TNA leader, and leader of the opposition R Sampanthan on Tuesday slammed the government for its continuing failure to release Tamil political detainees and urged Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena to release them immediately.

Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan said on Tuesday that out of 218 Tamil political detainees, 39 persons were, in November last year, released on bail. 19 of those were recommended for rehabilitation before their eventual release, however only three had accepted the controversial programme.

The Sri Lankan navy arrested two men in Jaffna for attempting to smuggle gold to India this week.

The men were attempting to smuggle almost 7kg of gold, worth an estimated 34.5 million Sri Lankan rupees, in the Madagal area according to reports.

The smuggling of gold is thought to be closely linked to the drug trade in the Tamil North-East, which has been plagued by drug addiction since the end of the armed conflict almost 7 years ago.

The Sri Lankan Air Force has handed over two plots of land it owns in the south of the island, to "needy, serving personnel", as distress relief.

The commander of the air force authorised the donation of the land in Ruppawattha, Matara and the deeds were handed over to the servicemen at a ceremony on February 29 in Colombo.

See more on the SLAF website here.

The Sri Lankan military has completed the construction of what it calls a "model village", built for Tamils who were displaced from nearby Keppapilavu village after the army forced them out.

Sri Lanka Army Engineers and troops serving under the Security Force Headquarters - Mullaittivu (SFHQ-MLT) officially completed the construction of 287 new houses at "Keppapilavu Model Village", in the Mullaithivu District, with the ceremonial opening of the remaining 19 homes and a new medical centre on February 25.