Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the newly reconstructed Pamban Rail Bridge on 6 April 2025, reviving long-standing proposals to re-establish direct transport links between India and Sri Lanka via the Palk Strait.

The vertical-lift bridge replaces the 110-year-old structure that once supported rail and ferry links from Chennai to Colombo via Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar. These links were disrupted following the 1964 cyclone, which devastated Dhanushkodi and halted all ferry services—none of which have resumed since.

Shortly before her performance at the V&A Museum, Tamil Guardian sat down with dancer and choreographer Usha Jey to discuss her artistic journey so far. 

Producer turned director, S. Sashikanth makes his directorial debut with the psychological thriller ‘Test,’ a tale of three people whose lives intertwine during an international test cricket match: Saravanan (R Madhavan) a middle class husband struggling to get his hydro-fuel energy project on board with the relevant authorities, his wife Kumudha (Nayanthara) in hopes to obtain IVF treatment to get pregnant, and Arjun (Siddharth), a cricket player pressured to retire due to his declining form in the last two seasons. 

In 2024, Harini Amarasuriya – then an opposition parliamentarian – lauded the Tamil mothers of the disappeared.

“The women in this country, particularly those affected by the civil war, have repeatedly expressed what they want,” she said. 

Sri Lankan media organisations were reportedly excluded from covering Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile state visit to Colombo earlier this month, with reports highlighting how the President’s Media Division (PMD) took exclusive control of all media coordination and access.