India's premier, Narendra Modi has taken up the fishermen issue with Sri Lanka, the external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. 

“The government regularly takes up the matter of early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen with the government of Sri Lanka. Our High Commission in Colombo provides humanitarian and legal assistance to the apprehended fishermen," Ms Swaraj was quoted by The Hindu as saying in response to a question by the CPI MP D Raja. 

A further two men were arrested on Thursday in connection with an attack on police officers in Kopay last month. 

Two police officers of Koppay police station were reportedly attacked around 1.30pm on July 30 by over ten men on four motorcycles while walking down Nanthavil Amman Kovil road.

Yogarasa Sajith, known as Muttu and Arul Seelan Patrick Dinesh were arrested by officers in Jaffna today. Both are 18 years old. 

Earlier this week, Jaffna and Kopay police arrested 20 year old Thavarasa Madushan and 23 year old Vijayarathnam Sivaraj.

Experts from China are to inspect the Norochcholai power plant in Puttalam which has had operational difficulties over many years. 

“Out of the three electricity generation units operated at the power plant, the third unit which would generate 3,000 MW had failed,” Sulakshana Jayawardena of the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Protests will not change China’s friendship with Sri Lanka said China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang on Thursday.

Acknowledging that he faced criticisms by some people within Sri Lanka and outside, he said he would continue to discuss further assistance from Beijing to Sri Lanka. 

Speaking on improving economic ties between the two nations at an event in the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, Mr Xianliang, said,

A no-confidence motion signed by 32 Joint Opposition MPs against Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake was handed over to the General Secretary of Parliament this afternoon.

Sri Lanka’s generally parliament prioritises no-confidence motions over other procedures and a vote on the motion is likely to be arranged in the near future, reports Dailymirror.lk.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Corruption is currently investigation Ravi Karunanayake for the illicit use of government bonds.   

The Sri Lankan army co-ordinated the donation of bicycles in Kilinochchi yesterday as part of the Bikes for Life campaign started by international cricketer Kumara Sangakkara.

The Sri Lankan army held a ceremony to showcase Jaffna high school students who achieved the highest grades in their  GCE O/L Examinations in Jaffna this weekend.

An increase in the presence and visibility of armed forces has been reported in Jaffna this week, following the Sri Lankan police chief calling on the military to help in patrolling the district.

The Inspector General of Police was in Jaffna following an attack on two police constables and said, “we are going to have the assistance of the STF and Armed Forces. We are going to start combined patrols and searches to find those responsible for the attack.”

The Sri Lankan government is attempting to move the cases of Tamil political prisoners to Sinhalese districts, the prisoners’ families have complained to the Northern Province Chief Minister.

In a meeting on Wednesday, family members of a number of political prisoners urged Chief Minister Wigneswaran to pressure the government to keep their relatives’ cases in Tamil courts and secure their release.

The North-East has been the most affected by the current drought that has affected the island with hundreds of thousands suffering, according to the Northern Province Disaster Management Center.

The Island reported the Center as stating Jaffna was the hardest hit region, with 126,296 persons of 34,049 families affected by the conditions.

Areas in the north have not received rainfall for more than eight months it added.