<p>The paramilitary leader Pillayan who is in detention over the 2005 assassination of TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham has had his remand extended by the Batticaloa High Court.</p> <p>Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan,&nbsp;formerly a deputy of LTTE defector turned paramilitary leader Karuna, was reportedly disappointed to not be released on Wednesday, with his paramilitary associates gathered outside the court complex waiting to greet him.</p> <p>The Batticaloa High Court judge however adjourned the trial further until January 9, 2019, extending Pillayan’s remand also.</p>

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has resumed its campaign against Tamil Guardian journalist Uthayarasa Shalin after a lull of a month.

The TID issued a summons to Shalin’s friend Sinnathurai Pratheepkumar on Wednesday, ordering him to appear at TID headquarters in Colombo on November 27.

The journalist has faced months of harassment and targeting, which has included the summoning and questioning of his friends and family members, purportedly based on his coverage of a Hindu temple festival where a map of the Tamil homeland was displayed.

A Jaffna police department have applied for a ban on commemorations of Maaveerar Naal, the Tamil national remembrance day for fallen LTTE fighters on November 27.

Koppay police applied for the ban under section 120 of the penal code - inciting or seeking to incite hate - and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) regulations.

Maaveerar Naal commemorations were planned to take place on a property belonging to an individual named Sritharan, opposite the Koppay 512 brigade camp, police told the court.

The camp is built over the original Koppay Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery).

Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff should be punished under the Protection of Victims and Witnesses Act for attempting to hamper a case against him by sabotaging the police official in charge of investigating the case, the country’s number two police chief has said.

Nishantha Silva, officer in charge of the organised crimes division at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was given a transfer order to ordinary duties in Negombo, reportedly on the orders of the Sri Lankan president, further at the behest of Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne.

Sri Lanka’s Professionals’ National Front (PNF) has written to the British High Commissioner James Dauris, warning him to “refrain from interfering into internal affairs of our motherland”.

The PNF, an organisation of Sri Lankan professionals from various fields including medicine, engineering, banking and IT, also accused the diplomat of going “beyond the accepted norms and limits as per Vienna convention”.

Their letter comes amidst many governments, including the UK expressing concern at the political turmoil on the island.

However, Sinhala nationalists groups, including the extremist Bodu Bala Sena and Buddhist monks, have pushed back against these calls.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that discussions around the next tranche of a USD $1.5 billion loan have been put on hold due to the island’s deepening political crisis.

An IMF spokesman told Reuters via email on Tuesday that the organisation is “monitoring the situation and remain in close contact with our technical counterparts in Sri Lanka.”

“Program discussions on the 5th review of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility are currently on hold, pending clarity on the political situation,” it added.

<p>Sri Lanka's Central Bank (CBSL) today criticised the downgrading of the country by Moody's Investors Service as "unwarranted".&nbsp;</p> <p>The decision "did not properly reflect the country's macroeconomic fundamentals" the CBSL added in a statement.&nbsp;</p> <p>"Such an action only on the premise of heightened political uncertainty, with no evidence of slippages in macroeconomic policies, cannot be justified."</p> <p>Moody's yesterday downgraded Sri Lanka from B1 negative to B2 stable.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Australia's High Commissioner Bryce Hutchesson this week sent a menancing warning to those fleeing Sri Lanka, stating "you will be caught".&nbsp;</p> <p>"Every Sri Lankan people smuggling boat that has entered Australian waters in the past four years has been stopped, and all those on board returned to Sri Lanka," Hutchesson said.&nbsp;</p> <p>"If you attempt to come illegally by boat, you will be caught."&nbsp;</p>

<p>The United National Party is looking to form a broader political alliance, the Daily Mirror reports.&nbsp;</p> <p>The party is currently holding discussions on the alliance with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Jathika Hela Urumya (JHU), the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC). &nbsp;</p> <p>According to the paper the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) members are under pressure from the former president Chandrika Bandaranaike to join the alliance.&nbsp;</p>

Residents and volunteers yesterday cleared the ground at Kanchikudiyaru thuyilum illam in Amparai ahead of Maaveerar Naal (Tamil Remembrance Day) on November 27. 

Thuyilum illams across the North-East have been cleared over recent weeks in preparation of the commemorations.