The Indian government has announced the extension of its financial assistance for another year to support the passenger ferry service between Kankesanthurai in Tamil Eelam and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

As Sri Lanka approaches the final stages of its current US $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme, IMF First Deputy Managing Director Dr Gita Gopinath issued a stark warning in Colombo this week, stressing that there is “no room for policy errors” and that this must be the last such rescue package the island requires.

A report titled ‘From Fear to Violence: Religious Attacks in Sri Lanka’ has revealed an alarming escalation in religiously motivated violence across the island, exposing a pattern of aggression, impunity, and systemic discrimination that disproportionately targets non-Sinhala Buddhists.

 A US$1 million United Nations-funded initiative to conduct an extensive marine scientific survey in Sri Lanka’s coastal waters is under threat due to the government’s failure to finalize a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for foreign research vessels, according to media reports.