Passage 1
Sri Lanka on Wednesday said it sealed a deal with the Official Creditor Committee [OCC] to restructure the debt owed to its bilateral lenders including India.
“Sri Lanka reached a final restructuring agreement for a hefty amount of debt with its bilateral lenders’ Official Creditor Committee in Paris. This agreement grants significant debt relief, allowing Sri Lanka to allocate funds to essential public services and secure concessional financing for development needs,” President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is yet to reach an agreement with its bond holders. A recent Bloomberg report said the second round of direct talks between the two parties is scheduled this week, to finalise treatment of $12 billion owed to private creditors, who hold the largest chunk of Sri Lanka’s external debt in international sovereign bonds.
Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/sri-lanka-seals-
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Passage 2
The status of ‘City of Literature’ bestowed on Kozhikode by UNESCO offers a multitude of avenues that need to be explored, Kerala’s Minister for Local Self-Government M.B. Rajesh has said. Making the formal announcement of Kozhikode as the first ‘City of Literature’ in the country on (June 23) Sunday, he added that Kozhikode is to Kerala what London was to talents across the world. “It is a city unpretentious and hospitable, with an undying spirit of freedom,” he added.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/kozhikode-declared-first-
