MDMK Chief Vaiko has appeared before a special tribunal reviewing India’s ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Wednesday.

The LTTE ban was recently extended by five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in India.

The special tribunal, headed by Justice G P Mittal, was set up in July to review the ban and had issued a call for responses.

The chairman of Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappeared people said the probe will only be able to provide details of individuals involved in such cases, and will not be able to make decisions on punishments.

Chairman Maxwell Paranagama said any decisions on punitive measures can only be taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Attorney General, while speaking to the BBC Sinhala Service.

Panaragama pointed out that although the new international advisory panel was appointed by the commission, the panel will not become “a stakeholder” in the probe.

A shop selling shoes with the images of Buddha has been raided by police in the southern Sri lankan town of Balangoda, after a tip off.

Two people were arrested by local police, who said they will carry out further investigations, reported Colombo Gazette.

Six first-year undergraduates of the Sabaragamuwa University were detained and interrogated by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Tuesday, becoming the third set of students arrested at the southern university.

A delegation from the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC) arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday to explore the country’s welfare system for its military.

The 11-member delegation, headed by Air Vice Marshal M.R Morgan of the Nigerian Air Force met with the Sri Lankan army chief Lt Gen Daya Ratnayake and discussed how the army’s welfare model is employed for the soldiers’ benefit, reported the army website.