Hundreds of protestors gathered in Mattala to protest after the town’s international airport was put in to use to store paddy earlier this week.

As many as 500 people came together in Hambantota, the home town of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, with whom the airport shares a name to protest for the second time this week.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country attaches the “highest importance” to its relationship with Sri Lanka and that he looks forward to taking diplomatic ties to new heights, PTI reported.

In a statement released to mark the visit by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mr Modi deeply appreciated the leadership role played by Kumaratunga in the country.

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance has officially been appointed as Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka’s parliament.

TNA leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan is the first Tamil to hold the post since 1983, when Tamil leaders resigned en masse after the passing of the 6th amendment, which made it illegal to “support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka”.

Taking up the post Mr Sampanthan said, "Our primary duty is to ensure that there is an acceptable resolution to the Tamil question".

A Tamil woman has been admitted to Jaffna hospital, after she collapsed following interrogation by Sri Lankan military intelligence officers in the North-East, reports Colombo Mirror.

Sri Lankan military officials reportedly visited at least six houses at Vithanaiyar Lane near Kokkuvil Hindu College in Jaffna, said the website citing sources in Jaffna.

Paramilitary leader Karuna claimed that Indian troops were present and assisting government forces in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed.

In an interview with Tamil Nadu based Puthiya Thalaimurai last week, Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias Karuna, leader of the TMVP, said:

“When the war was taking place Indian forces were present here. They were in Vavuniya. They were functioning with the satellite and artillery units from there.”

He went on to state Indian forces were "aiding and abetting Sri Lanka" during the armed conflict. 

The leader of the government-affiliated paramilitary group was Vice President of the SLFP during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as Sri Lankan president and stands accused of assisting in the government war effort.

The prominent Tamil disappearances campaigner Balendran Jeyakumary's release on bail has been delayed until tomorrow.

The magistrates ruled on Wednesday that Ms Jeyakumary would need two sureties, certified by the Grama Sevaka, in order to grant her bail.

As one of the sureties was unable to attend court on Thursday, Ms Jeyakumari will remain in prison for at least another day.

Ms Jeyakumary was arrested yesterday in relation to a case regarding the theft of two mine detectors, which will be heard on September 16.

A proposal to increase the size of the cabinet of Sri Lanka’s new national government was passed with a majority of 127 votes.

The number of cabinet ministers will go up to 48 from 30 and the number of non-cabinet ministers will increase to 45 from 40. There will be a total of 93 ministerial posts in the new parliament, one of the largest cabinets in the world. This means that 41% of the 225 MPs in parliament will be members of the cabinet.

A total of 143 MPs voted for the motion, while 16 MPs opposed it. The TNA and the JVP were amongst the parties which voted against the motion.

New opposition leader R Sampanthan earlier today opposed the motion, saying the culture of having an excessive number of ministers must end.

“The two main parties working together could be in the national interest. This is the first time in the country’s history that the two main parties have decided to come together to constitute a government.”

A domestic investigation into Sri Lanka’s war crimes and crimes against humanity would not be acceptable to the Tamil people, a Vadamaradchi Christian group has said.

“We have suffered many bitter betrayals,” Vadamaradchi Christian Union said in a statement. “Therefore we cannot accept the domestic investigation put forward by the United States and Sri Lanka.”

“Only an international investigation can uncover and bring justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka.”

The Mattala Rajapaksa International airport has been used to start storing paddy, according to Sri Lanka’s Paddy Marketing Board.

The airport is currently only used by a single carrier, Fly Dubai, which operates one flight into the airport.