Sri Lanka's deputy speaker said the island's powerful Sinhala Buddhist clergy must first give their blessings to a proposed bill on a Buddhism on the island, before it is presented to parliament.

Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala, who is also the head of Sri Lanka Cricket, said the Maha Sanga must first approve the proposed Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance act before it can be passed.

The Sri Lankan army organised an event to mark “International Children’s Day” for Tamil schoolchildren in the Vanni.

The Sri Lankan government has rejected criticism over an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code which will restrict the rights of those who have been arrested to have access to their lawyers, and pledged that it will push ahead with the amendment.

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse said that his government would implement the amendment and hit back at criticism from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) as well as the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), both of whom have strongly condemned the move.

Dharsha Jegatheeswaran and Gajen Mahendra 

Over 2000 Tamil Nadu fishermen were allegedly attacked by the Sri Lankan navy on Sunday, who threw stones and iron balls, reported PTI. 

The president of the Fishermen's Association, Mr Sesuraja was quoted by the new agency as saying that no one was injured however many fishing boats were damaged. 

The incident has renewed calls in Tamil Nadu to retrieve Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka - an issue which the Tamil Nadu government said was a high priority. 

Switzerland's minister for justice Simonetta Sommaruga said she intends to discuss the repatriation of Tamil asylum seekers during her visit to Colombo next week. 

Ms Sommaruga hopes to form a "bilateral agreement governing repatriations from Switzerland and to intensify cooperation between the two countries on the issue", Swiss Info reported. 

The commander of Sri Lanka’s navy met with the US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal, at a symposium in the United States last month.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence released photographs of the meeting, which took place at the side lines of the 22nd International Seapower Symposium (ISS). According to official Sri Lankan reports, “the two officials held discussions on matters of mutual benefit during the meeting”.

Buddhist monks at Sri Lanka’s ‘Temple of the Tooth’ blessed a series of Sri Lankan army flags, as commanders lined up to obtain blessings to celebrate the upcoming 67th anniversary of the Sri Lankan army.

Various politicians, including the Governor of the Central Province, were present at the ceremony, which saw the commander of the army donate money to the Buddhist monks, and offered alms.

Sri Lanka’s prime minster admitted to parliament that the government still does not know much debt it owes, in an address earlier this month as government debt continues to grow under the current Sri Lankan regime.

“We still don’t know the exact total debt number,” Ranil Wickremesinghe confessed to parliament, reports Forbes.

Official estimates number at $64.9 billion, of which $8 billion is owed solely to China. The massive loans taken out by Colombo mean that 95.4% of all government revenue is currently going towards debt repayment.

The All Ceylon Hindu Congress joined the Northern Province's chief minister, C V Wigneswaran in calling for a federal solution to the ethnic conflict as a means to ensure harmony. 

Defending Mr Wigneswaran over his speech at the mass Tamil rally last weekend, which has been condemned by Sinhala nationalists who have issued death threats against him, the ACHC said, " federalism is not a division of the country. Federalism will pave way, by way of devolution of power for the people of all the communities to live in harmony with equal rights within one country."