Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will offer worship at the Lord Venkateswara temple near Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, after landing in Tamil Nadu on Thursday.

The Prime Minister, along with his wife and officials will arrive in India on December 21st. His last visit to the temple was in his capacity as Prime Minister in 2002.

Photograph: BBC Sinhala

Sri Lanka’s justice minister met with Buddhist monks from the extremist Bodu Bala Sena organisations in Batticaloa on Wednesday.
 

A renewed amnesty by the Sri Lankan army has led to more than 3,000 deserting soldiers returning and obtaining legal discharge, reports the Ministry of Defence.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that his government would not be removing any military camps from the North-East, as he lashed out at the media during a speech in Malaysia.

Starting in 2017, January 8th to 14th will be recognized as National Integration and Reconciliation Week.

The Japanese government is to provide a naval craft and training to Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The announcement came as the Japanese vice minister of defence, Hiroyuki Miyazawa visited the island, attending the 'Japan-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Dialogue 2016' in Colombo. 

The chief minister of the Northern province, C V Wigneswaran on Monday called on the government to implement pledges it had made to the Tamil people without delay. 

“The government should implement without delay the pledges made regarding the Tamil people while entering into pacts,” Mr Wigneswaran said at a press briefing held outside the Jaffna library. 

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday called on Indian Prime Minister Norendal Modi to send a “firm, clear and unambiguous message” to the Sri Lankan government following further arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.

"A firm, clear and unambiguous message should be sent out by the Centre to Lanka to ensure that this trend needs to be reversed and that the Centre is firmly committed to protect the livelihood of the poor and innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu engaged in fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay," said Mr Panneerselvam.

The commander of Sri Lanka’s air force visited India this week, becoming the first official in his position to officiate over a commissioning parade of the Indian Air Force.

The Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) 2017 is to be held from January 27th to the 29th, for the 8th consecutive year.

Named “Gateway to the North,” the trade fair is widely attended by all stakeholders in the supply chain and procurement process, and will comprise of both local and international vendors.

Sri Lankan military personnel handed out poultry to disadvantaged families in Kilinochchi on Friday. 

The distribution programme which was run by Major General Sarath Weerawardena poultry to fifteen families. 

The ongoing involvement of the Sri Lankan military in economic development in the North-East has been heavily critised by the Tamil political figures and organisations across the North-East. 

India and Sri Lanka are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding detailing the funding fo 3000 rainwater harvesting units in the North, Colombo Page reported. 

The Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) submitted a proposal to India for the project at an estimated cost of Rs. 300 million. 

The Indian government approved the project via the 'Indian Small Grant Assistance Programme'. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted Sri Lanka USD 115 million of financial assistance for the implementation of Supporting Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project to fully electrify the island including its small isolated islands, reports Colombo Page.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka said the global body had expressed concern over Sri Lanka’s proposed counter terrorism legislation, which has been approved by Sri Lanka’s cabinet.