The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) has confirmed that it will hold its Commonwealth Business Forum in Sri Lanka next year.

The CEO of the CBC, Dr Mohan Kaul, is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka and called on president Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday, reported ColomboPage.

The Commonwealth Business Forum is planned for November, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of government Meeting (CHOGM).

The European Commission (EC) has warned that the Sri Lankan garment sector will face difficult times as the Sri Lankan Rupee's value continues to decline against the US dollar.

In an interview to TamilNet on Friday, following Frances Harrison's book launch, Alan Keenan of the ICG hoped that there would one day be an independent investigation into the events of 2009 and its aftermath, and that the "question of genocide should be included among those issues".

Asked about the ICG's view of the Tamil nation's right to have a sovereign state of their own, Keenan replied,

"I don’t think that the Crisis Group has ever rejected the right of the Tamil people to rule themselves in a sovereign fashion. I think what we have argued, in the current political context, that the demand for separation is not a wise one."

Asked to clarify what he meant by the current political context, Keenan explained:

"This is always a difficult judgement to make. I am not Tamil. I don’t live in Sri Lanka. But from an as dispassionate and as compassionate perspective as I can come to, the costs of pursuing a separate state to the Tamil people, given the lack of international support and given the virulent opposition that it would provoke among the Sinhalese, it would not be a wise thing. The costs, in terms of death, physical destruction, to the Tamil people themselves is not worth it especially given that the chances of succeeding are very small. That’s what I mean ‘it’s contextual’.

If it was a different political context, if there was a larger percentage of the Sinhala population which was potentially amenable or open to that, if they were more sympathetic, if the political dynamics among Sinhala dominated parties was more open, then that might well be something that could be pursued. But in the current context, it is a recipe for further violence and further conflagration that will just add up more dead bodies to the already enormous pile of dead bodies that Sri Lanka, particularly Tamils have suffered the last 30-40 years."

See here for sound clip of the interview.

The ICC has said it will not use six umpires from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have been accused by Indian media of being prepared to influence matches at the recent Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.

An ICC spokesperson told reporters,

"The summer of 2012 has been a stunning exhibition of top quality sports, as world-class athletes congregated in London for an unforgettable Olympics and arguably the best ever Paralympics. An intriguing Euro 2012 was showcased earlier in the summer in Eastern Europe, and this trio of gargantuan sporting festivals were bookended by the Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slams. Many would think that this is set to continue into September with the T20 World Cup held in Sri Lanka, but in reality the Tamils that inhabit the Northern and Eastern parts of the country and the Tamil diaspora have plenty of reason to think otherwise."

"Questions are once again being raised as to why the International Cricket Council has permitted Sri Lanka not only to participate but also to host one of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, especially with the on-going allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes against the Tamils of Sri Lanka. This essential role bestowed upon Sri Lanka legitimises and condones a country that is in dire circumstances."

The International Monetary Fund downgraded Sri Lanka's growth to 6.7 percent on Wednesday from the 6.8 expected by Sri Lanka's Central Bank, as inflation is expected to hit double figures at 10.1 percent by the end of this year.

The relatively conservative over-estimate by the Central Bank, came after it was forced to downgrade the initial 8 percent predicted forecast.

In 2010 and 2011, Sri Lanka had a growth of 8 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

The Supreme Court in Delhi has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation, calling on the Indian government to ban the training of Sri Lankan defence officials.

"It is a matter of foreign policy. We won't interfere with the policy matters," said judges at the court.