Sri Lankan state-owned institutions have lost billions of rupees in the last year alone according to a report from the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

COPE, a parliamentary run committee headed by Minister D E W Gunasekera, stated that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, National Paper Company and Sri Lanka Airlines generated a combined Rs.40.2 billion loss from May 7 to September 26, 2014, reported ColomboPage.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Kumara Welgama told Parliament that Sri Lanka Railways had also suffered a loss of over Rs. 5 billion in the last year.

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The Vatican has confirmed that he Pope's visit to Sri Lanka will commence on the 13th of January.

Pope Francis will call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the first day of his visit, before travelling to the North-East.

He will lead prayers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary at Madhu, in the district of Mannar.

Sri Lanka's Church previously said it would reconsider the visit in view of the poll, as it would be “inappropriate” for the pontiff to visit during the election period.

A senior lecturer at the University of Colombo warned of "impure groups in the country are joining foreign forces to snatch back the freedom won in 2009".

Speaking on Wednesday at a ceremony in Colombo, the lecturer, Dhamma Dissanayake called on everyone, particular the younger generation should "come forward against this threat", reported the state news agency, SLBC.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a former member of the LTTE Police Department in Vellankulam in Mannar district on Wednesday night.

The victim, 34 year old Naguleshwaran Krishnasuwamy, was in his own backyard working towards constructing his own home when the gunmen entered his house and shot him at 8.30pm, his wife, Kavitha said.

Naguleshwaran served as a police officer in the LTTE Police Department in the LTTE run defacto state of Tamil Eelam.

Following the assassination, security has been tightened and patrols increased. The A32 was also closed off for a few hours.

The Sri Lankan government says that President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not grant a pardon to the Indian fishermen sentenced to death last month, contrary to an announcement made by a deputy minister on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Hindu, presidential spokesperson Mohan Samaranayake said, “Until now, no decision has been taken to that effect.”

The UN has given Tamil refugees, who were languishing in a United Arab Emirates port for over two years, a permanent home in Brazil, The National reported.

The 7 refugees were the remainder of a larger group of 45 Tamils who were rescued when the ship they were fleeing Sri Lanka in ran into trouble on the way to Australia.

“I feel like I am being reborn,” said Ramanan Gunaseelan, 37, who will board a flight to Brazil, accompanied by his wife Meera and their daughter Tharanika, 5.

The refugees expressed their fear of life in Sri Lanka but said they will always long to return to their homeland.

“We fled Sri Lanka because we were scared for our lives and our safety. Now we can finally hope for peace.

The leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe, revealed that he had called for the European Council to appeal against the European Court of Justice decision to lift sanctions against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Wickremesinghe further criticised the Sri Lankan government for failing to appear at the European Courts to argue a case for keepin sanctions on the LTTE, reports Colombo Page.

"The governments of Britain and the Netherlands appeared in court but the government of Sri Lanka did not," he said.

A delegation from India's Army War College called on the Commander of the Sri Lankan army Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake this week, said the Sri Lankan military in order to learn from Sri Lanka's warfare experiences.

Ratnayake stated that the visiting delegation praised the Sri Lankan military, with India's Brigadier Sandhu reportedly saying India was “using Sri Lankan experiences in the warfare in their training modules and other programmes”.

The Sri Lankan Commander went on to thank India for the training opportunities that it has provided Sri Lankan troops.