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Multiple projects launched by Indian Finance Minister at Naam 200 event

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Finance Minister of India – Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman was the Guest of Honour at the Naam 200 event in Colombo today (Nov. 02), to mark 200 years of arrival of the Indian – origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka.

Ms. Sitharaman delivered the keynote address at the event.

At the event, the Finance Minister of India virtually launched phase – 4 of the flagship Indian Housing Project for the construction of 10,000 houses in plantation areas of Sri Lanka along with Sri Lankan President – Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In addition, the upgraded Thondaman Vocational Training Center, built with Government of India grant assistance was also virtually inaugurated along with President Wickremesinghe.

Also, Ms. Sitharaman, along with Sri Lanka PM – Dinesh Gunwardena and Education Minister – Susil Premjayantha and State Minister of Education – Arvind Kumar, launched the supply of notebooks and school bags to 10,000 schoolchildren.

Further, a project to install RO Plants in schools was launched along with Prime Minister – Dinesh Gunwardena, Education Minister – Susil Premjayantha and State Minister of Education – Arvind Kumar.

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Liquor shops to be closed on Nov. 14 and 15

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The Excise Commission has announced that all liquor shops and wine stores islandwide will be closed on Nov. 14 and 15 for the upcoming general elections.

Officials have been instructed to enforce regulations strictly and address any illegal operations during this period.

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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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