The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, K Palaniswami on Saturday urged the Indian premier to secure the release of the 54 fishermen currently detained in Sri Lanka.
A young mother in Jaffna committed suicide along with her three children on Friday unable to cope with heavy debts, which caused her husband to commit suicide one month ago.
Sri Lanka's paramilitary leader and former chief minister of the Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan has been indicted over the assassination of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham, the attorney general told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Mr Pararajasingham was shot dead by two gunmen in Batticaloa as he attended a Christmas mass on December 24, 2005.
Sri Lanka's finance minister Mangala Samaraweera rejected a statement by the former commander of the security forces in the Vanni, that those supporting the new constitution were traitors and should be killed, stating that 63 lakhs of people had voted in favour of a new constitution.
A Sri Lankan Navy camp in Jaffna was searched by police on Thursday in connection with the murder of a Tamil man in Ariyalai last week.
24-year-old Don Bosco Rikman was shot in Ariyalai East on Sunday afternoon and later died from internal bleeding while receiving treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
Navy personnel from India and Sri Lanka embarked on the second phase of a joint exercise on Thursday to map Sri Lanka's maritime boundary.
The first phase was completed in May 2016. The current phase is expected to be completed by December 21, the media coordinator for the Sri Lankan navy, Commander Lankanatha Dissanayake was quoted by Adaderana as saying.
Sri Lanka's minister of Megapolis and Western Province Development Champika Ranawaka said that 50% of land reclamation for the Port City project, 134.5 of a proprosed 269 hectares was now complete.
"All land reclamation and preparation in the first stage will be completed by 2019," Mr Ranawaka was quoted by the Colombo Page as saying.
Five fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Thursday for allegedly entering Sri Lankan waters and using illegal fishing nets, PTI reported.
The arrest comes despite renewed efforts by both governments to resolve the issue of ongoing arrests by the Sri Lankan navy, with talks held earlier this month.
The Sri Lankan government must quicken the pace of reform in the country, the chair of the British All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils has said following the official country visit of UN Special Rapporteur Pablo de Greiff.
Paul Scully MP expressed disappointment in the insufficient progress made on transitional justice and also expressed concern about unresolved land disputes, the Prevention of Terrorism Act and harassment of activists.
Mullaitivu landowners have said they intend to legally challenge the Sri Lankan government's planned landgrabs in Mullivaikkaal.
A gazette notification issued in August declared that 617 acres of privately-owned land in Mullivaikkaal would be appropriated for the use of the Gotabaya navy camp.
Residents of Mulankavil and surrounding villages in Kilinochchi district have been clearing up the local LTTE cemetery (Thuyilum Illam) in preparation for Maaveerar Naal.
The Indian government delivered a grant package worth Rs 90million on MOnday to develop facilities at the University of Jaffna's campus in Kilinochchi.
The package, which includes equipment, machinery and vehicles for the agricultural and engineering campus, was handed over the head of the development cooperation department of the Indian High Commission, D C Manjunath to the vice chancellor of the university, R Vigneswaran.
