A group of Sinhala Buddhist monks launched a protest against the prospect of a new Sri Lankan constitution that would deprive Buddhism of holding the “foremost place” on the island.
 

The Northern Provincial Council this week called on the government of Sri Lanka to curtail the powers of the Provincial Council governors. 

“We wanted to reduce the powers vested with the governors because it is known that the governors have extreme powers as he was a representative of the Executive President”, the NPC councillor, M K Shivajilingham was quoted as saying.

"The TNA and the NPC had presented this proposal because the council members couldn’t do anything without the approval of the governor," he added. 

Tamils in Kilinochchi protested on Monday demonstrating their opposition to the housing scheme proposed by Minister Swaminathan. 

The scheme, which involves the building of 65,000 prefabricated houses in the North-East, was criticised by the TNA last month. The TNA minister and spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran told parliament the Tamils "dont want those steel cages." 

Security Force Headquarters-Mullaitivu (SFHQ-MLT) coordinated and distributed artificial limbs to 48 war-affected civilians at Mullivaikkal School. 

The initiative was sponsored by Kandy-based Centre for the Handicapped. SFHQ-MLT undertook a similar project in July, in which they distributed 25 artificial limbs.

Tamils in the Netherlands marked Maaveerar Naal last month, in a ceremony attended by hundreds of people.

The Sri Lankan army has been accused of building a new army camp on an LTTE cemetery in Amparai.

The army has been clearing land belonging to the LTTE cemetery in Kanchikudichchcaru, Amparai. Concrete boundary pillars are also being constructed, says Eastern Provincial councilor Thavarasa Kalaiyarasan.

A commemorative event for Maaveerar Naal was held last month at the Kanchikudichcharu LTTE cemetery. 

Sri Lanka’s president said his government is “totally committed to spread the Theravada Buddhism across the world,” reports the official President’s Media Division.

In remarks made at a religious ceremony in the South last week, Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena was quoted as saying, “Buddhism is the only religion which can calm the restless mind of the people and at present the western world also paying more attention to the Buddhism”.

Thousands of people across Italy marked Maaveerar Naal last month, in a series of events held across the country.

Seven Tamil journalists were honoured by the International Association of Tamil Journalists at an event held in memory of Eelam Tamil journalists that were assassinated or killed by Sri Lankan state forces.

Sri Lanka has been granted $1.34 billion in loans from the World Bank announced the government’s finance ministry, as it looks to stabilise the island’s struggling economy.

"This is a great victory for us and it will help us in the fiscal consolidation programme that the new government has started," said Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

The move will see loans spread out over 15 years, reports AFP. The loans will add to the government’s debt situation, which has reportedly seen over 95% of all government revenue is spent on repaying loans,