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Budget 2023 to focus on social welfare benefits for the needy

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance will present the 2023 budget to Parliament tomorrow (14) aimed at creating long-term, stable economic growth.

The 2023 budget has given special attention to the sectors of the capital market, export market, labour market, and digital economy and it is expected to achieve the budget targets through the social market economy.

This year’s budget will focus more on providing social welfare benefits to the people who need them most and creating a policy environment to build the private sector as the driving force of the country’s economy.

Through the 2023 budget, the process of building a new economy tailored for the new world has been initiated aimed at creating a program to ensure a decent country for the youth.

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India’s luxury airline Vistara ends operations

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Indian full-service carrier Vistara will operate its last flight on Monday, after nine years in existence.

A joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Sons, Vistara will merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet.

This means that all Vistara operations will be transferred to and managed by Air India, including helpdesk kiosks and ticketing offices. The process of migrating passengers with existing Vistara bookings and loyalty programmes to Air India has been under way over the past few months.

“As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and other soft elements have been upgraded and incorporates aspects of both Vistara and Air India,” an Air India spokesperson said in an email response.

Amid concerns that the merger could impact service standards, the Tatas have assured that Vistara’s in-flight experience will remain unchanged.

Known for its high ratings in food, service, and cabin quality, Vistara has built a loyal customer base and the decision to retire the Vistara brand has been criticised by fans, branding experts, and aviation analysts.

The consolidation was effectively done to clean up Vistara’s books and wipe out its losses, said Mark Martin, an aviation analyst.

Air India has essentially been “suckered into taking a loss-making airline” in a desperate move, he added.

“Mergers are meant to make airlines powerful. Never to wipe out losses or cover them.”

To be sure, both Air India and Vistara’s annual losses have reduced by more than half over the past year, and other operating metrics have improved too. But the merger process so far has been turbulent.

The exercise has been riddled with problems – from pilot shortages that have led to massive flight cancellations, to Vistara crew going on mass sick leave over plans to align their salary structures with Air India.

There have also been repeated complaints about poor service standards on Air India, including viral videos of broken seats and non-functioning inflight entertainment systems.

(BBC News)

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Special unit to provide updates on SriLankan flight delays

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Minister Vijitha Herath has made a visit to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo to look into the complaints received with regards to the delays in SriLankan flights.

During the visit, the minister had visited various sections of the airport while engaging in cordial discussions with the staff.

Minister Herath has emphasized the need to create a special unit representing the airport and SriLankan Airlines at the airport premises to provide passengers with immediate updates on flight delays while operating 24 hours a day and to provide maximum facilities to passengers during the delays.

Also, authorities have been instructed to take measures to minimize these delays.

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DMC sets up special unit to tackle disasters during election

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The Disaster Management Center says that a special program will be in place to manage potential disaster situations during the parliamentary election period. 

This special centre will be operational from tomorrow (Nov. 12) until Nov. 16.

Its Director Pradeep Kodippili says that the Department of Meteorology, Department of Irrigation, National Building Research Organization, triforces as well as the police will be joining forces for this cause.

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