News
Use of INR in Tourism and Trade aids Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery and Growth
The High Commission of India, on 02 March, organized a discussion on the use of the Indian Rupee (INR) for economic transactions between India and Sri Lanka. Representatives from the Bank of Ceylon, State Bank of India, and the Indian Bank, shared their experiences and informed the audience that they had started carrying out INR-denominated trade transactions, through respective Vostro/Nostro accounts, after the creation of enabling framework by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in 2022.
The participating banks also outlined the benefits of settlements denominated in INR, which includes shorter timelines, lower exchange costs, and easier availability of trade credits, etc. The beneficial impact of this initiative, on the tourism and hospitality industry, was also highlighted, including its role in helping increase collections which could be utilized by other sectors.
A team from RBI joined the discussion in the online format and indicated the possibility of settlement of current account transactions in goods, as well as services, in INR, apart from the option of undertaking permitted capital account transactions. The RBI team referred to the close cooperation with CBSL and RBI’s commitment to further facilitate this process.
State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe appreciated the close economic relationship between the two countries and the financial and humanitarian support extended by India over the past year, including the strong financing assurances provided by India, in context of the IMF support programme for Sri Lanka. Governor of the CBSL, Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, mentioned the strong desire among Indian and Sri Lankan business communities for enabling trade settlements in INR. He called for expanding this facility, over a period of time, to utilize it for the full range of capital and current account transactions. Governor of the CBSL also appreciated the wide-ranging participation from stakeholders in Sri Lanka and India which included more than 300 attendees in the physical format, apart from those that joined online.
High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, highlighted the positive impact that the initiative will have in the joint efforts for building a stronger and closer economic partnership between the two countries, through trade and investment led measures. He also mentioned the ongoing cooperation between India and Sri Lanka in the area of digital payments and the potential it possesses for enhancing the economic relationship between the two countries.
Participants from Sri Lanka included officials from the CBSL, Government of Sri Lanka, representatives from business and industry, including the tourism sector, media personnel, bank representatives, economists and journalists. Participants from India that connected in the online format, included representatives from RBI, Government of India, trade and industry associations and export promotion councils.
An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as “extremely high risk” by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The four girls, who were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July, were monozygotic quadruplets – where a single fertilised egg splits into four embryos.
The hospital said the girls’ mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham, already had four children and were taken by “immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, who cared for the mother from the start of her pregnancy, estimated identical quadruplets occur “at one in every 15 million pregnancies” and said “but to share the same placenta – this is unheard of”.
Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na’amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.
“We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” Bendall said.
“So the fact that we’ve got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible and we’re very happy to be a part of it,” she added.
“Jenitar has taken everything in her stride from day one… she has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” Bendall said.
The newborn girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and also Alexa, after Alexa Bendall, who described it as “a beautiful tribute”.
The babies will stay in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until they grow to full term and are “currently doing extremely well”, Bendall added.
The parents’ other children are between one and 10 years old and the mother has recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help buy a van with at least 10 seats.
In a message alongside the fundraiser, which has already received over A$37,000 (£19,261) in donations, Na’amoana wrote: “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.
(BBC)
… bribe giver departs Colombo port
The Merchant Shipping Secretariat (MSS) is investigating a complaint received from the Captain of an Indonesian flagged vessel Sensho that he had to pay an official USD 5,000 bribe to facilitate what our sources called port state control inspection.
Sources said that the cement carrier arrived at the Colombo Port, on Friday, and departed after having passed the rigorous inspection. Responding to queries, sources said that after paying the bribe, the vessel’s Captain has lodged complaints with MSS and the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
In spite of the government’s high profile anti-corruption drive there seemed to be fresh cases, sources said, adding that MSS had received a comprehensive complaint. The vessel had departed Colombo for Jeddah, sources said.
“The issue at hand is whether there have been unreported cases of MSS personnel receiving bribes,” sources said, acknowledging that the Captain, instead of immediately bringing the demand for USD 5,000 bribe to the MSS, had paid it and departed Colombo. (SF)
An opposition political group, styled as Dinana Dakuna, has accused the Committee of Public Finance (COPF) of protecting the masterminds behind the USD 2.5 mn theft from the Treasury.
Commenting on the recent COPF report on the theft, the group has alleged that the all-party parliamentary grouping made an attempt to shift the blame to the Central Bank as part of a cover-up. It has described the COPF report as a deliberate attempt to suppress the truth.
The group said that the COPF conveniently asserted that the theft took place due to the inexperience of officers concerned, thereby diverting the attention from those who perpetrated it.
An alleged attempt to portray the collapse of the administrative set-up that led to the USD 2.5 mn theft as a human resource problem, has also been questioned by Dinana Dakuna.
Rare identical quadruplets born in Australia
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts
Merchant Shipping Secretariat probes bribery scandal
Theft of USD 2.5 mn: Dinana Dakuna claims COPF trying to protect mastermind
COPF chief slams security sticker scam
CAA urged to protect soap users
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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