Sri Lanka's finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera said on Wednesday that the government would write off micro-finance loans to women up to Rs 100,000 in certains including the North-East as well as Anuradhapura, and the president's home town of Polonnaruwa. 

The Former Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines held posts at another state institution during his tenure at the airline, violating Finance Ministry conditions.

Testifying before the Presidential Commission investigating the airline's malpractices, the ariline's secretatry revealed that the former CEO, Kapila Chandrasena, held posts at Mobitel, the state-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom.

Mr Chandrasena did not disclose to SriLankan that he had held the posts of Acting CEO and consultant for Mobitel, drawing salaries and privileges from both institutions.

Sri Lanka has signed the agreement for a $100 million USD loan from the World Bank for a project to modernise its education system.

The focus of the General Education Modernization (GEM) project will be on children from schools located in disadvantaged regions, the World Bank said.

Dr. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives said that although Sri Lanka has made progress in expanding access to education, overall learning outcomes needed to improve.

A group seven of Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan navy this week, for allegedly engaging in “in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters”.

Iran has reportedly dismissed a plan by Sri Lanka to clear $250 million of oil debts with tea shipments as “impossible”.

The Financial Tribune reports that the offer was made by Lucille Wijewardena, chairman of Sri Lankan Tea Syndicate, as Colombo attempts to get around international sanctions on Iran.

The leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party said the international community has a responsibility to help achieve justice, in a statement released to mark the genocidal acts of Black July.

“35 years ago, genocide erupted in Sri Lanka, as mobs carried out pogroms across the country, killing between 400 and 3,000 Tamils, brutalizing countless more, and leaving 150,000 people without homes,” said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

French Tamils marked the 35^th anniversary of the Black July pogroms, with a commemoration service in Paris this week.

Sri Lanka and China have vowed to strengthen defence ties, Xinhua reports.

Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary, Kapila Waidyaratne, said China had always been a valuable partner of Sri Lanka and the two nations had enjoyed diplomatic relations for 61 years, supporting each other in the regional and international sphere while making efforts to deepen pragmatic cooperation.

The Defence Secretary was chief guest at a reception at the Chinese embassy in Colombo, celebrating the 91st founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Sri Lankan police attempted to break up a protest by fishermen in Mullaitivu today against illegal fishing by Sinhala fishermen. 

Local fishermen had met to discuss the issue, warning that their livelihoods were at stake as they could not compete with their Sinhala counterparts who were often assisted by the armed forces and have access to a wider consumer base. 

Following the meeting the local fishermen walked to the Mullaitivu fisheries office where they launched a protest calling for action on the issue. 

Families from Mullikulam village returned to their lands last week following days of protests over the Sri Lankan navy's occupation of their land.  

Over 100 residents who had been displaced returned to their original lands and began the arduous task of clearing them.