BIZ

FCCISL meets Indian HC officials

Published

10 months ago

November 13, 2022

editor

Officials of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) met with the Deputy High Commissioner of India Vinod K Jacob and the First Secretary Vivek Sharma at the Deputy High Commissioner’s Residence recently.

The newly appointed president of the FCCISL – Keerthi Gunawardane, and the board members Saranga Wijeyarathne, Ruwan de Silva, Abbas Kamurdeen, Dhammika Lokuge and the Acting Deputy Secretary General Tilan Wijesuriya attended the visit.

The Chamber officials had a very fruitful and cordial discussion with the officials of the High Commission on strengthening and improving bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

FCCISL and the Indian High Commission have shared a very close relationship over the years. Since Covid 19 has restricted physical meetings, High Commission officials and FCCISL met almost after 2 years to discuss the matters relevant to both countries which can benefit the business and industries. During the discussions FCCISL has pointed out the great potential to further develop tourism which can benefit both the countries in a significant manner. The Indian High Commission officials totally agreed to the proposal and assured the fullest support. They have mentioned the importance of allowing the use of Indian Rupee (INR) in Sri Lanka and they will consider the use of Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) in India which will have an impact specially on tourism. Further they have pointed out the importance of allowing the Indian digital payment systems to be used in Sri Lanka. This will reduce the demand for USD which will be a direct benefit especially to Sri Lanka at this juncture.

The Indian High Commission officials indicated that the UAE, France and Mauritius already allowed Indians to use Indian digital payment systems such as RUPAY. This will allow more spending by Indians which can directly benefit the businesses.

In addition to Tourism both parties discussed how to create benefits to both the countries using the Sri Lanka – India FTA. Food security and Energy security are two important areas of concern to both the countries and the Deputy High Commissioner assured the possibility of sharing the knowledge that India has in these sectors with Sri Lanka.

FCCISL was the focal point during the past for various scholarship programs offered by the Indian Government. They assured to update with the information in the future and create more opportunities for members of the Sri Lanka chamber network.

BIZ

Price of chicken reduced from midnight today

Published

11 hours ago

September 21, 2023

editor

Local poultry producers have agreed to reduce the price of chicken by Rs. 100 per kilogram, with effect from midnight today (Sep. 21).

The agreement was reached following a discussion with the Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Security, Nalin Fernando, this afternoon.

Accordingly, a kilogram of chicken will now be sold at Rs. 1,150.

BIZ

Lanka Sathosa slashes prices of 6 essential food items

Published

2 days ago

September 20, 2023

editor

Lanka Sathosa, on Wednesday (20 Sep.), reduced the prices of six essential food items.

The price reduction will be in effect from today.

Accordingly, the prices of the following goods have been reduced:
• Soya meat – Rs.580 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.45)
• Local Potatoes – Rs.290 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.40)
• Thai sprats – Rs.1,100 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.30)
• Garlic – Rs.620 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.30)
• Big onions – Rs.195 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.15)
• Red lentils – Rs. 299 per kilogram (reduced by Rs.06)

BIZ

X to go behind paywall?

Published

3 days ago

September 19, 2023

editor

Elon Musk has suggested that all users of X, formerly called Twitter, may have to pay for access to the platform.

In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the billionaire said a payment system was the only way to counter bots.

“We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss said.

The BBC approached X for further details but has not yet received a statement from the company.

It is unclear whether this was just an off-the-cuff comment, or a signal of firmer plans that have yet to be announced.

Mr Musk has long said that his solution for getting rid of bots and fake accounts on the social media platform is charging for verification.

Since taking over Twitter last year he has looked to incentivise users to pay for an enhanced service, which is now called X Premium.

This has been done by giving paid subscribers more features, like longer posts and increased visibility on the platform.

However, users can currently still use X for free.

Although there is a clear financial interest for the company to charge users, Mr Musk insisted that getting people to pay for the service is aimed at tackling bots.

“A bot costs a fraction of a penny” to make he said. “But if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost to bots is very high”.

X Premium currently costs $8 (£6.50) a month in the US. The price differs depending on which country a subscriber is in.

The world’s richest person said that he was now looking at cheaper options for users.

“We’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. So we just want it to be just a small amount of money,” he said.

“This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk added.

However, a risk is that by putting X behind a paywall it may lose a large chunk of its users. That in turn, could drive down advertising revenue, which currently accounts for the vast majority of the company’s income.

Mr Musk’s conversation with the Israeli prime minister also touched on antisemitism on X.

The platform has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) campaign group of not doing enough to stop antisemitic content.

In a statement, the organisation said that Mr Musk was “engaging with and elevating” antisemites.

Earlier this month, he said that the company would sue the ADL to “clear our platform’s name”.

In the conversation with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Musk reiterated that he was “against antisemitism”.

Mr Netanyahu accepted the balance between free speech and content moderation was a challenge but urged Mr Musk to get the balance right.

“I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment, the ability to stop not only antisemitism… but any collective hatred of people that antisemitism represents,” he said.

“I know you’re committed to that”, Mr Netanyahu added.

(BBC News)