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India Denied Permission To Sri Lankan Prez Rajapaksaโ€™s Air Force Jet To Land: Reports

Rajapaksa

As battered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa scrambled to flee crisis-hit country after protestors took over his official residence, Sri Lankan media claimed that the Indian government has refused him permission to land at a civilian airport in the country using an air force jet.

SBS Sinhala, reporting on the matter, said: โ€œThe Indian government refused to allow a Sri Lankan air force AN32, carrying the president, to land at an Indian civilian airport.โ€

At the same time, some reports claimed that the US embassy in Colombo denied Gotabaya Rajapaksa a visitorโ€™s visa to enter the country.

Rajapaksa, back in 2019, had given up his US citizenship to contest Presidential election. SBS Sinhala, quoting a US diplomatic source, reported that Rajapaksa had asked the US embassy in Colombo for a visa for him to travel to California over the weekend but was refused.

Rajapaksaโ€™s family are still US citizens and reside in the country.

The US Embassy, according to the report, told Rajapaksa that a person who has renounced US citizenship cannot be given a visitorโ€™s visa unless under very exceptional circumstances such as the death of an immediate family member or urgent medical treatment that is available only in the US.

The Embassy representative, as per report, told: โ€œIt was made very clear to him that there will be no visa for him. He could go there as a head of state without a visa, but the current circumstances are different.โ€

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Business & Finance

Retail Inflation At 7.01 Per Cent In June; Above RBIโ€™s Tolerance Limit For Sixth Straight Month

Sakeena Sayyed
Retail Inflation
The retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), marginally eased to 7.01 percent in June.

Mumbai: The Retail Inflation, which is measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI), in India during June stood at 7.01 percent, which is almost the same as compared with 7.04 percent in May. This is the sixth consecutive month that the inflation is above the RBIโ€™s tolerance limit of six percent. Inflation in rural areas stood at 7.09 percent during June 2022, while that in urban areas was 6.92 percent.

However, this is the second consecutive month that has seen a slight easing in inflation as compared to the previous month. The inflation in April had stood at 7.79 percent, which fell to 7.04 percent in May and now to 7.01 percent in June.

The core inflation, which excludes food and fuel segments, stood at 6 percent in June. The food inflation was at 7.75 percent in June, compared with 7.97 percent the preceding month.

RBI has raised interest rates by 90 basis points (bps) so far this year to 4.9 percent and is set to add more in the coming months. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that inflation may not fall within the top end of its mandated target band until December this year.The Reserve Bank factors in the retail inflation print in its bi-monthly monetary policy. The government has tasked the central bank to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

However, the number has remained above the Reserve Bankโ€™s comfort zone of 2-6% for the sixth consecutive month. The RBI will have to explain the reasons to the government by writing a letter if it stays above 6% for one more quarter.
The downward trend in inflation can also be attributed to excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel along with imposed restrictions on food exports. However, this decline is anticipated to be transitional as food prices are rising at an unprecedented rate on the back of unexpected heatwaves.Surging global commodity prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war and high crude oil prices have kept inflation above RBIโ€™s 6 percent upper tolerance range.
The RBI, in its monetary policy announcement last month, had projected Indiaโ€™s inflation to start easing from October. It is trying to keep the monetary tightening to a minimum, as back-to-back price hikes might tumble the economic recovery.

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