Sri Lanka's defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa recently undertook a 'secret' official visit to South Africa, reports The Sri Lankan Guardian.

Citing a 'reliable source' in Sri Lanka's External Affairs ministry, the news site stated that Gotabhaya arrived on the 27th October, accompanied by Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Anura Prayadarshana Yapa, Neomal Perera, Faizer Musthapa and Janaka Bandara.

Referring to the parliamentary impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the government has no intention of interfering with the judiciary or its independence.

Addressing an event held for senior journalists, Rajapaska ensured that all professions be it judiciary or journalism, would be able to act without any interference.

The Sri Lankan Navy has been accused of assaulting and damaging 30 boats of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

Around 2,000 fishermen in more than 600 boats were fishing in the Palk Straits before being attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy, reported ColomboPage.

Attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy have been frequently occurring, with Tamil Nadu fishermen describing them as “commonplace” last month.

The US Department of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs have issued a press statement expressing concern about impeachment proceedings against the Sri Lankan Chief Justice.

The statement as reproduced in full:

Rebuking a statement by the US expressing concern at the impeachment of Sri Lanka's Chief Justice, the government's spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella, said that he would understand the accusations if "jungle law" had been practised, "but that is not the case".

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Rambukwella said,

The case of five Tamil Nadu fishermen in Sri Lanka custody was pushed by India's newly appointed External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday.

Speaking to GL Peiris on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation meeting, Khurshid is understood to have stressed that the issue be addressed "expeditiously" before it becomes an "irritant" in India-Sri Lanka relations.

An official sourse told OutLookIndia,

The body of the brother-in-law of TNA MP for Vanni, Selvam Adaikalanathan, has been found dead reported the Daily Mirror.

53-year-old Sinnathurai Inthireswaran’s body was found by police on Thursday who stated that he had been robbed prior to having been murdered.

Sri Lankan journalists received interest free vehicle loans, courtesy of President Mahinda Rajapakse, according to the Department of Government Information.

Over five hundred journalists had been selected for the scheme, with the first phase inaugurated earlier today.
The president is behind the implementation of the plan, as a relief loan scheme for senior journalists.

Tamil undergraduates at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) have faced physical attacks from Sinhalese students at the university, reports TamilNet.

The students were attacked on a campus bus after a picture of the Buddha was found torn at the front of the vehicle. The Sinhalese undergrads that were culpable for the attacks are yet to face repercussions for their actions.

As the torrential rains and gusts, caused by Cyclone Nilam, battered the North-East, the recently uprooted families have been hardest hit. The 178 families from Keppapulavu, who were forced to move in September from a camp to what was little more than a clearing in a forest, have had their makeshift shelters battered, reports Uthayan.

Not having received any food aid since being forced out, the families are now unable to prepare food, having had their makeshift roofs and walls swept away by the rain.