A day after Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), presented a drafted proposal for the 21^st amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, 40 independent MPs presented an alternative draft.

Despite international criticism, the execution of mentally disabled Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam has been set for 27 April. 

^{Priyantha Diyawadanage}

A Pakistani court sentenced 6 men to death this week, for their involvement in the mob lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, eastern Pakistan.

Sri Lankan intelligence officers have visited the homes of at least two Tamil journalists in Batticaloa this week, reportedly looking to interrogate the journalists over social media posts on the ongoing anti-government protests on the island.

The homes of S. Nilanthan and P. Sasikaran were visited by intelligence officers who reportedly accused the journalists of ‘inciting separatism on social media’ through their coverage of the protests and of ‘attempting to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’.

Memorial events were held in Batticaloa to mark three years since the Easter Sunday attacks that killed nearly 270 people and injured over 500 others. 

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) released a statement condemning the use of excessive force by Sri Lankan law enforcement against protestors, adding that “police and other law enforcement officials have failed to respect people’s human rights, including their rights to protest”.

The International Monetary Fund said that discussions with Sri Lanka on a potential IMF loan program or deal would require "adequate assurances" that the country's debt could be put on a sustainable path.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Government of Sri Lanka's long-term foreign-currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Ca from Caa2.

The website of Sri Lanka’s embassy in China has been hacked by the “Tamil Eelam Cyber Force” as the group memorialises the genocide of Eelam Tamils.

The webpage features images of the atrocities that took place during the armed conflict.

At the time of writing the page remains visible on the embassy website.

The Indian government has revived talks with Sri Lanka on linking the two countries’ electricity grids, a project that it has sought to carry out for several years, according to a report in Reuters.

Wasantha Perera, secretary of Sri Lanka's power ministry, confirmed that talks had taken places, stating "it is at very initial stages of discussion”.

The project had reported been brought up by New Delhi in March this year, as then Sri Lankan finance minister travelled to India to seek a USD $ 1 billion credit line. Cash-stricken Colombo has been reliant on its northern neighbour for much needed financial assistance as it battles one of its worst economic crises on record.

However, in exchange India has looked to expand several projects in the Tamil homeland in the North-East of the island, despite ongoing Sinhala hostility to an Indian presence on the island. Sinhala nationalists have previously prevented several Indian projects from taking place, part of a deeper ‘Indo-phobic’ sentiment across the South.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has deleted a call it put out to “Sri Lankans living abroad”, in a desperate plea for foreign remittances as a government delegation meets with the International Monetary Fund this week hoping for a bailout loan.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo has issued a series of tweets slamming a “morphed image” which claims to be from India’s external affairs minister, offering to proclaim Sri Lanka “become a State if India” in response to the ongoing economic crisis.

The fake tweet, which the High Commission said is “completely fake and fabricated” claims to show a tweet from S Jaishankar, stating that “India is extending a hand of survival to people of Sri Lanka” and “will look after all the future issues of Sri Lanka too”.

Responding to international outcry over the police shootings in the southern city of Rambukkana, Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister, Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed on Twitter that Sri Lankan police would carry out an “impartial and transparent inquiry”.

As Sri Lanka enters discussions with the International Monetary Fund, India has offered its support by calling on the IMF to “urgently provide financial assistance”.