Indian HC Santosh Jha yesterday (10) explained how the worldwide Covid-19 epidemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict had enhanced the Indo-Lanka ‘relationship.’Addressing the India-Sri Lanka Defence Seminar at the Taj, Jha said: “Like in other areas, we are cooperating closely on security and defence matters. Because of our geography, our security is interlinked and intertw...

By Neville Ladduwahetty During President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s India visit in July 2023, five Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) were signed by India and Sri Lanka to establish physical connections between the two countries. This was followed more recently by the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) – a mechanism that claims to reduce the cost […]

Addressing the 37th session of the Asia and Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Colombo today (20), President Ranil Wickremesinghe affirmed the government’s dedication to elevating Sri Lanka as a prominent exporter of agricultural produce through rapid agricultural sector transformation. He emphasized the pivotal role […]

Sri Lanka has made record earnings from tourism in the first 45 days of this year, amounting to seven billion rupees (about 22.4 million U.S. dollars) from 306,708 tourists. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Director General Nalin Perera said that there is a surge in tourism in Sri Lanka and that the country is […]

ECONOMYNEXT –An Indian firm is in the process of getting permission to manage Sri Lanka’s three airports including the main Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) where the there is an over saturation in foreign tourists, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said. The island nation is expecting 2.2 million tourists for 2024, but the main airport needs capacity […]

Minister of Tourism, Lands,  Sports and Youth Affairs Harin Fernando, participating at a press briefing held at the President’s Media Centre today (31) under the theme ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ said that he expected 2.2 million tourists to visit Sri Lanka  in 2024 and bring in a revenue of US$ 4billion. He revealed […]

By Saman Indrajith Forty-eight-year-old Batticaloa District MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, has been shaping the Eastern Province’s political narrative since he was a teenager. He was just 16-years old when he joined the LTTE in 1990 as a child soldier. Since then, he continued to rise in the ranks of the LTTE until […]

Sri Lanka received 1,487,303 tourists in 2023, the latest statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) show. This is an increase of over 100 percent in comparison to the previous year, which recorded 719,978 arrivals, the data shows. The last month alone the country saw 210,352 tourist arrivals up from 151,496 recorded in November 2023. India, Russia, United Kingdom, ...

Sri Lanka received over 1.4 million tourists by the end of the third week of December, the latest statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) show. The SLTDA weekly report on tourist arrivals released on Saturday (23) shows that 1,404,998 tourists had arrived in the country by December 21, 2023. Between December 01 and 21 […]

Sri Lanka earned 205.3 million US dollars from tourism during the month of November 2023, which is over twice the amount in the corresponding month in 2022, the latest data by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) have revealed. The revenue from tourism in November 2022 was 81 million dollars, according to official data.The […]

The Department of Immigration and Emigration announced on Tuesday (28) that the visa fee has been waived for residents of China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan visiting Sri Lanka, with immediate effect. In a statement, the Department said that this scheme is valid until March 31, 2024, and that this is a pilot […]

The Department of Immigration and Emigration announces that a free Visa regime is implemented for nationals of China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan with immediate effect, until 31 March 2024, launching as a pilot program to rebuild the tourism industry in line with the Cabinet of Ministers approval.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the following steps to be taken in accordance with the joint proposals presented by the Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and Lands, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Public Security with the aim of increasing the number of tourist arrivals to 5 million a year in the next […]

Sri Lanka s Cabinet has approved visa-free entry for visitors from seven countries including India, China and Russia as a pilot project until 31 March 2024, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said.

By Y P Prakash India’s Strategic Lunar Missions Contrast with Sri Lanka’s Costly Ventures and Underutilized Infrastructure, Highlighting Investment Priorities and Technological Futures Over the course of several years, the investment in India’s space exploration missions has seen both accomplishments and financial considerations. In 2008, the pioneering Chandrayaan-1 mission was ...

The developing Indo-Lanka relations, particularly the process since early 2022 should be examined taking into consideration the significant role played by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Milinda Moragoda, who received the Cabinet rank. At the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent the former UNP Minister, one -time close associate of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, […]

Udeni Kaluthantri, a 54-year-old port worker, became an overnight sensation last year for reasons that had nothing to do with his job. Days after protesters stormed the presidential palace in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, a video surfaced of Mr Kaluthantri lounging on a bed draped with the presidential flag. Pictures of young men jumping […]

The Picturesque region of Kashmir is gearing up to host the prestigious G20 Summit for the first time in its history. The event, which will take place from May 22 to 24 at the SKICC on the banks of the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar, is expected to have a positive impact on the tourism […]