Mullaitivu residents whose lands have been earmarked for landgrab by the Sri Lankan Navy protested on Thursday, blocking access to state land surveyors who had to turn back from the area.

Sri Lanka this week increased tax concessions to state officials on importation of vehicles. 

The news was announced in a circular released today by the Ministry of Public Administration and Management, the Daily Mirror reports. 

Sri Lanka's unity government was plunged into crisis this month after both coalition partners suffered losses at the local polls on February 12. 

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The Tamil National Alliance today urged the international community to ensure Sri Lanka implemented the UN Human Rights Council resolution it cosponsored in 2015.

In a meeting wtih the US Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner and his chief of staff, the TNA leader R Sampanthan highlighted the delays in implementation of the resolution and said the government was bount to its commitments both in spirit and letter. 

He also spoke about the recent local government election and reiterated the need for constitutional reform. 

In its annual report on human rights worldwide, Amnesty International said there was "evidence of backsliding" in Sri Lanka, highlighting the ongoing detention of Tamils under the PTA over alleged links to the LTTE and the continued reports of torture during detention. 

"Sri Lanka continued to pursue its 2015 commitments to deliver justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of nonrecurrence for alleged crimes under international law, but progress slowed and there was evidence of backsliding," the report, released on Thursday noted. 

The Sri Lankan government has announced that it will tighten controls on non-governmental organisations, as it looks to enact changes to legislation regarding volunteer and charity organisations.

Sri Lankan Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said that changes to a 1980 law would be made, increasing controls over such organisations. EconomyNext reports that the changes are partly driven by a “requirement of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank which is in charge of Anti-Money laundering/Combatting Terrorism Finance (AML/CFT), activities.”

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry on Thursday stressed the country's High Commissioner had not resigned, rejected media reports she had terminated her contract. 

"High Commissioner Wijewardene will conclude her contract on her own volition by 31 March 2018," the ministry said in statement.

The Sri Lanka's High Commission in London has faced increased scrutiny over recent weeks after the country's defence attache to the UK, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando was filmed motioning a death threat to Tamils protesting outside the building on February 4.

The Sri Lankan military confirmed that the government’s UK Defence Attache who was sent back to Colombo after he threatened Tamil protestors in London would not be facing any disciplinary action.

Brigadier Priyanka Fernando was filmed on February 4 making a throat slitting gesture at Tamils protesting outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. He was reportedly back in Sri Lanka this week, however army spokesperson Brigadier Sumith Atapattu told journalists that “tThis is not for any disciplinary action, this is not (a) probe”.

Residents of a Mannar fishing village have protested against the Sri Lankan Navy’s ongoing harassment and intrusion into their livelihoods.

Tamil journalist P. Sathiyamoorthy, who was killed inside the ‘No Fire Zone’ by a Sri Lankan army artillery barrage in February 2009, was remembered in Jaffna on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan military held a series of parades across the North-East to mark Independence Day earlier this month, despite continued concern regarding the militarisation of the Tamil homeland.