Thirty-two highly skilled Software Engineers from Sri Lanka whowere recently recruited on work permitsby the new generation technology company iGreenData to work in Australia,visited the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne recently.iGreenData,  headquartered in Melbourne,commenced business in 2018 andis a company with a focus on Cloud, Data and Digital first solutionswith a specific focus in Banking & Financial services domain.

The batch of thirty-two software engineers recruited within a short period is the first set of recruitmentsfrom Sri Lanka by iGreenData which is diversifying its source market for skilled resources. This transpiredin the remarks at the gathering by Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director Frank Rajakulendran, who is of Sri Lankan descent living in Melbourne.RajakulendranappreciatedConsul General KapilaFonseka’s effortsto encourage Sri Lankan talent and provide useful insights that led torecruitment.

Co-Founder and CEO of iGreenDataMax Sundaramstated that with over two hundred staff, iGreenData was ranked in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia awards in 2020 and 2021 and the CRN Fast 50 Australia in 2021.While iGreenDatahas expandedits operations in India to better serve its customers, there is the intention to explore opportunities to commence operations in Sri Lanka in the near future.

Welcoming the Sri Lankan software engineers to the Consulate General, the Consul General thankediGreenData for sponsoring such a large number of Sri Lankansin a single batch. He stated thatit was a timely initiativeas Sri Lanka was looking to promote foreign employment for the skilled sector.

Consul Diana Perera, iGreenDataCo-Founder and Head of Customer Success Praveen Purushothaman and Head of Talent Acquisition Shiv Veluwere also present.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka

Melbourne

28 March, 2022

(REUTERS) Sri Lanka has sought an additional credit line of $1bn from India to import essentials amid its worst economic crisis in decades, Reuters has reported, citing two sources, as the Indian foreign minister began talks with the government of its neighbour.

The island nation is struggling to pay for essential imports of food and fuel after a 70 percent drop in foreign exchange reserves since January 2020 led to a currency devaluation and efforts to seek help from global lenders.

New Delhi has indicated it would meet the request for the new line, to be used for importing essential items such as rice, wheat flour, pulses, sugar and medicine, said one of the sources briefed on the matter.

“Sri Lanka has requested an additional $1 billion credit line from India for imports of essentials,” the second source said. “This will be on top of the $1-billion credit line already pledged by India.”

Both sources declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

The finance and foreign ministries of Sri Lanka, as well as India’s foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sri Lankan finance minister Basil Rajapaksa signed the earlier credit line of $1bn this month in the Indian capital of New Delhi to help pay for critical imports.

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met Rajapaksa on Monday after arriving in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo late the previous day.

“Discussed the economic situation and India’s supportive response,” Jaishankar said on Twitter, with a photograph of the two officials together.

In addition to the credit lines, India extended a $400m currency swap and a $500m credit line for fuel purchases to Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Sri Lanka’s imports stalled, causing shortages of many essential items, after foreign currency reserves fell to $2.31bn by February.

The nation, just off India’s southern tip, has to repay debt of about $4bn in the rest of this year, including a $1bn international sovereign bond that matures in July.

Rajapaksa is set to fly to Washington, DC next month to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue plan.

“India is also very supportive of Sri Lanka’s decision to seek an IMF programme and has given their fullest support,” one of the sources added.

A power cut of seven and a half hours maximum will occur tomorrow as approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

Accordingly;

A – L zones – A 05 hour power cut from 08 am to 06 pm and a 02 and a half hour power cut from 06 pm to 11 pm; a 07 and a half hour power cut total.

P – W zones – A 05 hour power cut from 08.30 am to 06.30 pm and a power cut of 02 hours and 15 minutes from 06.30 pm to 11 pm; a power cut of 07 hours and 15 minutes total

MIAP

There is no shortage of fuel in the country despite the queues evident near the fuel stations, said Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) Sumith Wijesinghe, alleging that the people’s tendency of stockpiling fuel is the reason behind these long queues.

There is a delay in the release of fuel at fuel stations due to overcrowding, but the queues should end in a few days, the CEYPETCO Chief noted, adding that these queues have also been triggered by the price hike declared by the Indian Oil Company (IOC).

In the backdrop, IOC customers are also queuing themselves at CEYPETCO fuel stations to collect fuel, he suggested, urging the people to refrain from stockpiling fuel unnecessarily to meet the needs of the country, including the generation of electricity.

MIAP

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who is on a two-day official tour in Sri Lanka has met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (28).

The Indian External Affairs Minister’s visit is based on the BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to be held in Colombo today. Accordingly, Dr. Jaishankar will be attending the event tomorrow.

Expressing his pleasure on the Indian External Affairs Minister’s arrival, President Rajapaksa has also taken this opportunity to thank India for its debt assistance to Sri Lanka in these crucial times.

A number of celebrations have been organised this year to mark the 75th Anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations, including the issuance of a commemorative coin and a commemorative stamp, a statement by the President’s Media Unit revealed.

Another meeting was held between the Indian External Affairs Minister and Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaska today.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar is also set to visit Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan.

MIAP

Focus has been paid on increasing the prices of train tickets as a solution to the financial crisis befallen the Department of Railway. Several days earlier, there was a sudden hike in train ticket prices but the move was reversed at the Transport Minister’s intervention.

However, trade unions responding to the Railway Department are highly against the idea of increasing train ticket prices and warning that trade union actions will be taken against any price hike.

In response, Subject Minister Dilum Amunugama stated yesterday (28) that the overtime payments of railway workers may have to be slashed should a price surge on tickets not be taken place. The increased loss incurred by the Railway Department amid the fuel price surge has to be recovered, the Minister went on, adding that in doing so, one of the above options has to be compromised.

However, the trade unions also demonstrate their objection against the slashing of overtime payments entitled to the railway workers, stating that their trade union actions will be intensified upon such a move.

Overtime has become an essential element in railway service to maintain the operations and if an action is taken to slash the overtime payments, the entire railway service will collapse instead of the resolving the crisis, warned S.P. Vithanage, President of the All Ceylon Railway General Employees Union.

MIAP