Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) said they were “alarmed” at a move by Sri Lankan President Maithripala to revive the government’s much criticised Press Council.

Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, said,

“By reviving this mechanism for harassing the Sri Lankan media, President Sirisena is dashing the hopes raised by his election and is again placing the media under a permanent threat of authoritarian abuses”.

“We urge the president to rescind this decision and instead to begin a complete overhaul of the Press Council with the aim of turning it into an entity that guarantees media independence,” he added.

JDS also said, “the government’s move to re-enact the controversial legislation reinforces serious and legitimate fears, as the desire to curtail media freedom always reflects anti-democratic intentions”.

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa will run for the post of prime minister at the upcoming general election on August 17 reports Reuters.

Allies of Rajapaksa told Reuters that the former president will stand for the post of prime minister whilst seeking to be elected in the island’s third largest electoral district, Kurungala.

Speaking on the phone to Reuters after handing over the nomination documents on Monday, Mahinda Rajapaksa, said,

“Today, people wants a change. I’m leading the campaign with President Sirisena as the chairman of the party to form a Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led government.”

The UNP and the UPFA have announced their final nominations for the general elections, to be held on August 17.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will contest for the UNP led alliance from Colombo, alongside finance minister Rav Karunanayake, Harsha de Silva, Mano Ganeshan and the head of the JHU, a party led by Buddhist monks, Champika Ranawaka.

For President Maithripala Sirisena's UPFA, the capital will be contested by party heavyweights and Mahinda-loyalists, General Secretary Susil Premajayantha, chief whip in the last parliament, Dinesh Gunawardena and Wimal Weerawansa of the NFF.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says the German car giant Volkswagen is planning to build a plant on the island.

The plant will purportedly placed in Kurunegala in the South, the prime minister said at a rally on Saturday.

Deputy Economic Policy Minister Harsha de Silva said in January that Volkswagen was trying to set up a plant on the island since 2008, but, for unspecified reasons, had not succeeded.

A coalition party called the United National Front (UNF) for Good Governance was formed between the United National Party (UNP), Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and some members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), reports Ceylon Today.

The three organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Temple Trees on Sunday.

The demonstrators form the Naam Thamizhar Katchi and Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) called on the release of all political prisoners that have been imprisoned for over 23 years, release of all political prisoners detained without charge for over 10 years and the closure of refugee camps for Tamils who fled Sri Lanka with permission for them to join their families.

The Sri Lankan army's 651 brigade facilitated a visit by children from an orphanage in Jaffna to another orphanage in Mulankavil.

The commander provided lunch for 40 children and staff of the orphanage at the brigade's headquarter and distributed text books among them.

Sri Lanka paid $51mn per year in loan repayments for the first phase of the Hambantota Port,  between 2007 and 2012, Sri Lanka Ports Authority said according to LBO.

The first phase of the project cost over $500mn of which 90 percent was granted by the Chinese EXIM Bank.

“Proper feasibility studies were not carried out regarding the viability of re-paying the large loan re-productively,” the Ports Authority said.