After 2012 had the highest ever allocation for the Defence and Urban Development Ministry, Sri Lanka has once again planned to increase the amount of money allocated to the defence budget.

Last week, the cabinet approved the 2013 Appropriation Bill, estimating government expenditure at Rs 2.52 trillion (£12 billion).

A Sunday Leader journalist, Nirmala Kannangara, and photographer were stopped from entering the Suriyapuram camp in Nanthikadal by army officers last week.

The journalist and photographer were also threatened to not write anything detrimental about the army officers.

The Sunday Leader team was met with hostility, with one of the officers warning the journalist to “mind her business.”

Tamil Nadu fishermen were attacked by Sri Lankan Navy personnel, reports NDTV.

The fishermen who were fishing around the Katchtheevu area on Sunday, were pelted with stones and had their fishing nets broken by the Navy crew.

See related articles:

Madras High Court urges protection of fishermen (25 Sep 2012)

Another attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankan Navy (07 Sep 2012)

Tamil Nadu fishermen fear reprisal attacks from SL Navy (06 Sep 2012) and our TG Comment here.

8 more fishermen attacked by SL Navy (19 Aug 2012)

The state-run Sri Lankan Airlines have announced that they will turn their focus away from European destinations, and instead look towards routes in Asia and the Middle East, as the airline continued to make losses for a fourth straight year.

Chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe reportedly stated that the returns from European flights were currently less than satisfactory, with Chief executive Kapila Chandrasena commenting,

"This is especially prudent in the context of the economic crisis that is sweeping Europe at present and is likely to lead to a slowdown in tourism from Europe,"

The residents of Dambulla - a land claimed to be of sacred value to the sinhala Buddhists - have received written notice, asking them to vacate by the end of next month, reports Colombo Page.

According a board member from Dambulla mosque, which has been targeted by Buddhist monks on several occasions, the Urban Development Authority has written to 52 houses and 23 shops, who are apparently living in land that falls under the Sacred Area Development Act.

They have been instructed to move within two weeks, and told they can move to land on Kandalama Road.

The first “Dhamma School” in Jaffna will  be opened later this week to help “rekindle Buddhism in the North”, reported Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

The school is to be opened up by the Tamil Buddhist Association.

According to Ven Meegahajandure Siri Wimala Thera of the Jaffna Naga Vihara,

"Starting a Dhamma School in Jaffna will create the proper path to reawaken Buddhism in the North."

The Attorney General’s Department has issued no correspondence regarding investigations into an assault on Uthayan’s editor, reported the newspaper. The editor, G Kuganathan was left severely injured when he was attacked in July 2011.

Questions were raised regarding inquiries into the assault at an annual press meet held at Jaffna’s Police Headquarters.

Regional Superintendent Srikuganesan in response to the questions said:

Jaffna’s Military Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe has declared that the Army is in Jaffna to protect citizens and not to seize their lands or money.

Hathurusinghe claims that since the end of the war in 2009, the army has improved its rapport with the people of Jaffna by providing security as well as various developmental services.

Uthayan reports the Commander as saying in a rather puzzling statement:

An Uthayan journalist who attempted to visit the Tamil families 'resettled' into the Suriyapuram forests on Friday, was stopped by the Sri Lankan army soldiers, reported the newspaper.

Despite showing his press pass, the journalist was told by the soldiers, that they had orders from above instructing them not to allow any more media personnel into the area.

The UN Refugee Agency expressed concern on Thursday, about the families who have been relocated from Menik Farm.

Despite seeing the closure of Menik Farm as a "significant step towards ending displacement", the UNHCR's representative in Sri Lanka Michael Zwack pointed out, "but there are still people displaced in different situations who need to find a solution."

On their website, UN Refugee Agency wrote,