Sri Lanka is bankrupt, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai on Monday evening, local media reported.
The external affairs minister said the SAARC is in trouble as one of its members has been supporting terrorism.
It is a pity that he does not take his youth influencer role more seriously and align his brand endorsements more responsibly, notes Kanika Datta.
'There is fear that the president and prime minister are dragging their feet and won't resign.'
United States President Joe Biden and his top advisors have warned Israel that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in Gaza as global outcry intensifies about the scale of humanitarian suffering in the crisis-stricken region, CNN reported.
India is 'deeply concerned' at the deteriorating security situation and astounding loss of civilian lives in the ongoing conflict.
A core group of ministers on Wednesday held inconclusive deliberations on a proposal to raise fuel prices, necessitated by a spike in global crude prices that threatens to spawn an oil import crisis.
Basil had negotiated the Indian economic relief package to help Sri Lanka tackle the current foreign exchange crisis.
A weak monsoon and the subsequent shortage of electricity has pushed Bangalore into an unprecedented fuel crisis.
Amid reports of the ongoing coal shortage in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed that there is no shortage and termed these as "absolutely baseless", saying India is a power surplus country. Sitharaman said that Power Minister R K Singh went on record just two days ago when he said absolutely baseless information is floating around that there is probably shortage of coal, shortage of other inventories which will lead to a sudden gap in the supply demand situation in the energy consumption. "Absolute baseless! There is no shortage of anything. In fact, if I recall the minister's statement, every power producing installation has the next four days' stock absolutely available within their own premises and the supply chain has not broken at all," Sitharaman said at Harvard Kennedy School on Tuesday.
Six decades and more later, we are now captives of our identities. Every poll is based on elaborate calculations of electability of candidates on the basis of their castes and other narrow definers. That, along with voter promiscuity, is what defines our political culture, which remains stubbornly resistant to any change, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The five-time prime minister was re-appointed to the job on May 12 following the political circus precipitated by the unprecedented economic crisis in the island's history.
Amazon Prime Video has announced a huge number of assorted Web series and movies, and the slate sure looks interesting.
Obama said US is leading the efforts to combat carbon pollution
It is time he stood up and assured the middle class that they can count on him as one of their own, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
The main Opposition BNP of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest, is boycotting the elections amidst violence.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday fired Basil Rajapaksa from his post and invited the Opposition parties to join a unity Cabinet to tackle the raging public anger against the hardships caused by the economic crisis.
A looming global shortage of diesel in Europe presents India with more than one opportunity to profit from strong margins. A shortage of the fuel, a key contributor to inflation, has been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, and western sanctions on Russian fuel supplies. The slowdown in natural gas supply means the West needs diesel to heat their homes this winter.
The protesters left the main anti-government protest camp at Galle Face promenade where they had been staging sit-ins since April 9, branding it as the 'Gota go home village' (Rajapaksa go home).
India on Sunday said it stands with the Sri Lankan people in their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means, established institutions and constitutional framework.
The move is aimed at preventing masses from gathering in Colombo to protest the government's failure to provide relief to the public suffering from shortages of food, essentials, fuel and medicine amidst hours-long power cuts, the Colombo Page newspaper reported.
Senior United Nations experts have said that lack of investment in agriculture over a long period of time and the use of precious natural resources for bio-fuel production have also contributed to the current food crisis. The use of crops for bio-fuel production had also contributed to the worldwide rise in food prices, since it meant that a part of our natural resources had to be diverted away from the production of food crops. The experts were talking in a conference in NY.
Watch all the action from both House of the Parliament.
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
The 13,000-strong UNRWA staff in Gaza includes teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, warehouse workers, logisticians, technicians and drivers.
A protest has begun in front of the Trincomalee Naval Base after reports Mahinda Rajapaksa and some of his family members are there after leaving Temple Trees, the official residence of prime minister.
"Which foreign powers may be interested in taking advantage of unrest and instability in Manipur? Does the geopolitics of south east Asia also have a role in these events," he asked.
Sharif, the three-time former premier, said that there is a need for all the political parties to sit together and form a government to pull Pakistan out of its difficulties.
The United Nations Security Council has called for urgent humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout Gaza to allow unhindered humanitarian access in the strip, finally overcoming deadlock and adopting a resolution in the month-long Israel-Hamas conflict.
'This is not like a one quarter hit; it will take time.'
On May 9, violence erupted in Sri Lanka after supporters of the 76-year-old former premier attacked peaceful anti-government protesters demanding his ouster over the country's worst economic crisis that led to acute shortages of staple food, fuel and power.
The national carrier, which is already struggling with its fuel payments, spends Rs 6,000-7,000 crore annually on fuel. A 10 per cent hike in crude price would mean over Rs 50-58 crore of extra costs for the airline.
India has a difficult relationship with China but it is 'perfectly capable' of managing it, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday, rejecting the European construct that New Delhi's position on Ukraine could impact global support to it if its problems with Beijing increases.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa became the only member of the family to retain a cabinet position in his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa's new cabinet of 17 ministers appointed on Monday, as the island nation was facing the worst economic crisis.
Policymakers should correct the self-created imbalances caused by the hesitant and lopsided integration with the rest of the world.
Advanced economies will be back on track by 2024, but developing economies will be 5 per cent below where they would have been otherwise, IMF's Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday. Economies worldwide have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and are slowly coming back into the recovery path. The First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund said the war in Ukraine has been a major setback to the global recovery.
In what appears to be more trouble for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party on Friday announced that it will move a no-confidence motion against the government if it fails to take steps to address the concerns of the public facing hardships due to the worst economic crisis in the island's history.
Glimpses of the protests in Colombo against the worsening economic crisis
Despite mounting pressure, Gotabaya, and Prime Minister Mahinda have refused to quit office.
