External Affairs Minister GL Peiris is due to arrive in India today to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka later this year.

Tamil Nadu opposition leader M Karunanidhi has warned of protests and blockades if Singh does not declare a boycott of the event.

In a statement released on Saturday, the leader of the DMK said that Sri Lanka was attempting to water down the 13th amendment and has failed to prevent attacks on Tamil fishermen.

The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) verified an incident of election related violence on Saturday.

A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate V Kanagaratnam and his supporters where attacked whilst staying at a residence in Mannar earlier this week. The injured supporters were admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

A group of five Tamil National Alliance (TNA) supporters were arrested after putting up posters in support of the Vavuniya District candidate, M.M Rathan.

The campaigners were arrested and interrogated for nearly three hours before being produced in front of the magistrate.

The Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister GL Peiris said that the country’s hosting of the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a triumph for Sri Lanka’s foreign policy.

Defence Secretary,Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, challenged the United Nations to provide evidence used in the reports that found that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the final stages of the war. 

The Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs is goig to introduce a law to outlaw the publication of the “original teachings and traditions” of major religions.

The first step will be the establishment of a Buddhist Publications Regulatory Board with authority to “regulate any publication that is in violation of Buddhism, its philosophy or traditions”, reported the DailyMirror.

 Magistrate Namal Perera ordered that a sign board erected in front of a mosque that reads, ‘Mosque ahead – Keep silence’ be removed within 14 days.

The order comes after local police authorities pleaded to the court that the notice be removed , in order to avoid an uprising of Sinhala Buddhists in the area.