Indian government officials will meet with their Sri Lankan counterparts this month in the hope of expanding trade deals between the two, reports PTI.

The discussions will revolve around the expansion of a free trade agreement (FTA), which currently only applies to certain goods. India has been keen to push for implementation of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, with negotiations having started in February 2005. It has yet to be put in place.

In a brief released today, the Jaffna-based Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) took note of the Centre-Periphery Relations Constitutional Sub-Committee report with cautious optimism, noting that its recommendations "had the potential to positively contribute to a genuine restructuring of the State that accommodates the concerns of the numerically smaller populations vis a vis the current state of the provincial council system and more broadly, the desire of the Tamil people for a genuine form of self-government within a united Sri Lanka."

Tamils in Doha, Qatar, marked Maaveerar Naal (Tamil national remembrance day) this weekend, creating a shrine of remembrance with photographs of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre. 

See video here. 

The US State Department held a series of seminars on trade policy from Novemebr 29 till December 1st. 

Over 70 key decision makers and technical experts from various Sri Lankan ministries, agencies, research institutes, trade policy think tanks, and Chambers of Commerce were present, the US embassy said. 

The seminar also included experts from the US International Trade Administration Office of Trade Negotiations and Analysis, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the World Bank. 

Tamils in Indonesia on Sunday marked Maaveerar Naal (Tamil national remembrance day) with the lighting of lamps and laying of flowers by the photographs of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre. 

The Tamil community in Paris gathered to mark Maaveerar Naal on Sunday, with thousands attending a commemoration ceremony.

Maaveerar Naal was marked in several locations in Batticaloa, including Kathiraveli, Vakarai with TNA MP S. Viyalenthiran in attendance.

Thousands in Norway marked Maaveerar Naal on Sunday,as Tamils across the world remembered their fallen heroes.

Tamil Guardian sat down with Spokesperson for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and MP, M. A. Sumanthiran at his home in Colombo last week to discuss matters of the constitution, transitional justice and the budget.

The full transcript of the hour-long interview (with minor edits) is available here.

On the Constitution

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, oversaw the meeting of the National Buddhist think tank on Wednesday. 

The meeting included discussions on developing Privena education, building institutions for novice monks, establishing a Theravada Buddhist cnetre and launching an international festival to mark Vesak in 2017. 

See more here.