Teachers in Neduntheevu have been forced to pay thousands of rupees for festivities thrown during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to the region earlier this week, reports Colombo Telegraph.

Rajapaksa had visited the Neduntheevu Maha Vidyalaya on the 14 October, where he opened the “Mahindodaya laboratory” at the school.

Teachers at the school have been ordered to pay Rs. 7000 each by the school administration, for the festivities thrown during Rajapaksa's visit.

The events thrown cost Rs. 108,000 over the Rs. 200,000 budget, said Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin.

The high court in Vavuniya has been without a judge since the retirement of the previous judge nearly two months ago, reports the Uthayan.

Due to the absence of a judge, several important cases, including a large number of cases under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) are being postponed, law sources told the daily.

Relatives of detainees held under the PTA say they are required to go back and forth from the court as a result of the continuous postponements.

Tamil Nadu’s former chief minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa has been granted bail by India’s Supreme Court.

Jayalalithaa was forced to resign her position as chief minister last month after being sentenced to 4 years in prison for corruption.

Her lawyers had argued for her release on bail due to her health condition and are appealing her conviction.

The Supreme Court ordered her to "complete all paperwork" relating to the appeal against her conviction within two months in the Karnataka high court, warning it would not give her "a day more" if she failed to complete the necessary procedures.

The Sri Lankan military inaugurated science lessons for 300 students in Mullaitheevu on Tuesday, reports the army.lk.

The student science course, to be taught in Tamil, was sponsored by Singapore.

Earlier this week the Sri Lankan army laid the corner stone for a new garment factory that would be constructed in Mullaitheevu.

Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan has spoken out against the abuse of Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka's prisons, and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.

In a press release on Thursday, Ms Sasitharan expressed her horror at the 'savagery', violence and abuse, which Tamil political prisoners are subjected to and vowed to mobilise to protest against their ongoing detention.

Full text of press release below:

"The Northern Provincial Council has passed countless motions calling for the unconditional release of Tamil political prisoners locked up for years under the suspicion of the same government of Sri Lanka which claims to have achieved peace and reconciliation after the war, but there has been no visible progress.

That Tamil youth are massacred and tortured in jail is known by all, since 1983 and continuing to the present day. The sudden deaths of Tamil political prisoners in prison are frequently justified or covered up by the state.

The General Court of European Union has annulled the Council’s measures taken against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU, on procedural grounds.

In a judgement delivered on Thursday in Luxembourg, the Court determined that the Council had not carried out the necessary checks when determining a ‘competent authority’ during the case.

Expressing concern over rights violations in the North and East, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), in its update of the Country of Concern Corporate report on Sri Lanka, highlighted clamp downs on freedom of religion and expression, impunity for sexual violence and the intimidation of journalists on the island.

The latest revision of the 3rd quarter update on Sri Lanka, expressed concern at threats made to journalists in the North and East, interrogation of schools principals in the North by the Sri Lankan Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), unsolved court cases of Sri Lankan navy personnel suspected of gang raping Tamil children and state surveillance of politicians in the North-East.

"Concerns remain over the situation in the north and east. Two young girls (aged 9 and 11) from Jaffna were allegedly gang raped for 11 days by Sri Lankan Navy personnel; the court case continues. On 25 July, journalists covering court proceedings were allegedly threatened and evicted from the court room by intelligence personnel. In Jaffna, similar threats were allegedly made to journalists on 11 July when they attempted to document the survey of private land to be appropriated by the Sri Lankan Navy. On 3 September, a Catholic priest was questioned by intelligence personnel over poetry he wrote about the war. The spokesman of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union noted that three principals from northern schools were questioned by the Terrorism Investigations Department (TID) over their role in distributing the poetry. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province alleged that he was spied on by members of the intelligence service," reads the FCO update.

Monks from the Buddhist group, Ravana Balaya, invaded Sri Lanka’s Bureau of Foreign Employment on Thursday, threatening to use force to sack its director general, reports the Colombo Page.

According to the paper, the monks, led by the Ravana Balaya leader Iththkande Saddhathissa, invaded the premises “shouting and behaving violently”, after the director general refused to meet with them without a prior booked appointment.

The Sri Lankan Government  expressed concern regarding a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to call for the annulment of restrictions placed against  organisations and individuals allegedly linked to the LTTE.

Warning the European Council of pressure "pro-LTTE activists" the Sri Lankan government offered to provide further assistance to maintain the terrorist listing of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Sri Lanka is further mindful that the ECJ decision may have an impact including from a security perspective, on the large majority of Sri Lankans living in EU territory, as well as EU citizens of Sri Lankan origin, who are likely to come under pressure once again by pro LTTE activists," read the Ministry of External Affairs Statement.

Photograph US Embassy Colombo

A US delegation, led by Assistant Trade Representative for Central and South Asia, Michael Delaney, is currently in Sri Lanka for the 11th Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Joint Council Meeting.