India's External Affairs Minister, SM Krishna, is due to arrive on a four-day visit in the run up to the TNA-government talks, scheduled to take place from the 17th January to the 19th January.

According to reports, arriving on the 16th January, Krishna will meet TNA leader, R Sampanthan on the day of his arrival and Mahinda Rajapaksa the following day, as well as members of civil society groups.

India's External Affairs Minister, SM Krishna, is believed to be inspecting India's housing project during his upcoming visit to Sri Lanka with trips to Jaffna and Kilinochchi.

Handing over 1000 houses, constructed as a pilot project, Krishna is reported to be signing a memorandum of understanding regarding the building of the further 49,000 houses for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East.

The project, approved by the Indian cabinet in December 2011, is estimated to cost $260 million.

“Anjali Appadurai is a hero, watch her brilliant speech that rocked the climate summit in Durban”

“I speak for more than half the world’s population. We are the silent majority. You’ve given us a seat in this hall, but our interests are not on the table.

What does it take to get a stake in this game? Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money? You’ve been negotiating all my life. In that time, you’ve failed to meet pledges, you’ve missed targets, and you’ve broken promises. But you’ve heard this all before.”

"I wonder why we let not speak 'half of the world's population' first in this conference, but only last”."

Responding to an online petition demanding support from the Obama adminstration into an "international investigation into war crimes and other human rights abuses committed in Sri Lanka", the US state Department, in a statement released Friday, stressed the needed for accountability, as a "critical component of reconciliation" and warned that that "international accountability mechanisms" may be used if the Sri Lankan government is "unable or unwilling to meet its obligations".

Sri Lankan cricket fans will be relieved to know that the sport's governing body is no longer troubled by 'evil spirits'.

The newly elected chief of Sri Lanka Cricket, Upali Dharmadasa, declared the body free of the ghoulish beings that had allegedly plagued it, after a special pooja (religious service) was conducted.

The spirits are evil indeed.

A British Tamil business man, Kandiah Rajagopal, who owned a hotel in Trincomalee, was shot and injured off Vihara Road, near a Sri Lankan army base, on Tuesday.

The shooting, having occurred despite the overbearing military presence in the North-East, is the latest in a string of attacks on foreign nationals.

Facing the pervasive climate of fear and militarisation with resilience and defiance, Tamil students in the North-East have exceled at recent national exams.