The commander of Sri Lanka’s air force visited India this week, becoming the first official in his position to officiate over a commissioning parade of the Indian Air Force.

The Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) 2017 is to be held from January 27th to the 29th, for the 8th consecutive year.

Named “Gateway to the North,” the trade fair is widely attended by all stakeholders in the supply chain and procurement process, and will comprise of both local and international vendors.

A 75-member special delegation from India will also be attending the event, with the Consulate General of India in Jaffna endorsing it.

Sri Lankan military personnel handed out poultry to disadvantaged families in Kilinochchi on Friday. 

The distribution programme which was run by Major General Sarath Weerawardena poultry to fifteen families. 

The ongoing involvement of the Sri Lankan military in economic development in the North-East has been heavily critised by the Tamil political figures and organisations across the North-East. 

India and Sri Lanka are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding detailing the funding fo 3000 rainwater harvesting units in the North, Colombo Page reported. 

The Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) submitted a proposal to India for the project at an estimated cost of Rs. 300 million. 

The Indian government approved the project via the 'Indian Small Grant Assistance Programme'. 

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted Sri Lanka USD 115 million of financial assistance for the implementation of Supporting Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project to fully electrify the island including its small isolated islands, reports Colombo Page.

The country director of ADB’s Sri Lanka’s Resident Mission Sri Widowati signed the grant agreement with the Secretary to the Treasury, ministry of Finance signed for the Government of Sri Lanka.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka said the global body had expressed concern over Sri Lanka’s proposed counter terrorism legislation, which has been approved by Sri Lanka’s cabinet.

In an interview with the Sunday Times Una McCauley said, “There are a number of concerns that we had flagged up including the admission of confessions that were not made with lawyers present, the 72-hour initial holding period where international legal standards say 48 hours, the process of arrest and the levels of authority around when arrests can and should be made, as well as text around what is considered a terrorist act or an associated terrorist act”.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed the island’s enduring problems with human rights abuses have been “resolved” since parliamentary elections in August 2015.

In an interview with The Hindu, Mr Wickremesinghe reflected back on his government’s achievements. “We had incurred a heavy national debt, there was adverse publicity for Sri Lanka, and human rights was a big issue,” he said. “All those have been resolved.”
“I would say we have sort of created the stability and cleared the way.”

A group of Sinhala Buddhist monks launched a protest against the prospect of a new Sri Lankan constitution that would deprive Buddhism of holding the “foremost place” on the island.
 

The Northern Provincial Council this week called on the government of Sri Lanka to curtail the powers of the Provincial Council governors. 

“We wanted to reduce the powers vested with the governors because it is known that the governors have extreme powers as he was a representative of the Executive President”, the NPC councillor, M K Shivajilingham was quoted as saying.

"The TNA and the NPC had presented this proposal because the council members couldn’t do anything without the approval of the governor," he added. 

Tamils in Kilinochchi protested on Monday demonstrating their opposition to the housing scheme proposed by Minister Swaminathan. 

The scheme, which involves the building of 65,000 prefabricated houses in the North-East, was criticised by the TNA last month. The TNA minister and spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran told parliament the Tamils "dont want those steel cages."