Bicycle production company Firefox has decided to shift its plant to Bangladesh, following Sri Lanka's loss of the GSP+ concession, according to reports.

Two prominent US Senators have renewed calls for an independent international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka, as pressure piles on Sri Lanka ahead of the UN Human Rights Council session in March.

Senators Patrick Leahy and Bob Casey, both senior Democrats and well established voices on foreign policy, stated that Colombo had failed to implement it's own LLRC which was "mired in bias and delays".

The second phase of oil exploration in the Mannar basin will begin next month announced Cairn India.

The company said drilling would be brought forward from June to mid-February, due to early rig availability and excellent logistical preparations.

The drilling of a fourth exploratory off well has been planned, 21km off the coast of Kalpitiya.

India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K Kantha told The Island that his country trains around 1,400 members of Sri Lanka’s security forces every year, the most it provides to any country.

He was asked whether India would consider increasing the supply of arms and ammunition, to which he smiled and said,

Groups of Sinhala families were resettled in the district of Mullaitivu, amid protest from local inhabitants, reported Lankasri News. 

Reports suggest that military personal have resettled Sinhala fishermen in the Puthumatalan area of Mullativu district, the scene of bloody massacres on the infamous “Killing Fields”.

See below for extracts from a speech made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore at a press event in Colombo.

Click here for complete statement in English, Tamil and Sinhala.

The United States has a long friendship with Sri Lanka dating back to its independence. We value this multifaceted relationship and our visit has been undertaken in this spirit.

We [...] have had constructive and candid meetings with the Sri Lankan government, military, political parties, and civil society in both Colombo and Jaffna. Our goal has been to hear from many different voices throughout Sri Lanka. We have met with Secretary of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and military commanders [...].

The Sri Lankan government has stated that they expect the Queen to be present at this year's Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka, shrugging off any concerns of a boycott.

Responding to the prospect of another resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan government said that they had already made "substantial progress".

The country's Foreign Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama said on Tuesday:

A Sri Lankan government Minister has accused the visiting United States State Department Deputy Assistant Secretaries, of being spies.

Addressing an event in the Southern town of Mawathagama, the Housing and Construction Minister, Wimal Weerawasa, said that the US officials were trying to gather information that would indicate to the international community that the law and order situation in the country is facing a breakdown.

Over 4,000 police and army personnel will be deployed in Trincomalee for Sri Lanka's Independence day celebrations, due to be held in the city.