# Srilanka

• Srilanka on Tuesday announced a pre emptive default on all its foreign debts totalling $51 billion as a “last resort”.
• The government is taking the ” emergency measures”, pending full discussions with the International monetary Fund, from which it has sought help.
• The decision comes on the heels of two other key policy changes.
• Srilanka floated the rupee early march, allowing for a sharp depreciation of its value – it was nearly a 320 rupee per dollar on Tuesday.
• More recently, the central bank increased interest rates by 7 percentage points in a bid to tighten monetary policy, apparently in preparation of an IMF package that the government wants to expedite.
• Meanwhile, a shipment of 11000 tonnes of rice from India arrived in colombo on Tuesday.
• The shipment reached Colombo, ahead of the Tamil and Sinhala new year celebrations on April 13 and 14.

# UGC

• Undergraduate and post graduate students will soon be able to pursue two degrees simultaneously.
• University grants commission chairman M. Jagadesh kumar said on Tuesday that the new system would come into force during the academic session 2022-24.
• Universities will have the flexibility to decide if they want to provide such a scheme.

# Retail inflation

• Retail inflation accelerated sharply to 6.95% in March, the fastest pace of price gains in almost a year and a half.
• This is the third straight month when inflation exceeded the reserve Bank of India’s tolerance threshhold of 6%.
• A surge in food price inflation, which quickened to 7.68% from 5.58% in February.

# Hindustan aeronautical limited

• A Dornier 228 aircraft manufactured by Hindustan aeronautical limited took off on its maiden commercial flight from Dibrugarh in Eastern Assam to Pasighat in Central Arunachal pradesh.
• HAL has been manufacturing the Dornier aircraft after transfer of technology from the German firm that owned it.
• The public sector alliance air in February signed an agreement with HAL for leasing two Dornier 228 aircraft.