Economic growth in Sri Lanka fell to 4.8 per cent in 2015 from 4.9 per cent in the previous year, with the slowdown attributed to a slowing export sector and foreigners taking away their funds from Sri Lanka owing to a stronger US economy, according to the Central Bank’s annual report for 2015 released on Tuesday.

“The impact of these developments was offset to some extent by lower international commodity prices,” the 2015 annual report said, according to The Sunday TImes.

Year-on-year headline inflation by end 2015 was recorded at 2.8 per cent, compared to 2.1 per cent at the end of 2014, the report further said.

Tamil National Alliance MP Shanthi Sriskantharajah criticised the Sri Lankan government's attempt to launch new Sinhala residential villages in the Tamil North-East, stating it was part of a colonisation project.

The parliamentarian said two new residential villages have been opened up in the Mullaitivu district in the North-East, named Sampathnuvara and Isurupura. The villages were opened on April 11th by Sri Lanka's Minister of Housing, with a total of 24 houses unveiled.

“The Manalaaru area is an ancient settlement of the Tamil people,” said Ms Sriskantharajah.

“Under the guise of Mahavali Development Zone, land grabs are still happening here,” she added calling for a halt to further colonisation.

Hundreds of Tamil pre-schools in the North-East continue to remain under the administration of Sri Lanka's Civil Security Department, despite pledges to reduce the military presence in the Tamil homeland.
 
Approximately 270 pre-schools in the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts remain under the Civil Security Department, which also provides 512 pre-school teachers. A total of 9422 children are reported to be studying in those pre-schools in both districts.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström met with Tamil civil society activists in Jaffna on Tuesday, as part of her visit to the North-East.

Accompanied by Harald Sanberg, Sweden's Ambassador to India, Ms Wallström visited Kopay in Jaffna to inspect houses that have been built as part of the Sri Lankan government’s much criticised housing project.

Tamil activists also called on the foreign minister, who previously held the post of Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, to help alleviate problems faced by Tamil female headed households in the North-East.

The leader of ITAK's youth wing, Subramaniyam Sivakaran was arrested on Wednesday morning by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).

Mr Sivakaran, who is also the editor of a Tamil newspaper called Puthiyavan, was detained at the paper's offices in Mannar and taken to Vavuniya.

The activist, in a recent interview to TamilNet, had condemned the recent arrests and abductions by the TID and compared the Sirisena-regime to that of Mahinda Rajapaksa for its deployment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.