Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sri Lanka has fallen in 2011, with approximately US$ 300 million invested into the country, according to a report by UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development).

Although the Ministry of Economic Development tasked the Board of Investment (BOI) with attracting $1 billion, FDI fell short of this target.

Sri Lanka has decided to amend a decades old media law, resulting in the regulation of all news websites and electronic media.

The government made the announcement a week after it raided and temporarily shut down two anti-government websites.

The amendments to the Press Council Law established in 1973, will mean that websites and electronic media will have to adhere to media codes that are set by the Sri Lankan government.

Sri Lanka has earned a considerable income from United Nations peacekeeping operations in other countries, Army Media Spokesman Brigadier Wanigasekara has said.

According to the Brigadier Wanigasekara, Sri Lanka has earned in excess of 18.4 billion rupees from its ‘peacekeeping’ operations around the world since 2004.

Incidentally, Sri Lanka’s military expenditure rapidly increased before 2009, where 40,000 tamil civilians were killed in the final stages of the war.

In an incredible outburst against The Sunday Leader’s editor, Frederica Jansz, Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse verbally abused her and said she will be killed, after she questioned him after Sri Lanka airlines swapped an aircraft so that a friend of his could fly it to collect a puppy from Switzerland.

During his rant, over two conversation on the telephone, Rajapakse threatened Ms Jansz with legal action if she prints anything regarding this story and said he will put her in jail.

Former chief of the Sri Lankan Army, General Sarath Fonseka has declared that he will lead an uprising to oust the government from power.

“I’m definitely asking people to rise up... and overthrow the government by democratic methods,” he said.

Human rights lawyers have lodged a petition at the Supreme Court over the death of political prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban.

Working with Mr Nimalaruban’s parents the lawyers are seeking to overturn a court ruling that he must be cremated by authorities near Colombo.

The chairman of the Jaffna doctor’s union has told Uthayan that they are determined to appeal against the ban placed on their protest at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

The doctors had been prevented from striking by a court injunction placed against a day-long suspension of services in the hospital’s outpatient’s unit but pledged to protest anyway.

In a statement to Uthayan, the union’s chairman said:

The Tamil National Alliance has told The Island it has no faith in the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee and has not yet decided whether it will participate.

A court injunction has been placed on a strike which was due to take place today at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

Jaffna Court Judge M Ganesarajah had ordered the injunction after reviewing a report submitted by Jaffna Police’s Officer in Charge, Saman Sigera, reported Uthayan.