ANI: Wishing India on its 77th Independence Day, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Tuesday said, he is confident that bilateral ties will be “further strengthened” between the two nations.

“Warm Greetings, Foreign Minister @DrSJaishankar and the Government &
people of #India on the occasion of your Independence Day. I am confident that in the years ahead our bilateral ties will be further strengthened between our two nations India and Sri Lanka,” Sabry wrote on Twitter.

Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud also extended the wishes on the occasion.

“As India celebrates its 77th Independence Day, I would like to convey warm greetings and felicitations to H.E. @DrSJaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India. Wish Happy Independence Day to the people and Government of India!” he said.

The United States Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, attended the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort here today and extended his greetings.

He also said that it is an “honour” to be present at the “iconic Red Fort.”
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also extended his
wishes on India’s 77th Independence Day.

“On behalf of the United States of America, we send our warmest wishes to
the people of India as they commemorate 76 years of independence this August 15. On this momentous day, we reflect on the depth and breadth of our strategic partnership, and we celebrate the proud history of the Indian people, who are the key to the bright future we are building together,” Antony Blinken said in a
statement.

Blinken noted that the relationship between India and US has grown “deeper” and it has become “more expansive than ever.”

Calling India a “fastest-growing major economy,” Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong also wished the countrymen on the 77th Independence Day.

“Happy 77th #IndependenceDay to our dearest friends! Frm ’s largest
democracy, to fastest growing major econ, tech epicentre & more – has
much to celebrate & aspire towards. is proud to be steadfast partner & look
fwd to scaling greater heights tgt!,” Wong said on Twitter.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the tricolour at Red Fort in
the national capital and addressed the nation. He highlighted the
country’s development and said that decisions and the work done by the
country today will impact its future for the coming 1000 years.

Source: ANI

New Delhi (MINT): An India-Sri Lanka power line project that hopes to link power grids between the two countries is in advanced stages of negotiation. A detailed project report (DPR) has been completed and is being reviewed prior to formal approval. The proposed power line received a boost from president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India in July.

“We have decided that the work of connecting the electricity grids between the two countries will be expedited,” said Prime Minister Modi in a statement during Wicrekemsinghe’s visit.

Mint had reported in January this year that the public sector Power Grid Corporation of India had prepared a preliminary report for the project. Mint reported that the interconnection would take place through overhead power lines and not subsea cables.

Talks on establishing power grid connectivity have been on for over a decade now. In 2010, the two countries agreed to explore the feasibility of linking their grids through an undersea cable. The proposal was dropped due to cost concerns.

Power grid connectivity will serve several purposes. First, it will help crisis-hit Sri Lanka improve its energy security after the country saw widespread power shortages in 2022. These outages, along with the country’s raging economic crisis, contributed to the fall of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The project may also eventually allow Sri Lanka to sell power to India and earn vital foreign exchange in the long term.

“India today has a very robust power grid running from North to South and East to West of the country. In the future we would like to see the grid connected to neighbouring countries including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and then expand that connection to South-east Asian countries, to emerge as a unified market,” said Ajay Tewari, additional secretary, ministry of power in December 2022.

India has been keen to explore the possibility of creating a South Asian market for the power trade. It has established power grid connectivity with neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. According to media reports, India, Nepal and Bangladesh may have already finalised a draft text for a tripartite power trade agreement.

The project can also help India move ahead with its ‘One World One Sun One Grid’ (OSOWOG) programme under the International Solar Alliance.

Source: MINT

Colombo (LNW): The second term school holidays will begin on August 17, 2023 and will be applied to both government and government-approved schools, announced the Education Ministry.

The schools are scheduled to reopen on August 28, 2023.

By: Isuru Parakrama

Colombo (LNW): A proposal seeking compensation for crop damages occurred due to the prevailing drought condition will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers next week, revealed Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.

The government of Sri Lanka intends to provide compensation for the cultivation lands which at the moment are entirely or partially damaged due to the drought situation, the Minister pointed out, adding that he verbally presented facts pertaining to the matter to the Cabinet yesterday (14).

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka Telecom has suffered a net loss of Rs. 2.1 billion at Group level in the second quarter of FY23 as against a profit of Rs. 1.96 billion a year ago.

At Company level the loss was Rs. 1 billion in comparison to a profit of Rs. 4.2 billion in 2Q of FY22.

For the first half, Group loss was Rs. 1.16 billion as against a profit of Rs. 4.6 billion. At Company level the loss was Rs. 401 million in comparison to a profit of Rs. 8.3 billion.

In a statement SLT said the 2Q loss was due to cost escalations and impairment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) assets. SLT PLC staff costs account for 36.8% of Operating Costs.

The statement said while SLT PLC had 2.4% (Rs.400 million) revenue growth, Mobitel recorded 9.3% (Rs.1,066  million) de-growth during Q2 of FY23 compared to Q2 of FY22.

Group revenue, therefore, decreased by 2.8% (Rs.763 million) from Q2’22 to Q2 of FY23. SLT PLC revenue increase was driven by growth in Broadband, IPTV, and Enterprise revenue streams.

 However, such increase was slowed down due to decrease in International Transit revenue (90.3%, Rs. 614 million) during Q2 of FY23,

 SLT PLC revenue growth was primarily hindered due to delay in monetisation of fibre network and customer churn. 

Revenue de-growth in Mobitel was due to significant decline in subscriber base. Subscriber base contracted by 1 million from June 2022 to June 2023.

Group Opex increased by 15.1% (Rs. 2,513 million) in Q2 of FY23 compared to corresponding quarter in previous year. 

Group EBITDA dropped by 31.9% (Rs. 3,276 million) during Q2 of FY23 due to decrease in Mobitel EBITDA by 61.9% (Rs. 3,064 million). 

Accordingly, Group Operating Profit, PBT and PAT were also decreased by 92.7% (Rs. 3,121 million), 161.3% (Rs. 6,039 million) and 208.0% (Rs. 4,076 million) respectively. 

SLT Group’s revenue growth was stagnant for the 1st half of 2023 to record Rs. 52.7 million, a 0.4% degrowth compared to the same period last year. At a company level, SLT revenues grew by 6.4% to Rs. 34.6 billion for the 1st half of 2023.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Former top Google executive Mo Gawdat is to visit Sri Lanka during which he will discuss the future of AI.

Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts will welcome Mo Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer of Google [X], for a profound keynote discussion on the future of AI and organization happiness, at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo on 28 August.

With his expertise in navigating Al and its journey, he will sit down for a meaningful conversation here in Sri Lanka, to explore the entity while questioning ‘what is the future of technology and human performance?’.

Thus, ‘Mindful solutions with Mo Gawdat’ will be a well-timed initiative by Cinnamon to set forth a thought-provoking discussion on the succession of AI and the necessity of steering the said bandwagon of AI to optimize its potential while simultaneously balancing its use in the evolving technological landscape, organizers of  Ex Google executive’s visit said.

Additionally, he would be exploring organisational happiness, a discovery he pursued preceding a 30-year career in technology. Gawdat began a quest on the meaning of happiness, digging deep into its related literature and discussing the topic with those who can lead insights with regard. This led to his international best-selling book,

Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy and later initiated the #OneBillionHappy campaign, a self-driven mission to make one billion people happy.

Three years ago, he launched his chart-topping podcast, Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat, a weekly series of extraordinary interviews that explores the profound questions and obstacles people all face in the pursuit of purpose and happiness in daily life.

In 2021, Mo published his second book, Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World, a roadmap detailing how humanity can ensure a symbiotic coexistence with AI when it inevitably becomes a billion times smarter than humans.

While his latest book, That Little Voice in Your Head: Adjust the Code That Runs Your Brain (2022), counter compliments his previous book with a comprehensive user manual for optimally using the human brain to thrive and avoid suffering.

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Colombo Area Vice President Kamal Munasinghe said: That in the spirit of progress, Cinnamon recognises the importance of embracing AI discussions across all industries.

 And as an emerging nation, it is crucial to grasp the full spectrum of AI’s impact, both positive and negative, and leveraging advanced tech tools and aim to foster meaningful conversations that pave the way for responsible AI adoption.

“Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo is thrilled to welcome Mo Gawdat, an internationally renowned business leader and keynote speaker, to Sri Lanka. By hosting such events, we demonstrate Sri Lanka’s potential as a leading destination and showcase our ability to embrace cutting-edge technology,” Munasinghe added.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): While revealing that the total value of non-performing loans of all 30 banks functioning in Sri Lanka currently is Rs 1.4 trillion, the State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya assured that steps would safeguard the economy.

“It is the banks that safeguard the country’s economy. More than 60 per cent of the total deposits in banks in Sri Lanka are less than Rs 5,000. Most of the deposits in banks are held by the poor people of the country. Therefore, the government will always safeguard them.” the State Minister told Parliament.

“Banks have recovered only a total of Rs 17 billion through Parate Execution during the past few years. Parate execution right is the rights given to banks to recover non-performing loans by auctioning assets which the borrowers had kept as collateral when obtaining loans.

 Banks have the legal rights to perform Parate execution to recover loans more than Rs 5 million,” the State Minister said.

 Sri Lanka’s banking sector is now saddled with additional pressure from the ever increasing non-performing loans given to covid-19 hit businesses and individuals under government’s relief scheme, finance ministry data underlined.

The coronavirus outbreak coupled with economic crisis and the resultant prolonged business disruptions have made it impossible for borrowers to repay their loans given under the scheme resulting bank’s credit profiles twisted to the down side, several general managers of leading banks disclosed.

Some of these banks are facing multiple challenges at present, including muted loan growth, margin declines amid lower interest rates, and rising loan-impairment charges due to asset-quality pressures, they claimed.

Asset quality in banks was deteriorating for the last 3 years. The construction sector, which the banks had the highest credit exposure to, often suffered liquidity shortages as a result of the delays in receivables from the state sector.

The banks experienced the construction-related non-performing loans (NPLs) rising. In addition, the tourism sector was impacted due to economic crisis.

There was a sharp increase in NPLs of banks with the expiration of the moratorium period,” general manager of a leading bank said.

According to latest Finance Ministry data, a massive sum of Rs. 1.6 trillion with accumulated interest as at March 31 2023 has to be repaid to the local banking sector by business enterprises, SMEs and individuals, hit by Covid -19 and subsequent economic crisis.

It has been indicated that non-settled loans obtained by affected business owners and persons under concessionary terms in five stages are now amounting to Rs1.6 trillion and it was 15.65 percent from the total debt stock.

Sri Lanka’s small and medium businesses are forced to default loans taken at a low interest of 7 percent at that time as the interest rates have been increased to 13 percent pushing them into in more trouble.