Sri Lanka right now that should be a warning to anyone who thinks that, you know, it is up to countries themselves to figure out how to deal with this crisis,” said Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in reference to the South Asian nation’s debt default last month – the first in its history.

    “That default essentially means the country is no longer able to pay – or not only service – its debt, but actually to import fundamental parts of what keeps an economy alive, whether it is petrol or it is diesel, whether it is fuel, whether it is medicines,” UN News quoted Steiner as saying.

    The warning came as new data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicated that the number of people affected by hunger globally rose to 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020, and 150 million since the outbreak of coronavirus.

    In a report released on Thursday, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned that soaring inflation rates have seen an increase in the number of poor people in developing countries by 71 million in the three months since March 2022.

    As interest rates rise in response to soaring inflation, there is a risk of triggering further recession-induced poverty that will exacerbate the crisis even more, accelerating and deepening poverty worldwide.

    Developing countries, grappling with depleted fiscal reserves and high levels of sovereign debt as well as rising interest rates on global financial markets, face challenges that cannot be solved without urgent attention by the global community.

    Analysis of 159 developing countries globally indicate that price spikes in key commodities is already having immediate and devastating impacts on the poorest households, with clear hotspots in the Balkans, countries in the Caspian Sea region and Sub-Saharan Africa (in particular the Sahel region), according to the UNDP estimates.

    This report zooms in on the insights provided by the two briefs of the UN Secretary-General Global Crisis Response Group on the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine.

    “Unprecedented price surges mean that for many people across the world, the food that they could afford yesterday is no longer attainable today,” says UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. “This cost-of-living crisis is tipping millions of people into poverty and even starvation at breathtaking speed and with that, the threat of increased social unrest grows by the day.”

    Policymakers responding to the cost-of-living crisis, particularly in poorer nations, face difficult choices. The challenge is how to balance meaningful short-term relief to poor and vulnerable households, at a moment when most developing countries are struggling with shrinking fiscal space and ballooning debt.

    “We are witnessing an alarming growing divergence in the global economy as entire developing countries face the threat of being left behind as they struggle to contend with the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, crushing debt levels and now an accelerating food and energy crisis”, says Steiner. “Yet new international efforts can take the wind out of this vicious economic cycle, saving lives and livelihoods — that includes decisive debt relief measures; keeping international supply chains open; and coordinated action to ensure that some of the world’s most marginalized communities can access affordable food and energy.”

    Countries have tried to dilute the worst impacts of the current crisis using trade restrictions, tax rebates, blanket energy subsidies and targeted cash transfers.

    The report finds that targeted cash transfers are more equitable and cost-effective than blanket subsidies.

    “While blanket energy subsidies may help in the short term, in the longer term they drive inequality, further exacerbate the climate crisis, and do not soften the immediate blow of the cost-of-living increase as much as targeted cash transfers do,” says report author George Gray Molina, UNDP Head of Strategic Policy Engagement. “They offer some relief as an immediate band-aid, but risk causing worse injury over time.”

    The report shows that energy subsidies disproportionately benefit wealthier people, with more than half of the benefits of a universal energy subsidy favoring the richest 20% of the population. By contrast, cash transfers mostly go to the poorest 40% of the population.

    “Cash in the hands of the people who are reeling from the astronomical price increases to food and fuel will have a widespread impact in positive ways,” Molina says. “Our modeling shows that even very modest cash transfers can have dramatic and stabilizing effects for the poorest and most vulnerable in this crisis. And we know from COVID-19 responses that developing countries must be supported by the global community to have the fiscal space to fund these schemes.” (ANI)

    ALSO READ: UK govt asks citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lanka

  • Sri Lanka hikes key rates to fight inflation

    Sri Lanka hikes key rates to fight inflation

    According to Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the hike in interest rates are at the highest in 21 years….reports Asian Lite News

     In an effort to fight inflation due to the ongoing economic crisis, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s decided to increase the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) by 100 basis points to 14.50 per cent and 15.50 per cent, respectively.

    This was done to tackle the rising domestic inflation, the bank said, adding that these rates are at the highest in 21 years, reports Xinhua news agency.

    The central bank said that they had noted a higher-than-expected increase in headline inflation recently.

    The high inflation is expected to remain in the period ahead, thus the Monetary Board was of the view that a further monetary policy tightening would be necessary to contain any build-up of adverse inflation expectations.

    The central bank said that the policy adjustments would help Sri Lanka stabilise its inflation to between 4 and 6 percent in the medium term.

    The bank said that they considered the impact of tighter monetary conditions on overall economic activity, including the micro, small, and medium scale businesses, and the financial sector performance, among others, against far-reaching adverse consequences of any escalation of price pressures across all sectors of the economy in the near term.

    The bank raised rates by 700 basis points in April but made no further moves at its previous policy meeting in May.

    It comes as annual inflation hit a record high of 54.6 per cent June as the cost of food rose by more than 80 per cent amid the crisis.

    The island nation of 22 million people has witnessed its foreign exchange reserves shrink due to economic mismanagement and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    As a result it has struggled to pay for imports of essential goods, including fuel, food and medicine.

    In May, it defaulted on its debts for the first time in its history after a 30-day grace period to come up with $78 million of unpaid debt interest payments expired.

    The country is currently in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a bailout.

    Sri Lanka’s government has said it needs $5 billion this year in support from the international community, including the IMF.

    BP refuels Lankan flights

    Over 100 flights of Sri Lankan airlines have been refuelled by India’s gas and petroleum refineries company, Bharat Petroleum at Indian airports as a support to the country reeling under its worst economic crisis and facing fuel shortage.

    Taking to Twitter, Bharat Petroleum in a tweet said, “We are pleased to support Sri Lankan Airlines, with the refuelling of their long-haul flights at Indian airports, to overcome the Jet Fuel shortage in their country. So far, more than 100 flights have been refuelled at Trivandrum, Chennai & Kochi airports.”

    Bharat Petroleum Limited has been associated with the Sri Lankan airlines as their refuelling partners for over a decade. It has been refuelling the long-haul flights of Sri Lankan Airlines at the Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Kochi airports for around the last 15 days.

    “These refuellings have been done over the last fortnight by mobilising the assets and manpower for the on-time service, at very short notice. We have been associated with @flysrilankan for over a decade, as their refuelling partners,” tweeted Bharat Petroleum.

    Recently, it was reported that Sri Lankan Airlines is now bracing for potential cancellations of its flights until July 18 as the jet fuel reserves in the country have run out,

    With this looming fuel crisis, Sri Lankan Airlines told the employees that the flight operations will likely be impacted until the 18th of this month.

    Sri Lankan management while issuing an internal memo to its employees last week, announced that the airline ran out of available jet fuel stocks on June 29 and added that due to this the services will be affected.

    In an advisory earlier, the Sri Lankan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on June 28 issued a notice to the airlines to carry fuel for their return journeys. This is because Sri Lanka’s oil and gas company — Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) — has failed to import the required jet fuel into the country due to the foreign exchange crisis.

    It is worth noting that the daily fuel usage of Sri Lankan Airlines out of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) is around 700,000 litres. However, the airport only managed to secure approximately 250,000 litres per day on average. (IANS/ANI)

    ALSO READ: UK govt asks citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lanka

  • UK govt asks citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lanka

    UK govt asks citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lanka

    Tourism accounts for 5 per cent of Sri Lanka’s GDP, with India, China and the UK being the country’s main markets…reports Asian Lite News

    Britain and New Zealand have joined a growing list of countries that has asked its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka, as the island nation continues to reel under an unprecedented economic crisis that has caused an acute shortage of essentials and sparked incidents of violent clashes.

    Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948, and needs to obtain at least USD 4 billion to tide over the acute shortage in foreign exchange reserves.

    On Wednesday, the UK’s Foreign Office put Sri Lanka on its No Go’ travel list.

    Sri Lanka is experiencing a severe economic crisis which has led to shortages of basic necessities including medicines, cooking gas, fuel and food. There is a major shortage of fuel (diesel and petrol) affecting transport, businesses, and emergency services. There are daily power cuts due to electricity rationing, UK’s Foreign Office said.

    This has led to protests and violent unrest. Further protests, demonstrations, roadblocks and violent unrest could occur at short notice, it added.

    Similarly, New Zealand on Wednesday also issued a travel advisory refraining its citizens from travelling to Sri Lanka due to the multiple incidents of violent clashes in public places have been reported in the country and it has resulted in a number of deaths and hospitalisations along with the destruction of property and burning of houses.

    Tourism accounts for 5 per cent of Sri Lanka’s GDP, with India, China and the UK being the country’s main markets.

    However, the pandemic and the Easter Sunday attack in 2019 has severely dented the earnings from this sector and remittances and outflows on foreign investment over the last three years.

    In 2019, almost 200,000 British tourists visited Sri Lanka. That number has dipped to just over 55,000 in 2020 as a result of pandemic-related travel restrictions, according to a report in The Independent newspaper.

    The current warning from the UK comes after a similar travel advisory was put in place on May 16, following a series of violent clashes and protests in the face of a nationwide economic crisis, the report said.

    It was then lifted on 10 June, with Sri Lankan authorities saying that tourism would be welcomed on an island that was hit hard first by the pandemic travel shutdown, then the present economic crisis, it added.

    The US, European Union, Canada, Australia and Ireland are the other nations that continue to main travel advisories against Sri Lanka.

    Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka for the month of June totalled 32,856, recording a marginal increase when compared with the previous month, largely influenced by Australia’s cricket team’s tour of Sri Lanka, which commenced in early June, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.

    For the first half of 2022, a total of 411,337 tourists visited Sri Lanka against the 17,000 tourists in the COVID-hit first half of 2021, it said.

    The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Priantha Fernando said steps would be taken to soften the impact of such warnings.

    On Wednesday, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to restart the services of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot to the country.

    The two leaders also agreed to bolster bilateral ties in sectors like tourism, trade and culture.

    Last week, the Sri Lankan government announced that only essential services will operate from midnight till July 10 and all other operations will be temporarily suspended as the country of 22 million faced an acute fuel shortage.

    In June, the Sri Lankan government announced curbs on fuel distribution, and shut down schools and limited public transport.

    Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

    The Sri Lankan economy has virtually come to a grinding halt after it has run out of foreign exchange reserves to import fuel.

    Sri Lankans continue to languish in long fuel and cooking gas queues as the government is unable to find dollars to fund imports.

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  • Eight more Lankan refugees land at Dhanushkodi

    Eight more Lankan refugees land at Dhanushkodi

    They informed police that they had to wait for five to six days to get cooking gas or kerosene and there were no medicines in government hospitals for the sick…reports Asian Lite News

    With the arrival of eight more Sri Lankan nationals at Tamil Nadu’s Dhanushkodi on Tuesday, the number of refugees who have fled from the island nation after the economic crisis erupted there has crossed 100.

    Kamalarani 43, from Jaffna’s Velvettithurai, and her two sons and a daughter, Lavendran (25) of Velvettithurai, his wife Sasikala (24), their one and half year old child, and Vijayakanth (33) of Chettikulam in Vavuniya district reached Dhanushkodi in an illegal boat ride from Arichalmunai.

    Police from Mandapam station reached the spot after local fishermen informed them of the illegal immigrants and took them to the police station. The refugees informed the police that skyrocketing inflation in the island nation has resulted in their fleeing from that country as they were not in a position to sustain themselves there.

    They informed police that they had to wait for five to six days to get cooking gas or kerosene and there were no medicines in government hospitals for the sick.

    All were later lodged in the Mandapam camp. With the arrival of these eight people, the number of refugees who have touched the Indian shores has reached 104.

    Of those who arrived by illegal ferry, 73-year-old Parameswari died in the Rajaji Hospital, Madurai on Saturday night due to medical issues and exhaustion. Her final rites were carried out in Tiruchi refugee camp on Sunday.

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  • No petrol shipment until July 22: Lanka official

    No petrol shipment until July 22: Lanka official

    The PM’s chief of staff added that a shipment of Diesel of 38,000 MT is also expected to arrive in the country between the 11 and 15 of July….reports Asian Lite News

    Amid the fuel shortage in the country, Sri Lanka’s Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Sagala Ratnayake stated that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has confirmed a Petrol shipment that is likely to arrive in the country on July 22.

    The remarks come as the country continues to struggle with its economic crisis.

    Sagala Ratnayake on Wednesday also mentioned that several discussions and attempts to secure a fuel shipment before the expected date are being carried out, the News Wire reported.

    The PM’s chief of staff added that a shipment of Diesel of 38,000 MT is also expected to arrive in the country between the 11 and 15 of July.

    Ratnayake further claimed that while one Petrol shipment from India is expected to arrive in by July 22 and the CPC has been carrying out efforts to secure a Petrol shipment by July 10.

    A total of 11,000 MT of Diesel, 5,000 MT of Petrol, 30,000 MT of Furnace Oil, and 800 MT of Jet Fuel are currently available in the country, the News Wire reported citing Ratnayake.

    The current Diesel stocks in the country will only be used for essential service until the arrival of a new shipment.

    33,000 MT of gas will arrive in the country in July, and a total of 100,000 MT of gas will be procured for the next four months, the local media reported.

    Shipments are due on 6th, 10th, 16th, 19th, 21st, and 31st July, it added.

    As per News Wire, the LP Gas will be purchased by Litro with assistance from the world bank, and the agreement will be signed on June 29 or June 30.

    Meanwhile, reports claim that several doctors and bankers in the country are protesting against the lack of fuel reserves.

    “This is an impossible situation, the government has to give us a solution,” secretary of the All Island Nurses Union H.M. Mediwatta said.

    Notably, Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

    The nearly-bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt.

    The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services. Food production in the last harvest season was 40 – 50 per cent lower than last year, and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilizers, fuel and credit shortages.

    Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: TN police find two Lankan refugees at Rameswaram

  • TN police find two Lankan refugees at Rameswaram

    TN police find two Lankan refugees at Rameswaram

    Rameswaram is the closest Indian city to Sri Lanka. Rameswaram is the closest point from which to reach India from Sri Lanka….reports Asian Lite News

    Amid the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, many citizens are fleeing the island nation. On Monday, two Sri Lankan refugees were found on Rameswaram island and they are investigated by the Tamil Nadu Police.

    “Two Sri Lankan refugees who arrived at the Gothandaramar Temple beach in Rameswaram island, are being investigated by Q Branch police and Central State Intelligence,” reported Q Branch Police.

    The Q Branch is one of the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) wings of the Tamil Nadu police.

    Rameswaram is the closest Indian city to Sri Lanka. Rameswaram is the closest point from which to reach India from Sri Lanka.

    The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has triggered an exodus. They are economic refugees, trying to escape a dire situation in Sri Lanka, which is reeling under a severe economic crisis.

    Earlier in March, three Sri Lankan Tamils were booked under various sections of the Indian Passport Rule and the Foreigners Act and remanded in custody following a Rameshwaram court order.

    Tamils who have no way to survive due to the shortage of food, and high inflation following the economic crisis in Sri Lanka are preparing to leave the island nation and enter India as refugees.

    In this situation, the first group of six Sri Lankan Tamils, including three children from Kokkupidiyan and Mannar, next to the Sri Lankan Chilawathurai, came in a mysterious boat from Pesalai and got stuck in a sand dune islet near Dhanushkodi. They were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard.

    The second group of 10 Sri Lankan Tamils arrived at the bridge near Dhanushkodi in a private plastic boat from Vavuniya last night. A group of two men including three women, and 5 children were taken to the Marine Police Station by the Dhanushkodi Coastal security wing Police.

    They were interrogated by the Immigration Department, Intelligence, Indian Coast Guard and Q-Branch police.

    Notably, Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

    The nearly-bankrupt country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt.

    The economic crisis has particularly impacted food security, agriculture, livelihoods, and access to health services. Food production in the last harvest season was 40 – 50 per cent lower than last year, and the current agricultural season is at risk, with seeds, fertilizers, fuel and credit shortages.

    Sri Lanka is one of the few nations named by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage expected this year. (ANI)

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