Speaking at a function at St Mary’s College in the southern district of Kalutara, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapksa said his government will take measures to uplift the schools in the southern rural areas to eliminate the disparity in education between the Colombo and the rural areas around it.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged to hold talks with the Indian government in order to resolve the fishermen arrests and the crossing of territorial waters.

Addressing the General Fisheries Federation (GFF), Rajapaksa said:

The preparations for Sri Lanka's 65th independence day ceremony in Trincomalee are in full swing and all arrangements are in place.

Legislation that allows the police to detain suspects without charge for upto 48 hours without a warrant was passed on Tuesday.

The previous limit was 24 hours.

Presenting the bill in parliament, the Environment Minister Anura Priyasharshana said:

The US Embassy in Colombo has released a statement, expressing concern over a "series of threats and attacks against legal defenders, civil society organizations and activists".

The Sri Lankan government plans to settle two thousand Sinhalese families in the Vavuniya South Divisional secretariat division situated at the border of the Northern province, reports Seithy.com.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michelle Sison has said that the US is looking to increase investment in the country.

Speaking to the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce, the ambassador said she will do her ‘modest bit’ to build bilateral relations between the two countries.

Two of the four students held by the Sri Lankan military following the marking of Maaveerar Naal two months ago, were released on Tuesday.

The president of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) V Pavananthan and the member of the Science Faculty, S Solomon were released in Vavuniyaa.

British MPs raised the issue of the arrests of the Jaffna University students during the House of Commons debate on Tuesday. Expressing concern at the arrests, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Alistair Burt, said:

"Our high commissioner has expressed those concerns to the authorities in Sri Lanka, and we continue to monitor the detention of those students. We take every opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the Government of Sri Lanka, and I will raise those concerns, including this case, when I visit Sri Lanka fairly shortly."

Transcript of the debate is reproduced in full below:

Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP):

What assessment he has made of reported clashes between Sri Lankan security forces and Jaffna university students and the situation of those who have been arrested and detained.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt):

We are concerned about the attacks on students at Jaffna university in November last year. Our high commissioner has expressed those concerns to the authorities in Sri Lanka, and we continue to monitor the detention of those students. We take every opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the Government of Sri Lanka, and I will raise those concerns, including this case, when I visit Sri Lanka fairly shortly.

Mark Durkan:

I thank the Minister for his answer and his personal engagement. The attacks and arrests took place on the day after Tamil remembrance day. The region is highly militarised and even this week the Sri Lankan Parliament is looking at legislation to extend detention without warrant. When the Minister visits Sri Lanka next week, will he tell the regime there that he will not be persuaded by the language of reconciliation that it offers the diplomatic community, given that it offers only an arsenal of repression to the Tamil community?

The 8th India-Sri Lanka Joint Comission, held in New-Dheli today, saw the two nations agree to increase bilateral trade by 100% to US $10 billion within the next three years.