Sri Lankan President, Mahida Rajapaksa, handed over 100 houses that were built under the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ housing program for the Sri Lankan nations ‘war heroes’.

The keys to the high quality accommodation, built under the 12^th phase of the program, were symbolically handed over to military personnel by Rajapaksa.

See here for Sri Lanka's high commissioner to the UK, Chris Nonis on Monday telling the BBC his version of demographics on the island and speaking about the 'wonderful' and 'comprehensive reconciliation' in the Northeast.

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam has assured India that it is Sri Lanka’s closest friend.

Kariyawasam’s comments come as President Rajapakse concluded a visit to China, during which several contracts, worth billions of dollars were signed.

Meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping twitter.com/RajapaksaNamal…

— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) May 31, 2013

Sri Lanka's Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has run into crisis, reports the Island, as ruling party members are boycotting the sessions demanding postponement of the Northern PC polls until the replacement of the Governor and Chief Minister and restoration of the administrative structure.

Deputy Chairman of the Council, M.S. Subair clarified that:

Sri Lanka will table a new bill later this year, which will attempt to introduce a “Media Code of Ethics”, according to Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

The bill would apparently be aimed at creating “a salutary media culture in the country”, with the Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka reporting the Minister as having said,

The CEO of the Pegasus hotel chain has said that the one million tourists that visited Sri Lanka last year had not made the expected impact on the hotel industry, in his company’s annual report.

"It is therefore prudent to surmise that this influx of tourists have patronized the bungalows, guest houses and residences of relatives as their preferred abode as opposed to regular hotels," he said.

The ethnic divide in Sri Lanka is ingrained in all aspects of life, even mourning the dead. The conflict between Tamils and the Sri Lankan state has cost over 100,000 lives, the vast majority of which are Tamil. The 18th of May, the day the armed conflict ended, has become one of the most important days in the Tamil calendar. Tamils across the world, including relatives of the tens of thousands of those that died, commemorate this day, in private or in public gatherings. However the rest of Sri Lanka celebrates this day, as the day the ‘terrorists’ were vanquished and Sinhala Buddhist rule securely extended throughout the entire island.