Singapore is considering the creation of a Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) announced Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reports Channel News Asia.

Speaking during a 3 day visit to Sri Lanka last week, Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister S Iswaran, suggested that a decision would be made soon, adding,

Journalists in Jaffna marked the 12 year anniversary of the assassination of journalist Ayuthurai Nadesan who was killed in Batticaloa in 2004.

Members of the Jaffna Press Club laid flowers before a memorial statue for murdered journalists in honour of their murdered colleague.

Sri Lanka's deputy minister for foreign affairs, Harsha De Silva, on Thursday praised the government for saving the country from pressure exerted by the international community.

Defending the 4 percent increase in VAT, which was criticised by opposition MPs, Mr Silva “the government admits that the VAT increase has affected the people. Before the increase, the government reduced the price of essential items and salaries were increased."

The Sri Lankan cabinet has decided to appoint a committee to looking into a method for settling Sinhalese and Muslim people into the North, Colombo Page reports.

The government estimates that 5543 houses are needed to settle Sinhalese families, which it states moved to the South during the armed conflict, and over 16,000 houses are needed to resettle Muslim families.

The committee is to be chaired by the president and will include the prime minister, as well as other relevant ministers.

See more here.

The final report of the Public Representations Committee On Constitutional Reform was published on Tuesday.

The over 300-page long report made recommendations on the proposed constitutional reforms, after island-wide consultations. Issues including the nature of the state, devolution, the Sri Lankan flag, language rights and the role of religion were discussed.

Several Tamil civil society and political groups took part in the consultations, alongside civilians in the North-East.

The 18 member committee examined the over 4,000 submissions to compile the report and suggested recommendations to the constitutional assembly.

Notably, the committee members were often unable to agree on recommendations regarding specific topics, in which case they made different, sometimes opposing recommendations. For instance, on the issue of the Sri Lankan flag, a few committee members suggested changing the design of the flag, while the vast majority recommended to keep the flag as it is.