Sri Lanka's Ministry of Finance has presented its Appropriation Bill for 2022 with the largest allocation, 12.3% being allocated to the Ministry of Defence.
The bill comes as Sri Lanka faces increasing scrutiny from the international community and the public over its increasing militarisation. During the 48th UNHRC session, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet , slammed the "corrosive impact of militarisation" highlighting the continued culture of impunity and deterioration of "fundamental rights, civic space, democratic institutions, social cohesion and sustainable development".

It also comes as Sri Lanka's face a severe food crisis with the prices of basic commodities increase by as much as 37% across the board.

Charles Nirmalanathan, a parliamentarian with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) expressed his strong concerns regarding the Sri Lankan government’s inaction over the plight of Tamil fishermen and demanded that the Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda resign from his position.

Speaking to the press at his office in Mannar on Monday, Nirmalanathan said that encroachment of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu has risen since the end of the armed conflict in 2009.

Former Election Commission member Jeevan Thiyagarajah has been sworn in as the new Governor of the Northern Province.

On Monday Thiyagarajah took his oath before Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. He will be replacing P S M Charles, who had been serving in the position since 30 December, 2019.

Tamil Nadu film composer Harris Jayaraj hastily deleted a tweet earlier today, after he received widespread backlash for posting a photograph with Sri Lankan singer Yohani – the daughter of a Sri Lankan army commander accused of overseeing atrocity crimes.

As Sri Lankan singer Yohani Diloka de Silva continues to feature in news across the Sinhala press for her music, for many Tamils it is her Sri Lankan military connection that has drawn controversy. 

The singer, who went viral with her cover version of the Sinhala song "Manike Mage Hithe", is the daughter of former Sri Lankan army Major General Prasanna De Silva, a military commander who is credibly accused of overseeing war crimes and a commander who Yohani has repeatedly praised as a "hero".

On Monday, a Tamil political prisoner, detained under the widley condemned Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for 12 years without charge, was released from Welikada Prison after being acquitted by Monaragala Magistrate's Court. 

Kapilan Kathiravelu from Amparai was incarcerated as a teenager at just 17 years old, in 2009 over alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) according to a statement released by the Voice of the Voiceless.

India's army chief, Manoj Mukund Naravane, arrived in Colombo today at the invitation of Sri Lanka's army commander, and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva as part of a "goodwill tour".

The price of cooking gas shot up by almost 90% as the Sri Lankan government abandoned its strategy of price controls on essential goods as Colombo’s foreign currency crisis continues.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet announced on Friday that an earlier imposed price control on several essential foods, including milk powder, wheat flour, sugar and liquified petroleum gas was to end, leading to a sharp rise in prices of the goods.

Speaking with Indian Foreign Secretary, Shri Harsha Vardhan Shringla, Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa stressed his desire for the Indian ocean to remain a "zone of peace" last week, invoking the 1971 proposal by former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, as he called for closer ties with New Delhi.

People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) marked Tamil Women’s Day yesterday with a statement that paid tribute to Tamil women and called on organisations around the world to “actively oppose traditional gender roles in favor of substantive equity”.

“On Tamil Women’s Day, PEARL remembers the women who were at the forefront of the Tamil struggle for rights and self-determination, and pays homage to the women who continue to fight the ongoing oppression of the Sri Lankan government,” began the statement.