"Canada, Britain and the US had earlier vehemently condemned the human rights violations in Sri Lanka and had also called for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes in the Island. But the US draft resolution had failed to mention anything on the International investigation into the alleged war crimes,"

Bags with human remains have been found in Nanthikadal, near Mullivaikkaal, reported the Uthayan.

The remains were found by a labourer from the area, who informed Northern Provincial Council member Mr. Ravikaran.

"If there are allegations of war crimes against the army, I have said that I am ready to answer that anytime to anybody because I don’t agree that the army had committed any war crimes. I deny that. If somebody has a specific complain and any credible evidence, then we can always conduct an inquiry like we have done in the past. But you can’t baselessly blame the army."

"It's certainly not satisfactory. It's disappointing. Importantly, when the British Prime Minister went to Sri Lanka last year for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet, he very clearly stated, if the Sri Lankan government does not conduct a credible investigation, then the coming March - ie. this month, March 2014 - he, the UK, and other countries would call for an independent, international investigation. Till now, that clear statement has certainly not been realised. Therefore, this is definitely a disheartening act. It has disappointed us."

The leader of the Paattali Makkal Katchi, a party in the Tamil Nadu ruling coalition, urged the Indian government to work towards strengthening the draft resolution on Sri Lanka, tabled at the UNHRC this week.

The party leader, S Ramathas, stressed the need for India to strengthen the current draft resolution, and ensure that an international mechanism into war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide took place.

Several NGOs based in the UK have urged Prime Minister David Cameron to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry at the UN Human Rights Council.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Freedom from Torture, Redress, Minority Rights Group International, Sri Lanka Campaign and UNA-UK, said the Prime Minister should stand by his call for an international investigation, adding that little had changed since his visit in November.

The groups said issues such as torture, disappearances and sexual violence, if left unaddressed, may lead to renewed conflict and said they hoped the UK would “champion robust action” at the council.

The chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), MP Lee Scott, left for the United Nations Human Rights Council, today, to aid efforts in ensuring that an international investigation into Sri Lankan atrocities is established by the UNHRC.

Speaking to press before he left, he said,

Mihin Lanka, a state-owned airline, is projected to make a loss of over Rs2bn (£9.2mn) for 2013-14.

The Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratna was responding to a question raised in parliament and said that the budget-airline is in debt to the tune of over Rs283mn (£1.3bn).