The Tamil National Alliance urged Sri Lanka to publish interim reports relating to constitutional amendments that are set to be proposed to parliament.

Speaking at a press briefing in Jaffna today, TNA spokesperson MA Sumanthiran further called on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to release their stance which they are due to present at a constitutional discussion on Tuesday.

Photograph Daily Mirror

Sri Lankans protested against the gazetted new Inland Revenue Act bill on Monday, arguing the bill was drafted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to increase the tax paid by citizens. 

Holding placards protesters from the Inland Revenue Trade Joint Front gathered outside the department's presmises, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the current government of betraying Sri Lanka and its military to what he described as the pro LTTE Tamil diaspora. 

The investment advice service, Moody's welcomed the New Inland Revenue Act gazetted by the Sri Lankan government, stating it would contribute to improving government revenues as well as paving the way for the third tranche of the International Monetary Fund loan.

The government is to regulate where protests and demonstrations can take place in Colombo with a Gazette notification by the Ministry of Law and Order next week. 

Protests and demonstrations would only be allowed in certain areas, with other roads prohibited,  the Sunday Times reported. 

Members of Sri Lanka's army concluded a three month training programme on nursery management and agriculture, reports Sri Lnaka's army website. 

Certificates were handed over to soldiers by Brigadier Randula Hatnagoda. During the programme army personnel learnt about theoritcal and practical aspects of cultivation of plants anf nursery management systems. 

Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) has signed a $2 billion investment  agreement with the World Capital Centre (WCC) to construct the tallest building in the Asian region.

The 117 floor building will become the largest tower in the world in terms of  square meterage and the 9^th tallest building in the world. The WCC is expected to the building in the centre of Colombo’s commercial district.

Monks from the Buddha Sasana, concluded that major amendments to Sri Lanka’s constitution were not needed.

The Buddha Sasana which shares a dedicated ministerial post with the Ministry of Justice in Sri Lanka, met to discuss the constitution with monks from different Buddhist institutions.

The Sri Lankan government is set to announce a ban on bottom trawling fishing this week, in a move targeting fishermen from Tamil Nadu who reportedly cross the International Maritime Boundary Line.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera will introduce the ban on Thursday, with reports that up to 1,500 Tamil Nadu boats have been reported fishing in Sri Lanka waters using bottom trawls, according to the Sunday Times.

The Myliddy harbour, which at one time accommodated almost a third of Sri Lanka’s fishing trade, and 54 acres of surrounding land on Jaffna peninsula were released today after 27 years of military occupation.

Around 50 families have registered with the Tellipalai Divisional Secretariat to resettle in the lands released today.

While residents were eager to step into and see their lands after having no access for 27 years, they noted that none of their properties were in immediately habitable conditions.

Houses and buildings in the lands were mostly demolished, and none of the valuable furniture and construction materials left behind by civilians were to be found.

Community spaces such as the local Kovil and its chariot were also discovered in a state of ruin and disrepair.

Honouring fallen LTTE cadres should be allowed, the Sri Lankan Minister of Home Affairs has said, according to a report by the Uthayan newspaper.

The minister, Vajira Abeywardena, is quoted by the Uthayan as saying “all soldiers [including LTTE] that died in the war should be honoured and there is nothing wrong in paying tribute to them.”

The Sri Lankan military has constructed a new accommodation block for soldiers at its Eastern headquarters, declared an official army website last week.

A group of Tamil schoolchildren were given a tour of KKS in Jaffna last week, a restricted area of land where the Sri Lankan security forces maintain a large military base and operates its own holiday resort.

India donated 16,000 books, mostly in the Tamil language, to the Jaffna library last week, during the Indian High Commissioner, Taranjit Singh Sandhu visit to the North-East.  

The collection includes photocopies of some of the original work of the Arumugam Navalar which was destroyed when the library was set alight by state security forces and Sinhala mobs in 1981.