The Sri Lankan President ordered the suspension of the planned removal of unauthorised constructions on Mirissa’s coastal belt after coming under personal pressure from politicians.

The Coast Conservation Department was scheduled to remove unauthorised constructions on the Mirissa beach front on Tuesday, after attacks on tourists earlier in the month were blamed on groups linked to the illegal businesses.

However tourism minister John Amaratunga said that President Sirisena had ordered the suspension of the removals after some politicians had raised concerns.

Sri Lankan troops stationed in the East were lectured on social media last month, where they were advised not to post “statements propagating hatred” online.

According to a military website, troops were lectured on “maintaining their privacy in popular social networking websites including Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp”.

Sri Lanka's cabinet reshuffle today failed to end the climate of political uncertainty with the stock index ended flat. 

The reshuffle, which is the government's fourth, follows the suspension of parliament after the  no-confidence motion against the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the defection of SLFP ministers from within the coalition government. 

"The changes are very cosmetic. There is nothing to boost the market,” a stockbroker in Colombo was quoted by Reuters as saying. 

Read more here. 

The Sri Lankan government has not made progress on returning lands in Iranaitivu back to the people, the Tamil MP, S Sritharan wrote in a letter to the president. 

"People from Iranaitivu were displaced in 1992 due to the military's actions. They have been living in Mulankavil for the past 26 years without any livelihood support and without any hope for the future amid severe difficulties," Mr Sritharan wrote. 

Families of the disappeared were "very disappointed" by the Sri Lankan president's recent comments rejecting the existence of secret detention camps and missing persons, the Northern Provincial Council's minister of women's affairs, Ananthi Sasitharan said. 

"The relatives of missing persons wept while questioning me regarding a solution for their grievances. They were very disappointed at the President’s recent comment denying of the existence of secret camps, and missing persons," Ms Sasitharan told Ceylon Today. 

Tamil workers and political parties defied the government's decision to postpone May Day celebrations after the Buddhist festival of Vesak, holding their rallies today on May 1. 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) held rallies in Vadamarachchi and Batticaloa, whilst the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) held its rally in Nallur. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has emarked approximately $2.8 billion wort hof loans over the next two years in a bid to assist Sri Lanka in meeting its key development goals, reports Sri Lanka.

The ADB said that it looked to contribute to job creation, rural economic development, knowledge formulation and economic diversification over the next 5 years of its Country Partnership Strategy (CPS).

Priority investments for economic diversification will focus on building infrastructure and developing an economic corridor, reports Colombo Page.

The Tamil Students Association (TaVS – Tamilscher Verein der Studierenden) in Switzerland hosted an event discussing the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

Over 200 people, mainly Tamil youth, convened at the University of Zurich in March, for a panel discussion and documentary screening.

Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition aimed at stopping the deportation of a Tamil family from Australia to Sri Lanka, as a court in Melbourne prepares to make a decision on their right to stay in the country this week.

The monument erected in memory of the 87 prawn farm workers who were massacred by Special Task Force officers in 1987 in Kokkadichcholai, Batticaloa was reopened this week after being restored. 

The monument was previously destroyed by government troops. 

On January 27, 1987 STF officers raided a prawn factory in the village, shooting dead the workers, which including seven boys aged between 12 to 14.

According to relatives of the victims, the night before the massacre, government helicopters were seen circling the area.