Valvettithurai's annual Pongal kite-flying festival took place on Uthayasuriyan beach today, with hundreds in attendance.

In a ceremony in Thyiddy, Jaffna today, the military professed to hand over a 2-acre Oorani Fishing Anchor Point to fishermen who have been displaced from the area for 27 years, but instead gave over a new unconstructed anchor point which is in a rocky area unsuitable for docking and launching fishing boats.  The 4 pre-existing anchor points in Oorani still remain under military control.  

Chief Minister Wigneswaran met with Ontario's Premier on Wednesday to discuss strengthening the relationship between the Northern Province and Ontario.

Ontario's Premier, Kathleen Wynne, told the Chief Minister that Ontario was interested in strengthening the relationship between the North and Ontario, including to strengthen support for the Northern Province in economic development, women's empowerment, institutional governance and public sector capacity building.

Sri Lanka's prime minister said moves to restore European Union trade concessions were a victory for his government and for "all of Sri Lanka", after the European Commission recommended reinstating the GSP+.

"The government's commitment over the last two years, towards protecting human rights is now bearing results," declared the prime minister. The GSP+ was revoked from Sri Lanka under the previous  government.

The Global Tamil Forum on Thursday called on the Sri Lankan government to implement the Consultation Task Force's recommendations "expeditiously". 

Amnesty International said it was “dismayed” at how the Sri Lankan government dismissed the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms, which recommended the involvement of international judges in an accountability mechanism.

Sri Lankan troops in Kilinochchi began a three-month long training program for Tamil farmers in Kilinochchi, to teach them farming “ farming methods”.

An official military website declared the program, which commenced this week, is to be carried out by soldiers from the 65 and 66 Divisions.

The University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) hopes to expand Tamil studies at the university with the help of donations by a UTSC alumnus.

Scarborough businessman Ravi Gukathasan has contributed $2 million to support Tamil studies at the university.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation and the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) to create a television channel that will showcase reconciliation programming.

The project is budgeted at 180 million rupees and was initiated with the aim of improving peace and harmony between the different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is committed to implementing the most recent Human Rights Council resolution according to the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, although there is only consensus for establishing a credible domestic mechanism.

The foreign minister, Managala Samaraweera, gave a talk about Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process at Chatham House in London on Wednesday night. The minister’s speech was followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Human Rights Watch urged Sri Lanka not to back-track on the commitments made by the government at the UN Human Rights Council regarding accountability and justice. 

Sri Lanka would issue a temporary resident visa to foreigners who would be investing over US $300,000 in the country, the finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Relatives of the disappeared held a protest in Vavuniya today expressing frustration with Minister Sathiyalingam and the TNA leadership.

The protestors voiced their disappointment at the lack of progress in having their missing loved ones accounted for.

They held banners criticising the TNA, in particular the leader R Sampanthan, and P. Sathiyalingam, the NPC representative for Vavuniya.

Any potential improvement in Sri Lanka’s credit profile will depend on how closely the government complies with conditions laid out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Fitch Ratings.