(Image Courtesy: U Solar Clean Energy)

Following the sudden suspension the Chinese-Sri Lanka energy agreement, that would have seen a Chinese company construct solar power systems in in Jaffna's Delft, Nainathivu, and Alanathivu islets, India has struck and agreement to take on these projects.

Announcing this new arrangement the High Commission of India lauded the deal as “a milestone in India-Sri Lanka Energy Partnership” and a step forwards in Sri Lanka-India relations.

Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to resign the presidency in July 2022 following mass protests, has announced that he will publish a book entitled, “The Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency”.

The former President, who stands accused of genocide, alledges that there was a global conspiracy to force him to resign. Speaking at a press release he claimed:

“From the time I was elected President in November 2019, certain foreign and local parties were intent on removing me from power”.

The Sri Lankan government has asked Russian and Ukrainian to leave the country by March 7 or apply for fresh visas, as it announced it would not renew a free visa extension program. The decision came amidst backlash on social media over a party that was organised by Russians on the island, which reportedly barred locals and adopted a “whites only” policy.

Delivering his message to mark the holy period of Lent, Bishop of the Diocese of Mannar Rev. Emmanuel Fernando said that Tamils in the region continue to face hardships, from poverty, to drugs and environmental damage.

“The livelihood of the people in Mannar continues to deteriorate,” said Bishop Fernando.

Sri Lanka's army has dispatched its 15th contingent of the Sri Lanka Force Protection Company (SLFPC) on a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), despite serious concerns over the human rights record of the military.

Sri Lanka’s opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) welcomed more senior military figures, including those accused of overseeing the slaughter of tens of thousands of Tamils, to the party as it looked to expand its Sinhala nationalist support ahead of elections touted for later this year.

The death of Santhan, one of the freed convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who was laid to rest in his hometown in Jaffna, was a “planned act of vengeance”, his counsel Pugazhendi told reporters during a media briefing.

“His death was a planned act of vengeance perpetrated by the Indian government,” he told the media at the Jaffna press club on Tuesday. “It was to take revenge for Rajiv Gandhi’s murder.”

People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) told the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the Sri Lankan government “sells empty reconciliation mechanisms” as the current regime touts its latest commission to the international community.

A statue of Buddha which has recently appeared near the Suzhipuram Chaukkadi Pillaiyar temple has caused uproar among the local Tamil community, who fear that the latest construction may be yet another Sri Lankan attempt to erect a Sinhala Buddhist vihara in the region. 

The new bill comes against the backdrop of tension among the Sri Lankan state and Eelam Tamils, where there has been a concentrated effort by Sinhala Buddhist monks and the government to claim places of worship belonging to Tamils. Local communities have been actively resisting efforts to seize land and construct new Buddhist viharas in the North-East.