Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly praised the Tamil community in a message released to mark the country’s first ever Tamil Heritage Month celebrations.

“The Tamil-Canadian community is a shining example of how Canada is made stronger through its cultural diversity,” said Ms Joly. “The Tamil language is one of the oldest living languages in the world, and we are enriched by Tamil-Canadian contributions to every aspect of our society—arts and culture in particular.”

A former LTTE cadre and political party activist was found dead yesterday in Jaffna.

The body of 34-year-old Tharmasena Rishikaran, known as Iniyavan, was found hanging in the Chavakachcheri office of Crusaders for Democracy, the party for which he was the Thenmaradchi co-ordinator.

The death is being investigated as suspicious.

Sri Lanka's draft new constitution will be finalised this week when steering committee members meet on January 5th and 6th, said a member of the committee, Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne. 

"If consensus is reached during the two-day meeting, the report is expected to be presented to the Constitutional Assembly, made up of all MPs, which will meet on January 9, 10 and 11, to debate the draft," he was quoted by the SundayTimes.lk as saying. 

See more here. 

The Northern Provincial Council last week moved to prohibit the sale of toddy produced in the South, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The motion, tabled by the Agriculture Minister, P Ainkaranesan who explained that toddy made and imported from other parts of the island was a threat to the North's toddy industry, was passed unanimously. 

He also stated that it contained chemicals which had caused allergic reactions to consumers in the North. 
 

On this day 11 years ago, five Tamil students were summarily executed by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, whilst they spent an afternoon on the beach in Trincomalee.

Tamil churches across the North-East saw in the new year with special services.

Photo above: Yaazh Punitha Mariyaal (Our Lady of the Refuge)

Relatives of the disappeared held a protest  in Vavuniya on Friday, demanding justice for the thousands of missing and disappeared Tamils.

Sri Lanka and India are set to hold the third round of talks on the proposed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) on January 4th and 5th in Colombo. 

Discussions have become increasingly difficult as both parties failed to agree on a good deal, reported the Colombo Page. 

Sinhala nationalists have also raised objections regarding any economic agreement with the Indian government, which they see as in breach of their sovereignty. 

Whilst the Sri Lankan government hoped to have a deal in place by December 2016, the Indian government has pushed for a more a deadline of May 2017. 

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has hit back at criticism from a parliamentarian, calling it an attempt to “erode the Sinhala Buddhist vote base of the United National Party (UNP)”.

Sri Lankan MP Atshu Marasinghe labelled Mr Rajapakshe a “NGO write-off” and spoke out at his meeting with “men in robes”.

Mr Rajapakshe responded by calling the comments disrespectful and an attempt to dig away at the UNP’s Sinhala Buddhist vote base.

See more from the Daily Mirror here.

Sri Lankan soldiers have constructed water wells in two locations in Jaffna, including at a Saivite temple this month, according to an official military website.