Tag: Lanka

India secure WTC final berth after New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in thriller

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Delhi: India on Monday qualified for the prestigious World Test Championship (WTC) final after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in the Christchurch game.
India will play Australia in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7.
This is India’s second successive entry into the WTC final, with the previous one coming in the inaugural cycle in 2021, where they lost to New Zealand.
With the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side’s only shot at the WTC final berth hinging on a 2-0 victory against the Kiwis in the away series, the loss for the Islanders ended their hopes of securing a spot.
Australia was the first team to secure a WTC final berth after humbling India by nine wickets in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at Indore, leaving the hosts praying for a favourable result in the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
The result in Christchurch took the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Ahmedabad out of the equation as earlier India had to win the contest to secure the WTC final spot.
Australia is sitting atop the WTC table with 68.52 percentage points (PCT).
Had Sri Lanka won the Test on Monday and strived for victory in the second match at Wellington, their PCT would have jumped from 53.33 to 61.11 — higher than India’s 60.29 before the start of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.

In order to take all the scenarios out of the equation, India had to win the Ahmedabad Test — which would have taken their PCT to 62.5 — and retain their second position on the WTC table.
But with New Zealand acing a record chase of 285 runs on Monday, thanks to former captain Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 121, Sri Lanka were left ruing their chances.
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#India #secure #WTC #final #berth #Zealand #beat #Sri #Lanka #thriller
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 13, 2023
India to face Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship Final at The Oval after Sri Lanka lose to New Zealand by 2 wickets

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New Delhi, Mar, 13: With Sri Lanka losing the first Test against New Zealand in the two-match series, Australia and India have been locked in as the 2023 World Test Championship finalists.
On their tour of New Zealand, Sri Lanka had a possibility to pip India and join Australia in the final at The Oval, London starting June 7. This, only if they could have won the series 2-0, and India didn’t win the final Test in Ahmedabad. Two wins in New Zealand would’ve propelled Sri Lanka’s points percentage (PCT) to 61.11. Whereas, if India are unable to win the fourth Test to Australia, their PCT would be 58.79 or lesser depending on the outcome. With the result in Christchurch being a two wicket win for New Zealand, the permutation and combinations have been thrown out of the window.
Chasing 285 on the final day, New Zealand batters approached a win with Kane Williamson scoring a century in the second innings at the Hagley Oval. With eight runs needed off the last over, New Zealand would seal the game on the last ball of the day with two wickets in hand.
While India and Australia are still in action on the final day of the four match Test series, with the hosts leading 2-1, the result in Ahmedabad won’t effect any of their chances now to feature in the 2021/23 Test cycle final this summer.
Australia had sealed off their place in the final after their nine wicket win in the Indore Test last week, with a 68.51 PCT after that last result. The result in Indore had hit India’s PCT in the tally, as it dipped from 64.06 to 60.29. To not be dependent on Sri Lanka for qualifying in the final, India had to win the series 4-0 or 3-1 but the current holders of the ICC Test mace have done them a favor.
For India, it will be a second consecutive qualification in the summit clash, in which they squared off against New Zealand in the 2019/21 cycle, losing by eight wickets to the Black Caps. Australia on the other hand, had missed out on a final spot last time around by a 0.8 point difference to their Trans-Tasman rivals.
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#India #face #Australia #World #Test #Championship #Final #Oval #Sri #Lanka #lose #Zealand #wickets

( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

March 13, 2023
Sri Lanka plans stop fuel rationing based on QR code

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Colombo: Sri Lanka is planning to do away with the rationing of fuel using a QR code ahead of the National New Year, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) announced on Monday.
The CPC said that it plans to stop issuing fuel on limited basis starting from April 10 ahead of the New Year falls on April 13 and 14.
The decision was taken as the Corporation was receiving sufficient amount of fuel and country’s largest oil refinery is in operation producing nearly 50,000 barrels of fuel per day.
“Plans are underway to ensure continuous supply of crude oil for the refinery,” a CPC spokesman said.
Faced by the worst-ever economic crisis since Independence in 1948, the islanders faced severe shortages of fuel halting transportation and power generation.
Sri Lankans had to queue up for days to purchase fuel and over 15 deaths were reported at the fuel queues.
To ease the congestion, government initially introduced rationing system by issuing fuel based on the vehicle registration number and later in August 2022 introduced a QR code system issuing 20 litres of fuel for light vehicles and 4 litres for petrol for motorbikes.
In addition to CPC, the Indian Oil’s subsidiary Lanka IOC has been operating as the sole private oil company for last 20 years.

It operates over 200 retail petrol and diesel stations around Sri Lanka while owning one-third share in Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited — a joint venture of Lanka IOC and CPC which operates 13 oil terminals across the island nation.
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#Sri #Lanka #plans #stop #fuel #rationing #based #code
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 27, 2023
Sri Lanka refutes TN leader’s claim on LTTE chief’s well-being, calls it a joke

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Colombo: Sri Lanka on Monday dismissed as a “joke” a top Tamil nationalist leader’s claim that LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed in 2009 by the island nation’s military, was still alive.
Pazha Nedumaran, a noted nationalist leader in Tamil Nadu, told reporters in Thanjavur that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “is doing well” and a “conducive atmosphere prevails for him to appear now.” Sri Lanka’s defence ministry dismissed Nedumaran’s claim as a joke.
“It is confirmed that he was killed on 19 May 2009. The DNA has proved it,” Colonel Nalin Herath, Sri Lanka’s defence ministry spokesman told PTI.
In a bitterly fought campaign that began in 1983, Sri Lanka’s military ended the nearly three-decade brutal civil war in the island nation in May 2009, by killing the leaders of the LTTE.
The LTTE was fighting for an independent state for the Tamilians in Sri Lanka’s North and Eastern provinces.
Though the exact date when Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan Army was not known, his death was announced on May 19, 2009.
The then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 18, 2009 declared the end of a 26-year war in which over 1,00,000 people were killed and millions of Sri Lankans, mainly minority Tamils were displaced as refugees inside the country and abroad.

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#Sri #Lanka #refutes #leaders #claim #LTTE #chiefs #wellbeing #calls #joke
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 13, 2023
Sri Lanka celebrates 75 years of independence

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Colombo: Sri Lanka celebrated 75 years of independence on Saturday by holding a military and cultural parade with the participation of a number of foreign special invitees.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena participated in the events held at Galle Face in Colombo, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The parade included armored vehicles of the military, and parades with the participation of troops, including retired officers and disabled officers.
A two-minute silence was observed to commemorate all Sri Lankans who sacrificed their lives for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
The President’s Media Division said that the event was organiSed with great pride and dignity ensuring minimal cost to showcase the pride and past glory of Sri Lanka to the world.
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#Sri #Lanka #celebrates #years #independence

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
Sri Lanka receives over 100K tourists in January

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Colombo: Sri Lanka received more than 100,000 tourists in January 2023, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said.
Fernando told the media on Wednesday that 82,327 tourists arrived in January last year and the number has risen to 102,545 in January this year.
He added that tourist arrivals are increasing due to the improved situation and the promotional activities carried out in the South Asian island country, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Minister, 719,978 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2022.
The country’s earnings from tourism are estimated at more than $1.1 billion last year, compared to $507 million in 2021, according to the central bank.
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#Sri #Lanka #receives #100K #tourists #January

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
After India, China gives financing assurances to Sri Lanka for IMF bailout package

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Colombo: China has given debt-ridden Sri Lanka the financing assurances required by the IMF to unlock a USD 2.9 billion bailout package for the country, days after India strongly backed the island nation’s efforts to secure the loan from the global lender to recover from its worst-ever economic crisis.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that China’s Exim Bank delivered a letter on Saturday granting Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on repayment and agreeing with the International Monetary Fund’s extended fund facility (EFF).
The report was confirmed by Sri Lankan officials who did not want to be named.
The Chinese response came close on the heels of India stepping in first to issue the necessary assurances last week.
India’s ministry of finance last week issued a letter to the IMF to confirm its support to Sri Lanka on the issue of debt restructuring, ahead of the visit by the external affairs minister S Jaishankar to Colombo which concluded on Friday.
Jaishankar during his visit also announced that India has given the required assurances to Sri Lanka for the bailout package.
Sri Lankan officials said that China had agreed to a short-term suspension of what Sri Lanka owed and expects Sri Lankan creditors to get together to work out the medium and long-term commitments.
The IMF in September last year approved Sri Lanka a 2.9 billion dollar bailout package over 4 years pending Sri Lanka’s ability to restructure its debt with creditors — both bilateral and sovereign bond holders.

By the end of June 2022, Sri Lanka owed nearly USD 40 billion to bilateral, multilateral and commercial loans, according to the figures released by the Treasury.
Chinese loans amounted to 20 per cent of the total debt owed and 43 per cent of the bilateral loans.
Sri Lanka in April declared its first-ever debt default in its history as the economic crisis triggered by forex shortages sparked public protests.
Months-long street protests led to the ouster of the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in mid-July. Rajapaksa had started the IMF negotiations after rejecting to tap the global lender for support.
With assurances from creditors, the 2.9 billion dollar facility could get the IMF board approval in March, officials said.
Sri Lanka has introduced painful economic measures such as tax hikes and utility rate hikes. Trade unions and opposition groups have organised protests against such measures.
The IMF bailout has been put on a halt as Sri Lanka pursues talks with creditors to meet the global lender’s condition for the facility to help it get through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Earlier, Sri Lanka completed its debt restructuring talks with Japan.
The IMF facility would enable the island nation to obtain bridging finance from markets and other lending institutions such as the ADB and the World Bank.
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#India #China #financing #assurances #Sri #Lanka #IMF #bailout #package
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 22, 2023