India has agreed to fund the refurbishment of facilities of the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies in Batticaloa through a grant of over 270 million Rs (LKR).

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Monday by India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, with Sri Lankan Minister Rauff Hakeem present.

The project involves refurbishment of the auditorium and construction of a modern building complex with recording cum editing facilities and supply vehicles to the institute.

Sri Lanka’s national airline is owed 122.3 million rupees in outstanding costs for chartered flights taken during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency.

The outstanding amount, of which Rs. 114 million is attributed to the Presidential Secretariat and the remainder to the foreign ministry, was for several flights out of 65 chartered by Rajapaksa between March 2009 and December 2014, including to Israel, South Africa, Italy and Bolivia.

The details were revealed by a SriLankan Airlines official to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into ‘irregularities’ at the airline and its subsidiaries.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance & Media Mangala Samaraweera met with Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Minister of State for the UN and Commonwealth, and the Prime Minister’s Envoy on Preventing Sexual Violence, in Westminster on Monday.

Discussions reportedly were on the topic of “[Human Rights] & Reconciliation and other matters of mutual interest,” according to Samaraweera, who tweeted a photograph of the meeting.

<p>The Sri Lankan military said it was not aware of the issuing of an arrest warrant for Brigadier Priyanka Fernando by a UK court yesterday, stating that it was “not concerned” over the matter.</p> <p>"If a warrant has been issued then the relevant authorities must follow the due procedure in order to inform us formally" Media Spokesperson of Sri Lanka Army Brigadier Sumith Atapattu told <a href="http://www.sundaytimes.lk/article/1064829/sl-authorities-uninformed-of-…">Times Online.</a></p>

<p>Sri Lanka’s current defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando stated that his government would be arresting a group of soldiers accused of committing murder, in a surprise announcement on Monday.</p> <p>He said that a group of 11 soldiers would be arrested in coming weeks, accusing them of having committed a crime - but did not elaborate on the specific incident he was referring to.</p>

<p>Britain’s Petitions Committee has called on the UK government to give a “revised response” to a petition which has gathered over 17,000 signatures, calling on Britain to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.</p> <p>The Petitions Committee, made up of a group of MPs who oversee the petitions system, said the response from Britain to the petition “did not directly address the request of petition”.</p> <p>The Committee has “therefore written back to the Government to ask them to provide a revised response”.</p>

<p>The British Foreign Office stands accused of “shredding history” after it emerged that it had destroyed almost 400 files related to its links with the Sri Lankan government as it waged a war against the Tamil armed struggle.</p> <p>A freedom of information request by the Morning Star found that the Foreign Office had destroyed nearly twice as many files on its engagement with Sri Lanka from the 1970’s onwards, than it had previously admitted.</p> <p>Though the British government admitted last year that it had destroyed 195 files from the 1970’s, the Morning Star revealed that shredded another 177 files from the 1980s, bringing the total to 372.</p>

The Westminster Magistrate’s Court has issued an arrest warrant for Brigadier Priyanka Fernando of the Sri Lankan army earlier today, having found him guilty of committing public order offences whilst stationed in London.

Fernando was found guilty of violating sections 5 and 4A of the Public Order Act, with the court stating that his actions were threatening, caused harassment, and that he intended them to be so.

<p>The Sri Lankan navy arrested four Indian nationals for attempting to allegedly attempting to enter the country illegally.&nbsp;</p> <p>The men were detained in seas off the Northern province in two dinghies.&nbsp;</p> <p>The navy have accused them of illegal immigration and taken them to their base at Kankasanthurai.</p>

Farmers and local residents celebrated the annual 'Ulavar Vizha' or farmers' festival on January 18 in Palachcholai, Porathivu Pattu, Batticaloa. 

Families with children gathered to celebrate the harvest and traditional farming.