The outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Colombo, Ashok K. Kantha, has said that India would never act against the interests of Sri Lanka, the state-owned Sunday Observer reported.

“India will never do anything which will hurt Sri Lanka’s interests. The vote in Geneva was not a vote against Sri Lanka,” Kantha said.

“The fundamental interests of Sri Lanka and India are interlinked and there was no contradiction in these interests,

Sri Lanka will be introducing a new electronic national identity card for all citizens reported the Colombo Page.

The cards will be issued by Sri Lanka's Department of Registration of Persons, via 331 special units, said the department's Commissioner General, R.M.S Sarathkumara.

The new e-card will include the holder's bio data, finger prints and blood group.

A man accused of killing 2 Swiss Tamil children and their cousin in a car accident in Colombo reportedly drove his vehicle into a secured military camp to hide, before eventually being arrested by the police.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has grown by 7.7% in March, after growth of 10.9% in the first two months.

The island saw a total of 98,155 foreign visitors, with the largest proportion from Western Europe, however the arrivals from neighbouring India slumped.

Arrivals from Western Europe rose 10% in March to 44,008, with numbers from the UK rising by 8.8% to 13,088, replacing India as the largest source of tourists.

South Asian arrivals fell by 6.7% to 19,261 with arrivals from India dropping by 18.1% to 11,789.

The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved a new law that would allow those who were displaced from the North between 1st May 1983 and 18th May 2009 to vote at the upcoming Northern Provincial Council elections, reports the Daily Mirror.

Voting rights will only be given to those who have not registered else where however.

The Justice Minister and Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader, Rauff Hakeen received the submission from Cabinet.

“Instead of making the air taxi an integral part of their packages, they made it an option. To operate the service, we have to sell this product in the international market.”

“In the Maldives, the air taxi product is paid for by the resorts and not the passengers.”

Former members of the provincial councils will be eligible to import vehicles, without having to pay import duty, if they served for more than 36 months, according to the Daily Mirror.

Azath Salley, the leader of a new political movement Unity of Diversity and Muslim Tamil National Alliance, who was arrested by the CID under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, was released on Friday and has been transferred to a private hospital.

According to several unverified reports, Salley secured his release after signing an affidavit confessing his guilt and seeking an apology from the President. The President then lifted the detention order.

Hours after Azath Salley was released by the President, the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has publicly stated that Salley was arrested for allegedly conspiring with a Tamil Nadu group to launch a joint Sri Lankan Muslim armed struggle. Whilst refusing to disclose the name of the Tamil Nadu group, Gotabhaya accused the UK based group, British Tamils Forum, of also being involved.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has decided to cut the reverse repurchase rate to 9 percent from 9.5 percent and the repurchase rate to 7 percent from 7.5 percent, a bigger reduction than expected by analysts.

"[T]here is now a need to stimulate the domestic economy, particularly in the light of the gradual moderation in headline inflation and subdued demand pressures in the economy," the Central Bank said in its May monetary policy review.

Economic growth slowed from 8.2% in 2011 to 6.4% in 2012, after a fall in demand for Sri Lankan exports, including tea and textiles, but the treasury has bizarrely forecast growth of 7.5% for this year.

Sri Lanka: why the unexpected cut? - Financial Times (10 May 2013)

The International Monetary Fund yesterday warned Sri Lanka against further easing of monetary policies.