Electricity and fuel prices have shot up as Sri Lanka’s economy adjusts to the sudden drop in the value of the rupee after the Central Bank acceded to IMF pressure and abandoned – for now - its long standing policy of artificially propping up the local currency.

Diesel and kerosene prices rose 36 and 49 per cent respectively whilst electricity rates for domestic consumers are to rise by 40 per cent. Bakeries are threatening to increase the price of bread, a staple - especially for the working poor.

In the past two weeks the rupee has lost 5.7 per cent of its value against the US dollar. Consequently the prices of fuel and other imported commodities have risen.

At the same, the Central Bank is finally signalling an end to cheap credit from Sri Lanka’s increasingly state controlled banks – another key demand of the IMF.

Cheap state directed credit was an important factor in fuelling import demand - see our earlier post here.

These changes will hit hard President Mahinda Rajapakse’s support base – namely the middle and lower middle class, urban and rural voters in the Sinhala majority areas.

The UNP is already talking of an anti UPFA alliance with the TNA and JVP. However, economic difficulties may strengthen rather than undermine Rajapakse’s impeccable Sinhala nationalist credentials.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) - a worldwide alliance of Tamil diaspora groups asserted that any political solution agreed by the TNA and Sri Lankan government must alter the current systems of governance, in accordance with the fact that Tamils "are entitled to the right to self-determination", and the need for "irreversible autonomy in areas of historic habitation". Photograph Tamilnet - Jaffna uni students protest against ongoing oppression by Sri Lankan state, Sept 2011.

Responding to an online petition demanding support from the Obama adminstration into an "international investigation into war crimes and other human rights abuses committed in Sri Lanka", the US state Department, in a statement released Friday, stressed the needed for accountability, as a "critical component of reconciliation" and warned that that "international accountability mechanisms" may be used if the Sri Lankan government is "unable or unwilling to meet its obligations".

Almost seven years after the assassination of the Tamil journalist, Dharmaratnam Sivaram, known also as Taraki, the perpetrators and the commissioners of his murder, are yet to be brought to justice.

The trial of the man accused of murdering Dharmaratnam Sivaram, scheduled to take place Thursday, was postponed after the State Counsel informed the court that six witnesses failed to attend, reported BBC Sinhala.

The six, includes two policemen.

Facing the pervasive climate of fear and militarisation with resilience and defiance, Tamil students in the North-East have exceled at recent national exams.

Photograph Tamilnet

Students from universities across London held exhibitions at their campuses, raising awareness of the ongoing genocide of the Tamil nation.

Displays of posters, banners and painting attracted hundreds of students throughout the awareness week, signing petitions calling for an investigation into war crimes and a boycott of the Sri Lankan cricket team.

See our posts below:

Imperial's Tamil society launch 2011's 'Breaking the Silence'

Relatives of missing hold up pictures (Pictures: TamilNet)

Relatives of people that had disappeared during and after the war in Vanni staged a protest in Jaffna on Human Rights Day on Friday.

Hundreds of soldiers and policemen across the peninsula harassed civilians in an attempt to intimidate and block the protest from going ahead, TamilNet reported.

The protest is the latest sign of simmering anger and injustice felt by Tamils in the North-East.

However, the growing defiance and peaceful protests staged by the Tamil people, continue to be repressed by the Sri Lankan government and ignored by the Sinhala press.

Eelam Tamils in Switzerland observed Remembrance Day on November 27th. Crowds stand underneath rows of 'kaarthikai poo' (Gloriosa lily), consisting of red and yellow balloons.

Expressing dismay at the “chauvinistic attitude” of the Sri Lankan state, former US Deputy Secretary of State said on Friday the international community was united in its criticism of Sri Lanka’s conduct in the north and east and that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would not be welcomed internationally unless conditions there improved.

Speaking alongside Mr. Armitage at the launch of the Norwegian evaluation of Oslo’s peace process in Sri Lanka, and echoing his message, Norwegian minister for Environment and International Development, and former peace envoy, Erik Solheim also said the question of accountability for the mass killings of civilians in last phase of the war “will not go away”, and that “the only way the Sri Lankan state can reduce the impact of this is to reach out to Tamils and find a way of resolving the Tamil issue.”

They were speaking in Oslo at the formal launch of the evaluation report on Norway’s protracted peace role in Sri Lanka, at which the question of Sri Lanka’s future was also discussed.

Mr Armitage told the audience,

“I don’t think anyone disagrees that the Tamil people have been mistreated and are continuing to lack – across the board – fundamental freedoms, dignity, etc,”

“Much to my dismay the government of Sri Lanka is still caught up in a chauvinistic attitude,”

“I don’t think they’ve been far sighted enough in their approach to the north and east. There has been a somewhat lessening of violence there, somewhat lessening of the abductions and things of this nature, but not sufficient.”

“From the US point of view we are quite dismayed at the lack of progress in human freedoms, human rights, etc, and I made that view known [to President Rajapaksa].”

“But what to do about it is the question."

"[Firstly] the international community is generally coalesced around the fact that the north and the east particularly need protections, and the government of Sri Lanka has to move in that direction. … That is the united message the international community gives.