Residents and kite enthusiasts gathered at Valvettithurai Uthayasooriyan coast on Sunday to enjoy the Thai Pongal kite competition. 

Sri Lankan election officials are to check the backgrounds of candidates standing for election at the upcoming local government polls, the Sunday Times reports. 

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena has overruled a decision to lift the ban preventing women from buying or selling alcohol amid an outcry among Buddhist clergy. 

Mr Sirisena's actions come just days after the government announced its decision to amend the law. 

Senior Buddhist monks criticised the lifting of the ban arguing it would causing women to become addicted to alcohol and lead to the break down of 'Sri Lankan culture'. 

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has concluded the president, Maithripala Sirisena can only serve five years in office. 

The decision, made by a bench of five judges - Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Eva Wanasundare, Buvaneka Aluvihare, Sisira de Abrew and K. Chitrasiri, conveyed its ruling to the Presidential Secretariat on Sunday, the Daily Mirror reports. 

The case against three Trincomalee temple administrators accusing them of damaging archaelogical artefacts has been concluded following an agreed settlement.

Three members of the Soodaikuda temple board who were arrested for "damaging archaeological artefacts" after complaints from Buddhist monks were remanded until the 11th to allow the Sri Lankan archaeology department and Sampur police to come up with evidence.

The Tamil people’s political aspirations remain unfulfilled, the TNA leader and Leader of the Opposition has said.

“The Tamil people’s long-standing aspiration for a lasting political solution to the national question still remains unattained,” the TNA leader, R. Sampanthan said in his Thaipongal message.

Wishing Tamils a "very happy Thai Pongal", the chair of the UK's All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), Paul Scully MP reiterated the call for the Sri Lankan government to implement the UN Human Rights Council resolution it cosponsored. 

The Mayor of London sent Tamils his Thai Pongal wishes today.

Publishing the wishes on social media, Mayor Sadiq Khan said “Iniya Pongal Nalvazhthukkal! Wishing Tamils in London and around the world who celebrate this festival of harvest a happy, peaceful and bountiful Thai Pongal.”

Tamil Canadians help make Canada stronger, more open, and more inclusive, the Canadian Prime Minister said.

“In January, we also mark Tamil Heritage Month, and reflect on the important contributions of Canada’s Tamil community,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his Thai Pongal message.

Residents of a Mullaitivu village observed Thai Pongal at the site of their almost year-long protest for the return of their lands from the Sri Lankan Army.

India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj on Friday met with Sri Lanka's former foreign minister and current finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera in New Delhi. 

Families of the disappeared in Vavuniya marked 324 days of their continuous protest on Saturday. 

Protesters expressed criticism of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians who protesters accused of trying to suppress the yearning of the families whose loved ones have been missing since the end of the armed conflict. 

The US State of Viriginia this year celebrated Thai Pongal as a state holiday today along side Tamils in the North-East and Tamil Nadu, India.

Last year the state passed a resolution designating January 14th as 'Pongal Day'. 

Conveying his Pongal wishes as Tamils around the world celebrated Thai Pongal today, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Atul Keshap said he had reiterated the call for Sri Lanka to implement the cosponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution during a meeting with the northern province's chief minister, C V Wigneswaran. 

"Conveyed warmest #Pongal greetings to Chief Minister Wigneswaran and had a good discussion on Northern Province issues as well as the need for #SriLanka to fulfill its Geneva commitments to ensure lasting national reconciliation and a brighter future for all its citizens," he tweeted.