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UPI launched in Sri Lanka (Update)

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A virtual launch held today (Feb. 12) introduced UPI transactions via LankaQR, enhancing digital payments for Indian tourists in Sri Lanka.

Led by NPCI International Payments Limited & LankaPay Pvt Ltd, the initiative aims to rapidly expand, with 10,000 merchants set to accept UPI payments shortly after launch. 

By March 2024, this number will reach 65,000, providing a seamless payment solution for Indian tourists, the Presidential Media Division states.

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(Previous News : Published at 2024/02/12 at 9:26 am)

India-Sri Lanka launch UPI to boost tourism

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry says that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will be launched between India and Sri Lanka from Monday (12).

The UPI is a digital payment gateway that facilitates instant person-to-person or person-to-merchant transactions using a mobile phone.

Launched in India in 2016, this is currently the most popular payment method in India.

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said that UPI will be officially launched online on today (12).

The Minister said the system is expected to be implemented centering Colombo and is expected to increase tourism in Sri Lanka.

The agreement regarding the UPI between Sri Lanka and India was signed between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe in October last year, during President Wickremesinghe’s two-day official visit.

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Coca-Cola says it may use more plastic due to Trump tariffs

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Coca-Cola may have to sell more drinks in plastic bottles in the US if President Donald Trump’s tariffs end up making aluminium cans more expensive, the company’s chief executive, James Quincey, said in a call with investors.

It comes after Trump ordered a 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US, which could end up driving up the price of canned food and drink items in the country.

In December, the beverage giant scaled down its sustainability target of using 50% recycled materials in its packaging by 2030, to using 35% to 40% by 2035.

Environmental groups have labelled Coca-Cola as the “top global plastic polluter” for six consecutive years.

“If one package suffers some increase in input costs, we continue to have other packaging offerings that will allow us to compete in the affordability space,” Quincey said.

“For example, if aluminium cans become more expensive, we can put more emphasis on PET [plastic] bottles”.

The Coca-Cola boss also sought to minimise the impact of the tariffs on his business saying packaging is only a relatively small component of his company’s costs.

In recent years, Coca-Cola had been selling more products in aluminium containers as part of its marketing and sustainability strategies.

Despite being generally more expensive, aluminium cans are also a lot more recyclable than plastic bottles over time.

The US imports almost half of the aluminium it uses, according to the United States Geological Survey, so a 25% tariff on all imports is likely to cause cans to become even more costly.

After Trump first ordered tariffs on steel in 2018, many can-makers won “exclusions” from those import taxes.

But this time, Trump has said there will be no exemptions from the rules either for individual products or for particular countries.

In a separate move that is likely to contribute to plastic pollution, Trump signed an executive order earlier this week ending a US government effort to replace plastic straws with paper.

The order reversed a measure signed by former President Joe Biden, who had called plastic pollution a “crisis”.

(BBC News)

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Litro Gas prices unchanged for February

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Channa Gunawardena, the Chairman of Litro Gas Company, has confirmed that the prices of domestic LP gas cylinders will remain unchanged for the month of February 2025.

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Hasitha Jayawardena appointed as Melstacorp Chairman

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Hasitha Jayawardena, son of late business tycoon Harry Jayawardena, has been redesignated as the Executive Chairman of Melstacorp and Distillaries Company effective 6 February. 

“Jayawardena has over 12 years of experience in the management of companies under the guidance of his late father Deshamanya D H S Jayawardena, in various diversified fields in the Group. 

“He has been managing and providing strategic direction to the plantation sector and leisure sector of Melstacorp Group. He also functions as the Managing Director of Stassen Group of Companies, ” a filing to the Colombo Stock Exchange said.

(dailymirror.lk)

(This story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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